89: How Bullets Kill

Show Notes:

https://thebiggamehuntingblog.com/podcast/howbulletskill/

Show Sponsor: GoHunt. Use promo code BIGGAMEHUNTER when you sign up to get $50 in store credit at their gear shop.

What We Covered

1) Ways rifle bullets kill big game animals.

2) The vital factors necessary for a bullet to kill an animal: accuracy, penetration, and expansion.

3) Detailed discussion on the interplay between those factors and what things affect penetration and expansion like bullet construction, mass, momentum, sectional density, and impact velocity.

4) Discussion on the pros and cons of the "energy dump" theory of bullet performance vs the controlled expansion, deep penetration school of thought.

Resources

The Perfect Shot II- Kevin “Doctari” Robertson is a veterinarian and a long-time professional hunter from Zimbabwe. He puts his knowledge of animal anatomy and experiences hunting game in Africa to good use in his "Perfect Shot" series of books.

This book contains some extremely useful information on practical field ballistics for hunters, bullet killing criteria, and terminal bullet performance and important characteristics. This book is a GREAT resource for learning more about how bullets perform afield and how to pick the right bullet for hunting different animals under various conditions.