When hunting, does a bullet typically pass all the way through the animal, or does it often get stuck inside?

I'm curious, I've not been hunting.


In a typical deer hunt, does the typical rifle or shotgun slug people use pass all the way through the animals body? Or does it typically get stuck somewhere inside?





What about larger animals like bears?When hunting, does a bullet typically pass all the way through the animal, or does it often get stuck inside?
Lot's of different variables are involved with this question. Usually, provided that you are taking a broadside heart/lung shot and using an acceptable hunting caliber, the round will pass through. Sometimes, rarely and depending on the type of ammo, the round will fragment and expand drastically and fall just short of exiting. If you take a stem to stern hot (not recommended) then some rounds (like .223 and 7.62x39) will most likely get stuck inside whereas others (like .243, .270, .30-06) may still penetrate all the way through.





With shotguns I am not so sure. Massad Ayoob (very well respected gun writer) says that even 00 buck will seldom penetrate far enough to kill deer. Slugs will definitely penetrate, with the kind of mass and energy they pack I would assume they would also pass through.





Bear are a whole different ball game. Black bear should only take a little more oomph than deer but I still wouldn't use anything less than .270/.308/.30-06/7.62x54r. With Grizzlies I would be surprised if any hunting round would penetrate all the way through on a stem to stern shot. 30-06 and up should still overpenetrate on a broadside shot. I would expect only the biggest (.300 Win Mag, .338 Lapua, .375 H%26amp;H) to do so stem to stern, frontal shot.When hunting, does a bullet typically pass all the way through the animal, or does it often get stuck inside?
You've stepped right into the middle of an old argument. Some people think the perfect bullet performance will leave the mushroomed bullet under the hide on the off side, having penetrated almost all the way and dumped all its energy in the animal. Others think it's better to have an exit wound, so there are two holes for blood to exit on shots that don't drop the animal immediately. At any rate, since you have to choose a bullet that will penetrate adequately, even the proponents of the first argument wind up with a bullet that'll exit as often as not. And even after careful bullet selection and careful shot placement, there's still the matter of luck: the bullet may hit a lot of heavy bone, or it may slip in between the ribs without hitting bone at all.


Something similar holds true even with massive Cape buffalo: if hit in the ribcage with a solid of sectional density 0.3 or greater, the bullet may exit the off side, perhaps even unintentionally wounding another member of the herd; if hit in the shoulder, or the boss (the heavy spot between the horns) with an expanding bullet of sectional density .275 (also very popular for the purpose), it may not penetrate adequately to anchor the animal.
I only hunt deer with shotgun, because rifles are illegal in IL. I have hunted all my life, and every slug I have put in a deer has always passed straight through. I went first season a couple weeks ago and dropped 3 deer, with 3 different guns (20 ga. mossburg pump, 12. ga remington 11 87, and a 12 ga. h%26amp;r single shot). @ of the guns have rifled barrels, the 11 87 has a smooth barrel. Of the three deer i shot all the slugs passed through completely, none of with were close shots either, all in the 80-100yard range. In my personal experience, i have never found a slug lodged in a deer. (by the way, for anyone that wants to call me out on the rules and regulations of IL, i only had permits for 2 of the 3 deer, the third was shot for another permit holder next to me who wasn't having much luck shooting anything that day, he put his permit on the third. I am not a poacher.)
Either can happen. It is best if you select a bullet that will not disintegrate and that will not pass through the animal. That way, all of the energy is dissipated in the animal and it does the most damage. For me, typically the bullets go all the way through. I usually shoot through the chest cavity, hitting the heart or lungs or both. If you shoot them in the shoulder, there is enough resistance there to stop most bullets. I once shot a buck that was facing me and hit it in the chest. The bullet was just under the skin by the left rear hip.
When hunting with smaller calibers I experienced bullets not passing through. I didn't retrive any of those deer. The reason most hunters want a pass through is, yes blood trail, to find the deer if shot placement was not good. I never want a deer to get shot and run 100 yds away and I never find him only for him or her to die 2 days later after suffering from a poor shot or poor bullet performance. I reload for my weapon and since I started this I have not lost a deer. Most are 1 shot kills.
well all the ones i seen they go through and i think thats how its suposed to be inless you got a hollow point and if you get anything you could see that it would be more damege on the exit wound lets say you were huntint whitetail or wild boar with a 30 06 then get a fedral softnose amunition to use and thats the best ones and you shoot one then turn it over you could see there is a puncture wound in the side you shot it then on the other side you could most likley to see a lung or heart out of its body so yeah! but you got it! and it it ok to scream! yeah! after you shoot it cause i will tell you one thing that there wont be any more deer coming for a whyle
Slugs will generally not go through. Rifle rounds will, usually, but it depends on distance to your deer and where it hits. Smaller and lighter rounds won't, larger ones will, but if it hits a bone or has to pass through a lot of material, it stays in the carcass.
Well that depends. Depending on the ammo its either supoosed to mushroom or fragment in the body although sometimes the ammo will fail to do so and go through. It's not supposed to but it happens. You don't want that to happen.
if you hit them right ,it should..right behind the shoulder,about one third the way up. makes for a nice blood trail. or you can hit them right at the top of the shoulder and drop them in their tracks,that makes for a short bloodtrail
It usually passes through the animal. I only found one bullet in all the deer i have shot and the deer that I found the bullet in was about 150 yards away with a 30/30.
Listen to Jeff! He's probably the only person that answered so far that's ever shot a deer.
It depends on the area hit and the caliber used. Quite often I find the bullet it the deer but not always.
12 gauge slug broke the front leg, smashed through the heart, and snapped ribs on the way out. .50 cal muzzle loader punched right through too
Either.


Depends on shot placement, animal, and caliber.
it gets stuck in the animals body.





i believe a sniper rifle can get through all the way





like the recoil 577 t-rex rifle it can go all the way thorough the animals body.
Stuck inside.


Thats why there's only one hole.
It gets stuck I believe.