Do I need more grains?

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

If it works for you man, have at it. There's a place for them for sure. I've certainly dropped deer with both types of bullets but would put my money on the larger wound channel every time for the time to death calculation.

I think it comes down to most folks put that larger wound channel into the lungs so they don't trash alot of meat which might not kill quite as fast as a bullet through the heart/arterial bundle that kills blood pressure really quick. I absolutely acknowledge a larger wound channel through the heart would result in a quick death too (and more margin of error on the shot), the meat loss associated isn't ideal though so pros/cons.

 

[SloppyJ]

I think it comes down to most folks put that larger wound channel into the lungs so they don't trash alot of meat which might not kill quite as fast as a bullet through the heart/arterial bundle that kills blood pressure really quick. I absolutely acknowledge a larger wound channel through the heart would result in a quick death too (and more margin of error on the shot), the meat loss associated isn't ideal though so pros/cons.

Refreshing that people can still have differing opinions and be civil. Props man.

It's definitely a faster expiration in my experience to take out circulatory system than lungs. I hunt in thick country so it's my preference to get them down as quickly as possible and having a solid blood trail is plan B.

I don't want this to sound bad but we get 15 deer tags for my family. If the difference in recovering a deer or not is hinging on the fact that some shoulder meat might get ruined, I'll take that every time to not lose the entire animal. I'd rather lose that than blow up half a backstrap with a high shoulder shot. I've seen too many get back up and run from a CNS disruption.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Refreshing that people can still have differing opinions and be civil. Props man.

It's definitely a faster expiration in my experience to take out circulatory system than lungs. I hunt in thick country so it's my preference to get them down as quickly as possible and having a solid blood trail is plan B.

I don't want this to sound bad but we get 15 deer tags for my family. If the difference in recovering a deer or not is hinging on the fact that some shoulder meat might get ruined, I'll take that every time to not lose the entire animal. I'd rather lose that than blow up half a backstrap with a high shoulder shot. I've seen too many get back up and run from a CNS disruption.

Yep that all makes sense and in thick country I'd likely shoot something a bit more violent. That thought process has already been through my head when I was bear hunting in scrub oak so I decided to try out the ELDMs on a deer this year for future reference.

I have had good luck over the years with monos killing quickly and very limited running (heart/arterial bundle). But I'm also often in more open country so it wouldn't matter too much (to a degree) if they did run a bit. I butcher all my own stuff and do prefer trimming up from a mono I can say after this deer with the ELDM but its not a night/day difference of preference.

 

[Johnny_Yemon11]

I appreciate all the input, good to hear the differing perspectives. I honestly wasn’t expecting this much input.