What is the best bullet for whitetail deer with 80% of your shots being 150 yds or less. Some shots as close as 20 yds and some as far 400 yds. I got a 6.5 running 3150 fps.
Hunting & Fishing whitetail deer bullet choice
- Thread starter shipereyes445
- Start date
For the distances you mentioned the Winchester deer season xp at $18 for a 20rd box of 6.5cm have phenomenal accuracy. I let someone use my 300wsm with the deer season xp and it hammered a deer at 630 yards.
Like has been said before, pretty much anything will do the job. I've had really good luck with the SST line, my first deer was shot with some federal blue box soft tip 30-06 150gr that bullet just shredded and ruined meat but the deer dropped! That's when I realized bullet choice matters. But since then I've dropped a few more deer and I've liked how the SST is cheap but is still very effective.
For deer I use whatever bullet is giving me the best accuracy even if this is an Open Tipped Match bullet "not recommended for hunting". Confidence in shot placement is more important to me than a 'silver bullet'. I felt a bit guilty about this practice until reading Coldboremiracle's article.
If there is any chance to run across heavier game like big elk, boar, or bear, I load Hornady GMX or Barnes TSX. Both deliver excellent accuracy and will practically guarantee an exit wound after devastating, deep penetration. Downside is the price of these and the fact that I now have a different load with different dope than the one I shoot 99% of the time.
Two years ago, I had no time to cook up a new load before the shoulder season started on elk and I grabbed a box of Federal Trophy Copper in .308 at the local store expecting "minute of elk" accuracy. To my surprise these things shot hole in hole and were worth every penny of the $1.50 per round.
You may want to give premium factory ammo a try instead of tying up a lot of money in reloading components for a few shots a year.
If there is any chance to run across heavier game like big elk, boar, or bear, I load Hornady GMX or Barnes TSX. Both deliver excellent accuracy and will practically guarantee an exit wound after devastating, deep penetration. Downside is the price of these and the fact that I now have a different load with different dope than the one I shoot 99% of the time.
Two years ago, I had no time to cook up a new load before the shoulder season started on elk and I grabbed a box of Federal Trophy Copper in .308 at the local store expecting "minute of elk" accuracy. To my surprise these things shot hole in hole and were worth every penny of the $1.50 per round.
You may want to give premium factory ammo a try instead of tying up a lot of money in reloading components for a few shots a year.
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3 Does in the head and one 8 point buck in the center of the white patch in his neck.
Factory Hornady ELD-x rounds have left me less than amazed. Three of the last four deer I shot with them required a second bullet.Shots varied from 65 to about 200 yards. No bullets or fragments recovered in any of them. My hot .308 loads vaporized inside the lungs and left lead fragments everywhere. I'm honestly thinking of retiring the 6.5cm and breaking my old slow twist .243 back out unless I can get some VLDs to work well. This season will tell.
Got my deer last year with a 62 grain Federal Fusion out of my AR. I don't waste too much time thinking about what I'm going to use on deer, because most of my shots in my hunting spot are going to be close to point blank.
Hornady 178amax has worked for me extremely well on deer and hogs at 308win velocities , the 168amax works great on varmints but can be pretty frangible at close range if pushed hard on medium size game. The SST I've found its performance on game to behave similar to the AMAX , push them to hard and they fragment very rapidly but at 308win and 68spc velocities they are GTG. Havent shot any animals with the 105Amax from my 243 but would expect them to fragment to rapidly up close given the velocity for medium size game.
high speed, short range, smaller caliber, I would be looking at using something bonded, a partition, or mono metal like the Barnes. I prefer bullets that stay together and penetrate fully, even if weird things happen or you are faced with the choice of a less than good shot angle.
547 yards. Hornady 100 BTSP, Ran about 30 yards before dieing. Not a white tail but muley.
6.5 CM w/143 ELD-X work great but I personally think they are over kill on deer/antelope. I'm gonna go back to my 257 Roberts (Hornady 117 BTSP) for such critters.
6.5 CM w/143 ELD-X work great but I personally think they are over kill on deer/antelope. I'm gonna go back to my 257 Roberts (Hornady 117 BTSP) for such critters.
This past season was the first time for using the 143gr ELDX. Lapua SRP, H4350 doing 2745 out of a Proof CF @ 22”. Shot was 90yds slightly quartered away. Buck dropped in his tracks. High shoulder shot with the bullet not quite making full penatration . Lungs and heart looked like jello.
in my 6.5WSM I use 120 nosler BT@ 3150 fps. ive shot 4 deer with it and they all dropped where they stood. ranges were from 160 to 370 yards. now in my 8mm06 the 180 BT @ 2850 fps didn't work as well, could be that the shot was only 35 yards but it blew up and the 140 ish lb buck went 250 yards before going down.
Thanks AP44.
OP, I have used many of the bullets mentioned above, also I have had great experience in the 6.5 game with several others that are quite economical. The PVRI 120 grain BTHP has worked well for my son's little 260rem (2795fps), he has killed his first two deer with them. The first one at 490yds:
The second one last year at just over 300 yds:
He also killed his first elk past 500yds with the same bullet:
I am also very fond of the Barnes Match Burner, it is very affordable and has dropped several deer for us at ranges from 60 to 1006 yds.
243 yds 264wm:
There is lots more where that came from in the article alpine44 mentioned above. Good luck with whatever you decide.
I have been using Nosler Ballistic tips for Whitetail deer for many years. Never had a failure. Started with 308 using a 165g BT then moved to my current custom Mauser in 270 using the 130g BT's mostly, and occasionally the 150g slugs. In between, I also use a 16" Wincheter model 94 trapper in 44 mag. With it I use the 250g HP's. They usually work great but I did have one spectacular failure on the "Ghost Buck". Bullets just pass thru this spectre with no affect. I also had a bad experience with 308 Winchester silvertips (not the ballistic tips but the older ones that used a pointed soft point). That bullet failed to expand and was like shooting the deer with FMJ's. I shot the "Terminat-deer" with it five times with four solid well placed hits and one shot that cut off a front leg. It kept getting up, forcing me to pursue and fire again. It finally went down and I finished it by cutting its throat with my Gerber LMF. I only got about 5 lbs of burger from that deer but he hangs in my living room.
That was the last time I used that ammo and returned to the ballistic tips that never fail. They are explosive but as long as you are patient and place the shot well as a broadside to the boiler room, it does not tear up the carcass too much. Most of my shots are <150y due to the eastern woods that I hunt. I have done a couple out past 200y but that is not common here.
Irish
That was the last time I used that ammo and returned to the ballistic tips that never fail. They are explosive but as long as you are patient and place the shot well as a broadside to the boiler room, it does not tear up the carcass too much. Most of my shots are <150y due to the eastern woods that I hunt. I have done a couple out past 200y but that is not common here.
Irish
Just got back from a North Dakota deer hunt with a nice whitetail. I use a 270WSM and 130 grain Trophy Copper. The deer was running all out at 75 yards, quartering away. My shot was lucky for me, bullet entered lower abdomen, opened a large wound, ended up in the hide on the opposite side front below the neck. Bullet performance was what I consider optimum (see picture below). The deer ran 40 yards before piling up in a thicket.
For factory rifles, I'm a fan of Sierra GameKing. They they seem to shoot well in just about any barrel.
My favorite is a 308 hornady 165 grain btsp, I've never had a deer take more than a couple steps. My dad has my old 6 creedmoor using a 105 hybrid with very good results. Here are a few pics from the deer Saturday, did not look like it did much until he skinned it. The one picture is the exit wound. Double lung and it took 10 steps, he shot it at 270 yards.
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I like hollow points and the high shoulder shot for DRT results. Loose a shoulder - gain a deer.
I killed a pile of deer with a 243 and 70 grain match kings.
I killed a pile of deer with a 243 and 70 grain match kings.
In my 6.5WSM i have shot several whitetails between 150 and 370 yards with the Nosler 120g Ballistic tip, all dropped where shot.
If I had to choose just one forever more, based on my experience, it would be Federal Fusion. Consistently hot loads and sub MOA in every caliber (that I've tried), bullets expand instantly on impact and stay together for a passthrough. Dead deer and not too much meat damage. In most calibers they are among the cheapest options available, too. Hard to beat all that.
I've also had excellent results from SSTs in various calibers and, most recently, NBTs.
-Stooxie
I've also had excellent results from SSTs in various calibers and, most recently, NBTs.
-Stooxie
I like Sierra game kings, I can get 3/4” groups fairly easily at 100yds without having to fine tune my load. They aren’t terribly expensive compared to solid copper bullets and have good expansion.
What calibers have you tried? I took my first deer with the .223 Fusion, and got good results. No exit, went off in the chest cavity like a grenade. Wondering if you've tried .308
7mm-08, 308 ("regular" and MSR), 270win and 6.8 SPC. Same story with all of them. Stupidly accurate for the price (often half MOA, at most 1 MOA), hot loads according to my LabRadar, and amazing performance. BTW, the 150gr MSR in 308 chrono'd at 2910 from a 20" barrel! That was in my Tikka CTR. Yowza! The 6.8 SPC 90gr is one of my favorites. I use the XM68GD stuff and it does 2,950 FPS out of my 18" barrel. Kills deer like a lightening bolt due to flat shooting, mild recoil, easy to place the bullet exactly where you want it and, of course, terminal performance.
What I typically see on a deer is a perfect caliber hole in the skin, a nickel size hole through the NEAR ribs and a quarter-sized exit wound. It doesn't seem to produce all the shrapnel and fragments that other bullets do. You know, when the animal is skinned and the entire side is dark red and the butcher is going "WTF did you do?" I am growing fond of the high shoulder shot as I grow weary of tracking and the right bullet minimizes meat loss.
FWIW, I have less experience with Winchester Deer Season XP but it's shaping up to be excellent as well. Shot three does with it last season with nice entrance wounds and massive exit holes. Very clean holes, no shrapnel or grenading, and walkable blood trails (which is 80% bullet placement related, but big holes help!).
I am going to try more of the DS this year.
-Stooxie
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