Why was there so much damage to the meat of the buck I shot with a .308?
Filed under: Miscellaneous
Question
I harvested my buck last week with shooting Federal Fusion .308 ammo. On Saturday night my nephew and butchered the deer. While skinning the buck we saw major trauma to the both front shoulders. They were both turned to basically jelly and we were not able to use much of either shoulder. I hit the buck behind the left shoulder with the exit wound being through the heart (which was destroyed by the shot) to the front of the right shoulder with the shot being about 100 yards out. I was really disappointed at the damage done to the meat when my shot was almost perfect. Do you have any ammo recommendations that don’t damage as much of the meat? I was extremely disappointed with the lost meat.
John,
Congratulations on tagging a buck!
If preserving as much meat as possible is your goal, you may wish to aim behind the shoulders. A shot through both lungs will result in the deer expiring quickly.
When bullets impact the shoulder or large bones they expand rapidly. This results in more damage along the wound channel. If the bullet only passes through ribs and lungs it rarely damages much meat.
Enjoy creation,
grant
November 20, 2015
