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Yep, folks gut shoot game animals; no doubt about that. Many of those same folks blame the bullet even though the bullet is seldom at fault. Yep, i've gut shot game animals too. Went through a rash of that in 2008 when i gutshot several hogs and two deer. After long tracking and dragging jobs all were recovered.
Even if the bullet fails to expand, a double lunged deer will very seldom travel more than 150 yards after being hit. Decades ago i hunted with .30 caliber US Army ball ammo: Killed dozens of deer with the stuff. When properly placed that ball ammo killed deer just as dead as those hit with soft point bullets.
Last deer/elk season i tracked and recovered 14 deer and three elk for other hunters. Three hunters fessed up to making bad shots. Several hunters claimed they "double lunged" their animals and the bullet failed to expand. The coyotes beat us to five deer. Not one intact animal was "double lunged" and most intact animals were gutshot. Longest tracking job was about 2.5 kilometers.
IMO: Most hunters cannot track wounded animals. Some blood trails last season were glaringly obvious to the most casual of observers. But the dog and i had fun: Also got a lot of good elk meat.
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