Never given much credence to "knockdown power"

I once saw a Catalina Goat take 4 direct hits at point blank range before going down. Every animal and hunt is different

Yep, had deer hit with my traditional muzzleloader go down on the spot and had deer hit with an '06 or 308 go a hundred yards, same shot placement on them, sometimes you just never know...


Eric.

Those were my thoughts. I've watched a lot of bloodied whitetails go many miles when shot with magnum caliber rifles on marginal--and sometimes even good hits. I think there is some merit here with recoil affecting the shooter etc but there's also something to be said about hunting elephant with a mouse gun.

Anyway, food for fodder and another outdoor writer's opinion.

It's a slippery slope.

Dick

Agreed Dick

Penetration trumps knock down power in large, dangerous animals.
Velocity and bullet integrity trumps knock down power in thin skinned animals.

Well said

Shot a 100 lbs doe with a rifle making 8000 ftlbs. She got up and ran 35 yards.

every animal you shoot is unique to that situation of that day...
Hunters go with percentages.....the search for the "one bullet does all" is never ending....

You can't judge an animals will to live. That's why I think some go flop while others travel sometimes great distances withe same placement.

I hate that term, it implies the bullet can physically knock and animal down, which is foolish. I've seen deer hit with 50 BMG take off running and deer shot with a .40 S&W drop like a sack of spuds.

If you want to knock an animal down the structural support bones must be broken or CNS hit. Any other way is iffy.

I agree that some calibers/bullets are better suited for certain animals than others however as stated above, CNS or skeletal bone hits are what tends to anchor animals.

Same load, same gun, 2 different animals, one went 80 yards, one was DRT. Both were good solid hits.