Okay, so we have rifle calibers we like, what about the projectile?
What bullets gives you the best results time and again for accuracy and terminal performance combined for the 180 pound deer hunt?
You are hunting deer between 120 to 240 pounds, what is your bullet choice out of the caliber you picked?
A 165 grain Hornady Interlock SP gives me very good accuracy in my 30-06, they also seem to step right up in most other calibers I fire also. They mushroom, they penetrate. Give me your pick.
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I have never really had any trouble dropping any deer, from smallish whiteys to larger muleys. In the .25-06 I like the 115 or 120 partitions. In the .280 Rem, 150 partitions at 3050 fps. In the .300 H&H 180 Sierra, Hornady or partitions at 3000 fps. Placement is the key.
Posts: 950 | Location: Cascade, Montana USA | Registered: 11 June 2000
To me, deer are easy animals to drop no matter how big they get. I've taken mule deer that I would guess to weigh in excess of 200 lbs. very cleanly with a 130 gr. Nosler Partition out of a .270 Win.
I'd be happy with any cartridge between a .25-06 and a .338 Win. for my own personal use. There is no fool-proof cartridge or bullet........... only fool-proof shooting!
1Lonewolf, I guess I missed the point you were trying to get to with your post!
Let's see........If I had to choose one caliber with one bullet for all of my deer hunting from here on out, it would be the .300 Winchester with 180 gr. Nosler Partitions loaded to a bit more than 3000 fps. and sighted-in for a 250 yard zero.
In the 6.5x55, the 120 grn ballistic tip would be a good deer choice, if you like ballistic tips. If not, try a partition in the same wieght. Or, if you are worried about penetration, use a 140 grn Hornady Interlock. Accurate, well built, and reasonably priced. That bullet would easily reach the vitals of a whitetail of any size from any angle. In a 30-06 or 308, I would try out the new Hornady SST. It can be had in 150 grn and I think in 165 grn. Either way, it would be a great bullet for whitetails with rapid expansion, but good bullet integrety.
Gentlemen: Going back over 50 years of deer and elk hunting from texas whitetails to missouri whitetails, colo and n.m. mule deer and elk I started with a .270 and still use one today, although I tried a bunch of others in between such as a 22.250 thru 300 wby. I found out years ago that the 150 nosler in the .270 just performed better on large deer and elk. and is still my choice today even here in Texas. George
I can't see any difference in most of them, 270,30-06,7x57,308 and a bunch more...I guess I like the 300 H&H and the 7x57 best, but like I said I can't tell any difference and neither can the deer.
I have real confidence in any of the Nolser partitions. I like the good initial expansion w/ pentration from ant angle. Sometimes deer won'y cooperate & give you that perfect Nosler balistic tip, broadside shot.
Posts: 7752 | Location: kalif.,usa | Registered: 08 March 2001
Do I have to change bullets if he weighs more or less than 180# ?
I don't find deer harder/easier to kill because they are big, or small! Any good bullet in the engine room, from any caliber, from 55 grs to 500 grs will kill any deer that ever walked the earth. What I mean by good bullet is, any HUNTING bullet for animals from coyote to elk, you choose. My own personal favorite bullet for ALL deer is a 100 gr Hornady .243 dia traveling a 3000 fps at muzzle. I find that almost anything you can legally use for deer will do it's job, if you do your's!
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Posts: 14634 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: 08 June 2000
165gr Nosler Balistic Tip over 40grs IMR4064 out of my Rem 788 308win. Its been my load for deer so many years I don't remember what the speed is. I can say the only deer to walk away from it was my fault. I pulled the shot in a wind gust. Poor judgment on my part. This load has taken countless Whitetails & mulies for me for several years now.
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X-Ring, That sounds like a very inaccurate rig to me. I'll bet that combination can't give you better than 1/16" groups.
I have used many calibers on deer but, as Ray mentioned, it sure is hard to get a handle on which is the more effective. I think the .270 Winchester with the 130 grain bullets is 100% shootable for any hunter and is highly effective on deer. I've seen more animals "drop to the shot" with the .270 than any other, both at great distance AND in the deep woods. I read an article 3 or 4 years back stating that many eastern Canadian whitetail "specialists" were now selecting the .270 because they were finding a very high % of their deer exactly where they were hit.
X-Ring, I had an untouched standard Ruger 77V in .22-250 that shot under an inch with about any load and under a half inch with 4 or 5 different bullets. Had a Leupold 6.5x20 on it. I could still see pretty good back then and thought I was pretty hot stuff. My best buddy, from Wyoming, took me rockchuck hunting in the Bighorns at just the right time. Well, he busted chucks just as far out as I did with his Model 788 in .22-250 with a crumby looking old Weaver collectors item on it. I mean 350 and out. Way out! Those 788's are worth their weight in gold.
[This message has been edited by Nickudu (edited 04-17-2001).]
This will throw you, 36 gr of IMR 4064 under A Winchester 150 gr Power Point in my bolt action 30-30. If I feel this is to high tech I like a 180 gr round ball in my 50 cal Lyman. My wife and I shoot big Canadian Whitetails every year with both of the above.
I've shot deer with several different rifles and most every major brand of bullet I can think of and like Ray said I couldn't see much difference, neither could the deer. That being said, the bullet/rifle combo most likely to leave the camp with me in the morning is a Browning 30-06 loaded with 165gr Speer Grand Slams and pushing 3000fps at the muzzle and a 200 yd zero.
I've shot a bunch of deer over the years using my 30-06 and wide variety of bullets from 150 to 180 grains. To be honest I never noticed much difference in their ability to kill game. Since I have got into handloading I have pretty much settled on 165 gr. Partitions. My rifle likes them and they work.
Posts: 784 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 18 December 2000
I am so impressed with speer's 140gr spitzer hot core at 2,700fps out of my 6.5x55. It just kills so well even on really thin skinned roe deer (50-60lbs) despite the fact I've never recovered one and the exit wound is not large. How can this be? Even massively meat damaging 120gr ballistic tips aren't so effective.
Posts: 2258 | Location: Bristol, England | Registered: 24 April 2001
Hunted with a .243 for years ( 100 gr. bullets over Imr 3031 if memory serves ) and killed a number of whitetails with it. One morning I shot a buck a little high, bullet passed between the top of the lungs and below the spine. The deer never acted as if he was hit , simply turned and moved off at the sound of the shot. I never would have known that I hit that deer if he had not been standing in a creek when I shot him and saw that I had cut hair when the bullet struck. I was able to track the deer about 100 yards and found him dead, no blood trail at all. I have since then bought a M77 in .308 and use 150 gr. Nosler BT over WW748. Have never looked back.
I have shot deer with a lot of different rounds from 444 marlin,7mm RM, 30-06,270 to my current 6 mm Rem. I like the 6 mm with 100 gr Hornady's leaves a good blood trail and they don't go far. This year I'm going to switch to a 338-06 just to be different. I think I'll try the 180 gr BT at 2900 or so.
Posts: 1111 | Location: Edmond,OK | Registered: 14 March 2001
this past year i used the 165 sierra sbt game king at 3425 from my 300 ultra. shot a 170 lbs field dreesed 8 point at 225 yards. went in one shoulder out the other. there was a fist sized hole all the way through. this deer wieghed over 200 on the hoof.
A 100gr Hornady Interlock moving at about 3100fps from my .257 AI. Sighted in at 2 1/2" high at 100 yards and I hold dead on out to about 350 yards. I shot this load last week and it shot a 3 shot 1/2" group at 100 yards. That's about as good as I can shoot with a 2.8X10 scope.
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