Clipping a rib with the .270

[Norfolk Deer Search]

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Light bullets going over 3000fps?

 

[Grannysmith]

The op looks a bit like a munty i shot with the 300 weatherby

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

The op looks a bit like a munty i shot with the 300 weatherby

What do you expect?

 

[Grannysmith]

Not really 130 gn ttsx

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

Not really 130 gn ttsx

What speed was it going?

 

[Grannysmith]

2800 ish from memory will check

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

2800 ish from memory will check

More or less the same as mine, mine was 2950as an average and worked a treat, shot that rifle for over 10 years with that one and only load performance was always the same

 

[Grannysmith]

Its a great bullet
I have shot most if not all of the african plains game.with it too

 

[Grannysmith]

Hornady sst works qukte well too

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

Hornady sst works qukte well too

A bullet I hate with a passion.

 

[Grannysmith]

You had problems with it?

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

You had problems with it?

i shot 50 of them as a fair representation and stuck at it, all the did was blow stuff up horrendous damage couldn’t way to sling the other 50

 

[Grannysmith]

You neer forget that sort of thing eh?

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

You neer forget that sort of thing eh?

I’ll go back to sharp sticks and bad language before I used an SST again

 

[Grannysmith]

 

[Sol]

This so called "bruising" is a couple of things, if you lay the deer down on the side it is hit then the blood will migrate and spread out as it is looking for somewhere to go. Look at a black nail the blood pools under the nail from the trauma.
It is quite obvious it is daft... Fallow I have shot 5 mins from home go on the hoist and bleed out home hung again to cool
ones from a 1/2 hour extraction 1/2 hour home laying down then the blood will pool in the lowest point.

Stretch a rabbits neck hang it the blood/bruising goes back into the shoulders. Chop the neck and the blood pools in the head neck.
My dear old Dad knew who had killed the rabbits from when we brought the home I chopped the neck Chris stretched them

@Norfolk Deer Search

That I do admit, we shot this one early morning so we decided to drive around a little more since there was a one or two extra areas we could check before heading too the larder, It probably sat on the side for an hour and a half or so.

Same time though we didnt expect that to be under it.

If we took it back instantly (5min drive) and skinned it there and then it probably would of been a prettier carcass, although still beat up tbf.

 

[Tim.243]

That I do admit, we shot this one early morning so we decided to drive around a little more since there was a one or two extra areas we could check before heading too the larder, It probably sat on the side for an hour and a half or so.

Same time though we didnt expect that to be under it.

If we took it back instantly (5min drive) and skinned it there and then it probably would of been a prettier carcass, although still beat up tbf.

Well then you learnt something, surprised this bruising quote pops up as it does.
The muntjac I shoot on a regular basis get tore up quite bad, big wound channels but they are bled, cleaned out very quickly. Big holes yes bruising nope.

 

[25 Sharps]

Just for the sake of the thread, skinned this one tonight.




No real hint of the damage with the skin on.

Lost a shoulder, everything else all good, but it was butchered by me for home consumption so no real issue.

.280 with a 124 gr yew tree at about 120 yards.

 

[Freeforester]

When I first started with the .270, I used 110gr soft points shooting roe deer. More often than not, carcasses looked like they had had a claymore go off in their chest. Literally bursting guts with heart shots. It was horrendous. The very best carcasses had very heavy bruising in them.

After I switched to copper bullets, they were much cleaner carcasses. Entry and exit holes and far less bruising. Same weight bullet, just less explosive expansion.

A heavier or heavier jacketed bullet will produce similar results.

Admittedly only in Scotland, but the clean chest shot (back off the shoulders, in the engine room) afforded by the .222 in combination with Norma’s propriety 50grain bullet was a superb roe killing round, with absolutely minimal extra damage to the carcass, more often than not a thumb width sized hole on the exit, and if through the ribs rather than breaking one, a nominal sized entry wound. Before moving up to the ‘big rifle’ (.243) I shot hundreds of roe with that round, and learned that the gilding jacket on the Norma bullet was thicker than those of other brands. Once or twice I compared notes with fellow stalkers using .222 but with other bullets, almost all of which had a bad tendency to blow up and fragment (typical varmint rounds), with all too predictably disastrous results on the carcass.

I recall with horror the appalling mess one roe struck with a .270 by a guest was, the first I’d seen flattened with such a ‘cannon’, I don’t recall the bullet weight, but I do recall the deer had been effectively blown in near half, and the rumen and most of the intestines had been evacuated from the inside of the beast - it really shocked me that anyone would countenance using such a heavy, clearly damaging calibre on a roe deer. This being said, we’d grown up with the ‘small is beautiful’ mindset, and had zero experience in anything else, our aim was to produce clean carcasses for the game dealer.

More generally, it’s been my experience that for larger calibres, a heavier bullet travelling at relatively modest speed tends to produce less by way of hydraulic and bruising damage, especially when any bullet designed with a slightly heavier gilding material thickness is used.

Just my opinion and experience.

 

[gelert]

I agree but I'm not suggesting there needs to be a market wide increase but that game dealers should be more flexible with their pricing and pay according to the quality of venison they get.

Once their venison is inspected at the processing end the price will be set based on fat content and meat damage so why shouldn't this price be reflected in what the stalker gets for the deer they drop off.

I appreciate this is difficult if stalkers are paid at the time they drop a carcass off but if they get paid in arrears (like most do) then by tracing the tag number there is no reason not to alter the price paid to the stalker.

I also appreciate this only benefits those stalkers who put well presented carcasses with minimal wastage into a game dealer.

I see the logic in rewarding stalkers who deliver high-quality clean carcasses, well-gralloched, minimal damage but I think there are a few practical issues with introducing flexible pricing based on post-processing inspection.

Firstly, shifting to a quality-based pricing system would introduce a whole layer of admin, tracking, and trust issues. Matching each carcass to a stalker by tag number is possible, yes, but in busy game dealer operations handling hundreds of carcasses, things can slip. Not to mention disputes over how quality is assessed what qualifies as “too much fat” or “too much damage”? These are often subjective, and unless there's a clearly agreed grading standard (and qualified staff to apply it consistently), it opens the door to tension between dealers and suppliers.

Secondly, most stalkers aren't commercial producers — they're managing deer for habitat, agriculture, or sport, most in their spare time. They value simplicity. Turning up, getting paid a flat rate, and moving on suits that model. Introducing retrospective pricing based on downstream inspection might just discourage casual or part-time stalkers from supplying altogether.

Finally, while you’re right that this approach would benefit the most meticulous stalkers (and they do deserve recognition), it could also widen the gap between them and others doing good, ethical management in trickier conditions. Not every area produces lean fallow or textbook shots.