Exact reason I stopped using core lok Federal soft point 130 gr in my 270.
6 mm handloads 87 gr spritzer 44 grains of 4831

Here is what I have noticed more than anything else. Whether high powered rifle, or shotgun slug, if the bullet does not pass through on a chest shot, the deer is DRT nearly every time.
Hydrostatic shot is a terrible thing. A pass through cheats you out of it. Bullet type selection can greatly aid in the prevention of pass through.

I think whitetail deer are one of the hardest big game animals to put down. They are certainly tougher than their Sitka blacktail cousins. Whitetails are tougher, in terms of running off with half their heart gone, than any Alaska animal I've hunted. (I haven't hunted the bears or bison.)

Some outdoors writers say African animals are tougher than North American game. They must not have hunted whitetails. I killed eleven animals on my two African safaris, and only one, an impala shot in the heart, ran as far as a whitetail deer might run (400 yards). The buffalo was tough--he required four rounds to the heart/lungs from a .416 Remington for dispatch--but he only ran about fifty yards after the first hit.

Jim

I have to disagree somewhat, Carl. I'd rather have the bullet punch on through and leave two holes to better leak blood.

I worry more about lack of penetration than lack of hydrostatic shock.

Jim

I take the neck or brain shot all the time. Never shot a whitetail before but it’s sure worked on the several hundred caribou I’ve shot. I don’t feel like the brain neck shot is irresponsible. I have a lot of confidence in my shooting and I hate wasting meat. I eat my ribs bone in so I don’t even like a few busted ribs and bloodshot shoulders. I have always seen and heard guys talking about their small group sizes on paper but the same guys won’t take the brain shot. I’ve come to the conclusion that seeing antlers might mess with their concentration. So called buck fever. Everyone can make their own choices but I’ll take the clean neck or brain shot. Btw I’m shooting 270 with 150 grain corelokt soft points. Works great on moose and grizzly too.

Ryan, I commend your marksmanship. Myself, I look at how small a deer or caribou's brain pan is, and I get worried I might horribly wound the animal with a shot that misses.

I'm especially cautious when I don't know the exact range. The heart/lung area is a much larger target, and I can live with a bit of ruined meat.

I'll save the half-inch groups for the 100-yard shooting range.

Jim

760 Remington is a model of firearm. Which caliber is an important consideration.

Shot many whitetails with my 700 Remington, 870 Remington and my other 870 Remington. Feed 180gr Rem Core-Lokt to the 700. None went more than 200 yds. (See how caliber is important?? Mine are in 30-06, 12ga and 20ga.).

Good blood tracking dogs are successfully following 1-3 day old 1,500 to 5,000 yds tracks on wounded whitetail. Whitetails can cover some ground even when fatally wounded.

I noticed after I posted that I had just said 760 Remington. After a few posts I added a post that said my gun was a 30-06.

I have a 270 i really like. I load 130 grain sierra boat tails on top of 55 grains of IMR4350. Lots of choices out there and they all work but I like that old combo. Don't fix what aint broke. Its pretty common (not every time) for a heart shot deer to just fold up with it. Kills elk good too. Have heard of bullet jacket/core separation with that bullet but I havnt had a problem using them. I don't believe you need a bullet that costs a buck fifty to reliably kill deer or elk. You do need to learn how to hunt and shoot. You wont learn either one watching those tv commercials called hunting shows. Turn your tv off and give to an old folks home. Pick up a rifle and head outside. Leave TV for people that are bedridden or in prison.

K,
It sounds like your having troubles with your bullet, not the caliber. The .30-06 has probably killed more head of game than most any caliber, and the .30-30 would be a close second.
The 180 gr bullets have heavier/ thicker jackets on them than the smaller 150-165 gr bullets, and are designed for deeper penetration on larger animals, just read the manufactures literature to confirm that. Like MJM posted above, it doesn't take much to kill a whitetail with the right bullet in the right place. I've taken a lot of whitetails with the .30-06 and found the 165 gr Nosler Ballistic tips or Hornady apex bullets work the best for me , taking heart/lung shots. The 180 gr. offerings out there are usually running somewhere in the 2400-2650 Fps range. Some of the 150-165 gr. offerings are running up near 3000 Fps, so you get more speed and a faster expanding bullet with the lighter bullets, by design, which translates to more transmitted shock.
I personally enjoy a shoulder roast, so avoid shoulder shots like the plague. I've found if I hit the shoulder blade or major bone with the lighter bullets they tend to fragment and not penetrate completely, and ruin a lot of meat. If you look at the picture of the deer that GreencountryPete posted, and look at the little dent in the fur right behind the shoulderblade. That is where I shoot my deer when offered a broadside shot, or anywhere 6" straight above that mark. That gives me a lung/heart shot and with the 165gr. Ballistic Tip bullet, at 2830 Fps, I pour the lungs out of my deer most often. They usually hunch up and drop within a couple steps. I had one Y buck I shot in the front shoulder, the bullet fragmented into three major pieces and he ran about 40 yards. I had a Antelope buck in Mt. that ran in a 10 yard circle and tipped over after two laps. I've missed a few too, but that wasn't the bullets fault!

That's because you do not understand the principle of hydrostatic shock. If the the 30-06 bullet does not pass through on a broadside chest shot, the deer has absorbed the entirety of the energy of the projectile. It will almost always travel vertically about 2 to 2 1/2 feet depending on how tall your deer stand.
A pass through does not transfer the energy into the deer, that is why you need to know how to track.

So-called "hydrostatic shock" as an aid to killing big game is a controversial subject. See https://www.chuckhawks.com/bullet_deer.html

"The notion of "hydrostatic shock" is silly. The sound speed of muscle tissue has been measured to be about 5150 fps and that of fatty tissue around 4920 fps. (Source: A Cavitation Model for Kinetic Energy Projectiles Penetrating Gelatin, Henry C. Dubin, BRL Memorandum Report No. 2423, US Army Ballistic Research Laboratories, December 1974). Even varmint bullets do not have an impact velocity this high, let alone an actual penetration velocity exceeding 4900 fps. Unless the bullet can penetrate faster than the inherent sound speed of the medium through which it is passing, you will not observe a shock wave. Shock cannot happen due to bullet impact, much less the junk-science terms like hydrodynamic or hydrostatic shock."

The main thing that kills is punching holes through vital organs.

Jim

i've saw a dozen or so deer shot with a 222 and am always amazed at wht that little pill does to soft tissue.normally use a 270 that ive had for39 yrs.and it really shoots.was a head shootin fool til one just low shot caused me a half day chasing a deer missing half its jaw.last hedshot i ever took and yes i recovered her.

"Many arguments promoting hydrostatic shock as the killing mechanism caused by fast bullets are sadly physiologically, medically and intellectually dishonest. Like with the improper promotion about the killing effects of kinetic energy it appears is as if people desperately wish to believe the amorphous claims of these entities’ function in bullet behaviour, and care little for the value of clear thinking."

https://www.bullet-behavior.com/hydrostatic-shock

What I know about bullets is what I've seen. And one thing I seen was a problem with Nosler ballistic tips in my 270. Killed several deer with them that just collapsed. Worked great and very accurate. Then I had one ricochet off a rib. Bullet hit where I was aiming but changed direction enough off that rib to miss lungs. It did destroy that deers liver and bled out mostly internally. It also ran a good quarter mile. I found it. the meat was fine. Running that far is not good. It might have just fed coyotes. Like I said I have heard people talk about jacket/core separation with the sierra boattails I went back to. I have killed a lot of stuff with them in my 270 and no issues with animals running a quarter mile.

I don't think anything is perfect and no matter what you go with somebody wont like it. Not every animal you heart shoot will collapse either. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. A bullet in the heart is a bullet in the heart though. It will die real quick and you should be able to find it.

Just like the very most important thing to catch a coyote isn't what trap what set what bait where you bought your urine or if you used urine or polyfill or screen or cable stake or rebar or drag or length of chain, it is location. Location is critical. The rest is personal preference. With hunting it is accurate shooting and knowing where that spot is on the animal you are shooting at. For many many years the world record brown bear was killed with a 22 rimfire. Look it up.

You got that backwards 30-30 killed the most....

.22.

Dang, I am not even in the same ball park as you guess with your favorite deer rifles. I prefer my 338 wm. I load 215 sierra boat tails. I have not shot as many as most of you but of the 12 or so deer that I have shot with it I can not think of one that was not alerted that did not go right down. The few that were went down within 50 yards.Those were deer shot on drives. I like how it does not ruin meat even on less than ideal shot (front shoulders). I have shot them through the front shoulders and was able to save 3/4 of the meat. I shot a nice nebraska whitetail through both shoulders at 220 yards with a 165 grandslam bullet (30-06) and it destroyed both shoulders. He still managed to run about 150-200 yards, most of it was down hill. Yup, right to the bottom.

Most of my killing from now on will be with a 760 30-06 since it was my Dads (killed my first buck with that gun). The guns shoots great. Killed my buck last year with it at 420 yards. I may play with the bullets as I think the 165 grandslam may be a bit much for our deer. It is a great bullet for penetration tho.

And for the love of the animal that you are hunting, do not shoot a light for caliber bullet. I understand the pros of it but there is the chance that the deer may be a more of an angle than you realize. It is always better to have two holes in a deer. I have had the pleasure of being able to have a descent chunk of land to hunt on. We have friends and family hunt on it. 95% of the shots will be less than 100 yards. I have seen shots on deer with a 7mag with 140grain bullets that just blew up. Deer ran off and this guy had to put his tracking hat on. Once found and I could get inside, at best the bullets took out one lung. Once the guys started shooting heavier bullets (160-175) they were able to find the deer. And yes, their shots on the deer were good, they were just too close and the bullets blew up too quick. If their shots had been in the 200-300 yard ranges the bullets would have performed great.

Just my experience, but, one shot and two holes equals a dead deer that is found quickly.

If you are going to aim for the spine, do so at the shoulders. If you shoot low you still hit lungs, it your shoot high you missed. Going for the head or neck opens you wounded game. If they are close enough go for it, but know you limitations.

I have killed tons more beer cans and soda bottles than I have drank. Err, lets just say soda cans. I don't want to lie to you fin fellers.

hey,i aint no fin.