Grandson & Barnes bullet on deer

[Okanagan]

Football season over so he can hunt, a grandson tagged a fork horn blacktail, last day of late season.  He and his dad made it an overnight backpack hunt into a big canyon.  Foot of snow on the trail in.  30 yard shot, using my old 30-06 and Barnes TTXS bullets.  My son told me the Barnes bullets only penetrate maybe 8 inches on deer.  What???  I could hear the grin in his voice when he said, “The bullet went through a tree before hitting the deer.”

[JohnP]

“The bullet went through a tree before hitting the deer.”

He has definitely spent a lot of time with his grandfather - which is a good thing. 

[Hawks Feather]

He has learned from the expert.   

Jerry

[FinsnFur]

Went through a tree first  holy crap son. It was like an RPG

[Okanagan]

He has learned from the expert.   

Jerry

A double edged compliment, as is JohnP's, given the context of shooting through a tree!   

The only time I recall shooting through a tree it cost me a bull elk.  He reacted like he was hit or thumped by something, either a spent tumbling bullet or splinters. No blood, no hair, no injury other than he maybe got a bruise if the bullet made it that far.  Shooting through a hole in brush at 100 yards, the closer my bullet was to a tree hiding the bull's shoulder, the more vital the shot placement.  I cut it too fine, caught 1 1/2 inches of tree which ran the 165 grain Sierra boattail bullet through 7-8 inches of wood.  Grandson did similar apparently but used a much better bullet for the application!

My son who told me about it (haven't yet heard the grandson's version) couldn't see the buck, only his son's sudden dash ahead, mounting of the rifle and the shot.  He said that when he ran up there, his first impression had two parts:  a huge blaze of wood off of a tree and the buck lying dead.  The entry wound was a 2x3 inch oval in the shoulder that dropped the buck on the spot.  On that kind of rodeo, I decided long ago that when the outcome is good, to take it and be grateful!