I watched a video several years ago put out by a Marine gunnery sergant who was a weapons expert and trained many of our troops in the use of firearms. One of his angles presented was to dispell "myths" about what kinds of things guns were and werent capable of . In one segment he showed how vulnerable fast moving bullets were to deflection . In your case it appears this is what has happened. Bullets are desingned to deliver their energy with a true head on impact. In this case the glancing blow on the rib turned the bullet kind of sideways and defllected it even further off of the spine altering the direction of travel at a slight rearward angle and the ballistic tip did it best to open the bullet as it traveled out through the gut.

I had an opportunity to shoot some wild hogs that had invaded a rice farmers fields and had been causing damage to his water checks as well as his crops. I encountered a young 150 lb. boar who was in the middle of one of these flooded rice fields full of nearly mature green rice. He wasnt coming out so I had to go in with my 30-30. I got to within 20 yds. of him when he began to get a clue something was wrong and started to take off. I fired a shot through about 18 inches of standing rice with a 150 gr. RN bullet hitting him about 5 inches back of the shoulder at a very slight quartering angle away from me. He stopped after a few feet just standing there making some distressful sounds. This lasted for about 15 minutes with no change. I decided I would have to risk going in on him again and opted to draw my 41 Magnum as it could fire heavier bullets faster if something did not go well. I was able again to get close and this time he raised his head and I fired one hitting him behind the ear and he was down and out. When I cleaned the hog I was curious as to why the 30-30 hadnt done its job. I had a well placed shot . I followed the wound canal to the other side of the hog and found the bullet just near the shoulder pushed up against his grissled armour plate . Looking at the bullet and the wound channel I was able to figure out what had happened. The bullet having stuck some of that green rice on its way to the animal had turned completely backwards and hit him butt first . No fooling , the tip of the bullet wasnt even scratched and the base was dented up a bit. Hows that for deflection guys ? I didnt see the video I mentioned until some 4 or 5 years after this and it all came into perspective.

 

Well, I know that if you get hit in the head by a well driven golf ball....you may be dead. But, instead if that same ball hits a leaf in a tree, it drops straight to the ground. Go figure

 

It's been my experience that when you hunt hogs you NEED a bullet that is over 240grs. AND travels slower than 2,000fps at impact. Even the .44mag with 240 is not heavy enough. My favorite load on boars was Black Talon .44mag which was 250gr. and heavy enough to do the job and slow enough in a lever action rifle with a 20" barrel.

Since Black Talon is no longer made, for over a dozen years, I suggest Winchester's new Dual Bond in 454, which is at 260gr. and should be perfect for a new pig round, but haven't tried them, yet. Too bad Winchester didn't make a 250gr. .44mag version, 'cause I'd be all over that like white on rice.

 

I once saw a .30-30 bullet do this kind of thing. That was a typical 170gr flat nose.

The biggest change of direction I've seen with a pointed .308 was about 15 degrees on a deer shot about 100 yards away. That was a 165gr bullet.

The deer I've shot where I came close to the vertibrae, they went down immediately. Three years ago I shot a deer with a 300 gr .45-70 bullet. The bullet did not touch the spine, but looking into the body cavity one could see all of the bottom of several vertibrae in a row. Dropped like a rock.

 

sounds like the 'MAGIC' bullet that killed kennedy in 63'. Its a conspiracy!!! it was an inside job by the texas dept. of wildlife, there were 2 shooters on the grassy knoll, you were thier patsy! Dont smirk, you know that kinda stuff happens in Texas!!!

 

I think the chances of your 2nd shot entering the exact same hole as the 1st next to impossible. Particularily at 125 yards and with so little experience with the rifle. That you hit the deer at all seems nothing short of a miracle.

You didn't say if actually recovered the bullets involved. I would have to guess that you missed entirely with the 1st shot. The second struck the deer and then the bullet seperated after hitting the bone. One piece exited in one direction and one piece in another causing the two exit holes.

 

I agree with Night Driver, and also with JLA on the conspiracy theory. Bullets don't go in the same hole at 125 yards. The bullet obviously fragmented. .308 Ballistic Tips are notorious for fragmenting.

 

I think the chances of your 2nd shot entering the exact same hole as the 1st next to impossible. Particularily at 125 yards and with so little experience with the rifle. That you hit the deer at all seems nothing short of a miracle.

Why do you think a second shot in one hole is next to impossible at 125 yrds? I didn't tell you what I was shooting. I will tell you it has a set trigger with no creep and 1 1/2lbs of pull. What makes you think I missed with the first bullet? It doesn't take but 6 to 9 rounds to site in a scope with the right equiptment.

 

Even if you sighted it in with one bullet. If it hit where you wanted to and you went hunting with it there is no reason why you can't hit the same hole twice. I'm inclined to believe that one of them hit a rib and glanced off. Take a steel ball or a nut and throw it on a hard (concrete or a rock outside) and watch it bounce uncontrolably. Normally bullets go straight, but weirder things than a glancing bullet has happened. It would seem odd to me that after a bullet split in half on the far side of the animal that each half would contain enough energy to continue on to exit after such disruption. I'm also doubt that one could miss an entire deer at only 125 yards, especially if the sight in shots and at least one of the bullets hit exactly where it was intended. I think both hit. It's not like it was 400 yards away.