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7 PRC : 175 ELDX vs 175 Nosler Accubond long range for big deer?

rmiked

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 8, 2023
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I have the opportunity to hunt large Whitetail deer this Fall. Possibly a 250 lb animal in Midwest. I live in SC and the biggest bucks we kill are usually around 180 lbs. As of now I would be using the 175 ELDX that I hand load and shoots well in my Seekins Havak PH2. I have read some reviews of the cup and core ELDX, that the lead core usually separates from the copper cladding. My experience has been shooting behind the shoulder (double lung) and getting a pass through but not a great blood trail. I have not shot a deer in the shoulder yet with this ELDX but have not lost a deer either. They usually run 30-60 yds and no problem finding them. I understand without hitting bone a lot of the energy passes through the deer. I’ll try to test the ELDX this Fall on SC deer hitting the shoulder before the Midwest hunt late season (December). I plan on shooting a big heavy Midwest deer in the shoulder. Has anyone compared the Nosler 175 Accubond LR to the ELDX actually hitting a heavy deer in the shoulder? I feel like depositing all the energy in the deer has the best chance of dropping the animal. A bonded bullet seems like it has a better chance of not coming apart for a shoulder shot. I appreciate any experience you can share.
 
See my post in the nickel plating thread but first, a question.

Why do you want to shoot a deer in the shoulder? In my experience it can make quite a mess.

90 feet ain’t far to look.





P
 
I want to deposit all the energy in the deer. My experience is that gives the best chance of dropping the deer due to hydrostatic shock. If the bullet doesn’t exit the deer, all the energy gets absorbed by the animal. On the other hand a pass-through shot should give better blood trails. So you make a good point
 
Does that extra 70 lbs the Midwest deer weighs come from a plate carrier it's wearing??

You're greatly overthinking the question. Its a magnum 7mm shooting a white-tailed deer. Use any decent bullet and put it where it needs to go and you'll have a dead deer.

Don't read into the internet fudd hysteria about so and so bullet failing. In my unscientific opinion 99% of bullet failure stories are actually shooter failure stories. Don't even get me started on the bullet "failure" stories with a dead animal 20 yards from where it was shot.