6mm 103 eldx not leaving a blood trail?

[Cdpp880]

What do the vitals looks like when youre cleaning them?

Lungs have mostly been turned into jelly, or at least severely damaged. Some have been heat/lungs where the heart was unnoticeable. One was a tittle farther back, caught a rib and damaged back half of lung, destroyed liver and caught a little bit of the stomach.

If I hunted more open area I would even have a thought about it.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Blood trails are hit or miss sometimes.

That said, change your aim point a bit and blood trails wont matter so much anymore

 

[112Savage]

I’ve shot three deer with the 103 ELDX with 6ARC 18” gas gun going 2640fps. The first left a good blood trail, but it was over 200yds. Second was a head shot, no blood trail. Last was 242 yds it left only a pice of tissue at the impact site. I used a thermal to find her after combing a chopped corn field for 30-40 minutes. She went 62yds with no blood trail on a picture perfect “vital V” shot with an exit through the off side. The first and 3rd deer have made me look for other 6mm bullets. This year I’m trying higher velocity with the 90TGK

 

[112Savage]

I’ve also used 80gr Speer deep curl (dead with no exit and short runs). 85gr sierra HPBT spine shot with no tracking in a yearling doe (impressive performance depressing BC)

 

[DangerRanger]

Personally I would not care for that hunting whitetail. Especially if you were in the east where you can’t see far, pasture woods mix etc.

I’ve moved from 30s to 6.5 but am still getting good blood trails when they run 50-100 yards and would not want that to change. I’ve never shot a 6mm but am surprised

 

[General RE LEE]

I went 3/3 on deer last season with 108 ELDMs out of my 6 ARC. All deer were shot in the evening and recovered rather quickly in the dark but also, I don’t recall a good blood trail.

Heart shots with 143 ELDX out of my 6.5 Creedmoor usually result in quick blood trails.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

In thick timber and non open type country a good strategy can be changing your aim point when needed.

Some details here…


Post in thread 'The 22 creedmoor thread'
https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/the-22-creedmoor-thread.299646/post-4260802


“If you truly are after the animals “going nowhere” for easy recovery for the youngsters, I’ve found that an aim point of where the scapula meets the thoracic vertebrae is the place to shoot. On deer and elk as well. Sometime a follow up shot is required but they certainly don’t go anywhere, or very far with that spot being hit with rapidly expanding bullets.”

 

[mtnbound]

Update on this.
I (my kids and I) Have now taken 12 deer and 4 pigs with 103 ELDX.
All recovered within 80-90 or less. But still only one deer had a blood trail and it was minimal. This last weekend we had a very hard time finding animals due to very thick brush and no blood trail.
I do not understand what the dynamic is bc all but 2 have had pass through. With exit holes anywhere between 1/4”-2”. Only one animal had left an OK blood trail. All shots have been double lung shots or lower lung/heart shots.
The terminal performance has been good. Most times the lungs have been jelly or severe damage.

Were the exit holes open or plugged? I noticed twice that I had a section of lung plugging the exit hole, so there was not much of a blood trail.