i went hunting on opening day of course. probably the best day of the year. i was shooting a .243 with remington core-lokt 100 grain bullets locked and loaded. around 8 am a nice 8 point walked out 80 yards away. i clicked the safety off and blasted away. i dropped the deer right in his tracks. he died very shortly after. when we went to load him in the truck we noticed that there was no exit hole and after turning him over there was no blood on the ground and really none even on his fur. i finally found the entry hole and it was in the correct vicinity of the ideal place to shoot a deer. i just wanted to ask why this was? what vital did i hit in order for this to happen and most importantly why didnt he bleed?

Where exactly did you aim? Was the deer perfectly broadside? I shot hit high point of the shoulder with .270 130 grain Remington CoreLokts and I rarely have the deer take step and almost never get a complete pass through on bucks. To much bone. They also never bleed much at all out of the nose or mouth and most of the blood stays in the chest cavity.

he was quartering away from me just a hair and i aimed right behind the shoulder. there was no blood coming out of the nose or mouth. i just find that strange.

Shot this 8pt Monday, same thing hit high shoulder, dropped, shattered the spine lungs, damaged very little meat. couldn't find entry, no exit, shooting 6.5 Weatherby magnum. A lethal shot.




Mr. Man, you must have blown up the lungs and top of heart. Next time, when you field dress your deer, do a "autopsy" of the wound. Great learning experience, keep recovered bullet for souvenir.

With that shot angle the bullet might have hit a rib and went forward into neck/spine area causing the deer to drop in it's tracks. Same effect as a broadside high shoulder shot. With that small of a caliber the entry wound is small and if it was a bit high, then all the blood stayed in the chest cavity. When I clean a deer I have a lot of blood inside the chest.

When his heart stops pumping the blood stays where it's at. Blood filled up his body cavity and he died before blood started spraying out of him. That's why rifle hunting is so much better than bow hunting. If you shoot an animal correctly there's no hide and seek.

If all bullets could deliver all their energy within the animal, given they carry enough to do the job, there would be fewer lost deer.

It points the basic principle behind bullets that mushroom on impact without breaking apart.

I've seen guys who spend more time studying the bullet found in the animal than the animal itself.

It also brings to mind how an animal can run any distance with it's heart and lungs destroyed. I once heard an ole timer describing it as "running dead", which I take as using only the blood left in its veins.

Don't be squeamish. Dive in while cleaning the deer and see what was hit. Like previously said, do an autopsy. You'll learn a lot if you care to.

You would necropsy an animal. If you gut then skin and quarter you should have found your answers.

I shot a buck like that with he same 100gr corelokt, only he was quartering to me. I punched him directly in the near shoulder and he dropped like a grenade went off. My dad went to help me load him and we could not find entrance or exit, but is shoulder was busted to hell. Later found the bullet under the hide behind the far shoulder. Heart and lower lungs were gelatinized.

Strangely, I've shot several others through the shoulder with that same bullet and gotten complete pass throughs.

It's no cause for concern. That bullet did exactly what it was designed to do. It hit something solid (your deer, congrats BTW) and spread out and put on the breaks, expending its' energy. It sounds like a bullet of proper weight, structure, and velocity hit the intended animal in the intended spot. Nothing to worry about.

oh no concern here since he dropped. just very curious. would hate for him to have ran without leaving a blood trail though.

If you do prefer a pass through for better blood trails when needed whilst causing equal amounts of internal damage I would recommend the tsx. My wife shoots them in her 243 and so far she's taken 7 deer all pass through. 5 dropped in there tracks. Two traveled less than 40 yards and left massive amounts of blood.

The .243 is plenty of bullet for a well placed shot.

I've personally taken at least 50-60 central TX whitetails with .243 100gr Corelokts, and only once, imo, was bullet performance possibly an issue. It's a lethal round, and a very high percentage of the time I got a pass-through.

Hi shoulder shot is a great shot to put a deer down on the spot, but ive never known it to be a meat saver. After your autopsy you should skin quarter and cut up your deer and see what all it messes up.

A few years back I shot this large body buck with a 7MM 150 gr corelokt ultra mag. The buck made it 5 yards and dropped. He was slightly angled towards me. The shot was slightly behind shoulder and angled through both lungs. In the pic you can see the bulge (behind the barrel) of where the exit wound should have been, recovered bullet right there. The damage was excessive internally. Lungs looked like mush. What stopped the bullet from exiting was a rib, or what was left of the rib area. Little to no blood from the entry, some coming from mouth but not excessive.

I love this caliber, but the rifle weighs a ton and best used for long shots and in open areas. Both of which are not found in my new hunting area.

I wouldn't over-analyze it!!! You shot, it dropped!!! I use a 16ga with slugs because my furthest shot is maybe 40yds and I don't get pass through shots and the deer drop DRT!!!

I think it a good thing to analyze the shot.

I shot my first buck two years ago. It was almost perfect he came in and gave me his side. I dropped him. Last year I had a monster buck come out and I waited for the same shot, but he never gave it to me. The doe he was locked up on took off running and off a dream buck went. After replaying that day over and over for the last year I made it a point to learn the anatomy and understand what damage would be done at different angles. I'm a rookie and I'm still learning.

This year I had a buck come in he was quartered away showing me his right side. I knew right away that was a clean shot. I wasted no time and took the shot. I entered high on his third to the last rib. There was no exit. After dressing him I found that the bullet was lodged in what would be our left armpit. He made it about 20 yards and then piled up.

I hope to never lose a buck again because I'm waiting for a certain shot.

Oh yeah. 270. 130 gr at 100 yards.