Since I gun hunt almost exclusively in the shotgun/pistol zone here in MN, I figured I'd try using an AR Pistol in .300 BLK this past fall. I chose to use Barnes VOR-TX factory loads with 110 grain TAC-TX copper bullets. Very accurate when I zero'd the gun.
So on the second weekend of our gun season, I shot a buck and what happened I don't think I could describe as anything other than "bullet failure". To keep a long story longer, I had a large buck travel almost directly under my stand, sub 20 yards. I fired two times at the deer, the first bullet it right behind the shoulder blade in the vitals, the second bullet as it was running away was a non-vital hit that barely clipped the near shoulder bone, but did seem to shatter the upper shoulder/leg bone entirely. The deer jump and took off crashing through the brush, as fatally hit deer often do. I sat in my stand for another 10 min and could see clearly in the snow where my bullets had passed through into the ground. When I got down, I didn't find any blood whatsoever, just fur right where both bullet holes were in the ground. Finding blood, if there was any, would have been very easy since there was snow on the ground.
At this point, I was feeling incredibly uneasy about my shot. I thought I maybe I grazed the deer at nearly arms length or put a bad shot on it, despite how it reacted to the gun shots. I looked at the time, and decided I would sit for exactly one hour before I would start tracking the deer.
So I waited the hour, and about 30 yards into tracking the deer, I find a little bit of bright red blood. A little bit of blood soon turned into a consistent blood trail, although not nearly as much blood as I usually see on a deer I've shot at point blank range. About about 50 yards more, I see the deer on its side facing away. I move up to it very quietly and slowly, and circle around in front of the deer, and the deer is STILL breathing, taking very short shallow breaths.
At this point I feel like total garbage knowing this deer was laying there sucking wind for a full hour, so I quickly shot it again behind the shoulder blade. Much to my surprise, this seemed to reinvigorate the deer and it attempted to get back on its feet. It got its back legs underneath itself, to the point it was sitting like a dog sits facing right at me. I shoot him again square in the chest from a mere feet away and that seemed to do the trick. Yikes.
All the bullets were a full pass through except the frontal shot, and find the bullet wounds was very hard. Finding them was like searching a dog for ticks.
Anyways, should I try lead bullets out of the AR pistol? Go back to the trusty 12 gauge slug? Really not impressed with the copper bullet's performance. I don't understand how a deer shots in the vitals could be alive a full hour after I shot it. Who knows how far it could have gone if my second shot didn't clip a shoulder bone. Has anyone had similar issues with .300 BLK or have a bullet recommendation that has worked well in the past?
So on the second weekend of our gun season, I shot a buck and what happened I don't think I could describe as anything other than "bullet failure". To keep a long story longer, I had a large buck travel almost directly under my stand, sub 20 yards. I fired two times at the deer, the first bullet it right behind the shoulder blade in the vitals, the second bullet as it was running away was a non-vital hit that barely clipped the near shoulder bone, but did seem to shatter the upper shoulder/leg bone entirely. The deer jump and took off crashing through the brush, as fatally hit deer often do. I sat in my stand for another 10 min and could see clearly in the snow where my bullets had passed through into the ground. When I got down, I didn't find any blood whatsoever, just fur right where both bullet holes were in the ground. Finding blood, if there was any, would have been very easy since there was snow on the ground.
At this point, I was feeling incredibly uneasy about my shot. I thought I maybe I grazed the deer at nearly arms length or put a bad shot on it, despite how it reacted to the gun shots. I looked at the time, and decided I would sit for exactly one hour before I would start tracking the deer.
So I waited the hour, and about 30 yards into tracking the deer, I find a little bit of bright red blood. A little bit of blood soon turned into a consistent blood trail, although not nearly as much blood as I usually see on a deer I've shot at point blank range. About about 50 yards more, I see the deer on its side facing away. I move up to it very quietly and slowly, and circle around in front of the deer, and the deer is STILL breathing, taking very short shallow breaths.
At this point I feel like total garbage knowing this deer was laying there sucking wind for a full hour, so I quickly shot it again behind the shoulder blade. Much to my surprise, this seemed to reinvigorate the deer and it attempted to get back on its feet. It got its back legs underneath itself, to the point it was sitting like a dog sits facing right at me. I shoot him again square in the chest from a mere feet away and that seemed to do the trick. Yikes.
All the bullets were a full pass through except the frontal shot, and find the bullet wounds was very hard. Finding them was like searching a dog for ticks.
Anyways, should I try lead bullets out of the AR pistol? Go back to the trusty 12 gauge slug? Really not impressed with the copper bullet's performance. I don't understand how a deer shots in the vitals could be alive a full hour after I shot it. Who knows how far it could have gone if my second shot didn't clip a shoulder bone. Has anyone had similar issues with .300 BLK or have a bullet recommendation that has worked well in the past?
