Tell him to quit blaming it on the gun....

Was the deer perfectly broadside?? I find that a lot of times when folks think the deer is broadside that it may actually be quartered to them some. If that was the case then its possible that he angled back into the guts and never got an exit. If it was a solid hit in the body like that then the deer is probably within 200 yards or so of the hit site. He may have also jerked his shot and hit farther back than he thinks. Get a dog and you'll likely locate it.

He got buck fever and made a bad shot.

This is highly likely, having a buck that close gives some sever buck fever. The easy shot becomes a maybe.

Had the same thing happen to me years ago. Shot 2 does within 50 yards one weekend & never found them. Went the following Monday & bought a Rem 7mm mag,never had to look for one since.
Gun was perfectly zeroed. Shooting Winchester silver tips,kinda wanted to blame the bullet choice.

Your friend needs to learn how to control his nerves and take some shootin lessons.

At 5 yards there should have been a blood trail. Watch Catman's first.

https://youtu.be/R010GBAbIwU

He did say he had to shoot through some small limbs, that could have been the problem I'm guessing.

Lazy carpenters always blame their tools

One reason I switched to .308. Had a couple low penetration hits. Practice helps too.

Yo friend can't shoot.

It’s funny how it is always the gun or the bullet, and never the shooter.

Happened to me this week and ive killed a bunch of bucks hard to explain.. I was shaking after the shot tho

10 years ago, my then 7yo shot a buck at 105yds (inreally didnt realize it was that long of a shot) with a nef hb2 30/30. Regular ol $9.99 ammo of some sort. Center punched 2 .3" holes. No blood trail whatsoever. Thankful he just ran 30-40 yards and piled.

I’ve killed a slew of deer with a 30-30…..probably close to 100…..I quit keeping count somewhere around the 70 mark….Actually I just lost count and quit caring. I started hunting with it when I was 13 and it was the only gun I used until I was nearly 30 years old. I just used the plain old 170 grain flat nosed bullets and my aiming point was always about 3 inches behind the shoulder. I never had any problems losing deer. I can’t recall a single one that I hit solid that wasn’t recovered. I remember back slapping one and it getting away and I missed a couple but never one like being described by the OP…..I did try the silver tip bullets for a brief period and I would recommend leaving them on the shelf for someone else to buy. They fragment on impact and often times don’t leave an exit hole. After shooting a few deer with them and finding the fragments imbedded in the offside rib cage I went back to the plain old flat nosed. Also, hitting a deer in the shoulder with a silver tip is just asking for it to fragment into the meat and bone and never make it into the body cavity. I tracked one for a guy last year that did just that……

30-30’s are a tried and true deer killer. The only reason I switched to a 30-06 is because I started hunting properties in south Alabama where I needed to be able to shoot farther distances.

I tracked several deer last year shot with a 30 30. All dead within 100 yards and none of them had an exit wound or any blood that we could find on the ground.

My buddy is going to try different ammo. Here’s what he has

• Hornady Leverevolution 160 grain ftx

Or

• Remington Core Lokt 170 grain Soft Point

Which do you recommend?



Wilbanks, that’s exactly what I think probably happened. The boys a pretty good shot. I helped him look for the buck, but man it was thick. I figure he’s probably dead close by.

Nothing is cut and dry in putting lead in a live animal.Things happen.Many,many variables involved.I killed a 185lb 8, two days before Christmas.Typical shot behind shoulder with a 150gr Core-Lokt in .280 at 60 yards.Deer ran 30 yards and fell dead.Bullet blew through ribs on both sides.Not a drop of blood except where he lay.Sometimes crazy stuff happens...

Leverevolution 160 work really good in my .30-30, I love them in that caliber.

Got to think of shooting a deer with that caliber like when bow-hunting.. You can't just expect to aim center mass and knock them down and blow stuff up when you hit them, you need to be aiming at the heart or looking for vital pass-through. I lost a nice buck with .3030 shooting down through the shoulder blades, no penetration, no pass through, poor buck died somewhere else. That's why I have a .308/.30-06. They do a little more damage at those angles and mass shots.

had to be hard angle shot . only ones i never had exit holes were with a$$ shot running away or looking dead at me and a gut shot . love to know what ammo they were using and shot placement . .

bull $hit , you need to leave those Leverevolution 160 on the self then . i've gutted a whole lot of deer killed with 30-30's and they will mess a deer up .