Best Performing Deer Bullet

[birdbustr]

What bullet has the best terminal performance on deer?

1. Please give opinions from experience and examples.

2. Please assume that the deer is hit in the vitals, the hunter has, "Done his part".

 

[sublimaze41]

O.K. you want an opinion... here it is. .30 caliber Barnes TSX in 168gr. I like '06 you may find .308 good. Heck I took a large zebra that turned at the last second. Through his rear, split the hip bone and passed through nearly 3 feet of gut. 100% bullet retention. H4350 loaded to around 2850 FPS.

On a whitetail It would likely do it's job at any decent angle.

 

[dakotasin]

mid-heavy weight for caliber hornady interlocks (no sst experience) have always been meat on the table for me w/ deer.

257 - 100 (257 roberts), 120's (25-06)
284 - 162 (7 mag, 7 rum)
308 - 165 (308, 30-06, 300 savage, 300 win mag, 300 wsm)
338 - 225 (338 win mag)

these are the ones i have killed more than 3 deer w/ - the rest either use sierra or barnes bullets, or have not made at least 3 deer kills (antelope does not equal deer for this exercise).

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

Hornady interloks and SST's are great on deer sized game.

 

[sublimaze41]

Here is why I favor the Barnes TSX. For $15 more a box you can get some potent, weight retaining bullets

 

[Redhat]

Nice but do you need all that for a deer?

 

[eliphalet]

What is the best all around deer bullet assuming that the hunter has done their part

Hunter does his part? I would say all of the above are fine. I use core-lokts but can't show you one as none have ever been recovered from a deer. All went clear through on several dozen deer. I do have one from a elk after a frontal quartering shot that still weighs 92 of 150 original grains.

 

[Racktracker]

I would hazard a guess that if the hunter does his part all of those bullets should be equal in that there will be meat on the table.

I prefered the silvertips until they stopped selling them in bulk.

Then I switched to the remington core-locts. I shoot 150s for deer, antelope and cow elk. 165s if and when I ever draw a bull tag.

The core-locts give between 18-30 inches of penetration (depending on how much bone you hit) and retain ~75% of their weight (on the ones that I managed to recover). You have to hit a deer at a pretty extreme angle in most cases to actually recover one.

I'm not knocking the fancier bullets available, but I just can't see any reason to spend 5+ times per bullet knowing that a core-loct will kill a deer any day of the week.

 

[BsChoy]

I was going to vote SST but if you're talking all sorts of game including heavy stuff I like the Partitions

 

[sublimaze41]

Like I said, the TSX does just fine by me for about $15 more a box. That amounts to 30 cents per bullet. Do you need that much? I duunno to each their own. Each of the .30 bullets expanded to at least .70 with great bone crushing ability. I do not fear any quartering shot NO MATTER the angle. I know I have a responsibility to create an optimal situation for harvesting game. Bullet selection is something I have absolute control over.

I am quite sure I could harvest a whitetail with my .223 loaded with a decent bullet such as a Winchester such and such, but why? I honor the game enough to dispatch it as quickly as possible. When killing a deer there is no such thing as being "overgunned." Deer go down rather easily, it's just how they go down. Like my pops use to say, "you can shoot a deer anywhere in the chest with a .22 and as long as you clip part of the lung it will die." The point being, I would track it for a long time and the animal would suffer.

 

[Shooter973]

Rem core-locts have served me well for deer, and elk for years. I also liked the Rem. Bronze points for deer. They really shot well and hammered Mule deer for me. Now they are very hard to find.

 

[First Shirt]

Since my hunting is pretty much whitetails and feral swine, with the occasional cross-pasture shot at cheeky coyotes, I've basically settled on the 165-gr Hornady Interbond as an all-purpose load. Expands reliably out to 300+ yards on deer, but holds together on the 50 yard shot at a 300 lb. hog, and is minute-of-coyote 'way on out yonder. (From a steady rest, I've headshot coyotes past 300 yards, but that's the gun/load combination working, and an unlucky yodel dog)

JWB

 

[birdbustr]

Great info here. Looks like Nosler Partitions, Hornady Interbonds, and Remington Corelokts have an established following. Thanks for the guidance for reliable quick, clean kills. I still would like to see more votes considering how opinionated everyone on THR seems to be.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I've taken 3 deer with 165gr Sierra Gamekings out of an -06.

1 with the hollow point. Doe broadside at 80 yds and she ran 30 yds and piled up. Had a nasty exit wound. Bout fist size or bigger.

Last 2 were with the soft point bullet of the same grain and powder load. Of the 2 the first was a doe at 100yds and she dropped where she stood. Exit wound was the size of a quarter. Second one was a 3x2 mule deer. Hit him behind the ear at 60yds (yes I aimed there. He was looking away from me in high grass)

 

[perpster]

Oh dear, this is a tough one.

 

[sublimaze41]

You wanted opinions, well you got them here. That is the great thing about THR, you get some great insight from very smart, real world people. Some of my best info has been obtained right here. Sometimes I just need to "buzz" a question by someone. Great isn't it

 

[Lennyjoe]

I wish I could find TSX bullets for $15 per box. I think they go for around $25 per 50 local.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Hornady Inter Lok has worked well for me for years in 30, 7mm, 6.5mm, 270 and 32 cal. In one side out the other, no bullets recoved and all deer have drop with in 20-30 yds at most.

 

[The Bushmaster]

The Remington "Core-Lokt" round has been around longer then I have been hunting (about 1958). Even with todays 'hyped up" bullets the "Core-Lokt" is still hard to beat...

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

I like corelokts...they are cheap and if you put them in the lungs/heart they do as good a job as any of the other ones priced 4 times more.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I stopped hunting deer several years ago, but still hunt elk and just got back from a very successful moose hunt in Northern Alberta. I use the Hornady 165 grain SPBT in my .30-06 for elk and have never lost one yet.

For my moose, I used a Remington 405 grain JSP in my Marlin 1895 in .45-70. Excellent bullet performance and dead moose on the spot.

It's all about bullet placement, not what you hit them with.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[cracked butt]

I usually use sierra Game Kings, but am going to try Berger VLDs this year.

 

[sublimaze41]

Lennyjoe,
I believe I said $15 more a box.

 

[NuJudge]

A bullet in the vitals is not always what is necessary. I frequently hunt on the edge of a big swamp. I shot through the vitals will usually mean that the deer reaches the swamp, and I will be looking for it for several hours. A shot through the shoulders means that the deer goes nowhere.

I like the Remington bullet almost as much as the Nosler.

CDD

 

[LeonCarr]

Remington Core-Lokt...the deadliest mushroom in the woods .

Just my .02,
LeonCarr