Your favorite whitetail bullets, per cartridge that you own?Favorite?

Bitteroot said:
I'm pretty familiar with White and Mule deer here in Mt, how they move, terrain they like and terrain they'll share and how well deer see hear and smell but I haven't hunted in Michigan are deer different there ?
Keep in mind that I'm not suggesting anyone use a 30-30 for open country 300 plus yard shots of course.
I've also had deer spook from a 1/4 mile away and others that didn't know I was 50ish yard away.
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In Michigan most shots are usually well under 200 yards, usually 50-75 is the norm,
Most people hunt from tree stands
I'm getting too old to hunt tree stands anymore
I usually hunt ground blinds, .30-.30 was the primary cartridge most of my young life but these days everyone uses .450 bushmaster, .350 legend and so on because of the straight walled cartridge restriction, but now they have repealed that restriction so now you can use whatever you want .223 on up, necked, straight walled whatever,I'm assuming that the gun shops are going to see a lot of straight walled chambered rifles soon,I have also hunted Wyoming quite often , for deer, Antelope and upland birds
 
robo57 said:
In Michigan most shots are usually well under 200 yards, usually 50-75 is the norm,
Most people hunt from tree stands
I'm getting too old to hunt tree stands anymore
I usually hunt ground blinds, .30-.30 was the primary cartridge most of my young life but these days everyone uses .450 bushmaster, .350 legend and so on because of the straight walled cartridge restriction, but now they have repealed that restriction so now you can use whatever you want .223 on up, necked, straight walled whatever,I'm assuming that the gun shops are going to see a lot of straight walled chambered rifles soon,I have also hunted Wyoming quite often , for deer, Antelope and upland birds
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Let me add, the straight walled restrictions were from the middle of Michigan and south
Now you can use any legal sized cartridge anywhere in the state
 
Too Many to list! Hammers in 11 rifles; Barnes TTSXs and LRXs in 4 rifles; VLDs in 5 rifles; ELDMs in 4 rifles; NPT in 2 rifles; and the rest I load for are for varmint or bench not deer hunting!
 
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22xc 85.5 Berger
6BR 87 or 95 Berger HVLD
243 win and 6xc Berger 115 HVLD
25-284 133 Berger
6.5 Grendel 123 Hornady SST
6.5x47, 260, and 260AI 130 Berger HVLD
6.5 PRC 156 Berger
284 Win 168 Berger
For straight overkill
7 PRC 195 Berger
30 Nosler 215 Berger
I've shot deer with the larger calibers, I just don't need them for wt deer. My go to is the 25-284, and the grandkids shoot the 6.5 Grendel. Works for us just fine.
 

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Al Diamond said:
.30-06 Springfield and 165 grain Core Lokt ammo. It's called the deadliest mushroom in the woods for a reason. Neither have let me down, so if it's not broke, I'm not fixing it.
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A lot to be said for this. My first real hunting rifle was a Savage 110. Super accurate with the Core Lokt 165s. I tried the 150s, 180s, Power Shok, Hornady, etc. Those 165s grouped like nobody's business. I also found out real quick that they are deadly on Deer.

Somone said in a post here that we tend to over complicate things, and this is a perfect example. Now many years later I'm hunting with all the "better" cartridges as well as chamberings. None of them have killed any better than the ole 06 with 165s. Let's face it, most of us have a cartridge, rifle, and scope fetish. Kind of like collecting Penthouse magazines! lol
 
hembrook said:
.243 Winchester: any good 100 gr soft point (great for Scottish stags out to 250 yards)
.30-06: 165 Ballistic Tips, 2900fps (plenty of reh deer as well as springboks, blesbok and impala)
.308 Marlin Express: 160 FTX, 2700 fps (rehbok, pigs)
.303 Savage: 160 FTX, 2200 fps (steenbok)
.30 Hembrook: 180 Accubond, 3100 fps (anything including a 550 pound sable)
9,3x62: 250 AB, 2700 fps (foxes up to zebra)
.45-70: 325 FTX, 2050 fps (foxes up to gemsbok)
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What powder are you using in the .303 ? I have an old model 99, the long-barreled take-down model. I haven't loaded for it yet, but intend to.
 
243 / 6mm & the 85gr sierra hpgk

6.5 & the 140 hornady eldm or 123 sst

Ive used alot of different stuff, going to film a bunch later this year, but those 2 are my favorites so far. Honorable mention to the 25-06, its going to do great things but the other 2 simply are doing an awesome job.
 
GearHead901 said:
.338 Federal with 160 TTSX stands out most: quiet sleeper that hits way above its class with brutal terminal effect.
.308 with 130 TTSX is another underrated hammer.
Overall: consistent philosophy, not random picks… speed, expansion, and quick kills.
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You cited our 2 favorites for whitetail.

But, we have not pushed these past 350 yards.
 

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