Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Your deer bullet preference?

My favorite is the Nosler AB. I buy seconds so they are cheap.

JD338

Prefer something between .224" and .920" inclusive, round or conical, lead or jacketed, between 700 and 3,000 fps inclusive with iron or optical sights.

And I feel strongly both ways. Even if wrong I'm seldom in doubt.

I'll be hunting a mythical 400lb Muledeer buck, using a 308 Loaded with 125gr Nosler Ballistic tips.

I've used a bunch, but if forced to pick one it would be the lowly WW Power Point. Best cup n core bullet I've used.

I think it would be easier to pick the bullets that wouldn't work at 100 yards or less with any of the 3 calibers you speak of. If there is such a bullet, Guess I will look and see if I can find a .308 cal. that fits "No way in hell I'd use that bullet on deer at 100y or less"

Mostly handgun hunt due to local regulations and a 245gr cast SWC at 1400-1500fps works just fine.
That slug that blows fist-sized entry holes wouldn't be my cup of tea-although I have no doubt they kill effectively. I like to eat deer too. A finger-sized entry hole and slightly larger exit is my preference.

My impression any more is there are likely more bullets that would work well than wouldn't and it's the putting them in the right place that is the trick.

Nosler BT's for me. Very accurate, not too expensive, and does the job very well. I've run them through a couple hundred deer, Pigs, and coyotes.

What bullet weight and cartridge? Thx

I use a lot of Nosler Ballistic Tips:

.257" 115gr - 257 Roberts
7mm 150gr - 7wsm and 7-08
.308" 180gr - 30/06 and .300 Wby

I have some 95gr 6mm Ballistic Tips but I've not loaded them yet. In the .243 Win it's 80 TTSX or 80 GMX for me right now.

.458" I use the 350 Hornady FP and the 300gr Speer - 45/70

.358" I use 200gr Hornadys or the 220 Speer - .358 Win and .35 Rem

The heaviest one you can send down range at 3k.

For my 270 I have shot deer with horn addy, Speer, core lock, Sierra and nosler but. I found the Sierra the most accurate, but they all had a common attribute.....dead deer

Barnes for me. They work very well.

AND they have insurance... if you have to take a raking shot or a finishing shot, they rarely shed much if any weight, and almost always exit.

Thats a LOT more than I can say for almost every other bullet I've shot over many years.

They don't cost enough to worry about, I mean, a couple shots to verify zero, and if I have 5 tags thats 5 bullets the majority of the time.

You can get it done with a lot less though, they ain't that tough. 22LR will do the trick.

The obsession with deer falling where they stand is beyond me. Typically that type of shot takes CNS to be 100% for sure and will waste some meat. And through the lungs really takes expansive fast bullets, more waste.

I do not get the seemingly non ability or desire to learn trailing.

YMMV.

Don't get me wrong I would NOT be caught dead with a 270 even if it ment starving to death..but I do commend you on picking quality bullet Mfgs to help the 270 out

In a lot of my spots trailing is a major bitch, especially in the evening. I'll avoid it when I can.

Here is my quick list:
223/5.6 - Winchester 64 PP
243 - Sierra 85 BTHP
257 Roberts - 75 Vmax (only because I have a bunch loaded. This is my daughters rifle. Some day I will find a 100 grain load, probably Hornady Interlock)
7mm08 - Hornady Whitetail 139 gr
30-06 - Hornady 165 BTSP

My all time favorite deer load is factory loaded Winchester silvertips out of any good shooting 30/30

Some of my choices are not ideal but work fine at the ranges I hunt.

G

Kinda depends on the country you hunt in. Follw a deer through the south Texas thorn brush on your hand and knees, and come face to face with Mr Rattlesnake. And you'll appreciate DRT.

Early on I used other bullets,but for a good many years I mostly shoot them with Partitions. With lung shots sometimes they die where they were standing,sometimes move off a few yards.

But mostly I whack them in the shoulders ( the front ones). This has drawbacks....they disappear so fast I don't know where they went.

Fastest killing bullet I've used on lung shots are Bitterroots at high velocity. Turns lungs to soup,like they went through a blender. This tapers off a bit beyond 300 yards so I shoot them in the shoulders. They go right down.

I know I don't "need" them but who cares? I'm not there to finesse them to death or overthink it.

To southtexas, regarding my choice of Nosler Ballistic Tips. In the 270, when they phased out the old Solid Base Boattails, I switched to the BT's. Stayed with the 130 gr bullets and killed somewhere around 150 or so deer with it. Maybe 200, but I'm past being able to count em all up. Then I got happy with a 260 and used 120 gr BT's for a year or two. Then, since I was blasting way more pigs and coyotes with the 260 than deer, I switched to the 100 gr BT. It works quite well, though I do think that the 120 gr version kills the deer a little bit quicker.

For coyotes, I use the 40 gr BT in my 223 and the 55 gr BT in my 220 Swift, though lately I've switched to the 55 gr Sierra GK in the Swift if I'm shooting pigs, since I hear it's a bit tougher (as yet unproven to me). That 55 gr BT in the 220 killed every pig I ever shot with it, but the pigs had an annoying tendency to run into thickets, requiring tracking through the briars. So...I thought I'd try the tougher bullet.

I've always thought the BT's were about the best for accuracy, but I do find that the 55 gr Sierra GK in the 220 shoots arguably as well and to the exact same POI as the Noslers.

Bob,

I think you're the first to mention shoulder vs. lung shots. To me, that makes a difference in bullet selection.

On bone, I like the Barnes. For chest, more expansive C&C bullets seem to drop them faster.

And, I agree with DRT, especially in certain terrains. It's best to lose some meat than a deer. In more open country, probably not as critical.

DF

I have killed 15 deer with Nosler Ballistic tip:


All the deer bullets work. I just like NBT best.