300 WSM VS deer

[Pushbutton2]

I shot 2 deer with my 300wsm this am. Sitting Barnes TSX Blue Tip ammo.

I'm confident in saying both were inside 150 yds.

First left shoulder shot,
Second right side behind shoulder.

Waited 30 minutes before tracking.

I just quit. I couldn't find any blood. Even did a small grid search in the trees. Didn't do a big one for great if burning there area.

I based this choice upon my expectation of a pass thru it good blood trail with this round.
I have first have experience with this round going thru both shoulders on a big sow.

Am I seeing in my Expectations?
If not how can I narrow down MY failure.

This is my first time dealing with this with Deer.
I hate it even more.

I chose to use my 300WSM today so I wouldn't have to deal with this....

[Drycreek3189]

I feel pretty confident in saying you did not hit first deer in high shoulder or it would never have moved. Barnes bullets are great for penetration. Blood trails, not so much.

[Muddy Bud]

I feel pretty confident in saying you did not hit first deer in high shoulder or it would never have moved. Barnes bullets are great for penetration. Blood trails, not so much.

This. Barnes are excellent for bigger game, Moose, Elk, Nilgai. But with deer I find them to be more effective at further ranges, 300 plus.

[mkk]

What grain bullet?


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[88 Bound]

As stated above. Your bullet most likely didn’t expand, just blew right through them. Your first deer should have dropped. If you’re confident you hit both deer, they probably ran a good ways with little to no blood. My dad had this happen with a 270 years ago with the Winchester power points he was using. Double lunged deer would run over 200 yds with very little blood. Perfect shot placement, just not good bullet expansion upon entry. Changed bullets, problem solved.

Hope you find your deer. That is a sick feeling that no one likes to go though.

[Pushbutton2]

What grain bullet?


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Not sure.
My buddy wanted to use it last year. He bought the ammo and sighted it in.
There’s 2 rounds left.

Wanting to develop a load for it

[sendit]

To give you an idea of what a Barnes can do. This is a 168gr TSX fired from a 300 WSM. The shot was a tad over 100 yards and was shot with the buck directly facing, the impact was dead center between the legs. Right through the heart the billet penetrated through the deer and was found under the skin on the left hind quarter. The buck did run but did not leave any blood trail, luckily he fell in sight.

Pic of a unfired and the recovered Barnes 168gr TSX

[bboswell]

Did you check zero after your buddy used it?

[okrattler]

To give you an idea of what a Barnes can do. This is a 168gr TSX fired from a 300 WSM. The shot was a tad over 100 yards and was shot with the buck directly facing, the impact was dead center between the legs. Right through the heart the billet penetrated through the deer and was found under the skin on the left hind quarter. The buck did run but did not leave any blood trail, luckily he fell in sight.

Pic of a unfired and the recovered Barnes 168gr TSX

That might as well have been a FMJ. It didn't expand at all.

If I had to guess the bullet blew right through the deer.

[Homer75]

I had the same problem with my 300 wsm. My daughter lost her 1st buck and the next day shot another buck that had little to no blood trail, luckily the deer got hung up in a barbed wire fence. I've heard to use the A-max but, I may try the Nosler Ballistic Tips. I love the BT's in my 30-06 so, I feel they should do better on expanding. I'm following this just to see what the masses say...

[jaytx]

Use a smaller round. Look up the energy for what your shooting on a ballistic chart for 300 yards and closer. You would destroy more meat than you could save if you had a bullet that would expand. Great for larger animals but for whitetails use a smaller cartridge thats better suited for what you're hunting.

[captardvark]

270

[trophy8]

Very hard Bullet moving fast plus not hitting thick bone and now you see the result. Close shot. Bullet zips right through

[Mike D]

I guess I’ve been lucky. Been shooting Barnes bullets for a long time: all the Way Back to when they had the blue coating on them. Never lost an animal and blood trails never a problem.

This is the blood trail of my son’s first deer killed with a 22-250 using the 70 grain TSX. Not a bone shot, plenty of blood, well under 100 yard shot.









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[critter69]

I know I will get knocked for this but. The faster " magnum" calibers with a bullet that is designed with a softer tip is what was needed in this case. But then if it's to soft it does a lot of damage at shorter distances. They are good for anchoring deer but sometimes not so good if you hit meat. A stronger bullets just zips through if there is not enough resistance. I feel the non magnum rounds 243, 270, and such to do a much better job on deer size game. Again you still need the proper bullet but there are a lot of them that work great at shorter or longer distances.