Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting My Experience with Cup & Cores

I've kept a record of every whitetail deer I've ever shot and tonight I reviewed those I shot with a jacketed, cup and core bullet from a centerfire rifle. Here are my results:

Number of deer killed: 27 (17 does; 10 bucks)
Number of cartridges used: 7
Percentage of exits: 70
Average Distance traveled
after shot: 16 yards

The live weight (estimated) of these deer ranged from 65-250 pounds. The distances they were shot (estimated) varied from 35-230 yards.

I know many people have shot far more deer than this and I am not sure this proves a single thing (other than it was fun for me to reminisce!). But it does re-enforce my belief that cup and cores are more than adequate for any deer hunting.

I can't argue with that and very similar to my experiences.

Next you're gonna make some crazy claim that you were able to kill deer with a non-magnum of some sort that wasn't in a tacticool configuration, and did it without a lazer rangefinder and a sniper scope!

Believe it or not, NONE of the deer were killed with a magnum!

BTW, I recall a study done in South Carolina several years ago that had similar results.

You killed 27 deer with 7 cartridges?

How did you get them to line up ?

Proper shot placement seems to trump minor bullet differences. That is as long as your not using a lightweight 'varmint' type, super frangible bullet.

Never kept track of my kills much in 50+ yrs of deer hunting but 90% have been by C&C's and under 30 cal,actually 75% of the 90 in the early days were dispatched via 220 Swift and various 6mm's. My best guess the greatest percentage of kill shots for C&C would be somewhere between 90-250yds.

45 years of deer killing by me was all done with C&C's (and, gasp, even cast lead bullets and round lead balls). New tech monolithic bullets surely have their place, but not necessary in the relatively close range deer woods, IMO. These are deer we're talking about, not tough old elk, rambunctious moose or snarling bears.

My thought exactly. Dayom. And I thought I was good.

Every deer I've killed with a gun (19 i can think of) has been with C&C bullets. And 7 different cartriges. One was lost because of a bad shot on my part. Pass through's on all the deer but 3.

Most have dropped withing a few feet of where they were hit. One mature buck went 100'ish yards, a liver hit buck went 250-300, one heart shot buck made it 30 yards with no heart or running gear, and a tough old doe made it 50 yards with two lung shots (4holes).

My gunsmith is an old fart like me, and old school. He shoots a .280, and uses core-lokts. He's killed a bull elk every year for as long as i've known him. (long time)

Deer should be much easier. Nothing wrong with C&C bullets.

My old .300 Savage likes them....deer don't!!

I still like cup/cores on deer when the speed isn't extreme and the bullet weight for caliber is reasonably high. If going high-speed with a light projectile, give me a tougher bullet. At medium speeds with a heavier projectile, give me a softer bullet. Nothing groundbreaking there. I see no reason to shoot my deer with a 165-180gr Barnes if they are coming from a .308win or 30-06. If running 3,200fps+ from a magnum round, I will generally use the sturdy bullet and leave the cup/cores on the shelf.

Ive used a few premium bullet designs over the years , for elk but, don,t see any need after using several designs as a comparative test.
I failed to see any advantage, in their use.
I load most of the ammo used in our yearly elk hunts and theres usually 3-5 guys in camp, and I don,t load different ammo for deer and ELK, and Ive never had any complaints on bullet performance.
these are the bullets most of the guys in my elk camp use and I can,t remember single bullet failure

cal .277..speer 150 grain
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000211605

cal .30...speer 200 grain
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000212211

cal .338 hornady 250 grain
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/76...iameter-250-grain-spire-point-box-of-100

cal .358 .speer 250 grain
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000212453

cal .375 hornady 270 grain
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/93...diameter-270-grain-spire-point-box-of-50

cal .458 remington 405 grain.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/16...rnment-458-diameter-405-grain-soft-point

It sounds like we share the same opinion. I have used the Barnes bullet in TSX and TTSX form from the 6mm, 243 and 270 WSM. In each of those cases, we were pushing past 3000 fps.

I mostly hunt whitetails, so I have been very happy with Nosler BT's and Partitions, Hornady Spire Points and Interbonds, Speer Hot Cor's, and Sierra Gameking HP's. Unless something happens to change my mind, I'll likely be running a 6mm with 95 grain Nosler BT's this Saturday when the rifle season opens.

How can you guys remember your deer kill tally?

I think I would get a headache if I tried to think back and get a total.

I can't remember how many I killed last year.....

Always liked the Power Point bullet.Hard to beat that for a non premium imo.

I haven't killed near as many as most, but the vast majority have been with cup n core. I didn't know that until I started reloading, just didn't know there was a difference! They all died with one shot, and most never took a step. The smallest used was a 50gr Core-Lokt from a 220 Swift. I've also killed one with an Accubond and one with a TTSX. Both of those died quickly, too.

Also killed one with a factory Fusion, but not really sure what kind of bullet that is.

I figure I will continue to use some CnC and some premiums, depending on what the rifle likes. I will definitely use Barnes in my Wby calibers just due to the extreme velocity.

Cuz I don't shoot that many.