Yesterday I shot a doe with my 30-06 on the either sex hunt at Hollins WMA. The blood trail was pretty faint. When I found her, I noticed the exit wound was barely bigger than the entry wound. The bullet hit both lungs and the liver. At about the same time, my brother shot an 8 point with his 44 Rem Mag rifle, shooting Winchester ammo. Double lung shot and he barely found any blood. And again, the exit wound was just barely bigger than entry wound. These are soft point, expanding ammo.

Has anyone else had a problem with Winchester ammo?

Sounds like they did there job. I have never had problems with them.

I did with the silver tips a few years back. Shot two and same experience. Both deer died. Just no blood trail and had to grid search. Swapped to partitions and probably will never shoot another projectile.

I had this happen last year only it was Remington not Winchester. It's weird because I almost preferred it that way. Usually when I hit them with the 30-06 the exit wound is somewhere between the size of a baseball and a cantaloupe and I end up losing a lot of meat. She was harder to track though.

I can understand that for sure. My only issue was the blood trail. With a double lung shot from a '06, I shouldn't have had to wonder if I made a good hit, while trailing it. In my experience, a shot like that should've been pouring blood. When we skinned both deer, there was more damage on the entry side than the exit side. Having to look for a drop here and a drop there is not a good feeling.

I have had that happen with just about every caliber I own and many different types of bullets. If you hit a deer level the chest cavity must fill up before a good trail will start. You know sometimes you get lucky and hit more bone in the shoulder and more ribs that causes more damage as well. Sometimes you dont. I shot one one time and part of the lung covered the exit wound like a cork, no blood.

Good point. Now that I think about it, the bullet hit no bone on either deer. Not even a rib. And the blood trail did get better about 20 yds before I found her. That makes sense.

Interesting.

Your not shooting 180's are you ?

I50's and 165's expand better in deer and still get pass through in my experience.

Winchester makes several different types of ammo. What type was it?

As a matter of fact yes. I shoot 180's. Winchester Super X Power Point

Ahh, that could be it. I bet the 150 grain 30-06 Power Points would do more damage.

The 180's likely have a lot tougher Jacket. Made for deep penetration on big critters. Elk bullets on deer usually ends up with the hunter being a little disappointed in how they perform.

That makes good sense. I can make that change, probably after Christmas. Thx for the advice

Yes if it is the same bullet my son killed a good 8 point last week during youth hunt it was right at last light he pulled the trigger the deer dropped like a ton of bricks.then the deer got up soon as it fell and hoped back in a pine thicket.feeling good about what I saw being him only 10, we went home got some lights went back to search.but couldnt find no blood or hair nothing .we found were he fell but no blood, the grass was wet with due I told him the deer may have tryed to turn to run and slipped on the wet grass. So dissapointed we left.we went back the next day with my bloodhound,still couldnt find a speck of blood. My dog ran to the spot, and went the way the deer left.but she dint bark and came back, my hopes were slim,on last effort we walked the way my dog first went the deer was not 20 yards from were he shot him at . Looking at the deer couldnt see no blood on it my son said he must have had a heart attatck but when we lifted him up to the truck blood poured out the shoulderon the opposite side.the bullets are gold with a dark grey tip and 150 grains said on the box expandable point.

That sounds like the same ammo. Only mine was 180 grains. I didn't find any hair either, but I don't see hair on every deer I've shot. There was a little blood at first. Bright, foamy splotches. After maybe 20-30 yds, the trail played out. I had to guess my way for the next 30-40 yds. Then I started picking up more blood. And more blood. The closer I got to where she laid, the heavier the blood. (I wish I could post pics and I could show you) She went down on her stomach, and there was a good blood pool on the side the bullet exited. In your case, I wonder if what "olemossy" posted above, would apply. If your son's deer only went 20 yds after the shot, maybe he didn't have time to bleed much. Still, there should've been at least a little blood. Where did the bullet hit, heart, lungs?

And congratulations to your son!

I've killed a truck load of deer with Winchester Power Point 150 & 165 gr in a 30-06. Always had great expansion and performance. Have shot a few with 180s and been disappointed. The 150s are usually a bang flop, the 180s are usually a tracking job in my experience. I don't believe an 06 can push a 180 PP fast enough to get good expansion in a deer.

What did the inside look like? If it was destroyed, then the bullet did expand. It just didn't fragment. Most of the time when you see massive exit wounds it is from several shrapnel fragments exiting. The bullet likely did exactly what it was supposed to.

A fragmenting bullet will kill better on a lung shot but you won't get the penetration you would need on a Texas heart shot. A Partition may be the best of both worlds with some fragmenting but a large portion left for penetration.

A Shoulder shot will stop them faster than a lung shot but you might loose some meat. Personally I prefer a bullet that expands but does not fragment. That way, I can take whatever shot I need at whatever angle is presented.

I was worried about my PPU ammo after my first kill in GA as the entry was much bigger than exit, never had seen that before with corelokts that I remember. Shot another this weekend, Neck shot and was opposite with a large exit. I have to believe location of entry makes a big difference and feel better about the brand now.