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Barnes TripleX NOT stopping deer?

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flyspy1 View Drop Down
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    Posted: November/12/2007 at 14:35
Just wondering if anyone else on the board had a whitetail tote a 168 grain Barnes triple shock.  Had a bruiser tote mine yesterday.  I made a good shot (as evidenced by the quarts of blood found while tracking) but followed for 3/4 of a mile (that's what garmin said anyway, seemed like five once we got to the briars) til he bled out.  I thought Barnes was the bees knees, just curious to see what you guys might think.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tip69 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/12/2007 at 15:21
Did you recover him?
take em!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cyborg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/12/2007 at 15:34

I think sometimes it's the animals will to live. I have been on a tracking party a couple of times where the deer has been dead and running.

320 yards with no heart on one, it seems unbelievable, but it happens just the same. quite a bit further on one that was double lunged, and leg blown off.

So to answer your question I don't think it was the bullet. Just one of the marvels of nature.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RONK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/12/2007 at 20:31

If it was a broadside shot, I'd be very surprised if he stopped the bullet. I'd also be willing to bet that it expanded perfectly, leaving a thumb-sized exit wound. As mentioned,  just a tough critter. With the exact same shot placement, a cheap, fragile bullet might have fragmented violently inside him, for an instant kill.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pyro6999 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/12/2007 at 20:37
the tsx is a waste on whitetail, its like shooting a coyote with a fmj, go with a nosler accubond or a sierra gameking and save some money and kill more deer with less tracking.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8shots Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 04:02
I have had similiar experiences. I feel that the medium bore caliber just does not make a big enough hole with monolithics. But that is just my opinion. Many guys swear by them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blackbird Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 05:32
I think pyro hit the nail on the head. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this bullet made for tough, heavy boned, thick skin animals like bear or elk ? If that is the case, the bullet won't expand, and will punch right through. How big was the exit hole ?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pyro6999 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 06:58
well what barnes does to make up for that is the make bullets in weights that rifles of that certain caliber dont normally shoot, lets say you have a 7mm rem mag and you shoot a 165gr bullet normally, well if you went to the barnes x bullet you would drop down to like 130 and according to barnes get better performance, a solid copper bullet like that is like a full metal jacket on deer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jonbravado Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 07:55

i tracked a whitetail buck for 4 hours one night and we found probably a damn gallon of blood and a 2" piece of shoulder bone in a puddle of it.

 

he had brushed up against trees that were level w/ my waist (i'm 6'2" tall) and had done a complete circle through the swamp.

 

i know all about the buck's will to live - that is the first and only deer i haven't found. and made a good shot on him.

 

just like a wood duck - if it's shot and not dead, it'll lodge it self underwater so you'll never find it.

 

J



Edited by jonbravado
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 09:25

This guy used Barnes Triple Shock on big game in Africa.

 

http://www.opticstalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=8449&PN=1

 

There are some pictures of bullets recovered from lion and eland.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote flyspy1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 17:40

Unfortunately mr. tip, I haven't found him yet.  I tracked him back across his own blood trail and into the marsh.  After the tide came in and went back out, made it a little tougher.  I've got one more spot to try tomorrow when I go back (I owe it to the big guy to find him even if I can't eat him) and then I will have to turn it over to the buzzards.  I'm absolutely sick about it as it was a personal best.  Sorry to vent about it to you guys.  Sounds like from the guys on the board that I may be overdoing it with the barnes.  To answer some of the other questions, yes, the buck was broadside at 214 yards.  The bullet did go completely through him as I saw a big dust cloud pop up behind the deer after the shot.  Mr. Pyro, to address the lighter bullet weight comment, I chose the 168 gr. as I have a Leupold with the M3 turrets calibrated for 168 gr. bullets.  I think that I will take your advice and go with the accubond bullets.  I used 155 gr. SSTs in my other .308 with pretty good results on whitetail.  I don't think that they make them in 168 (165 is close though).  I appreciate you guys' opinion and I hold it in high regard.  Thanks for weighing in! 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RONK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/13/2007 at 18:48

 Good luck, flyspy1.  There's still a chance you may find him, but he may also hole up for a few days and recover, too.  A deer's ability to heal serious injury is nothing less than astonishing.

  A few I have seen personally:

1. A fat, healthy whitetail doe shot by my father with a 12 ga. slug, that had a load of birdshot lodged under her hide. Healed up completely, but sounded like sleet hitting the concrete when we skinned her.

2.  A nice 10 pointer that I killed with a 12 ga. slug, that had a mushroomed.22 (.22 magnum?) bullet encased in scar tissue inside the pericardium.( heart sac.)

3.  A slightly gaunt, but hard-rutting 8-pointer I killed at sunrise as he worked a rub-line, freshening scrapes. He had a big 3-blade broadhead embedded in his ham, with about 10 inches of the shaft. The entrance wound was about healed up, but the inside was a mess. I guess it had been there a couple weeks.

4. An adult doe my cousin shot with a.308 on opening day, but did not recover for 9 days. When he got her, one lung was gone, the chest had a few big clots in it, the entrance wound was healed shut and there was fresh corn in her stomach. I can't recall if the bullet exited. He thinks she would have died eventually, but she made it for nine days, so who knows?

 5. A bull elk with a freak rack shot by an old friend that had an ENTIRE arrow embedded in the brisket/ chest muscles. It had been there for at least a year and was thought to be the cause of the deformed antlers. ( I didn't witness this one, but I saw the arrow and have no reason to doubt the storyteller.)

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ceylonc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/15/2007 at 08:11

RONK, those are some incredible instances of the resilence of the whitetail.  I completely agree that they can certainly survive a great amount of trauma.  Never underestimate an animals will to live...

 

With this being said, I'm very glad I clicked on this thread.  I decided last week to try out 168gr Triple Shoks out of my .308 A-Bolt for deer season.  I'm driving down to Alabama tomorrow AM so that I'll be in the woods early Saturday AM.  I have some 165gr. Partitions that I hunted with last year.  I think I'll be leaving the 168s in the shooting bag after reading your experience...

 

Sorry to hear about not finding your deer.  That sucks big time but you did more than the average hunter in trying to find him.  Things like this just happen sometimes unfortunately...

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jonbravado Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/15/2007 at 08:24

good stories, and i believe em.

 

with all this said, i think that it's VERY important and responsible to find the bullet that has the stopping power needed for what you are hunting.

 

I tend to err on the side of terminal performance -vs- preserving meat.  I would rather have to cut around a nastier exit wound of a quickly dispatched
deer, than track a wounded animal that suffered for it's final minutes.  I like balistic tips, nosler partitions and the likes. they quickly dispatch the deer
and don't have TOO much meat damage.  And accuracy to put the bullet in the right spot would be a big part of that as well.  I like shooting at least 2 - 3 different bullets before i settle on one. and then i stock up and don't worry about it.

 

J

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/15/2007 at 08:55
Originally posted by ceylonc ceylonc wrote:

RONK, those are some incredible instances of the resilence of the whitetail.  I completely agree that they can certainly survive a great amount of trauma.  Never underestimate an animals will to live...

 

With this being said, I'm very glad I clicked on this thread.  I decided last week to try out 168gr Triple Shoks out of my .308 A-Bolt for deer season.  I'm driving down to Alabama tomorrow AM so that I'll be in the woods early Saturday AM.  I have some 165gr. Partitions that I hunted with last year.  I think I'll be leaving the 168s in the shooting bag after reading your experience...

 

Sorry to hear about not finding your deer.  That sucks big time but you did more than the average hunter in trying to find him.  Things like this just happen sometimes unfortunately...

 

 What part of alabama are you heading to?I'll be in weedowee saturday morining myself .

 

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ceylonc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/15/2007 at 09:59
Originally posted by Bigdaddy0381 Bigdaddy0381 wrote:

 

 What part of alabama are you heading to?I'll be in weedowee saturday morining myself .

 

 

Bigdaddy0381

 

I'll be hunting in Monroe Co. about 15 minutes from Monroeville.  We have about 800 acres near the Alabama River.  It's beautiful country with lots of hills, gullies, and somewhat dry swamps.  We haven't seen any hogs this year but I understand that they're back in the area after a 3 year departure. 

 

To say I'm excited about this weekend is an understatement!!!  Tell me about where you'll be hunting in Weedowee.  Is than near Montgomery?  I went to Alabama (Tuscaloosa) and lived in B-ham from '93-'95 but have forgotten some areas of the state.  Dying to move back someday. 

 

ceylonc@hotmail.com if you want to email...

 

Take care & good luck

Ceylon Blackwell

Memphis, TN

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote flyspy1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/15/2007 at 16:47

I agree with you Mr. Jonbravado.  I usually only use bullets that kill deer quickly, and, ordinarily I am a head/neck shooter.  I really thought that I had done my homework when selecting the barnes bullet as they came highly recommended by some trusted friends that know their stuff, and I only shot the ol' boy behind the shoulder because he was a bruiser and I didn't want to miss.  I tried several bullets and I liked the accuracy that the barnes gave me, so I went with it.  I'm all for preserving meat, but you can't preserve any of it if you can't find the deer.  I was hoping to see the buck all piled up right where he stood, but it didn't happen that way.  As such, a valuable, and nauseating, lesson was learned.  Maybe it was this piece of effective advertising!

 

http://www.barnesbullets.com/videos/308_180gr_TSX_6fps_logo. wmv

 

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8shots Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/16/2007 at 04:02

I was at a local gunshop where the guy behind the counter showed me a monolithic Barnes copy bullet he had recovered from a one shot kill. Perfect expansion etc, except it came from a 375 Mag. I do believe the bigger bore rifles can handle the Barnes type bullets, but on the 308 and smaller calibers I have also had a negative experience.

A friend used a Hornady 180gr and shot a kudu with a neck shot. These bullets were loaded hot, 3050ft per se. The kudu dropped in its tracks, but we could hardly use the entire neck. Our philosophy in this case is" Oh well, the dogs also have to eat!"

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RONK Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/17/2007 at 19:23

 The upshot of this is that Barnes Xs and Triple Shocks are incredible hunting bullets that are unusually accurate and almost always do what they are designed to do, which is to HOLD TOGETHER. It's just that sometimes holding together really isn't always the best thing. I think Pyro is right when he suggested dropping a few notches in bullet weight if you shoot them. This allows you more velocity from your rifle without having to worry about the bullet failing by disintegrating completely on impact, as it could if you shot a more frangible light bullet. For instance, if I used 150 Hornady Spire-Points in a 30-06 for deer ,(and I do), I would load 130 Barnes Xs and run them wide open( and I'm going to). I also think 8-shots is correct in his observation that the larger caliber Xs expand more reliably than the 30s and sub-.30s.  Barnes makes a flat pointed 150 in .30 cal. for use in tube magazines .These are reported to open up faster than the 150 spitzers, and I believe it.  I've heard that they are devastating in the .300 magnums.

 Keep using Barnes bullets, but use 'em as they were designed to be used. We need to keep in mind that there is not and never will be a " perfect" bullet for every imaginable cicumstance, and we can't even imply that the bullet displayed poor performance from the unfortunate results of one example.



Edited by RONK
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pooreyes-2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: November/17/2007 at 19:55

 

 

   What about trying the Winchester Ballistic Silvertip they come in 168gr. alot of the guys I hunt around say it will drop them in their tracks.

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