Thread: Knockdown power

In my experience/opinion there seems to be three main factors that will determine how quickly a game animal drops/expires.
1. Shot placement (no secret that cns shots drop animals like lightning and that that rear lung shots are not quick killers)
2. State of the animal when shot (is it relaxed and feeding or has it just spotted/smelled the hunter and the adrenaline is starting to flow?)
3. Energy of the projectile. When assuming lung/chest shots my experience has been that projectile energy (within reason) comes in a distant third with regards to influencing speed of the kill. I have taken deer with “marginal cartridges” through to “excessive cartridges” (375 Ruger, 45/70). I can say without any hesitation that the ones who appeared relaxed at the time the shot was taken died quickly and moved little distance (often dropped right away) irrespective of the sometimes “inadequate energy” of the cartridge used. The flip side of this is that game that was spooked or in flight mode traveled much further irrespective of the “massive” amount of foot/pounds delivered by some of the cartridges used.