Re: First Whitetail down... excessive damage or normal?
The cartridge you use has virtually nothing to do with the amount of damage that will be done or not be done. The type of bullet sure does though. Winchester 'power shock' is basically a cheap cup and core bullet that will come apart in many pieces in a pretty violent manner. My first deer was with el cheapo Winchester power points (same thing I think). Actually my second was too. Then I started to learn more about different types of bullets and how they behave. You can most certainly reduce meat damage by choosing the type of bullet accordingly. Get out a good sharp knife trim off all the jelly and messy bits and enjoy what's in tact. As said one thing about explosive type bullets is it usually results in a quick kill. Usually.
its gonna take a life time to hunt and fish all this