By Larry Weishuhn
“What do you consider the purpose and responsibility of a hunting bullet?†asked the bearded guy wearing bib-overalls and an Alabama-styled brim ball cap, sitting across from me behind a screen of campfire smoke.
He had sat quietly taking in all things during our elk hunt campfire discussion about choices in hunting calibers and rounds. I had noticed when we got into camp and checked the zero of our rifles, he was shooting a .338 Win Mag, certainly an excellent choice for elk. He had not only handled his rifle with care and safety, but then placed two bullets nearly in the same hole 2 ½-inches above the bull. His scope was an early Trijicon AccuPoint, his ammo Hornady’s 200-grain SST. I knew it to be accurate, also hard hitting and capable of doing considerable tissue damage, particularly if shot through an animal’s vitals. I had used the same ammo in a .338 Win Mag Remington Model 700, with a fancy back-then Fajen wood stock. It had long been my back-up rifle. I carried it throughout the world. At the time I was on staff with various shooting and hunting publications, on every hunt I used a different rifle. I carried my .338 Win just in case the rifle I was hunting with at the time had problems…
Over the years I have sold very few personal guns other than to close friends. In a weak moment I had sold my .338 Win Mag to a friend who was headed to Canada on his first moose hunt. Unfortunately fate intervened, he came down with a rare form of pneumonia and died two months before his trip. Unfortunately, his hunting rifles disappeared three days after his death. Surely do wish I had that beautiful and accurate rifle back in my gun safe. I had a sweet spot for the .338 Win Mag.
Before answering I poked at the coals of the warming campfire, sending a spray of embers skyward, like offerings to those above. Doing so did two things, it gave me the chance to think while everyone gazed at the skyward embers.
“To me, the purpose of a bullet is to be accurate for proper shot placement with sufficient down range energy to quickly and humanely kill the animal. Once the bullet enters the body it should cause and create a substantial wound channel, with traumatic damage due to hydrostatic shock, immediate tissue damage and ensuing rapid blood loss. A bullet should cause death as immediately as possible.†I stated.
“Do you want a bullet that fragments, or stays intact and mushrooms?†the questioner asked.
“I want my bullets to remain intact, but mushroomed, at least doubling in size from the initial diameter of the bullet. This helps create more hydrostatic shock and a larger wound channel. But I also want a bullet which will penetrate through a reasonable thickness of bone, if I have to shoot through the scapula and ribs. I want my bullet to break a rib, do considerable tissue damage to heart and lung, travel through a rib and break the front side or offside shoulder, depending upon the angle.†I explained.
“Interesting..†said he, then poked at the coals. “Do you want your hunting bullet to stay in the body or exit?â€
Somehow I had known that was where we would end up sooner or later. I considered throwing the question right back at him, to determine his thoughts. Obviously, he had a fair amount of hunting experience, based on the questions asked and how he asked them.
“As you’re aware there are essentially two schools of thought regarding bullets staying in the body or exiting. There are those who want their bullet to expend all its energy in the body of the animal and remain there, and, those who want the bullet to do considerable tissue damage within the body and then exit, creating two places for blood to leak from, making for an easy blood trail to follow.†I said, then hesitated to look around the fire to see the facial expressions of those sitting around the fire.
“My intention whenever I pull the trigger on an animal as mentioned is to kill it as quickly and humanely as possible. When hunting big game, meaning from deer on up, I am a firm believer in “using enough gunâ€. To me there is no such things as too much gun or over-kill!â€
“I use controlled expansion style bullets, those which expand as the enter the body, do tremendous tissue and sometimes bone damage. If they exit on the opposite side, having expended most of their down range energy within the body, I’m happy, but also if I find the spent bullet just under the skin opposite of the side I shot. That said, shot placement is always paramount. That’s why its imperative to know the anatomy of whatever species you hunt.â€
“I do like to recover spent bullets to see how they performed. That’s why I often fire second shots at the animals even when they are down at an angle where there is a good chance I will be able to recover a bullet. With every animal I shoot or have shot, I do my own gutting so I can see what the bullet did, its terminal performance. The exception has been in some African hunting camps where the PH insists his staff gut and care for capes and carcasses. But even there I try to be present when the animal is gutted and skinned.â€
“To specifically answer your question. I don’t really like following blood trails. My preference is for the animal to go down immediately or within sight. Of course that does not always happen. I have however followed many blood trails, especially when having outfitted and guiding others. It’s nice to have blood leaking from both sides. But, there are also those who want blood to accumulate in the thoracic cavity, which suppresses any breathing.†I continued.
“My advice is always, if you shoot an animal, reload as quickly as possible and if there is any movement shoot it again! Do not shoot, then admire your shot. Shoot, reload and immediately get back on the animal. It’s better to lose 6 to 8-ounces of meat from a follow-up shot than losing the entire animal, because it got up and ran away! Numerous times I have seen a hunter shoot an animal, it goes down and he or she turns to high-five those with them. When they do, the animal gets up, runs away, and is seldom recovered, or recovered considerably later. Celebrate your shot and good fortune with friends when the animal is hanging on the meat pole, not before!â€
I glanced around the campfire. Those seated there, nodded in agreement especially the one who had asked questions.
I frequently hunt with handguns, specifically Taurus Raging Hunters chambered in .44 Mag, .454 Casull and .460 S&W Mag. All are topped with Trijicon SRO 2.5 MOA red-dot sights. I shoot 240-grain XTP Hornady Custom in my .44 Mag, 240-grain XTP MAG Hornady Custom in my .454 Casull, and 200-grain FTX Hornady Custom in my .460 S&W Mag. In my Mossberg Patriot .270 Win, .30-06 Springfield and 7mm PRC hunting rifles topped with either Trijicon AccuPoint or Huron scopes. I shoot Hornady Precision Hunter ammo using their ELD-X bullets, or in some instances Hornady Outfitter using their CX bullets. To me Hornady’s Precision Hunter is the finest ammunition I have ever shot in terms of accuracy and terminal performance. I have now used it on animals in North America from elk on down. I primarily hunt with the Hornady Outfitter line of ammo, which uses their monolithic copper alloy bullet, when hunting where lead is no longer allowed. But I have also used them on big wild hogs, whitetails and mule deer in Texas with great success.
I have long used Hornady’s 240-grain XTP handgun bullets, and have done so with great success on animals as large as Alaskan brown bear and elk down to whitetails and varmints, and Africa’s plains game. My handguns shoot it extremely accurately and the terminal performance is second to none.
Back around the campfire, “Something I do when shooting a second shot, even if I think the first shot is going to be deadly, is place my second bullet into another part of vitals to create a second large wound channel. I occasionally hear where a hunter shoots a second time then brags about that shot being almost in the exact place as the first. This really accomplishes little in terms of creating a second wound channel. It is better to place a second bullet into the vitals in a different location, a little way from the first shot. This creates another major wound channel.â€
From behind the outfitter spoke loudly, “Y’all might want to resume this discussion tomorrow night. Best get to bed. Coffee will be on at 4 am in less than five hours!â€
