No collateral damage from copper bullet?

[Roofer1]

Here's the background. 195 grain Badlands Bulldozer 2 bullet (don't think they're made anymore?) out of a 300 PRC going about 2,900 FPS from 485 yards. The shot was about mid body just behind the shoulder. You can see the blood spot on the attached pic; that's the entry hole. Was maybe 100' higher in elevation than him so a little bit of a downhill angle and the hole on the offside looked the same as the entry. After impact he took about 4 or 5 steps down hill and died pretty much how he's sitting in the pic. While he was expiring I did hear a whispy, labored breathing noise. All that said, we didn't see a drop of blood come out of his mouth or nose the entire time we jostled him around for pictures or even while quartering him. I've taken other animals with copper bullets but those have been a little less "precise" and more of the front shoulder was involved, so there's always been evidence of blood in the airways. Could I have sent that bullet through at the precise time he exhaled and simply missed the lungs? Essentially giving him a sucking chest wound where he couldn't draw a breath because of a lack of a vacuum for his diaphram to be able to work against? Any Thoughts?

 

[doc holiday13]

i think you killed it

 

[Roofer1]

i think you killed it

If not he's gonna make a mess of my freezer when he snaps out of it . Was an honest question though. Have killed enough stuff over the years and unless my shots were too far back there's been blood rolling out it's mouth/nose.

 

[wapitibob]

Lungs don’t work that way, they are stuck to the cavity walls at all times unless the cavity vacuum is gone. You can’t miss them because of an exhale.

 

[doc holiday13]

If not he's gonna make a mess of my freezer when he snaps out of it . Was an honest question though. Have killed enough stuff over the years and unless my shots were too far back there's been blood rolling out it's mouth/nose.

True story here. A friend of mine has done a fair amount of door kicking. Shot people point blank and out at 400+yards.. He said he cleared a room, shot a dude then shot 2 more dudes. Was just about to yell clear when first dude got up and ran down the hallway to another room. They ended that fight with a grenade.

In another engagement he shot a guy at 375 yards and that guy took an insta-dirt nap. Same gun, same ammo. Moral of the story? Bullets do funny things and its a roll of the dice how quick things die when you shoot them in places other than the head

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I've had plenty of dead animals that didn't have blood coming out of the mouth.

 

[RockAndSage]

Not sure if this is the hunting equivalent of an urban legend, but I remember reading somewhere that elk shot on the exhale don't travel as far, as there's just not a lot of oxygen in the lungs. IIRC the info came from some sort of outfitter/guide. I filed it away as "probably BS, but if you can time it go ahead and try". In writing it out, it sounds even more like BS. But, your post above did remind me of it. So, who knows?

 

[Roofer1]

Lungs don’t work that way, they are stuck to the cavity walls at all times unless the cavity vacuum is gone. You can’t miss them because of an exhale.

Guess I could've googled it, but this is what I was looking for. Am mostly an archery whitetail hunter so blood out the mouth is the norm for me.

 

[np307]

The farther away you get from the main bronchii, the smaller the passageways are. Still effectively kills but there's a lot less blood having oxygen exchanged in the extreme edges of the lungs. Couple that with the narrow wound channel of a mono bullet its not that surprising of a result.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Guess I could've googled it, but this is what I was looking for. Am mostly an archery whitetail hunter so blood out the mouth is the norm for me.

If you shoot through the heart/arterial bundle without touching the lungs/trachea/esophagus what mechanism would introduce blood to the mouth? It would just bleed, loose blood pressure and die.

 

[hibernation]

Did you cut into the chest cavity at all? Or just fully gutless? Seems like if it didn't go far, laid down in that nice upright position, and the wounds are on the higher side of the body cavity, I'm betting it just filled the chest cavity with blood and didn't have time to go anywhere else.

If he'd run farther or crashed in a weird position, tipped over, anything like that, you might've seen more blood out the nose and mouth.

 

[wapitibob]

Lots of useless banter but they finally get to the topic.

PC 341 - Talking Arrow Trauma with Dr Peter Attia

Podcast Episode · Nock On Archery · 08/19/2023 · 2h 14m

podcasts.apple.com

 

[np307]

If you shoot through the heart/arterial bundle without touching the lungs/trachea/esophagus what mechanism would introduce blood to the mouth? It would just bleed, loose blood pressure and die.

Do you think the pictured shot placement was heart/arterial bundle and didn't touch lungs?

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Do you think the pictured shot placement was heart/arterial bundle and didn't touch lungs?

I was speaking generally because the OP thought blood out the mouth was standard. But to answer your question possibly, hard to say from this angle but if it was downward and forward angled from that impact yeah it could have been.

 

[Roofer1]

Was fully gutless. just popped a couple ribs along the spine to get at the tenderloins.

you think the pictured shot placement was heart/arterial bundle and didn't touch lungs?

Know this wasn't at me but seemed too high up the cavity.

Was questioning my sanity after a little light Rokslide ribbing so I looked through photos from my 2023 Elk. Attached a pic of where I hit this one. Can see the entry in the pic, no exit. This is how it died, no blood out this one's face either? This was shot with a wild cat 7mm with a 195 grain berger bullet with a MV around 2,900 fps from over 400 yds and I know those make a mess on the inside. Guess I should re-word the title on this post because the copper bullet doesn't seem to matter.