Argument against small caliber? Blood trail/exit wounds?

[North of 60]

Ive been tracking deer for people in south louisiana for a couple decades. Blood trails are critical most places here unless you keep a dog handy. You can be 5 feet from a dead deer and not find it on much of my land. Exits and generous blood trails are absolutely critical where I hunt.

Agree 100%...blood trails aren't overrated and the need for is definitely terrain/vegetation dependent. They are essential to finding dead critters in some places.

 

[K9kodi]

I have shot animals using the bullets you listed and many others in magnum calibers, and can say more often than not, the bullets are caught in the offside hide. Yes, I have had complete pass-throughs with Barnes TSX, ELDXs, Bergers, and Partitions, but I have also had them with the same in smaller calibers.

If both bullets fail to expand and pencil through, then yes, the larger bullet will create a larger permanent wound, but in bullets that have performed as designed, I have not, at this point, seen any evidence firsthand or on RS that a larger caliber bullet does more damage than a small caliber bullet.

The damage you see from a small caliber bullet is honestly too much for many, and if it were that much worse using a large caliber bullet, no one would use them.

I agree to a point. A small caliber bullet operating a performer is better than a large cal poorly performing bullet. But a bullet designed for what your hunting operating as it should in a large cal will outperform a smaller bullet operating as it shoukd

 

[mlevimadden]

I agree to a point. A small caliber bullet operating a performer is better than a large cal poorly performing bullet. But a bullet designed for what your hunting operating as it should in a large cal will outperform a smaller bullet operating as it shoukd

Are you looking for more damage than Form showed below or what has been shown at least 100 times with the 77 TMK in the 223 thread?

I think most hunters already lean towards this being too destructive. I have yet to see anyone actually look at small caliber TMK necropsy photos and say wow I want to try that bullet in my 30 cal.

Heck ya. I want wounds like these when I make a bad shot- only big guns will do this.

View attachment 1016263


View attachment 1016264


View attachment 1016265

View attachment 1016267


View attachment 1016268


View attachment 1016269

View attachment 1016270

 

[Dave Thomas]

In the piney woods of Louisiana where I hunt a blood trail makes it much easier to find a deer that has ran. I do rather have them not run at all though. The one deer that I've had to track while using berger bullets left a blood trail a blind man could follow. It didn't go far but would have been tough to find without it. There's no garentee of an exit or blood trail no matter what you use but I've yet to not get an exit on deer and hogs with a berger.