Have one on the wall that was shot the previous yeat with a 30-06 180gr corlocks high in shoulder area, too high though. There was an entry and exit hole, a big knot and a cavity bigger than my fist above the back gristled around it with bone fragments in the gristle. The deer was shot the year before less than 100 yards from where I killed him.

165 grain ballistic tips used forever no probs,out of my 30-06.

This one went straight down and ended up getting up when we went back inside for the 4wheeler key. Found him bedded about 150 TSS away along a 4wheeler trail & he slowly got up, and went across a bluff bank creek. Shot twice with 00 & broke 3 legs and my bro tackled him. This is where I learned the strength on a big bodied 1 legged deer.

I doubt it, his wound is from deflection, there was no penetration. First time I tried a BT and last time.

The one on the wall went down, then gotup and made it back into a cutover that was 5 years along. We tried to find it for him but if you have never tried going through a cutover like that in a Mississippi creek bottom that has numerous beaver ponds the vegitation is hard to explain except to plan on lots of crawling

Being the youngun of the group, I get sent off in that mess on hands and knees looking for any signs of recent activity and/or blood.

Deflection?

"First time I tried a BT and last time". Wow! That's not quite an extensive test, but it's his money to spend as he wishes. Like I said, I've shot hundreds of deer with the Ballistic Tip and I like the bullet just fine. That said, there are quite a few other bullets that I do like and use. I use the SST in the Grandson's 308. I use the 65 gr Sierra Gameking often in the 223. I used Remington factory ammo with CoreLokt bullets for years. I've used the Partition bullet. They all work fine. But, to get back to the Ballistic Tip, one of the reasons I like it is that it leaves a good blood trail. The deer don't all drop like a rock. A few years ago I shot a 260 pound 9 point in the heart/lung area and that big rascal managed to get about 50 yards into a huge thick briar patch. I tracked him just fine. This past year I shot 3 deer and maybe 10 or 15 hogs with Ballistic Tips and the furthest any of them ran was maybe 20 feet. That was with the 260 and the 120 grain BT. Range of shots was from 50 yards to 400 yards. I shoot em in the lungs. Most likely I'd have gotten exactly the same results with an SST, a CoreLokt, a Gameking, an Accubond, a Berger, or a Barnes. They'll all work for you. So shoot what you want at the deer, as long as it's not a varmint bullet, but don't blame bad bullet placement on the bullet.

There's no such thing as a magic bullet. They will all fail under certain circumstances, often for no logical reason. Use what you like and are confident in.

That's true, have seen a partition out of a 270roy hit shoulder plate of a hog and come out the top of its back...weird 90degree turn.

Now I did have a DRT out of my REM 7600 and a 165 BT. I could prop the deer back up and he would have been back in his tracks. That was one of the fastest kills I've had.

I don't know..those things are hit or miss. They shoot like match bullets though.

I think they are more consistent than most give credit for, the will always be a variable in the equation. One could shoot 4 similar sized animals at the same distance with the same bullet and shot placement and get varied results just from different rate in breathing, muscles being tense or relaxed or even bone density being slightly heavier or lighter. It sure seems the bonded and solid bullets take a lot of variables and makes them less effective on the outcome, they also allow the shooter to be less selective about shot placement (as in not worrying about bone/sholder as much) as one has to with BT or standard cup and core type bullets.

[quote=603Country]"First time I tried a BT and last time". Wow! That's not quite an extensive test, but it's his money to spend as he wishes. quote] Yeah I don't use deer as test subjects. In 42 years I have shot deer with coreloks, Win Power points, Siroccos, TSX, TTSX, Accubonds, GMK. A-Frames, Partitions,,,, There are probably several others. In that time I have taken 2-5 deer a year, and have never not recovered one I have hit, until I tried the BT. If I have an extensive ammount of experiece with other rounds and never had a problem, why would I want to continue testing on animals a round that has provided me with my first failure ever. I mean comeon it did not even break his shoulder just left him with a pretty long scar up his shoulder. The guy asked for opinions, I gave him one tried it didn't like it, won't use it again. And since when is a high shoulder shot bad bullet placement. I can promise you if I had shot him with a barnes, accubond, partition in the same spot we would not be having this discussion.

Chuck, sorry if I offended you but the original description of "He is still alive and has a big lump up and over the top of his left shoulder." sounded like numerous wounds that deer have recovered from and been killed later in life. A high shoulder shot that is just too high happens more often than anybody wants it to. Had one myself years ago with the only deer I ever killed with a 270. At the shot he dropped like a rock, couple minutes later he got up and started leaving the area, another shot low in the lungs put him down pretty quick. Does that make the 270 or the 130gr Sierra GameKing a bad choice? Nope bad shot on my part.

Same here, Chuck. Your note sounded like you just shot too high. And you did say that it didn't break his shoulder, which tells me where you shot him. Ballistic Tips do open up fast and a big bone could cause a failure to penetrate. And just like kmon1 did, I shot a huge 10 point across the top of the back and down he went. I got out the coffee and had a cup, waited 10 or 15 minutes and then started walking toward the buck. He twitched and kicked his back legs. Then he got up and ran off. I had hit him too high and nicked his spine (not fatally) and knocked him unconscious. I lost that one, but I don't think that I ever lost one that I hit properly with that BT. It's been many years and I just don't remember every deer. Probably one of my brothers or cousins would jump at the opportunity to say "I remember that 6 point that got away from ya, back in 1982.....".

No offense taken. I also stopped doing High Shoulder shots after that. My thinking is so what if I have to do some tracking. At least with a behind the shoulder shot, I know the deer is going to die and the chances for that happening again are much much lower. Switched to barnes, and so far they have all DRT, knock on wood. So while I agree no bullet is magical I am getting what I wanted from the barnes so far without wasting meat or worrying about deflections.
Back to the OP though, I did agree with the Accubond over the BT just through the Barnes out threw because I am having a really really good run with them.

I'm in agreement on the AccuBond. BTs at velocities that are moderate at impact work great. Push them hard within 200 yards may cause the bullet to fail. I have gone to premium bullets in my handloads to avoid the chance of a lost animal. I'm pushing the 120gr BTs pretty damn hard out of a 7mm-08 and tracked a doe that I shot at 87 yards bout 150 yards. Pass thru ( would love to see that bullet), but I suspect cup and core separation with that BT at that impact velocity.

I shot about every quality projectile I could find at deer,elk,&
pigs..not to mention varmits..I got off all Noslers..the partition were somewhat iffy on accuracy at range..I now use and
reload Barnes..one must keep a clean weapon, they are copper..and
you want to load a lighter wgt than usual because you'll get the
velocity and penatration..You probably will never recover a bullet, if you do wgt. it..My game bio buddy I reload his 25-06 w/100 grain TTSX and RL 22 gets in hole groups and shoots deer now out to and past 300 yds where he used to lose them at 80..
He got a Sendero/Zeiss combo..and never looked back..luck Don

100gr tsx out of a 257wby weighed 80gr when it was recovered out of a deer.

We've yet to recover a 110gr Accubond from the 25-06 running a mere 2800fps from 120lb deer to 250+lb pigs, been pleasantly pleased to say the least.

Not a huge sampling, but I've taken 3 deer and several pigs with 140gr, and almost as many 160gr, Accubonds with my .280AI.. Have yet to recover a bullet, and exits were large holes, massive internal trauma. Shots ranged from 30yds to 225yds. No discernible difference in bullet performance, though more animals fall DRT at the longer ranges. Never had to track an animal with it yet, the ones that have ran never made it to cover.

I've had similar results from a couple of other bullets/calibers, so I'm not touting it as the end all/be all of bullet design. But the 7mm Accubonds are good quality bullets in my experience.

I've switched just about everything over to them and have gotten others' rifles switched as well to consolidate bulk bullet orders. So far have yet to have one not perform correctly; mule deer, elk, hogs, WT. actually got pinholes through both shoulders of a deer last year just over 400, but internal damage was just awful. Wife's MD left a quarter size exit at about the same distance and insides were mush. Other bullets can & will do the same, but really liking how those fly long range.

I shot an aoudad in march with accubonds, can't think of a good enough reason to use bt...even for coyotes i always use the same load from my 300win mag..yes they may not expand quick enough in some cases, but everrything you shoot at will die...

If I may ask a question here.
Forgive my ignornce.
Is an Accubond, the same as core-loc.
If not, which is better on average weight Whitetail.
Thank you for the help.

No, they are not the same. Accubond is made by Nosler. Core Lokt is made by remington. The Accubond has a lead core that is chemically bonded to the jacket. The CoreLOkt, despite its name does not.