I try to shoot all deer behind the shoulders, I like shoulder meat. The .44 at the proper velocity has never failed me. If I shot slower I would lean to maybe a cup point.
I have found what is even better and that is to cast a softer nose, about half the nose length works great. That starts expansion quick but the boolit hangs together.
With a hard boolit I would not shoot them too fast either and the .44 just seems perfect as far as velocity. With the LBT 320 and the Lee 310, I get 1316 fps and do not want more.
Now my 45-70 BFR runs at 1630 fps and is just a hole punch. It NEEDS boolit work before I use it again.
I have a theory about a flat nose that is too hard and fast. I believe there is a pressure wave off the nose that moves tissue out of the way to a secondary wound channel that will collapse behind the boolit. The boolit will not slow in an animal when you need it to. Control is to make two holes with enough internal damage and fellas are correct that a HP has to be just right so it does not break apart. Too fast expansion even if a bullet holds together is also bad, like the 240 XTP. I would use the 300 gr before going back to the 240.
I was in the HP camp long ago before it was legal for me to hunt deer. We shot water, clay, soaked paper and anything we could find and we always said WOW, what would that do to deer. We were wrong, they were better for woodchucks.
A hard boolit at the right velocity does massive damage as this neck shot shows.
Then a buck shot right under the chin with my .475 at 76 yards, took the neck, a line of short ribs, traveled under the back straps to exit the ham.
I lost no meat at all. The .475 with a 22 bhn boolit has dropped 99% of deer hit in their tracks.
You need to know your gun and boolit. That HP would be better in the .44 special.
The most deer lost here are shot with magnum rifles, why guys need 7mm and 300 mags for deer less then 100 yards baffles me. Mangled flesh will seal fast while a clean cut will not stop bleeding. I found 12 dead deer on one property alone and find 10 or more when shroom hunting in the spring.
I really do kill more deer then the rifle hunters according to my friend in the checking store.