Magic Bullet
Contributors to this thread:Small Game
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
No, not the one that killed JFK.
I shot this coyote on Christmas Eve using my 7mm mag loaded with a 160 grain Sierra SBT bullet with 63 grains of IMR 4831 powder, hand loads. This combination has always produced plenty of visible damage on every animal I've shot with it.
The coyote was facing directly towards me at 100 yards. She dropped in her tracks without even a twitch. Here's where it gets weird. Upon inspection, my buddy and I couldn't find a visible bullet hole or a single drop of blood anywhere on the coyote . Our only theory was the bullet entered directly thru the coyote's mouth, down her esophagus, then lodged somewhere in her body cavity.
Is our magic bullet theory plausible, or do you guys have any other ideas?
Matt
From: nchunter
26-Dec-23
I have seen 7mags shoot thru deer so fast that there was just a tiny hole straight thru it where the bullet never mushroomed at all. It was the only gun I have ever seen that happen. May of just been the wrong bullet the guy was using. I would think that bullet would breeze thru a coyote like butter.
From: fuzzy
26-Dec-23
I can't imagine that a 7mm Magnum failed it exit
From: WV Mountaineer
26-Dec-23
It exited if it entered. And, the coyote didn’t die of a heart attack most likely.
From: elkmtngear
26-Dec-23
Sounds like the only reasonable explanation, Matt, unless you missed something under all that fur?
Autopsy would have revealed something, but, not worth the effort with a Yote IMHO.
Nice work, your local deer herd thanks you!
From: LBshooter
26-Dec-23
Down the esophagus? Not likely, more like would have blown out the back of the head. In/out with the tiniest of holes.
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
Every coyote I've killed with this rifle and shell combination had a sizable hole on the exit side with significant trauma. We checked every inch of this coyote and didn't find an entry or exit hole. It was a new one for me.
Matt
From: M.Pauls
26-Dec-23
Have you skinned it out? Usually becomes very visible on the carcass
From: RonP
26-Dec-23
i'd start looking where i was aiming....under the chin neck area and out the butt hole?
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
M.Pauls, this one was mangy, so I left it where it died to send a message to her pack mates. I'm positive they have a den on my property. They've been keeping my wife up at night howling very close to the house. This bitches nipples where swollen suggesting she had a litter of pups last summer. If so, hopefully her pups struggle this winter without mama.
Matt
From: fuzzy
26-Dec-23
(Refer to "luckiest shot" thread)
From: Insheart
26-Dec-23
Several years ago, I was riding in the tractor with my dad. He was seeing lots of deer coming out of the corn. Deer came out facing directly at us. At my shot the deer dropped dead. Gutted it, took it up to the barn, skun it, never could find where I hit it. Figured, (as you) must have gone into the nose or mouth.
From: Glunt@work
26-Dec-23
I would guess neck/chest entrance and oddly no exit. But, bullets do some odd things sometimes.
Nice shooting. A lot of coyotes are missed head-on.
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
Thanks, Glunt. To be honest, I shot this one off my rear deck using the railing as a rest. So it wasn't a particularly difficult shot. I aimed just below her chin, but this rifle is sighted in for 200 yards, so it hits a bit high at 100. That's why I think the mouth shot is most likely what happened.
Matt
From: cnelk
26-Dec-23
BS. The back of her head wouldve been sprayed all over the place with that heavy bullet.
I shoot a 55gr ballistic tip bullet out of my 243 for coyotes. Rarely do I get a exit.
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
Cnelk, the shot was downhill. At the angle she was standing, a mouth shot would have traveled the length of her body, not thru the back of her head. I do agree, however, it was very odd to not have an exit wound.
From: Bou'bound
26-Dec-23
It’s only been 48 hours carcass holds the answer. Get back out there and report what the autopsy reveals. All you will get here is guesses. You have access to the factual answer.
From: cnelk
26-Dec-23
Yep. Use a metal detector to find the bullet.
Inquiring minds want to know
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
Bou, it's not that important to me to do an autopsy. As I said, she was mangy and stinky, so I have no desire to handle her, much less to cut into her. Besides, we've had 3 straight days of frigid weather, so she's frozen solid by now. It was just an odd shot result that I thought I'd share for casual conversation.
Matt
From: spike78
26-Dec-23
Don’t be a pansy get out there and dig!
From: smarba
26-Dec-23
A friend's son killed a deer w/ rifle a couple years ago, can't remember exactly but maybe in the 150-yard range. They couldn't find any wound either. Finally found tiny sign that it had entered directly through one nostril and never exited or caused any other exterior damage.
From: 70lbDraw
26-Dec-23
Maybe it exited out of its butt? Did you look under the tail?
From: 2Wild Bill
26-Dec-23
Sounds like a situation my son experienced while squirrel hunting. We were separated by about fifty yards across a hillside. I heard his shot and waited almost a half hour before going to see his kill. We both had twelve gauge with #6 shot, as it was the early season, and they die easier than in winter. When I got to him, he was still seated at the base of a tree and when I asked how he did, he said there was nothing left of the squirrel because the shot was so close. HUH?........ Yeah, he showed me the branch only eight feet away that the squirrel was running along and sure enough the shot holes were there. Well I searched and searched for blood or some fur and found nothing. He hates when I tell the story of how he vaporized a squirrel.
I'm surprised Grey Ghost didn't come up with the obvious answer, she died of fright.
From: fuzzy
26-Dec-23
Matt/GG I don't blame you. Curiosity is not enough reason to handle a mangy yote
From: Ricky The Cabel Guy
26-Dec-23
did you look around for her nut sack?
heard a story once about a guy who shot the nut sack clean off a deer with an arrow.
:)
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
"Maybe it exited out of its butt? Did you look under the tail?"
Funny you mention that. The coyote was actually dropping a deuce when I shot her. There was a fresh turd on the ground, and another one doing the turtle head out of her butthole. The bullet definitely didn't exit there.
Matt
From: Bake
26-Dec-23
I'd say your mouth theory is the best. 5 or 6 years ago I shot a buck with a muzzleloader and hit him well back. For a variety of reasons, I chose to push instead of wait. Walked up on the buck at a good distance through timber, and he was bedded but had me pegged. I threw up the muzzleloader and took a snap shot. Buck rolled over at the shot and kicked a couple times and died. Never found a second hole. First hole was well back. No exit. No other hole. To this day I think he had a heart attack. I'm not entirely joking
From: Murph
26-Dec-23
If I was to guess I’d say center chest and no exit hang it by the back feet you’ll find the entrance
From: Buskill
26-Dec-23
I actually had this same thing happen. I was trying to approach a flock of turkeys and they busted. I thought I screwed it up and maybe I did but as they flew off I saw a coyote and he ran down below me and looked back up almost directly at me but not quite. He was a ways off and I had a muzzleloader. I put the crosshairs on his head and raised up a bit and touched one off. He flipped backwards. Could not find a hole. Then we noticed a small cut on his upper lip and a couple front teeth knocked out. Totally sent that slug down its throat. No exit. It was a really large coyote so I mounted it. Taxidermist told me he’d never forget how it was shot. Years later I saw the guy again. I asked him if he remembered me or my coyote and he said no. Then I said I was the dude that shot one down the throat. He laughed and said “Oh yes, I definitely remember that!”
From: Grey Ghost
26-Dec-23
Thanks for confirming this has happened to a few of you guys, too.
The last coyote I shot with this rifle and the same load was hit thru the shoulders. The off-side shoulder was almost entirely blown off. That’s why I was so surprised to not see any carnage on this one.
Matt
From: Thornton
26-Dec-23
Back in 99', I shot a running buck at 455 yards with my 7 mag in the presence of two hunting buddies. We were pushing open country draws, and a late winter herd of 13 bucks ran out onto a hillside. Back then, I used the laser like trajectory of 140 gr bullets and we all noticed it nearly do a somersault, as it was running straight away and I had held the crosshairs just above and between his ears.. Close inspection revealed no bullet hole, but my friend noticed a small amount of bowel prolapse out the bunghole. The bullet had went straight up the rectum and terminated in the vitals, killing him instantly. To answer your question, I've never seen a well placed 7 mag shot take prisoners, regardless of bullet weight or type. You usually hear a tremendous 'whump', and whatever just got hit flops over. I've killed deer, coyotes, elk, and pronghorn with mine for the last 25 years out yo 507 yards. Even shot a sharptail at 100 yards in Canada with it. Hit him in the neck.
From: DanaC
27-Dec-23
Heard of one killed with buck shot some years back, took one pellet right in the ear. Heard of another, took one pellet right in the heart. I've always said that Lady Luck has a sense of humor ;-)
From: Grey Ghost
27-Dec-23
Thornton, my father made my 7mm mag, including carving the stock from a blank chunk of walnut. He used what he called a "semi-competition" barrel. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but the barrel is much thicker and heavier than any of my other rifles. I absolutely love shooting it because there's virtually no recoil from the weight, and it's the most accurate rifle I own.
Matt
From: fuzzy
27-Dec-23
Matt what a treasure.
