Sid R
I will never use FTX again!
Wednesday, December 04, 2019, 06:57

I hunted this year the opening week of deer season with my Marlin 308 ME using the 140 grain FTX. On Sunday the second day, a nice 16" 175 lbs buck steps out and I get a 200 yard shot. Deer runs off. I find chunks of shoulder meat and up to 1" long pieces of bone. No blood trail. Search for 3 hours to no avail.
In the evening I was on a different stand, near sun down a 7 point buck steps out, bang flop and kick at 136 yards. Could not find entry or exit, not one drop of blood. At the skinning rack found that I hit where I aimed right behind the shoulder. The bullet struck behind the left shoulder through both lungs and broke the off shoulder bones and stopped there.
The jacket separated from the lead. The lead was found next to the shoulder bones. I traded for this rifle and got a sweet deal that included two other rifles and the dies for the Marlin 308. I will be pulling all of the bullets and find a bullet that will have better terminal performance.
So two weeks later my friend and his father were hunting and seen a buck in a clear cut. Father shoots the deer and made a bad shot, son follows up with a shot. They walk up to the deer and have to shoot it again in the neck. When they were dragging it the son noticed one of the antlers fell off. He went and tracked it down. When he returned the father said the deer seems poor and had a bad odor. They rolled him over to find a hole in the front right shoulder that was infected. I showed him pictures of the deer I shot from my game cam and that was him. Broke my heart he suffered so long.

Lead I found in the shoulder. Jacket probably in the gut pile.

The buck on the left is the one that got away to later be shot.