See my original post: Nosler solid base. 55 grain, which I didn't say before. I don't think there was a better bullet available at the time.
Tom
The 55 solid base worked great for me. I've got a 172 lb. dressed 8 point hanging on the wall that fell to one of those through the lungs. Range 125 yards, quartering away, bang, flop. Bullet hit at last rib on left side and was recovered, well mushroomed under the hide near the right shoulder.
I imagine it would work well on that shot. Placement is everything, but placement requires opportunity. Most of my shots, say over 80%, have been head/neck because that's all that is visible. I'm hunting heavy cover, short range most of the time. The shots come when the deer detect something out of place and pop their heads up above the brush or around the side of a tree to look around for the source. Seeing the body with a clear shot not through brush is pretty unusual. I'll sure take it if I get it but I can't count on it. Some places, some people get enough chances that they can be more selective. This year I never had a single legal opportunity to punch my tag.
Anyway, what that buck gave me was a shot I've taken and made with the .257 Roberts and '06 and just never gave it any thought. Head on, head up, so I put the crosshairs where throat meets neck and tripped the sear expecting the bullet to break the spine and come out the top of the neck. Nope. The bullet lost enough weight and velocity passing through the throat and some neck muscle that by the time it hit the spine it didn't have enough momentum left to break the bone.
Tom
Anyone who thinks there's two sides to everything hasn't met a M�bius strip.
The bullet lost enough weight and velocity passing through the throat and some neck muscle that by the time it hit the spine it didn't have enough momentum left to break the bone. 
