Deer bullets

With deer season upon how about we open a thread on bullets, not cartridges or calibers. While I don't find the time to hunt these days I'm contemplating making the time in the future.

What I've shot the last few years that I did get in the woods was 150gr ballistic tips out of a 30-06. Before that corelocks 140gr in a 280.

Didn't care for the corelocks due to my tendency to take my shots at knife fighting distance and preference for breaking down the running gear. They grenade under those conditions with the lead core doing the damage. I can't recall an exit.

The ballistic tips seem to hold up better even when hitting the spine. Never recovered one.

Since I'm getting low I went looking, yup everything out of stock. So what say the crowd. I'm thinking a bonded or copper.

I've used copper bullets exclusively for 25-ish years with good results, but my hunting conditions might be different than yours. One reason I prefer them is that they always stay together and penetrate deep. In approx 30 caribou and moose, I've only recovered a single slug (nicely expanded with 4 petals). This is relevant because my hunting rifle is also my bear protection. Also, we usually hunt in open country and can watch our quarry take the hit and react, rather than disappear at the shot into a brushy thicket or gully. Lastly, I never find bullet shards in the meat. Meat damage is modest given that copper bullets don't blow up on close shots.

That's why I'm thinking copper. The shards in the meat. My longest shot to date is 62 paces, shortest 3.

Something that holds together no matter impact velocity or what it hits would be good. I really don't need the penetration on these buck and quarter deer though.

Any cup and core bullet like core loks or ballistic tips should work fine on deer when not pushed too fast. These bullets are designed to work in the 2900-2000 fps neighborhood. Go over 2900 fps and they can unreliably blowing apart or separating from the jacket. Under 2000 fps a lot of them will not expand properly or at all in soft tissue. To answer your question I use a little bit of everything in my firearms. Ballistic tips, game kings, SST”s, midway USA branded and Speer to name a few in the cup and core selection depending on the accuracy of the individual firearm for whitetail deer. .

There is no need for premium bullets for whiitetails, they are thin skinned medium game. If you use a high intensity cartridge and expect impacts above 3200 FPS then they are a good bet. Have you checked on the availability of hornady sst's?

sounds like 30-30 country, or something like my current woods rifle, the 6.5 grendel.
edited to add:
or better yet for close range deer hunting an AR chambered in 458 Socom or 450 bushmaster is an absolute whitetail hammer!

For whitetails, 150 Hornady Interlocks in everything 30 caliber that runs less than 3100fps. In my experience, just about perfect in 308 / 30-06 class cartridges.

I like accubonds, seem to drop deer in their tracks.

I've never used premium bullets, like RR1960 points out they are not needed. Any softpoint does the trick for me and I've done darn little blood tracking.

Oh I agree about not needing just don't care for bullet splatter. They've all been dead and none required me look long for them.

A good hard cast lead would do the trick. Or go back to the shotgun with slugs.

Shot placement is important. A .17 HMR is a heck of a deer rifle in the right hands.

So is a 22lr, or so I'm told cause I know nothing.

X2

Haven't shot a lot of deer with a rifle but all have been with Rem coreloks except one. Corloks worked fine. Seen one shot with a varmint bullet. Not a good choice in my experience.

Bonded
Copper Jacket bonded are my first choice...

Remington used to make a Remington Ultra bonded

I bought a few boxes back in 2002 or so of
140 gr. Bonded 7mmRem mag. My Browning SS A bolt loved them and I used them here on Deer and in Wyoming for lopes. Long shots or close the bonded 140s opened up perfectly as designed and Caused No meat damage.

I can't find those particular bullets anymore

Ok so this post is just assuming you or anybody else can afford every type of bullet. My main caliber is 6.8 SPC which uses .277 bullets. My hunting gun is a factory Ruger Mini 6.8 SPC and with that rifle, Remingtons UMC 6.8 SPC ammo shoots sub moa. How they make that bullet im not sure but I love it.

However my main go to is barnes .277 110 grain BTHP, I was able to get a smoking deal on what should be like 20 years worth. These are copper only, but my next one to try is Hornady's full boar line of 100grain and 110 grain. I have the 120grain SST to use as well.

My alternate go to is the .277 90 grain gold dot speer bonded bullets. Any of the Gold Dot bonded bullets are awesome, I always bring the same amount of bonded bullets as the full copper ones.

Muzzle loader bullets are the federal trophy copper pack from walmart. Its aggravating because its difficult to buy in bulk for a good deal. Thor is who I would go with, they were great to deal with and offered their best deal for a bulk buy, but it was still too much per bullet. Would like to see a bonded 50 cal muzzle loader bullet, if you guys know of one let me know.

If I was really desolate, or just starting off in life, I would only use my 30-30 and use whatever bullets you could get. A 30-30 will kill everything in North America absolutely fine, Federal makes a great 170 grain bullet for it, as well as a nice bonded set too. 30-30 have killed more elk than any other caliber, but 300 win mag will take it over soon. For white tail, no caliber will ever come close to 30-30, considering a lot of people still hunt with it today myself included.

seems like the 06 and 280 are long range guns in a short range setting

I just shoot cup and core

I prefer the 180s in the 308 and my 30-06s are semi auto so I run at 308 velocities M1 and 742

I prefer heavier because I like 2 holes but also like using a bullet I can afford to shoot a bunch in practice

I was getting the 180s for about 22 dollars a hundred they are up to 30 a hundred now and I wish I had bought a lot more when they were on sale at 19.99 a few years ago

at 62 paces might as well just use the shotgun with slugs get good shooting fast

most of my deer have come under 80 yards with slugs , slugs break running deer down fast but if you get that 125 yard shot there aren't much good

for the 06 in the thick stuff like that I would be looking at a heavier bullet like a 180 range isn't a concern so breaking bone and making exit would be to break them down quick
because of the weight they don't travel as fast so they don't expand as violently close

Used to shoot 180 grain corelokt's out of the -06, but the bullet disintegration turned me off. Switched to blue box federals (still 180 grain), much happier with the bullet performance.

I use all copper like Barnes LRX or TTSX. They are accurate and don’t tear up too much meat.

anything in 6.5 creedmore......

It’s illegal to shoot.22 rimfire bullets at deer here!

Same here in Michigan.

How's this for "open to interpretation" regulations? Straight from the Wisconsin reg's:

It is illegal to hunt with any weapon or
ammunition that is of inherent design
or used in such a manner as to not be
reasonably capable of reducing a target
wild animal to possession

So a 17 is legal as long as it "reduces target to possession"

I use 150 grain Barnes TSX copper for the last 15 years for deer. For elk, I use the same brand of bullet only 165 grain in either my 30-06 or 300 WSM.

yup changed a couple years ago where they tried to suggest reasonable equipment and that confused all the ladies in the office read it as a 22 center fire was the minimum reasonable equipment but that wasn't actually the case

so then they went this current reasonably capable of reducing target to possession statement

if you noticed they also dropped minimum barrel length on handguns and do not specify any caliber so if you make it work , it is reasonable if you don't it could be considered unreasonable.

they had a no rimfire but I can't even find that any more so as long as it works it would not be illegal to shoot your deer with your carry pistol

now for the one that might get people this year , did you see this change
Hunting Near Roadways
It is illegal to:
ƒ Hunt within 50 feet of the roadway’s
center.
ƒ Discharge a firearm, shoot an arrow
from a bow or shoot a bolt from a
crossbow:
ƒ From or across a highway.
ƒ Within 50 feet of the roadway’s cen-
ter.
The above prohibitions apply to all public
roads

a gravel road was ok to shoot from in previous years as long as you had permission to hunt both sides of the road.

some people are the only people on their road and it is gravel , basically more of a drive way , now they will have to be 50 feet from the center of the road the road if the township technically owns it.

but at the same time though simplification they messed up again

say you have a 16 foot wide gravel road you would have to get 42 feet off the road to shoot
but if you have a 4 lane with a passing lane going up a hill and each lane is 12 feet you have 36 foot wide road with a gravel shoulder you would only need to be a few feet off the gavel to shoot.

that seems rather backwards doesn't it ?

they used to get really specific about roads explaining for each type of road and removed it to make the regs shorter

I shot a 222 for deer in NY used a 50 Gr Sierra Blitz, usually under 100 yards used 3031 not sure of the weight

I like a bonded lead core bullet for whitetails, with Rem. coreloks being my favorite when I could just buy the bullets.

I want something that leaves a blood trail. The SST’s have killed a pile of deer, but if they run you better have a clear view to hopefully watch them drop, cause you’re going to do a lot of walking to find that deer. I don’t mean distance wise walking, just grid walking. Those bullets leave NO blood trail on bucks and distance shots on either sex. What’s crazy is upclose shots out of CJ’s .243 leave a blood trail a blind man could follow whether buck or doe, it reminds me of a bow shot deer. Out of my .308 or my sons 7mm/08 you have an entrance and NO exit.
I switched to Barnes Vor-TX. IF they don’t drop, I have a steady stream of blood to follow no matter what distance…at least to 225yds. Haven’t shot any farther than that and that was a hog.

Heck I figured you just used a sharp pointed stick.. That close a good smooth creek gravel rock would work. Get a couple in the spring and carry them in your pocket all summer. Lay them on your bedroom window sill and opening day carry them in your left pocket. Use as needed... No damage. No blood trail.

slightly hardened PB bullets 310 gr 1460 fps in 44mag and 200 grain 1900 fps in 35 Whelen do the job with little wasted meat...both gas checked, and coming out of rifle bbll

I assume you don’t reload.
Deer are not particularly hard to kill. I’ve used everything from recurves, to handguns, muzzleloaders and rifles up to .338 Win Mag.
Any expanding lead bullet will work. As well as copper bullets like Barnes.
I prefer Nosler Partitions myself.I haven’t shot factory ammo in 35 years.
Most important thing is to use what is most accurate in a bullet designed for deer.
Good luck

What Cletus said. I cast all my own bullets, slugs, and buckshot.

180 grain Nosler Partitions in my 300 Win Mag and 270 grain Swift A Frames in my 375H&H. Most shots are inside 100 yards so I head shoot deer if possible. I use the magnums due to our density of brown bears in SE Alaska.

WOW!