Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What bullet for Whitetail at 200yds with a 30-06??

I would think shooting dinks from a golf cart, any bullet would work. Maybe with those azz shots, a heavier constructed bullet may be the way to go.

DF

I just started reading this and that was my first thought.

But to answer the OP's guestion, I'ld use what ever shot best in my rifle.

Can't argue with success. What cartridge, bullet weight, and speed defines the "fast moving ballistic tips" mentioned in your post?

I shot probably 30 whitetails with hot-loaded 130 grain bullets in my 270 and I can remember exactly one that dropped dead right there. I shot one doe in the ribs with a 300 RUM and a 150gr TSX going around 3500 fps and it ran about 200 yards before dying. Rib-shot deer die, just not right there. Not for me anyway. I concur the 30-06/180 is not the fastest combination, but it is reliable.

While anything will work, I've always liked the Sierra 165 Gameking on Whitetails.

Ken

165 Hornady SPBT.

I'm glad I started hunting with a .243 before the innanet changed everything.

Having repeatedly seen what a .243 with 100 grains of death can do,

threads like this are pure comedy..........................

What's so funny?

Kenneth, I just bought a .243.......'cause of da innanet.

I would use a fast-twist .223, but dear ol' Virginia deems it inadequate. But then again, they want us to refrain from hunting on Sunday, too.

But, to make up for that, I've killed more than half the deer I've ever killed with a .30-30, and we know how that's supposed to "just bounce off".

As to the OP's question, I've used Sierra, Hornady Interlok, Nosler PT, and Speer bullets in the ought-six, both boattail and flat-base, but mainly in 165 grain weight, all to good effect.

roundnose.

Thats what all of the old timers used when I was growing up.

The fact that Whitetails are not hard to kill.
The fact that I think more people talk about hunting than actually hunting.
The fact that a .243 with 100 grains of lead has worked for decades, but now we wonder if a '06 with 180's will work.
The fact that lung shots are for archers
The fact that none of this ever ends on the 'fire.
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.fill in the blank as we go.

From a guy that only used a 30/06 for YEARS, it works, period. That said I've not fired one in anger in YEARS because I've found other things work as well, with much less recoil and appetite. I'd have said BETTER but figured that was too much for the crowd.

Sometimes in the middle of the off season it is nice to blend facts with a little humor. Thanks for all the comments Buckfever1

Just for S&Gs, can anyone think of a 30/06 bullet, other than the obvious varmit bullets, that WOULD NOT work on whitetails at 200 yards?

Fred

Nope

Chit, I think road gravel would work.

Heck, I wouldn't even load it wide open. I'd grab a box of 165 grain Interlocks and some 4895, then charge the cases with whatever type of load does well for those who shoot 168s out of Garands in matches.

Hard to find one that won't work in your 06 if it shoots good groups at that range.DRT is more of a function of shot placement than what kind of bullet you are using. I learned that in actual experience in the field before reading about schitt on the fire.Where I hunt very seldom do I have to pound bullets thru the shoulders to secure my animals.I'll take a ribcage shot thru the lungs by choice about everytime. Do what works for you and quit agonizing over it. Magnum Man

Smart hunters still do....

Yup.

A good many years ago now, I bought a box of Light Magnums loaded with 180 Interlocks. Hornaday says 2880 FPS. My 24" '06 threw them around (+/-) 2900 across a friends chrony. They worked well on whitetail and mule deer so I laid in a several year supply. I am down to just over a box. The last mulie I shot with that load was just about to escape over a ridge at something under 200 yards. I made the absolute perfect "Texas heart shot." The bullet made no visible entry wound (entered the anus), shattered the pelvis. and left the deer trying to crawl off. A quick shot to the neck ended the misery. the follow up field dress and necropsy revealed that the bullet had disintegrated, and I found shrapnel throughout the gut and a small piece in the lung. I consider the shot and bullet destruction a fluke, but I have resolved to use bonded bullets, homogeneous, or partition types in the future. However, whatever Federal uses in their cheap 150 .308 ammo works good. Mushrooms close, exits far. jack