As far as the bullet itself possessing some form of engery to dump into the animal, I disagree.
This bullet, this vessel, has momentum based upon velocity and speed and therefore poessesses some abiltiy to penetrate and in the high speed expanding type, disrupts the tissues in relation to it's diameter and violence of expansion. The greater the speed upon impact and the wider the expansion, the more tissue is disrupted - by the expanding bullet - there is no energy thrown into the tissues from the bullet - but BY the bullet. Any disruption of tissue is a 'result' of the speed and the bullet's expansion - not caused by some mystical bust of energy from the bullet itself as is commonly thought or imagined. Of course, the higher the speed, the higher will be this wierd number called foot pounds of energy - but - it has no co-relation to what is actually caused in damage.
What I am holding to is there is no relationship between damage or the ability to do damage and the actual number of the foot pounds of energy. The number itself is meaningless - the 22/250 possesses more fpe than a .45/70, yet the .45/70 is a buffalo ctg., long range match round and the little .22 isn't, yet the numbers, these fpe many people seem to think are meaningful have no integrity - they are actually meaningless in game shooting. A better formula is necessary, but then, in game shooting, if one has done enough of it, animals can't read ballistic papers and therefore don't know how to react.