Bullet help for whitetails...

[JJ1965]

Two things in our great country are questioned because of their appeal to the bourgeoisie.. The Waffle House and Core Lokts, neither one should be shunned.

I used core lokts until I had one snap on me on a point blank shot at the biggest bodied whitetail buck I ever saw. I shot up my entire stash and every other one fired. Now I use the cheap Federal Fusion and every time I pull the trigger they die. For Nineteen dollars a box I have no complaints.,

[Anti-Quack]

Another vote for Nosler Ballistic Tips here. Any projectile fired from a standard cartridge will kill whitetails - but if I were given only one option for bullets, I'd choose the NBT every time.

[Bigtimber2]

Up to 200 yards no need to change. Shoot high shoulder and go pickup deer.


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[Phone Man]

Barnes TTSX is best ive shot for anything. But plain ol cup and core bullets work fine

[rp]

Son #1 was using the SST one year. Right accurate out of that gun he was using. Pulled the trigger on one buck at about 60 yards. On that shot, nothing was hit but skin and lungs and whatever holds those ribs together and that bullet went through clean as a whistle. No opening up of any kind. We went to soft points after that. Basic corelockts. No issues by him since then if he hits.

[First Coat]

I also stopped using the SST's (7-08), straight thru with very little blood.

[FLS]

I like Sierras.
150 Pro Hunters and 165 Sierra Game Kings are the most accurate traditional style hunting bullets I’ve shot.
Noslers are a very close second.
165 Accubonds are accurate out of my rifles and probably one of the best do everything .30 cal bullets made.

[smitch320]

Core Lokts here. Any issue I’ve had with an animal has been my fault, not the bullet.

[Moose843]

I get tighter groups with silver ballistic tips in my bolt 270. With core lokt I would always get a drifter in my shot group. Fusions? Wouldn't shoot them again if they paid me. My semi seems to like the hornaday americans.

[Sportin' Woodies]

I had two corelokts fail to fire years ago so I quit shooting them. I also didn't like the deformed tips

Berger hybrid, don't hit the shoulder close range but everything else is drt or red carpet
Barnes ttsx, good thru bone performance, fair blood trails
Hornady eldx good bone performance and good blood trails.

I see which one out of the three patterns best in whatever rifle I'm sighting in.

[quack head 11]

Nosler Ballistic Tips IMO is the best bullet ever made for whitetail deer.

Bullets kill by shock and a ballistic tip dumps all it’s energy in the body of the deer. Perfect scenario.

Over the years Ive come to believe the speed of bullets causes more issues than bullet weight or bullet type.

I swear the last 2 years we’ve killed I think 10 with a 7-08, and I don’t recall one taking a step. I think the 2700-2900 fps range gives the absolute best killing performance

[hunterjw]

I shoot 100 grain core Lokts with my .243 and 150 grain core lokts with my 30.06

No issues with my 30.06 but I rarely get a pass through with my .243 or good blood trail. I have pulled 3-4 bullets just inside skin on the opposite side as well.

I’d love to find something better for my .243 but maybe it just has to do with knockdown power. As mentioned before if you have a good shot placement it makes no difference. I’ve shot Muzzy 100 grain fixed blades for years but recently switched to nap blood runners. Never seen such a blood trail! So sometimes tech has improved and there are some better solutions.

Same as in Turkey world. Some of these new loads take birds out 60 plus yards on a tight pattern. With that being said I still shoot Remington nitro

[Swamp Rat]

For a long time, I used to handload Sierra 165 grain Game Kings to a blistering 2511 fps in my old 30-06. Killed deer dead. As did 140 grain Game Kings in my Swedish Mauser - about the same velocity. That having been said, I HAVE played around with some other bullets - Ballistic Tips, ELD-X, etc. All work when placed properly. My next reloading experiment may be to see if the Sierra Tipped Game Kings ("Game Changers") are all that.

[catawba]

My 06 hates a corelokt, found it to shoot the Winchester powermax rounds the best. But as luck would have it I can’t find them anymore. Ended up buying some American Whitetail shells they seem to shoot well. I’ve only had two run more than 50 yards and they were very marginal shots. I have killed a pile of deer with that rifle, if you hit them right they will fall over dead. Period.

[Phone Man]

I shoot 100 grain core Lokts with my .243 and 150 grain core lokts with my 30.06

No issues with my 30.06 but I rarely get a pass through with my .243 or good blood trail. I have pulled 3-4 bullets just inside skin on the opposite side as well.

I’d love to find something better for my .243 but maybe it just has to do with knockdown power. As mentioned before if you have a good shot placement it makes no difference. I’ve shot Muzzy 100 grain fixed blades for years but recently switched to nap blood runners. Never seen such a blood trail! So sometimes tech has improved and there are some better solutions.

Same as in Turkey world. Some of these new loads take birds out 60 plus yards on a tight pattern. With that being said I still shoot Remington nitro

80gr TTSX will make that rifle kill like a big rifle.

[SCWOODROW]

150gr Nosler BT handloads in my 7-08. Short work on deer and the hogs haven’t been able to tote one yet.

[Whackumstackum]

I will tell you I got a youth model 700 in 243 and these boys are shooting a 95gr Nosler BT over 40gr of RL-17 and the performance is outstanding. Field tested, it smokes them.

[Pass shot]

So, I've recently become more interested in deer hunting. Up to this point in my life I think I've shot just about every deer I've killed with 150 grain Remington pointed soft point core-lokt mostly with .30-06. Over that time I've killed most of the deer I've shot but missed a few and lost a few.

So, the question is, is there a better bullet construction for whitetails than just the pointed lead core bullets? Not considering bullet quality or construction is premium ammunition (casing, primer, power and consistency of these components) worth a little more cost?

No

[Swamp Rat]

My sorta personal criteria.

Shoot a bullet that weighs at least 100 grains, but no need for anything over 165-180.

Don't shoot deer with bullets designed for varmints, big game (like elk), or purely long range accuracy. Stick with hunting bullets designed for medium game. The most aggravating thing I've done is helped people try to find deer hit slightly poorly with a Berger VLD.

[SilverFox]

Core-Lokt 150 for me as well with the .30-06. I've killed a lot and only had one move. I took out the heart and it ran about 50 yards and turned around looking at me then dropped. I thought I missed him since I swung around and shot him left handed.