Interesting about the Hornady, which they list as a varmint bullet? Have you tried the 125 Sierra?
I haven't shot any lately, but back when I was a poor grad student collecting deer, and the '06 was the only center-fire rifle I owned, I shot a bunch of them. I always took neck shots and never lost a deer. However, I never had one shoot completely through the neck of big south Texas whitetails and it was not unusual to find shrapnel from the bullet jackets stuck in ears, chest, etc. They were definitely dumping all of their energy into the neck.
