I may have missed...

[Vince]

I was lazy to get my butt off of the bed this morning, but then saw MUP's thread "I am up" and decided to go. Was in the shooting house by 7.45am. 10am two does show up. They snuck up on me while I was on phone. One comes nearer to my house, downwind to my right (hard to shoot towards right side). It senses something off, and heads back to the other doe, which is is still eating acorns, and then trots away. The doe eating acorns is almost in same spot I shot my buck few weeks back. I'll admit, somehow, today I had deer fever. I take aim quite in a hurry and squeeze the trigger. I saw the mule kick clearly and it runs off; I can see it run farther away, possibly into neighboring property if it didn't go down soon. 10.45am I get down and search the spot I shot. No hair or blood. I was hopeful at this point because the same happened with my buck - no blood until I walked quite away towards where the buck ran. I walk around everywhere including along property line and no blood anywhere. Could I have missed the shot? Would a deer mule kick if they are not hit but when grazed / scared? Could it be the grains of the cartridge I use that is not leaving blood trail? I was shooting at probably under 100 yards. I use Remington Core Lokt 150grain 30-06 and my rifle was sighted in with 150 grain cartridges.

 

[Jcalder]

Are you shooting the same ammo that you sighted the gun in. I get you said the same weight, but the same ammo. I've never used a core lokt a d most likely never will so I can't comment on the bullet itself. Sounds like you may have shot under it causing a good scare, hence the mule kick

 

[Vince]

Yes, the same ammo. I have never used anything other than Remington Core Lokt. Used to be 180 grains until last year when I switched to 150 grains...

so it might be a miss then...thanks!

 

[Dennis]

In my experience they won't mule kick unless something touches them. It's a reaction to get rid of whatever is grabbing them from behind. You didn't miss. But a mule kick doesn't necessarily mean a fatal shot.

 

[MUP]

Corlokts, specifically 150 gr out of 30-06 have worked great for me over the years, until I began loading my own finally. Welcome to the miserable club of having missed.

 

[Snake]

Hopefully you missed but the mule kick kinda indicates a hit but as already stated maybe not a vital hit .

 

[backyardtndeer]

Did you re sight in with the change from the 180's? Poi can change.

Before I started handloading, used a .270 with 150 grain core lokts for a long time probably killed 40 plus deer with them and never lost a single one. My girls hunted for years with 100 grain core lokts from .243 and also no lost deer that I can recall.

Mule kick sounds like a hit to me, but should be some blood.

 

[fairchaser]

You definitely hit her! If she ran much more than 100 yards then it wasn't a heart or lung hit. There should be blood even on a brisket hit. Go to the point of impact and look for hair. If it's white hair then it's probably a low hit. If it's brown hair, look for blood. It's easy to miss until you find it. Good luck.

 

[philsanchez76]

I agree mule kick generally = a hit of some sort. Just last week I hit a doe way to far forward in the shoulder and she did one of the most pronounced mule kicks I've ever seen. But since it was in the spot where brisket meets the neck meat, there was zero blood and I ended up jumping her 100 yards later or so. are you able to ask neighbors for permission to check on their property?

 

[rem270]

I know some like the core locts but I absolutely hate them. I would consider swapping ammo. That deer is probably dead and just didn't leave a blood trail like many I have shot with the core locts. I hope you find it

 

[TN Larry]

The mule kick is an indication of a hit but not always. In terms of Core Lokts, I have killed a truck load of deer with 150 gr core lokts out of a 30-06. I have also killed with .243, 7mm-08, 30-30, and 7mm Mag with Core Lokts. They almost always mushroom, pass through, and leave a significant blood trail which is what I want. As with any shot, there are always anolomies when something happens and a blood trail isn't left that has nothing to do with the bullet. For example, high exit covered by a shoulder blade, high entrance with no exit as the deer is angled towards you, and so on and so forth...............I will admit that Remington's QC is down over the last few years with Core Lokts and will most likely switch when I run out of old stock, but this is due to issues with ammo not firing and not the performance of the bullet itself. I would not be changing bullets if your gun shoots them good.

 

[philsanchez76]

I know some like the core locts but I absolutely hate them. I would consider swapping ammo. That deer is probably dead and just didn't leave a blood trail like many I have shot with the core locts. I hope you find it

I have a bunch of old boxes of these for my 270. I've only killed 3 deer with this round cuz I mainly hunt shot gun only WMAs, but they've all been fine blood trails, but curious as you why you hate them so much? I know they're cheap rounds, but is the bullet build that inferior? Just curious, I'm not married to the round.

 

[rem270]

I have a bunch of old boxes of these for my 270. I've only killed 3 deer with this round cuz I mainly hunt shot gun only WMAs, but they've all been fine blood trails, but curious as you why you hate them so much? I know they're cheap rounds, but is the bullet build that inferior? Just curious, I'm not married to the round.

Growing up that's all my dad used and he still does in his 3006 and 3030. I've killed a lot of deer with the bullets but what really turned me off on them is when my dad shot a good buck one time and it took us stumbling up on the deer with no blood trail. Didn't run 100 yards but I didn't like the fact of no blood trail. This was out of a 270 cal. After that it was a few more times and I vowed to never use them again. Fast forward 10+ years later and I bought a 7mm08 from a member that sent several boxes of core locts with it. I thought I'd give them a shot again. I killed 2 deer with them that fell in sight so didn't bother with a blood trail obviously. Shot 2 does the same year and once again no blood trail and had to stumble up on them to find them. One didn't go 50 and one 100 so although I can't say I've lost a deer with the round they have always left me room for error if I didn't happen to stumble up on the deer in the dark. I swapped to Hornady SST and they will ruin some meat on the front shoulder but I'll take that over a no blood trail.

 

[Crappieaddict]

Being a very late bloomer to deer hunting, only really starting last year. I got my rifle, bought a handful of different brand ammo for my 30-06. I pretty much settled on Corelokt, 165. I have since killed two deer. I have taken two shots. Both deer died in sight, so no blood trail needed. The buck I killed a couple of weeks ago was in a pool of blood.

 

[tnanh]

I really like core lokts. 308, 243, and 30-30. Never lost a hit deer with them .

 

[timberjack86]

Sounds like a good hit with no pass thru.

 

[Woodman]

JMO...any of the bullets mentioned will kill a whitetail, and different rifles like different bullets and different bullet weights (ie..accurate with one but not with another). And if you shoot enough deer there will at some point be a situation where you make a good shot and there will be no blood or just tiny flecks of blood. On a whitetail (thin-skinned compared to a muley or elk) if you have a pass through and no bone or thick muscle was hit ( like between the ribs on entry and exit ) then there is very little to make a bullet expand. The OP may very well have made a killing shot with no blood to be found. Again JMO.

 

[philsanchez76]

Growing up that's all my dad used and he still does in his 3006 and 3030. I've killed a lot of deer with the bullets but what really turned me off on them is when my dad shot a good buck one time and it took us stumbling up on the deer with no blood trail. Didn't run 100 yards but I didn't like the fact of no blood trail. This was out of a 270 cal. After that it was a few more times and I vowed to never use them again. Fast forward 10+ years later and I bought a 7mm08 from a member that sent several boxes of core locts with it. I thought I'd give them a shot again. I killed 2 deer with them that fell in sight so didn't bother with a blood trail obviously. Shot 2 does the same year and once again no blood trail and had to stumble up on them to find them. One didn't go 50 and one 100 so although I can't say I've lost a deer with the round they have always left me room for error if I didn't happen to stumble up on the deer in the dark. I swapped to Hornady SST and they will ruin some meat on the front shoulder but I'll take that over a no blood trail.

Thx for explaining. I've got a bunch of SST bullets that I need to reload- prob go that route anyway.

 

[Vince]

Thanks all. Next year I may try a different brand. Yes, I sighted one with Core Lokt 150 grain, the one I am shooting now.

I don't have access/permission to the property on one side but have on other three sides. May be, I should find the owner and ask permission to retrieve. It's posted no hunting no trespassing. I did look everywhere upto the border of one I don't have permission but without a blood trail, it's a search in the dark unless you stumble on the deer. Looks like it's more of shot placement than anything else. I was aiming double lungs, may be I should try a neck shot next time to drop it in the tracks. Even with my buck, I was heartbroken to not see any hair or blood where it was shot but then stumbled on the blood trail later and tracked from there (and it hadn't shown signs of being hit when it ran after the shot.) I saw this with my bow deers too - one didn't have any blood trail and the second one, blood trail started quite a bit after the place it was shot. Both were perfect double lungs. May be, blood trail starting a little farther away from where shot is normal.

in hindsight, I should have shot the doe that walked nearer to my shooting house downwind, that would have probably stopped it inside the property...

Regardless, it was a great hunt. I am really blessed for seeing as much action I saw this season and getting a few deers. From not seeing any for 6+ years to where I am today, the Lord has really blessed me. That is above all things for me.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Some times in the excitement of shooting you can misjudge where the deer was actually standing when you shot. It happens.

I can't recall any I shot with 150 grain core lokts from my 270 that did not bleed.