Fragments in Meat?

[Chris_in_Idaho]

Quick simple question: Who's bitten into or otherwise found a bullet fragment in their game meat?

If so, can you tell me the shot placement, which cut of meat, and what type of bullet?

TIA

 

[SloppyJ]

Found some on the underside of the front of my elk backstrap along with the rest of the jacket. I had a quartering shot through the back of the ribs and out towards the point of the opposite shoulder. Wiped it off and ate it up.

Plenty of pellets spit out of dove meat too. You'll be alright.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I found a full bullet. 6mm Remington, maybe 45-50 yard shot that I believe impacted something before the deer. Hit front ribcage pocket and angled back and was found just under the hide in front of the rear ham. Hornady SST

Couple years later shot one with 7mm RM and found a fragment in the front shoulder with a high, quartered away shot entry. Caught backstrap and high chest coming in.

 

[AnnualRye]

Any high shoulder or square rib contact with gameking soft points I'll have lead in meat despite judicious trimming around entry and exit. If it goes through the grinder you may as well throw out your burger or sausage. This is why I'm phasing out lead in my rifles and going strictly copper. Copper bullets and rifles are good enough these days that I don't feel I'm sacrificing anything by giving up lead. Got a 3 year old and 3 month old who nurses. Ain't going to risk it anymore.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Have had to pick a lil bit out here and there. Not a big deal IMO. Used to pick out a lot of shot from birds as well. Least till I bumped up to #6

 

[JPeters218]

If you don’t shoot shoulders this in an incredibly overblown “issue”. Never bitten into a fragment, found a bullet shank trimming steaks before cooking once. Otherwise they all get found during butchering.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

The only time I've found fragments after butchering was with a mule deer buck I spine shot right behind the shoulder offhand at 70-80 yards. 7mm Rem Mag shooting 154 gr SST at 3,000 fps. Blew a football sized hole in the backstrap on entry and shrapnelled. I picked quite a few fragments out when slicing the back strap into steaks. I didn't feed my wife or kid those ones, but did end up picking one fragment out while chewing.

That's when I switched from the SST, but landed on ELD-X, so probably not much difference, but I did go up in bullet weight and try not to shoot heavy bones at point blank, so haven’t had any others blow up like that.

 

[AnnualRye]

If you don’t shoot shoulders this in an incredibly overblown “issue”. Never bitten into a fragment, found a bullet shank trimming steaks before cooking once. Otherwise they all get found during butchering.

 

[Beendare]

Another positive to bowhunting- grin

 

[IronNoggin]

This is why I'm phasing out lead in my rifles and going strictly copper.

When guiding in Alberta, I had more than a few occasions to witness mono bullets performance on game.
Pencil holing both sides doesn't cut it in my world.
Had to track many an animal shot with them, some miles, some never recovered.
The Outfitter I worked with these days refers you to another Outfitter should you insist on using them.
I am in the same camp.

As for the original question - No.
Recovered during butchering.
Only once did my partner miss one and sent it into the grinder.
New grinder the next day...

Cheers

 

[mt terry d]

Have butchered and packaged my own since a kid
Never found anything.
If there's bone fragments, which often happens when a shoulder is accidentally hit,
I cut around it and toss it before grinding and packaging.

 

[HunterGatherer]

This fragment was a long ways away from any entry or exit hole only hit ribs, no major bones hit. You won’t find all the lead in your meat. Shot lead this year only because I didn’t have enough time to work up a mono load. Working up a copper load for this gun as we speak.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I've butchered my own wild game and eaten it for the last 30 years and I have never had bullet fragments in the meat at the cooking or eating stage.

I throw all damaged meat away while butchering.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Lead Bullet Fragments in Venison from Rifle-Killed Deer: Potential for Human Dietary Exposure - PMC

Human consumers of wildlife killed with lead ammunition may be exposed to health risks associated with lead ingestion. This hypothesis is based on published studies showing elevated blood lead concentrations in subsistence hunter populations, ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

Thanks for all the info so far! I'm hoping not to devolve this into an outright lead vs mono argument, but rather stick to the specific question.

Have you found fragments in your meat? What bullet? What shot placement? What cut of meat?

Thanks!

 

[DangerRanger]

I’ve found a few fragments at the cleaning stage in front area of backstraps

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

Found some on the underside of the front of my elk backstrap along with the rest of the jacket. I had a quartering shot through the back of the ribs and out towards the point of the opposite shoulder. Wiped it off and ate it up.

Plenty of pellets spit out of dove meat too. You'll be alright.

In the back of the ribs and through to the off shoulder sounds like a good amount of penetration. Was this a bonded/tough style bullet or a softer match style bullet?

Have butchered and packaged my own since a kid
Never found anything.
If there's bone fragments, which often happens when a shoulder is accidentally hit,
I cut around it and toss it before grinding and packaging.

Good record! What style of bullets are you using?

View attachment 963786

This fragment was a long ways away from any entry or exit hole only hit ribs, no major bones hit. You won’t find all the lead in your meat. Shot lead this year only because I didn’t have enough time to work up a mono load. Working up a copper load for this gun as we speak.

Great picture! Match bullet? Soft hunting bullet? Bonded bullet?

I've butchered my own wild game and eaten it for the last 30 years and I have never had bullet fragments in the meat at the cooking or eating stage.

I throw all damaged meat away while butchering.

Is there enough bloodshot around any fragments to make them easy to spot and trim? Also what kind of bullets are you running?

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I’ve found a few fragments at the cleaning stage in front area of backstraps

What kind of bullets and what kind of hits?

 

[DangerRanger]

Found some on the underside of the front of my elk backstrap along with the rest of the jacket. I had a quartering shot through the back of the ribs and out towards the point of the opposite shoulder. Wiped it off and ate it up.

Plenty of pellets spit out of dove meat too. You'll be alright.

What kind of bullets and what kind of hits?

Kind of like this, high quartering away 215 Berger that absolutely detonated

 

[HunterGatherer]

Great picture! Match bullet? Soft hunting bullet? Bonded bullet?

ELDX - soft “hunting” bullet I guess …

Part of what you’re talking about in your original post, with the biggest part of the wound channel being in the first couple inches after the hide is that, the bullet loses a ton of energy before it’s fully into the cavity and vital organs. Shoulder/ribs looks like hamburger, with bloodshot radiating out in between all the layers of tissue that make up the shoulder - big pressure wave that dissipates very quickly. The jacket often gets torn away completely. The little lead pellet that actually gets good penetration through the animal leaves a pretty mediocre channel. The closer you are to the animal, the worse it is.

People say solids will have smaller wound channels but I’ve seen tests (and personal experience) that say the opposite. Lead causes more carnage but not all of it is effective use of energy and causes meat loss and/or eating lead.