10-28-2013, 10:29 PM
Don't let videos of gelatin jumping lure you into thinking that hydrostatic shock is an important wounding mechanism for taking game.
Putting holes in blood vessels or the heart is important.
How many of us have taken potshots with our .223 at 12-ounce water bottles to watch them explode? This is an example of hydrostatic shock disrupting the container in a very dynamic way. We get the same effect on prairie dogs.
Now, how many of us have popped a 5-gallon container with the same .223 bullet? The thing just sits there and grunts. It will take a proportionally larger energy transfer to get the larger vessel to pop. The deer is large enough that the same non-phenomenon happens.
So, unless you you carry a hyper-velocity cannon in the field and don't care about eating the meat you explode, plan on using bullets that will penetrate deeply with good ~2X expansion and place your shots in the middle of the vital zone. Your quarry WILL come down. It will do that within 10 seconds or less most of the time and you will see the occasional DRT.
Putting holes in blood vessels or the heart is important.
How many of us have taken potshots with our .223 at 12-ounce water bottles to watch them explode? This is an example of hydrostatic shock disrupting the container in a very dynamic way. We get the same effect on prairie dogs.
Now, how many of us have popped a 5-gallon container with the same .223 bullet? The thing just sits there and grunts. It will take a proportionally larger energy transfer to get the larger vessel to pop. The deer is large enough that the same non-phenomenon happens.
So, unless you you carry a hyper-velocity cannon in the field and don't care about eating the meat you explode, plan on using bullets that will penetrate deeply with good ~2X expansion and place your shots in the middle of the vital zone. Your quarry WILL come down. It will do that within 10 seconds or less most of the time and you will see the occasional DRT.