6.5 CM 140 nosler accubonds. 4 deer no exit wound

[jerodmartinez]

I have shot a mule deer and 3 whitetails. All shots were right behind the shoulder. The last buck I shot was only 75yds. THey all died within 50yds, my only problem is there is no blood trail at all. Small entrance wound and no exit. It took me awhile to find the last deer because he was in thick brush. Is the Creedmoor enough to go for the double shoulder shot? Should I switch bullets? THinkind about just going with a 7mm.
THanks

 

[passinggas33]

I wasn’t aware that Nosler made a 143 Accubond. Are you sure that is what you are shooting? The closest they have is a 140 and then they do to the LRAB in a 142, but that wouldn’t make sense at the distances you are shooting.

 

[MThuntr]

Hmm that sounds strange and contrary to the results I've witnessed from friends shooting 140s in a creedmoor.

Quick question 143 Accubonds are not offered by Nosler...factory seconds bullets?, typo?, or are you actually shooting Hornady ELD-M?

Even if it were the ELD-M bullet it should have gone through.

 

[jerodmartinez]

My bad, they are 140

 

[passinggas33]

That is still surprising that you aren’t seeing pass through. Especially at those close ranges. I’ve had good results from my Accubonds and this sounds not like the norm. I’m no help, sorry. I shoot almost exclusively accubonds as I’ve always had good results from all of my guns.

 

[jerodmartinez]

Not sure if you can tell form the pic, but this is the entrance wound

 

[MThuntr]

140s should have gone clean through even if it hit ribs...your picture looks far enough off the shoulder to be a non-issue.

Are you a reloader...as far of a stretch it could be would those be Ballistic Tips?

Possibly a bad batch of bullets? Maybe try a different lot of ammo/bullets?

 

[Brendan]

I had the same experience on a small whitetail and small bull elk with the 308 165 Accubond. Both were behind the shoulder, maybe hit rib, no exit on either, almost zero blood trail on either. Both died in about 50 yards, but the whitetail recovery (with some snow on the ground) was a lot harder than it should have been.

I think it's the Accubond, not the caliber.

 

[sram9102]

143 eldx and don't look back. This was the exit on one of the does I shot this fall.

 

[LightFoot]

I have shot a mule deer and 3 whitetails. All shots were right behind the shoulder. The last buck I shot was only 75yds. THey all died within 50yds, my only problem is there is no blood trail at all. Small entrance wound and no exit. It took me awhile to find the last deer because he was in thick brush. Is the Creedmoor enough to go for the double shoulder shot? Should I switch bullets? THinkind about just going with a 7mm.
THanks

I'm having the same results with the eld-x... no exit. Hard to argue with the results, though.

For a pass through, try the 120 TTSX or 127 LRX.

>>>----JAKE----->

 

[jerodmartinez]

I am not a reloader and these were all out of the same box. I will try some different bullets next year. They have worked great, but I was nervous as hell when I shot my mule deer, and didn't find a speck of blood. He didn't run far but far enough where I could not see him. I will definitely be taking something bigger on my next mule deer hunt.
thanks

 

[204guy]

Accubonds tend to turn into a a big ball that's not conducive to exiting.

 

[crownroyal]

I have only seen these above 140Gr. Obviously Accubond LR. Have yet to try them on big game and I am shooting them out of 6.5x284. Not my go to elk gun but cant wait to try them on a deer

 

[MT257]

Depends how ya look at it. Those animals absorbed all the energy that bullet had resulting in quick clean kills. I guess I would look at it as they did what they were designed to do. Did you watch all these critters fall after shooting them? I’ll probably get push back but I personally want the critter to absorb as much energy as possible and just have the bullet stuck against the hide or barely be able to exit. I am not a big 6.5 creedmoor fan because of the velocity you see from them, just too slow for me. Just my two cents.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Want to preface this by saying the following is not targeted at any specific individual.

This is a prime example of why some folks feel the need to always go bigger.

There were 4 deer shot with a 6.5 CM using 140 grain Accubonds. The desired result was 4 dead deer with exit wounds and trackable blood trails. The actual result was 4 dead deer with short tracking jobs that required more effort than desired. Since the desired result was not met, that means that the 6.5 CM is insufficient for mule deer. Therefore only a 7mm Rem Mag or bigger can kill mule deer.

While hunting a mule deer in Alberta, my buck took several shots from a 300 WM shooting 180 grain Barnes TTSX; all shots were in the chest cavity. First shot was fairly close and the remaining shots were under 10 yards. The buck's will to live was impressive. Since I did not get the desired results, does that mean that 300 WM is insufficient for mule deer? Not at all. I would have likely had much better results using a bullet better suited for the shooting conditions I encountered.

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I am surprised that the Accubonds did not pass through especially on the three whitetail and to a lesser extent the mule deer (depending on how big its body was). They tend to be one of the more reliable bullets out there.

If you are the type of hunter that must have passthroughs and depending on your shot a blood trail, then give the Barnes bullets a try that Lightfoot mentioned or even Nosler Partitions. You may want to look at the Hammers as well.

I've had great results with ELD-X on deer-sized animals (6.5 CM) up to water buffalo (308 Win). While I've not always had passthroughs, every animal died very quickly (probably just jinxed myself).

 

[MT257]

AZ- I agree with your statement and I do think the 6.5 creedmoor is capable but my personal likes or dislikes is strictly with the lower velocity of the 6.5. Will it do it’s job absolutely. It’s hard I think on these posts because one doesn’t know exactly how the critter was standing upon impact...too many unknowns.

 

[Squincher]

Sounds like deer outfitters need to ban it as well.

 

[jerodmartinez]

I am not trying to gripe or start a debate, I'm just curious. I have hunted whitetails all my life but always used reloads from a friend or bought the Remington they had at Wal-Mart. Never paid too much attention to it and killed a lot of deer with my 22-250 and 243. I'm trying to learn what type of bullets do what and so forth. I just expected 140 grain bullet to do a lot more damage on a whitetail then it has in my experience.

 

[kravguy]

4 mule deer with 129 grain Hornady American whitetail.

1st was around 170 yds, instant death. No pass thru
2nd was 360 yds, ran 15 steps and fell over. Pass thru
3rd was 280 yds, at first acted like he was never hit, shot again and ran into a small dip where we couldn't see him. Found him bedded, but still a live, took another round to finish him off. 2 of the rounds were pass thru.
4th was 560 yds, walked 10 steps and fell over. He was facing me at the shot, no pass thru.

I've had tremendous luck with the American Whitetails in all my guns, performance at the range with groups and also on animals.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Jerod,

Question 1. Have you had a chance to chronograph your actual speeds with this ammo? Unlikely culprit as one shot was at 75 yards. For example, a 140 grain Accubond should hit 1800 FPS around 525 yards not taking into account environmental.

Question 2. Was the ammo used for all four deer from the same box? I ask since you could have gotten a bad batch. Accubonds tend to be reliable as hell which makes your specific situation, well four of them, a head scratcher.