I have a question for the more experienced deer hunters out there.

Prior to this year I've shot a .300 Win Mag with 150 grain Remington Core Lokt bullets. Didn't shoot but a half dozen deer or so with it, but all of them had big exit wounds, a lot of blood, and never had one go any further than 50 yards or so from where they were shot.

This year, I went out and bought a 25-06. Love the gun, and have been shooting 110 grain Winchester Accu-Bonds through it. I've shot two deer so far this year and neither have taken a step. Both dropped in their tracks. My concern is that the entry and exit wounds are tiny. Very little blood and the deer from this morning had no blood. It was very difficult prior to cleaning to even see where the entry and exit wounds were. Had that deer not dropped immediately, it would have been impossible to track.

So the question:

Am I using the wrong bullet due to the extremely small wounds, or am I using the right bullet because everything seems to be dropping in its tracks?

Sooner or later it won't drop. Accu-bonds will handle heavier skinned and boned game. Try something with a Nosler balistic tip. Will give you a little more expansion. Also, that round is fast, very fast. Were the shots close?

First shot was about 90 yards. This morning's was about 125.

Did you hit them in the shoulder? I know I have shot a few deer in the shoulder with my .243 that have dropped but like you said if they hadnt it would have been impossible to track them!

I use a handload with Ballastic tips, awesome load, if you reload, look into this.

I have been using 117 gr. Sierra boatails for a long time. They get the job done.

X2

Nope, no shoulder shots. I don't like to lose the meat. Both were shot right through the vitals just behind the shoulder.

The lack of blood on the one today was almost unbelieveable. We put it in the back of the truck and drove back to the cleaning station and there was a tiny spot of blood in the back of the truck about the diameter of a quarter. It just didn't bleed at all.

I may try the noslers. Are the core-lokts a good choice in 25-06?

I don't reload. Just don't shoot the rifle enough to justify it. I've considered doing it for shotgun shells, but it's just not cost effective enough to justify the effort.

IMHO core lokt's are very good bullitz, never had one fail me.

Try some 120 grn, see if your rifle likes them.

Personally with my vast experience of types of bullets/calibers I think you should switch to a .448 Lott or .416 Rigby to give you maximum blood loss.

The only time I've seen deer drop in thier tracks is when the bullet shattered thier spinal cord.Even with a heart shot they can run several yards.That's a new one on me.

If you ONLY take behind the shoulder shots, you would probably have better results with a 100gr CoreLokt. More velocity, faster expansion, more damage to lung tissue, and enough penetration to get an exit wound on double lung shots.

But the tougher bullets (like the Accubond) will serve you well if you hit the shoulder, or need to take a quartering shot.

BTW, a fast expanding bullet thru the lungs will often result in DRT. But the only way to ensure that a deer drops is to hit the CNS (brain or spine).

I would guess that both were lung shots. They were quartered when cleaned so I didn't get into the chest cavity to do a full CSI style autopsy

Neither were spine shots but both dropped like rocks. The first deer, a smaller bodied spike didn't even twitch, he fell stone dead. The second, a bigger bodied buck, never took a step. But it took him a few minutes to expire.

I looked at the box this morning and it says that the Accubond is for smaller, thin skinned animals. Maybe they're that good. I would be sick though if I lost an animal.

Something to remember the animal stops pumping blood when you end the heart so there will not be much of a blood trail on something that is drt. The accubond is a great hunting bullet in my opinon. This is just my 2 cents.

I think that round is just so damned fast, you're just blowing through the animal really cleanly. I bet at 150 yards, you wouldn't have the same results. Comparing to a .300 win mag isn't realistic though, the .300 is like hitting them with a truck. The 25-06 screams man, maybe shoot a bigger grain bullet if its bothering you.

Rocksolid, you make a great point about the heart being stopped and the blood not flowing.

I don't really want to go heavier. I went away from the .300 to go lighter. I just expected an exit wound that was bigger than a quarter inch.

I may get a chance to shoot a hog or two this weekend so I'll see if I can learn some more about these bullets.

Use a heavier grain, as suggested, 120 grain. That should make a better hole

The load you are shooting is fine. In fact perfect.

What did the internals of the deer look like? Jello, I bet from my experience.

Accubonds expand faster than people think but they are designed to maintain a small frontal area to get deeper penetration.

DRT sounds pretty good to me.

Always wondered where the failure came in with a dead deer. But I understand your question. But it sounds to me like you had perfect bullet performance.

Bill

The results so far have been awesome. My question is just have I been lucky or are these bullets just that good? I've had quick kills with no meat loss. I can't ask for anymore.

I just expected more visible damage. I haven't seen the insides yet. I've been quartering the deer rather than gutting them.

You are shooting the right bullet, IMO. Stick with the Accubonds.
Just FYI - a general rule of thumb is...if the velocity is over 2800 fps AT IMPACT, use a bonded bullet.

I'll bet if you gutteed one you would find a real mess where the lungs "used" to be.

I have always been a fan of the controlled expansion over the rapid expansion. ie, I shoot Barnes X. I know that the hole going in and the hole going out are going to be very simialr in size. But, I also know that there will be a hole going out. I probably dont need the X for most of my deer hunting situations, but just in case, I want to know the bullet will penetrate and not break up.

Try those bullets on some pigs.

I switched from 30-06 to 25-06 last year. I always used corelokts in the 30-06 and every deer I shot went straight down since making the switch every buck (3) have traveled a little. I have tried a couple bullets. Last week used a 100 grain barnes triple x. Shot was high and forward but exit wound was great, size of a fifty cent piece and lots of blood. If that bullet hadn't of preformed so well I may never have found that deer. I have also used some ballistic tips. Shot a big bodied deer earlier in season with no exit. Buck went 30-40 yards and massive damage in heart lungs, I guess it just came apart and rattled around. I would like to see one go straight down as they did with the 30-06 and corelokts but I enjoy shooting the 25-06 alot more

If ALL your deer with ANY round have all been falling on the spot you've just been real lucky, it's not the caliber. A heart/lung shot deer will run alot more times than they will fall DRT.