Berger VLD hunting performance?

[603Country]

If you lung shoot a deer and give it some undisturbed time, it'll weaken and rest and usually pass on without moving too far. But..if you shoot and immediately make noise moving toward the deer you just shot, they'll run as long and as far as they can and die in midstride. Sometimes they can go a long way. Just give em 10 or 15 minutes before you start moving toward them. My grandfather said "take the time to smoke a cigarette before you go over there". I don't smoke, but I heard what he was saying.

And sometimes they just won't give it up. I shot a big buck right through the heart (determined by post-mortem exam) and that big rascal ran over 100 yards, crossing a very cold deep stream and into the biggest briar thicket that I know of. He was running fult tilt boogie till he died and he made a tremendous crash in the palmettos and briars.

So I'm saying, as others did, that there is no 'normal' when it comes to how far they go or if they go at all. The only normal in all of this is that if you shoot them through the lungs with a good bullet, they will die.

 

[Cowboy_mo]

I've shot and recovered 2 deer with "memorable" results. The first was a buck shot with my .50 cal muzzle loader. The shot was in the front of the chest and totally exploded the heart (verified during the butchering process). When the black powder smoke cleared, he was gone and I was worried but just after the powder smoke cleared, I heard him crash in the leaves about 30 yds from where he was standing when I shot.

The 2nd was a button buck at about 80 yds. I shot him using 230 gr Sierra game king boattail spitzers (federal premium loads). He flipped over backwards and didn't move for a couple minutes as I watched. He was shot almost broadside through both lungs. As I was gathering my stuff to leave the blind and go to the deer, he jumped up and started to run. Piled up stone dead about 20 yds from where he was shot.

The point is sometimes their adrenaline will propel them even though they are actually 'dead on their feet'.

 

[bamaranger]

.243

Read and reread this thread...here goes.

To start, 600 yds is to far to be shooting at a big game animal, period, with near anything that is considered a sporting rifle. It can be done, folks do it, but it's a stunt. Wind alone will make good bullet placement difficult, much less range estimation, posture of the animal, etc, etc,

My understanding of the VLD huting bullet is that it enters, dumps and is not necessarily intended to exit. The reviews on the larger calibers and the VLD hunter are pretty postitive. But....... Using such a theory on a .243 may be flawed logic. The .243 may well enter and dump w/o the attending technology. You have actually used the slug and are getting exits. I dunno.

I hunt the .243 a bit, as does now my boy, and am not a basher. But I think the caliber is the ideal candidate for a premium bullet like the Patition, the A-frame, bonded technology, mono technology, etc, that is designed to expand, but hold together and penetrate. All those bullets, in the 100 gr range, will carry plenty of energy and shoot flat enough to bag deer to 300 yds + which is about as far as most will shoot game, especially whitetails.

The .243 is enough rifle, but proper bullet selection makes it even better.

 

[Nathan]

It is hard to discuss performance based on how far they ran. It should be discussed related more on did it exit, how much penetration, and what happened when it hit bone. Sounds like one did what it should, but the other turned hitting bone. Only you looking at the animal knows if it turned too much.

Basically, they sound ok, but I would be more carefu of the deer angle to you.

My slug hit heart/ backside shoulder doe went 50 yards with a broke shoulder and a heart that looked like Swiss cheese.