Hornady ELD-X Issue

[Coyotefurharvester]

Running deer, lung holes above centerline of lungs,no exit wound =poor blood trails. Less external blood loss,spread thin(running), tall grass(thin vertical surfaces) tougher tracking. Where I deer hunt, no rifles. Handguns,muzzleloader,shotgun with single projectile. Since the development of high velocity sabot slugs(opposed to rifled slugs), blood trails seem to be "lighter". More people using 20ga, smaller entrance wounds.

 

[wbm]

New Mexico "range report"...6.5 Creedmoor, 143ELD-X....5 hunters, 3 elk and 2 mule deer. All were DRT...Not a damn thing wrong with Hornady ELD-X!

 

[603Country]

Sometimes you don’t get a blood trail, no matter the bullet. Usually though, when I put it in the lungs, I get a good trail, and a short trail. A couple of days ago I shot a doe for the freezer (orders from the wife) and decided to go with a high shoulder shot. I walked to 250ish yards to find no blood at all. The deer made it about 20 yards into the brush. She just didn’t bleed much, though there was an exit and I was using 120 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. And the internal damage, as you’d expect with Ballistic Tips, was extensive.

I’d try the new Hornady bullets, but don’t need to buy anything for a while. I wonder if they are as ‘messy’ as the BTs.

 

[Bill K]

What issue ? Has the bullet exited the body, so you would have a blood trail to follow ? And if they have dropped on the spot or within 20 ft, you probably have not had a bleeding trail as they have not gone far enough to start one.

 

[603Country]

If you are talking to me, the issue, if you want to call it that, is when I make long shots and walk to the likely impact spot, it’s helpful to be able to find the tracking starting spot. Otherwise I don’t know where the deer actually was. If it was standing next to a green bush, one bush looks pretty much like the next bush when you are 250 yards from where you fired the shot. The lung shot pretty much always gives an instant blood trail, but the high shoulder shot didn’t. No big deal, since the doe is now in the freezer.

The last couple of high shoulder shots dropped the deer on the spot, which was my hope this time. I found blood only at the deer.

A helpful tip to those that shoot a deer a ways off is to range to the spot where the deer was before you leave your stand. When you get to where you think the deer was, range back to your stand to see if you are in the right place. Unfortunately, I forgot to do that this last time.

 

[284winner]

I am hunting white-tail deer this year with the Hornady ELD-X. Custom-built Savage 110 6.5-284 143gr ELD-X. at +- 3000fps

I have taken 3 deer this year and noticed this bullet DOES NOT CREATE A BLOOD TRIAL (Small drops sometimes). One I shot dropped in its tracks with the high shoulder shot. The other I shot at 297 yards heart-lung and went about 20 yards with ZERO blood trail. Is anyone else having this issue? The bullet is accurate, I am shooting 1/2moa at 100y but if I end up having to track one, it will be very difficult.

I may switch to the Berger VLD, thoughts?

140 ELDM. Problem solved.

 

[Ray123]

I use a 338 Win mag on deer huge exit wounds some football sized, only the skin holding the off leg on at the shoulder of one... reason I stopped using the 7 mm mag... small exit wounds, animals on their feet longer, hard to find blood trail...and more blood shot meat.
Want big exit wounds use a larger caliber, I have 6mm, 6.5 mm, for targets but I don't consider them as my serious hunting tools, and always take the 338 Win mag or the highly modified Model 7 in 350 Rem mag for up close, but it's shooting Barns or Hornady 200s at 2940 fps...or 250 gr at 2625 fps. But the 338 win mag is the best one I tried for deer hunting...25-06 to 416 Rigby.

 

[Bamban]

My little 7mm-08 featherweight loaded with 140 grain Nosler BT's puts them down consistently. It does make a mess but I shoot to kill and not to save meat. I haven't lost a deer in many years. Hope I never do again. Most aim behind the shoulders to get into the heart/lung region but I've seen too many deer run with a heart/lung shot. I aim for the shoulders, preferably the "point" of the shoulder. That will take out the base of the cervical column (neck). Hit low and you take out the top/front of the heart (aorta) and lungs. Works for me.

Something close to this? Not mine, grabbed it from the errornet

 

[Gargoyle]

Something close to this? Not mine, grabbed it from the errornet
View attachment 1384420

110% Correct!

 

[Ol Thumper]

We’ve shot 9 deer this year alone using the 143 ELDX’s and they’ve all left solid blood trails if they moved an inch. It all depends on where you hit them, we go for the high percentage shot right behind the shoulder through the ribs and they pour blood out but when you touch the shoulder they‘ve dropped in thr tracks. I’ve shot a couple with the 212g ELDX’s out of a 300 PRC and they were pretty messy as well. From the roughly 30 deer we’ve killed with them I’d say thr a fine hunting bullet and if their not performing correctly I’d lean more towards user error and shot placement. Any deer that’s dead within 25 yards of the shot is a winner in my book but opinions will vary.

 

[Down South]

Hammer Bullets

I worked up a load in my 6.5 PRC hunting rig with the 109 gr Absolute Hammer bullet. Shoots very accurate and got to take my first deer with it a few weeks ago in Kentucky. Shot a nice 8 point that weighed 205 lb. Shot was 125 yards quartering away angle, entered behind front shoulder and exit opposite shoulder. Buck dropped instantly at the shot DRT and insides soup. I like the design of these bullets being all copper but shed petals with the shank driving through for pass through. I've shot Barnes in the past but prefer this hammer design. Muzzle velocity was 3375 ftps with 20 inch barrel and 7 inch suppressor with this load. If you're looking for pass through and blood trails these bullets will do the trick, only down side is price. They're lathe turned bullets and ain't cheap.

 

[Coonman300]

I started using them several years ago after some disappointing terminal performance with Berger’s. I shoot about 90% of my deer behind the shoulder. Ive had pass thru shots and good blood trails and excellent terminal performance out to 600 yards. I shot one in the shoulder and it was DRT with no exit. My nephew shot this one and hit it high on the shoulder and spine. I’ve shot a lot of deer in my life and seen many shot. I’ve NEVER seen an exit like this one….don’t believe it’s typical for this or any bullet for that matter. Shot at 100 yards with a 300WM. Needless to say she didn’t run anywhere.

 

[Charlie-NY]

A helpful tip to those that shoot a deer a ways off is to range to the spot where the deer was before you leave your stand. When you get to where you think the deer was, range back to your stand to see if you are in the right place. Unfortunately, I forgot to do that this last time.

I do this all the time and it works great. I often shoot at last light. By the time I get out of my stand and down to where the deer was shot, the light is very low. Using my LRF I can walk slowly while ranging back to my stand. More often than not, this will put me right on the spot where the game was standing.

 

[White Eagle]

I have at least a hundred deer and the best thing to remember is the animals will to survive and flee from danger they have survived for thousands of years they must be doing something rite
as for bullets I always look for 2 hole 1 in and 1 out rarely do I find blood at impact site but sometimes I do but normally hair and tissue that sort of thing
may want to get away from these high bc bullets and go to a partition or Barnes X or something similar ( 2 holes )
best of luck

 

[wbm]

An Official Journal Of The NRA | Tested: Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor

Originally developed as a precision rifle cartridge for the relatively small across-the-course competition market, Hornady’s 6.5 mm Creedmoor is now one of the most popular chamberings for the American sportsman. Light on recoil, yet dominant at long range, the 6.5 Creedmoor is an ideal loading...

www.americanrifleman.org

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

IMO,..
The Only "Issue" with, the 143 gr ELD-X's,.. IS,. getting ENOUGH of, them !
A Very sweet shooting ( 1/2 MOA in my 6.5 Creed ) and an awesome, "Killer" Bullet !
My 21 y/o grandson, has had, 3 One Shot, ( One / Two, Hops ) DRT Kills on Deer with them, in 6.5 PRC.
The 143 gr. ELD-X's ARE, My Family's Number Two, Favorite Bullet, behind, the "Hunting", Berger's !
PS; my 13 y/o grandson just shot, a 30+ inch, Heavy horned, 4x4 Muley at, slightly over, 200 Yards with an 87 gr. H-VLD Berger out of his Tikka, .243 Win, @ 3,000 FPS and it, didn't go, far !

 

[XTR]

It’s not the bullet doing anything wrong. If you destroy the tissue (lungs) at the level of the hole then the bleed is internal. That’s why archery hits leave a paint trail. The bleed is out the hole(s). I shot a doe with a 250 gr muzzle loader bullet over 100gr of T7 once at about 95 yds. After the smoke cleared I didn’t know what had happened down range. Went to the spot in the road and found a couple of little bits of lung on the grass.

About 20 yds away was a dead deer. When I rolled it over it sloshed like a cooler of melted ice and blood literally geysered from the entrance hole Just above center line of the lungs. No blood trail, but not really any lungs left either.

 

[David Milisock]

I started using them several years ago after some disappointing terminal performance with Berger’s. I shoot about 90% of my deer behind the shoulder. Ive had pass thru shots and good blood trails and excellent terminal performance out to 600 yards. I shot one in the shoulder and it was DRT with no exit. My nephew shot this one and hit it high on the shoulder and spine. I’ve shot a lot of deer in my life and seen many shot. I’ve NEVER seen an exit like this one….don’t believe it’s typical for this or any bullet for that matter. Shot at 100 yards with a 300WM. Needless to say she didn’t run anywhere.

This is proof of the unpredictable nature of bullet wounds if there ever was one!