Call it an urban legend or a an old wives’ tale but there exists this notion that you need 1000 foot pounds of energy to cleanly take a deer or similar sized big game animal. No one is really sure where this myth originated. Bryce Towsley queried Facebook and the general conduces was the it was from Townsend Whelen. That may be true but what I’ve read of Whelen’s work is counter to that notion and he generally spoke in terms of velocity. None the less, the myth exists. You are free to believe it and you are even free to subscribe to that line of thought when you hunt. But, the truth is, 1000 foot pounds of energy at the point where a bullet strikes an animal does not mean it will kill any better than if it only had 500 foot pounds of energy. There are simply things that matter much more. Read this article to see why.
To read the full article, click the image below. Portions of the Empty Cases blog are syndicated at North American Hunter
