Found my Doe

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Right_Tackle74

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
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418
City & State/Province
Loudon, TN, USA
I have come to the conclusion that Powerbelts suck. Last Saturday I shot 35-40 yards at a broadside Doe. The smoke cleared and she ran into the pines. I went down to look, No blood, hair, etc. I made circles around where she went in. Nothing. I can't believe I missed an easy shot. I played Hookey from church Sunday and a 70 pound Button stepped out. Shot behind the shoulder at 70 yards, went down to look.....Nothing. No way I missed twice. I made a circle of 30 yards and went right to him. I had to mess around the fur to find the entrance AND exit hole! It went perfect behind the leg pass through but no blood trail. Anyway went back today and got down about 12:30 and took one last look. Went down and jumped some Turkeys....except they where buzzards! I followed to where they took off at and sure enough, there she lay. I went over to inspect, perfect shot, pass through behind the leg. I Shoot a Knight LK93 with 90 grains of Pyrodex and Remington #11 caps topped with a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40. I had used 295 grain powerbelts but upgraded this week to Hornady SST 300 grain sabots. I feel vindicated knowing I didnt miss, but sick as a dog losing a Deer. Ill never use powerbelts again.
 
It's very well documented Powerbelts fragment horribly.

It's amazing that arguably the worst muzzleloader bullet ever has the widest availability and best marketing.
 
Carlos Viagra said:
Its tough for you to deal with because of your deeply rooted sense of ethics. That's very commendable, many hunters wouldn't care. I know how you feel, don't let it get you down though.

BTW I shoot an LK-93 with 240 grain XTP's. They are 45 caliber and fit into a plastic jacket.
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Never had a problem with XTP's , I ain't going to try and fix something that's not broke !
 
It was so much easier when we just shot a chunk of Lead. IMO the science of modern M.L. rounds has made our lives as ethical hunters much more complicated than it needs to be.
Way to many choices in Brands and with in Brands.
XTP's,Shockwaves,powerbelts, the good old Buffalo Bullet's. Bonded unbonded hollow points. It's mind boggling of course that's where advertising comes in. They want us to keep trying and buying hoping for the ultimate round and load. I feel your pain man sucks to lose one . Sucks even worse when you know you've done your homework and done everything right.
I like Shockwaves but have found a lot of difference between the different rounds.Never got around to trying Powerbelts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1znuioBTRL4
Powerbelt Bullet
http://powerbeltbullets.com/best-bullet-for-my-gun.php
 
I hope this doesnt get me or anyone in trouble. I actually drug the deer out. I didnt want coyotes or more birds getting a free lunch and ruining future hunts next week. I loaded it in the truck and went to the check station/processors. I told them what happened and that I felt I needed to check it in. The lady couldnt believe I was doing this and called the game warden. He was surprised to and told me not to worry about it. I felt it was the right thing to do. But I am planning on writing a letter to powerbelt. Btw, the Hornadys left very tight groups. Cant wait to see some blood trails.
 
Snake said:
Carlos Viagra said:
Its tough for you to deal with because of your deeply rooted sense of ethics. That's very commendable, many hunters wouldn't care. I know how you feel, don't let it get you down though.

BTW I shoot an LK-93 with 240 grain XTP's. They are 45 caliber and fit into a plastic jacket.
Click to expand...

Never had a problem with XTP's , I ain't going to try and fix something that's not broke !
Click to expand...
240-grain XTP's for me as well. See my signature of why I still shoot them.
 
Right_Tackle74 said:
I hope this doesnt get me or anyone in trouble. I actually drug the deer out. I didnt want coyotes or more birds getting a free lunch and ruining future hunts next week. I loaded it in the truck and went to the check station/processors. I told them what happened and that I felt I needed to check it in. The lady couldnt believe I was doing this and called the game warden. He was surprised to and told me not to worry about it. I felt it was the right thing to do. But I am planning on writing a letter to powerbelt. Btw, the Hornadys left very tight groups. Cant wait to see some blood trails.
Click to expand...

Not to many people have that strong of ethics these days.They might drag a chewed up buck to try and salvage a mount but not a Doe. Hope your next one is a wall Hanger and drops in his tracks.
 
UTGrad said:
It's very well documented Powerbelts fragment horribly.

It's amazing that arguably the worst muzzleloader bullet ever has the widest availability and best marketing.
Click to expand...

Sounds like he experienced the opposite of a fragmentation since he said he got a complete pass through with both deer but hardly any expansion at all.

I've never used the Powerbelts but from what happened, I'd say they are constructed way to strong for a deer sized animal. Not enough bone density to make them expand reliably. They punched through much like a full metal jacket bullet doing little damage.

I've only shot 2 deer with a ML and both were with a 200 grain TC Shockwave which from those two shots seems constructed right for deer sized game. My one broadside hit went all the way through behind the shoulder and left a wide blood trail. The other doe was facing straight on towards me and was hit centered at the base of the neck and did not exit. That deer dropped like a rock.
 
The 245 grain Powerbelt is very well known to fragment horribly on a hit. Maybe the OP was using a heavier Powerbelt?
 
I would expect the bullet construction to get tougher as weight goes up in caliber. IF that's true, then what you say about the 245 fragmenting while in contrast the 295 hardly expands on a deer could be a common happening. Don't know?

I bought a bunch of the 200gr TC Shockwaves a few years ago and they have worked well so far so I am not likely to be experimenting with other ML bullets to find what works or not.
 
Power belts are responsible for more dead deer that people think they missed because lack of blood than any other bullet. XTPs = bang flop. Or bang, paint the woods red, flop
 
Amazing, deer had a hole in both sides but no blood, vampires must have bit them lol. Most folks complain about no pass thru's ,a powerbelt leaves a bigger hole than sabots so how does a smaller hole let more blood out? never lost 1 with a powerbelt & have had a few pass thru's & a lot of them didn't but dead deer rite there almost always. Have faith in your equipment & learn to track are some early lessons I learned bow hunting, hate you lost a deer & found the other .Deer shot high with any weapon will bleed very little until the insides are soaked & it starts leaking out,
 
WestTn Huntin'man said:
Right_Tackle74 said:
I hope this doesnt get me or anyone in trouble. I actually drug the deer out. I didnt want coyotes or more birds getting a free lunch and ruining future hunts next week. I loaded it in the truck and went to the check station/processors. I told them what happened and that I felt I needed to check it in. The lady couldnt believe I was doing this and called the game warden. He was surprised to and told me not to worry about it. I felt it was the right thing to do. But I am planning on writing a letter to powerbelt. Btw, the Hornadys left very tight groups. Cant wait to see some blood trails.
Click to expand...

Not to many people have that strong of ethics these days.They might drag a chewed up buck to try and salvage a mount but not a Doe. Hope your next one is a wall Hanger and drops in his tracks.
Click to expand...


X2 hats off to ya!
 
When they first came out, I sighted in with PB. Liked them. Shot one deer. Never used them again. Nuff said. Been shooting 275gr T-Shock with 150gr Pyrodex pellets for several years. No complaints on any account.
 
Well which is it though? Some are claiming bullet failure due to fragmentation while others are claiming failure due to zero expansion leaving a tiny entrance and exit wound. Seems unlikely that the same bullet could fail both ways unless they have horrible quality control over their jacket and core hardness.

Or is it as I suggested earlier that bullet toughness varies throughout the Powerbelt line between different weights in a given caliber intentionally so they can be used for different size game?
 
No matter what we use there will be stuff you cant explain. Bad shot hit something to much velocity not enuf velocity take your pick but it boils down to the hunter picking something to blame. I know what has caused most of my problems & its me. A hit low will let you trail 1 a long ways a high hit & good luck
 
I killed several with power belts when they first came out. I no longer shoot them but not because of performance but because I got a different ml and it did not like them. Even so, I doubt nowadays I'd go back to them simply because of all of the neg feedback on them.
 
I shot a doe yesterday, thought i shot over her cause i could not find any blood either; she was within 100 yards away. First deer i saw all week,and never found her, have been very upset with myself since; even thinking about giving up hunting. I use powerbelts, I'm throwing them away, I'm tired of the crap these companies are selling.
 
Backstrapcrazy said:
I shot a doe yesterday, thought i shot over her cause i could not find any blood either; she was within 100 yards away. First deer i saw all week,and never found her, have been very upset with myself since; even thinking about giving up hunting. I use powerbelts, I'm throwing them away, I'm tired of the crap these companies are selling.
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couldn't have possibly had anything to do with shot placement
 
Backstrapcrazy said:
Scope is set up right with bore sight, but have not shot at target. I Feel confident in shot placement.
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you put the scope on and set it with a bore sight but did not shoot it?
 

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