Hornady black amunition bullets?

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Hornady black amunition bullets?

Postby Rollins » Sat Nov 16, 2019 10:03 am

Hello I had a successful first hunt opening day(a first for me). Doe and buck 50-70 yds away. Using factory black ammo, which I belive is the ftx bullets. Both hit right behind the shoulder but both managed to run 50 and 70 yds or so.

In fact i shot the doe first, she was in a group of does and bucks but being first light I couldn't see how many points the bucks are. They have to have 4 on one side at minimun this year. I lined up on her and fired. She stood a second and so did the other deer and then they ran off so I thought I missed.

I sat there for a bit cuz the deer were still in the brush but I couldnt get a shot. Then a buck walked out but I couldnt tell the size and another couple does but they were moving in and out so no shot. Then this buck stepped out, same area as the doe but a bit farther away and had the magic 4 points on one side. I lined up and fired, he jumped and ran. So I waited a few minutes and wandered over.


When I got the clearing I passed where the doe had been and I saw a bunch of blood, like someone had a high power fan running and then threw a bucket of red water in it. I tracked the doe probably 50 yds. Hit right behind the shoulder. Dragged her to where I could get with the truck and then went back to look for the buck.


Found where he stood same thing blood everywhere, tracked him over the fence into neighbors field about 70 yds away. Also hit right behind the shoulder .

I am wondering if there are better bullets to use? In the past I have shot deer at those ranges with a 50 cal muzzle loader using Thomson center .45 bullets in a sabot.
What's interesting is with the black powder, there was not much blood trail but usually the deer died on the spot(not always) or ran a few feet. With the 450 going a bit faster, I would have thought I would have seen a lot more damage to the deer and a they would be more likely to drop on the spot.

Instead despite being hit in the killzone, they acted like they did not even get hit. The buck jumped a bit and ran but no stagger or falldown, and the doe just stood there a few seconds frozen and looking around before running.

I am wondering if anybody else has the same experience and switched to different bullet? I am wondering if the bullet did not open up like it was supposed to or something? When gutting I didn't see the insides all torn to he'll or a huge exit hole like with the muzzle loader.
Rollins
 
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Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2019 6:07 pm

Re: Hornady black amunition bullets?

Postby Bmt85 » Sat Nov 16, 2019 12:37 pm

If you search the forums, you will see that many people have had performance issues with the FTX bullets. Your experience sounds like the bullet did it's job just fine, you just had to track em. The 450B is just like any other cartridge, you might have to track. Animals can be resilient. I've seen a deer run a good 100yds after having the heart completely destroyed with a 30-06. Also saw another deer take a high end 12ga slug to the chest, run off, come back around, take another slug to the chest, and run off yet again. Both shots were good kill shots. You never know what will happen.

Personally not a fan of the FTX bullets. There are some better ammo choices, but some can get expensive. If you reload, you have a lot more options. Lots of threads on various bullets.
Bmt85
 
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Location: S.E. Michigan

Re: Hornady black amunition bullets?

Postby Rollins » Sat Nov 16, 2019 2:35 pm

Yeah I know its all about shot placement and some deer are just tough and can run really far despite having no heart or lungs left.

I just am wondering cuz usually they drop on the spot, or fall down running a bit and die.

Having 2 deer hit back to back that acted like I missed is what prompted the question. I mean the doe stood there for a second or so looking around and then ran away with her friends. I would have though being hit where she was and as much blood as there is, she would have at least fell down, staggered or something. Same with the buck he ran like no problem.

I have had to look for deer hit with the muzzle loader before but despite often times leaving only small to no blood trails, they usually dropped right there, or at least did the falling down stagger run(well if I could see past the smoke cloud)

Also I did not notice a huge hole on the exit end. Which is good for meat I guess but from some pics I see of other deer hit, they have exit holes the size of golf balls.
Rollins
 
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Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2019 6:07 pm


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