Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Great commercial 25-06 loads for bigger NE whitetail?

I’m coming into a 25-06 because the price was right and I find the chambering intriguing. Been reading up on it as much as I can as I don’t have any practical experience with it yet. I do not load my own. It seems there’s still more than enough commercial offerings available that I can justify having one. My primary whitetail cartridge/rifle is .308. This 25/06 would be alternate option/back up, and probably foul weather specific as it’s a plastic and stainless beater. Shots in NH woods and such would be under 300 yards. Most often, considerably under 300 yards. 150 might even be “long”. 115 to 120 grain partitions seem to get the general nod from most I’ve read. I want to be able to maximize the velocity of this chambering for getting bang-flops, to the best of its ability, on bucks weighing in excess of 200 lbs. is it enough gun for that? Never hunted a quarter bore. What are my best choices in ammo? it would also go with me on occasional hunts in TX where the deer may be s little smaller, but [bleep] could be longer. I would also be interested in trying it out on hogs there maybe weighing 250 or more lbs. Suggestions? Thank you in advance.

Congratulations on your purchase! You won't go wrong with Barnes ttsx 100g ammo. Attached is a link to a source I buy from at times....I am not affiliated with Grafs in any way.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/23440

The 117 grain Hornady American Whitetail shoots good groups in my Marlin XL7 and Remington 700 and is usually priced around $20 per box.

Another vote for ttsx bullets/ammo. As with any caliber shot placement is key, but the 25-06 has been killing stuff for 50+ years

A lot of people use them for deer around here. My son used to have one and killed lots of deer and hogs with it. I don't have the .25-06 but I have a .250 Savage and a .257 AI. They both kill deer very reliably, The 25-06 is even better. Yes, Texas is .25-06 country. I shoot 115 grain Combinded Technololgies Ballistic Tips. I get 3000 FPS out of my 257AI and about 2900 out of my .250 Savage. If you're shooting Cup and Core you can't beat 'em. With enough bullet they'll kill most anything you want in Texas. I know people that shoot elk with them reliably with a heavy bullet.

A lot of people use them for deer aronnd here. My son used to have one and killed lots of deer and hogs with it. I don't have the .25-06 but I have a .250 Savage and a .257 AI. They both kill deer very reliably, The 25-06 is even better. Yes, Texas is .25-06 country. I shoot Combined Technologies 115 grain Ballistic Tips and they're a death ray.

I shoot Hornady bullets in my 25-06, no need to change as all deer have been DRT.

I have used the hornady American whitetail with good results. Dont have experience with much else due to reloading. But a favorite load is the 100gr tsx

25-06 is a great round.
Any commercial round loaded with Partitions or TTSX's, that your rifle shoots well, will deliver about everything the caliber is capable of providing.
With those bullets, the weight you choose is less important than the accuracy they deliver.
It should not be hard to find one that is very accurate.
Good hunting.

Federal "blue box" ammo generally shoots well and is cheap on the Graf's website shown above. My first centerfire bolt action was a 25-06. I killed a lot of woodchucks and one whitetail buck with that rifle. It hammered both woodchucks and deer hard. The buck I shot at 175 yards was DRT. I used a handload with the now-discontinued 120 grain Hornady hollow point bullet.

I've had good luck with the Hornady American Whitetail, however chronographed them and only got 2766 fps vs 2990 as advertised.

Same gun same day Federal 110 AB chronographed 3040 fps vs 3090 as advertised.

That said, still killed pronghorns no sweat.

I have since hand-loaded 117 gr. Hornady I/L in same gun at about max and bullet performance was still stellar.

I bought 200 rounds of Winchester 120 PEP (positive expanding point) when I bought my Ruger 77 in 25-06. My family and I have killed over 40 deer and antelope with that load and absolutely zero complaints. When all the factory ammo is fired I plan to reload 115 Nosler AB but would be perfectly content shooting the PEP for the rest of my life.

110 accubond, 100/115 partition, or a 100 ttsx/trophy copper would all be up there. Really, an interlokt or fusion would be more than fine. I've killed a bunch of smaller deer, larger deer, and hogs with the 117 SGK. They often don't exit but I've never had a deer go far with them. Little to no tracking was a big perk hunting where there was lots of cactus and mesquite.

Yeah this is what my hunting partner uses and he loves it. Great accuracy & terminal reliability for the price.

A 100 grain Nosler Ballistic tip is and will always be the perfect bullet for North American Whitetail deer. Look no further.

115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip or a 110 Accubond!

100 grain ttsx is my go to bullet, it will flatten any deer that walks.

If something works on 100# deer, it'll work on 200# and 300# deer.

Barnes VOR-TX Ammunition 100 Grain TTSX
Federal Premium 115 Grain Nosler Partition
Hornady American Whitetail 117 Grain Interlock


25 cal / 100gr TSX bested this lil' fella.

the whitetail bucks i shoot in Minnesota by the Canadian border are also big, in my 257 Weatherby Mag. my son and myself now days only use these 2 bullets and have had excellent results > 25 caliber 100 grain Nosler Partition or 100 grain Swift A-Frame

It is enough, even with ordinary bullets such as Hornady SP, Speer flat base, Federal Fusion, etc.. I'm also a fan of the heavier bullets for assured exits.

Happy Hunting