1st Grendel deer and erratic SST bullet path

[Whole Bunches]

As posted in introductions, I'm a new Ruger American Grendel owner. Worked up an accurate 123gr SST handload.

Hunting at my brother's Georgia farm this week, I watched a large doe and her yearling for about 10-15 minutes 118yd away (I was about 15' higher in a stand). Having successfully used a "high shoulder shot" for the last couple of years with my 300 Blackout rifles resulting in DRT shots with the bullets entering one side and exiting the other, I attempted to do the same with the Grendel. I waited until she was broadside right side and fired. She immediately ran off into the woods, running about 60yd in the direction she'd been facing, making a 90 degree turn and running towards me about 30yd before falling. I use a suppressor, so was able to hear her fall. Waited 30 minutes and walked in the direction I'd heard her fall. I carry a thermal unit, and picked up the heat signature right away.

At the processor her weight was estimated at 150 (scale was broken) by the owner and his worker. Bullet hit where I aimed, shattered bone, did not go into the other shoulder side and did not get to the spine, and then turned downward towards the left and exited the chest cavity nearly at the bottom, slightly left behind the heart.

My Blackout bullets are considered "barrier blind" (Barnes 110gr black tip) and have always seemed to go pretty straight in hogs and deer. This "failure" bothered me somewhat, so I used my Blackout on the next deer, going back to a traditional lung shot, with the 7 pt going about 40yd before dropping (typical lung shot results for me).

Was this just a fluke, and the 123gr Hornady SST 6.5 bullets normally go straight enough?

[1Shot]

One bad example doesn't mean it will always be the same. Being 15' above creates a pretty good angle. This may be the reason the bullet did not get spine and went out low in chest. Shoot a few more before giving up on the SST. I shot my first deer the other day with the Gerr used 120 Speer Gold Dot. Did a great job. Trying to get one with Sierra 120 pro hunter now. I could not get the SST to shoot well in either of my rifles.

[Frontier Gear]

She died after running about 90 yards. I've seen that with a heart shot 30-06. I wouldn't call it a failure. That is a slightly odd bullet path, but it hit a bone. Odd things can happen to any bullet after they hit bones. At least it stayed together and kept doing damage. In another thread I stated why I always go for a heart/lung shot on wild game.

• Less meat to ruin on the ribs than at the shoulder/neck/spine
• Large target area
• Smaller bones to stop/deflect bullets
• A clean pass though results in a humane kill

[Double Naught Spy]

So you shot a deer where the bullet hit bone, defected downward, and you consider the SST to have been a failure? Show me ANY bullet that will not ever deflect after hitting bone. Being "barrier blind" in no way indicates that a bullet will not deflect. It happens. Once the bullet leaves the barrel, you no longer have any control on what it may do. This is particularly true with terminal ballistics. What it does inside a body is going to vary based on a whole variety of factors. How the animal responds to the impact will also vary based on a whole variety of factors.

Just curious, you said it hit and shattered bone. What bone was shattered?

I have said this countless times, but if you don't hit the CNS, then you should expect the animal to run. If it doesn't, that is just a bonus. You didn't hit CNS with either shot and the deer both ran.

[Trueblue]

Not sure why you would use a high shoulder shot on a deer and waste meat. Double lung ‘em, and be done with it!
I would not consider your description as bullet failure.

[Keef]

I have said this countless times, but if you don't hit the CNS, then you should expect the animal to run.

^^^this^^^

[Whole Bunches]

~ bottom part of scapula in pieces.

Why high shoulder shot?...Two seasons ago a needly family (cystic fibrosis), whom I'd periodically given wild hog meat to, asked nicely if I could share a deer with them. I asked my neighbor where I take my goat herd for browsing if I could have permission to shoot a couple of does for the family and was given the OK. Where the deer appear is about 30' from the property line. If the goats are with me, the deer look at the goats and all their moving, not me sitting in a chair under an oak tree. Note: I do not mean to imply having goats with me is a sure thing for deer...most of the time I see no deer. I did not have permission for deer hunting the next property over (but could take the goats there also). I read about the high shoulder shot dropping deer right there and watch videos of same, so decided to try that to make it easier on me. Longer story shorter, on 2 late afternoons during Florida doe days at my neighbor's field, my goats alerted to deer, and 1 shot each day I had a deer drop right there with that type of shot. Called the family, they drove over right to where the deer were, and we loaded them into their truck. Later they came back to my house with 1 roast and 1 backstrap that I wanted.

I used a SBR 8" 300 Blackout at the neighbor's, as the distance would probably be 30yd or less and it was a little easier to carry along with the chair I was taking. Yes, some meat damage, but not enough to be a big deal to me. The next year at my brother's farm I tried the same shot on 2 bucks (16" bbls). DRT, not a lot of meat damage to me. 1 with a Blackout and 1 with a 5.56. My 70 year old body was liking this no tracking and dragging. This time I try with my Grendel. Before the bullet went downward in the body, I'd estimate the Grendel meat damage was about 1" larger in diameter than the Blackout or 5.56 did. Since the bullet did not do what I'd gotten used to seeing, I thought I'd ask, and I appreciate the comments. Thank you.

Oh, in case anyone wonders: My goats are used to shooting, as the grandkids shoot their .22s in the yard. While the goats are not thrilled with gunfire, they don't panic at the shots, and I use a suppressor. In fact, when the shooter deer showed, I had to stand up and shoot over some of the goats.

[Double Naught Spy]

It is interesting that you describe a "high shoulder shot" (broadside) that shattered the low end of the scapula. That has the hallmark of a lower shoulder shot and is going to miss the spine low and if you aren't careful, too far forward of the heart and nearly miss the lungs. The "bottom part" of the scapula is composed of relatively thick cortical bone, equivalent to hitting any other big bone of the body, particularly with the lower you go. Given your downward trajectory and low shot placement, exiting out of the chest is not a surprise.

Your shot placement sounds like it would have been great elevation had it been 3-4" farther back (heart/lung hit) or fine had it been 2-4" higher up (broken shoulder, spine hit) for a broadside shot.

The shot you made will still work as it obviously did, but it would not be one where I would necessarily expect incapacitation to occur.

As for the SST doing more damage than some other bullet in another caliber you were using, the SST has a good reputation for producing significant tissue damage on animals in Grendel and other calibers. That is what it does. It tends to expand well and then shed weight during expansion, the pieces coming off that expand the wound area.

[A5BLASTER]

~ bottom part of scapula in pieces.

Why high shoulder shot?...Two seasons ago a needly family (cystic fibrosis), whom I'd periodically given wild hog meat to, asked nicely if I could share a deer with them. I asked my neighbor where I take my goat herd for browsing if I could have permission to shoot a couple of does for the family and was given the OK. Where the deer appear is about 30' from the property line. If the goats are with me, the deer look at the goats and all their moving, not me sitting in a chair under an oak tree. Note: I do not mean to imply having goats with me is a sure thing for deer...most of the time I see no deer. I did not have permission for deer hunting the next property over (but could take the goats there also). I read about the high shoulder shot dropping deer right there and watch videos of same, so decided to try that to make it easier on me. Longer story shorter, on 2 late afternoons during Florida doe days at my neighbor's field, my goats alerted to deer, and 1 shot each day I had a deer drop right there with that type of shot. Called the family, they drove over right to where the deer were, and we loaded them into their truck. Later they came back to my house with 1 roast and 1 backstrap that I wanted.

I used a SBR 8" 300 Blackout at the neighbor's, as the distance would probably be 30yd or less and it was a little easier to carry along with the chair I was taking. Yes, some meat damage, but not enough to be a big deal to me. The next year at my brother's farm I tried the same shot on 2 bucks (16" bbls). DRT, not a lot of meat damage to me. 1 with a Blackout and 1 with a 5.56. My 70 year old body was liking this no tracking and dragging. This time I try with my Grendel. Before the bullet went downward in the body, I'd estimate the Grendel meat damage was about 1" larger in diameter than the Blackout or 5.56 did. Since the bullet did not do what I'd gotten used to seeing, I thought I'd ask, and I appreciate the comments. Thank you.

Oh, in case anyone wonders: My goats are used to shooting, as the grandkids shoot their .22s in the yard. While the goats are not thrilled with gunfire, they don't panic at the shots, and I use a suppressor. In fact, when the shooter deer showed, I had to stand up and shoot over some of the goats.

Rule of thumb, when shooting down at a angle aka from a deer stand, shoot where you want the bullet/arrow to exit.

For high shoulder/spine shot from a tree stand aim for dead on to 1 inch under spine. Doing so will destroy spine and often times the on side and offside shoulder bone connection.

High shoulder/spine is my fav of all shots too take, base of scull neck shot being a close second and straight head shot being last.

From what I think I understand, the bullet did exactly what it was meant to do kill the deer bye going in and going out and giving a way for the blood to leave the body.

You simple hit it a tad low for the drt effect of the high shoulder/spine shot.

[Whole Bunches]

"had it been 2-4" higher up"

I agree completely. As "calm" as I try to be when making the game shot, there has got to be some tension going on in my mind/body that I can't eliminate entirely. Just trying to do my best for humane kills and to not be as hard on my heart dragging deer to the pickup point. Thank you.

[A5BLASTER]

"had it been 2-4" higher up"

I agree completely. As "calm" as I try to be when making the game shot, there has got to be some tension going on in my mind/body that I can't eliminate entirely. Just trying to do my best for humane kills and to not be as hard on my heart dragging deer to the pickup point. Thank you.

Try not to look at the deer as a whole just concentrate and only look at the section you want to hit and remove the rest of the animal from your minds view.

Aim small miss small kind of thing, sounds kind of guffy I know but that's how I work my shots on bucks, once I decide he is worth taking and work out my shot hold over I tighten down my view to only where I want to place my bullet, deep slow breath's and slow steady squeese of the trigger.

Hope this helps sir.

[Double Naught Spy]

"had it been 2-4" higher up"

I agree completely. As "calm" as I try to be when making the game shot, there has got to be some tension going on in my mind/body that I can't eliminate entirely. Just trying to do my best for humane kills and to not be as hard on my heart dragging deer to the pickup point. Thank you.

Sure. You had said you had hit where you were aiming which says a couple of good things along the lines of trying to do well and that is that your gun is apparently sighted in properly and that you made the shot that you intended to make. That's all good. Where I am going with all this is that you may wish to slightly change your POA to make the kill you want to make. Your POA really wasn't optimal for doing that, hence the runner.

[BjornF16]

Rule of thumb, when shooting down at a angle aka from a deer stand, shoot where you want the bullet/arrow to exit.

It was only 2.4 degree deflection...essentially level shot

[Double Naught Spy]

Even so, you should always shoot with the notion in mind of where you want the bullet to exit and what is between the entry and exit points. Too many people consider their targets like the 2D images that they see and never take into consideration that the targets are actually 3D.

[ocm4]