Deer hunting with a 308 Winchester rifle

remington jim said:
The Accubond is a MUCH superior bullet for Big Game then the BT is too ! RJ
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I was actually looking at knows where he's going to pick up a box and try them I'm going to pick up some match Kings and game Kings as well at same time, I'm going to try some factory ammo first though I'm going to look at 168 grain rounds if I can find them
 
I love the .308 for hunting. I have an almost pristine Winchester Mod.100, a Ruger M77 H-Bar, and a Mossberg Patriot, all in .308. Alas, a good load in one rifle doesn't always carry over into another one. The Ruger loves 165 gr. Sierra Game Kings (#2140) on top of H380 and the Mossberg loves 165 gr. Sierra Game Kings (#2145) on top of H380, but the Winchester likes 150 gr. on top on Accurate 2495. All good game getters.
 
168 gr tipped xbullet is what I'm going to be using this year on days I take my .308. worked for a moose last year. the only bullet I wouldn't recommend is the winchester deer season xp. used it once on a small 4 point bullet is way to soft. might be a good coyote load.
 
Try a bunch of different hunting rounds in your rifle. Use whatever it likes the best (or your wallet will allow). All hunting rounds in 308 will have enough weight to take down a whitetail, and none of them are overkill.
 
i used a 308 win in T3 once for a good while, loved the 150gr accubonds ! for smaller deer i think the 150gr SP are pretty sweet for trajectory , an 180s for closer impacts if not bonded.
 
Ganderite said:
Several of us used 150s on deer. We found them somewhat explosive and ruined a lot of meet.

We changed over to 180s, and prefer the results. Pass-thoughs with a fist sized exit hole. Advantage is same ammo for both deer and moose.
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I've whacked deer with pretty much from 110 grain spire points to 180's in a 308. They all worked well enough.

Always figured the deer were not exactly bulletproof. No need to load overly hot. Aside from that, pick a spot, stay calm, have a plan for carting the goodies home.

I'll shoot ribs side-on, by preference, figure the lost meat wouldn't make a good appetizer anyways.
A buddy absolutely WHALLOPED a doe at 25 yards with a hot loaded .300Win Mag, and decided it was best to hit the shoulder. Pure bloody wasted mess! Yech.
 
Many may not realize that a 30-30 is plenty for deer. A 308 comes in handy over a 30-30 at longer yardages. Like over 150 yards. I usually favor a 243 as it has good reach and a bit less damage to the meat.
 
I was looking for a lighter factory 308 round with some better ballistics and found a federal 110gr varmint load with a Hornady VMax bullet and a Hornady 125grain SST custom lite. Haven’t been able to findthe Hornady but I grabbed a box of the federal recently. I realize this is a varmint oriented loading, but for flatter trajectory it’s pretty sweet. Would a shot to the vitals broadside with a 110 Vmax be recommended however?
 
Use 150 Powermax. Worked well with the last deer. It dropped instantly and humanely as it was a perfect broadside boilermaker shot. Shot placement is much more important than bullet selection.
 
Nothing wrong with 180's. If you reload, you could try slowing them down a bit. Either way, try to stay away from the big bones. If you go through the boiler room, you won't ruin any meat, other than maybe the heart/liver.
 
cote_b said:
I was looking for a lighter factory 308 round with some better ballistics and found a federal 110gr varmint load with a Hornady VMax bullet and a Hornady 125grain SST custom lite. Haven’t been able to findthe Hornady but I grabbed a box of the federal recently. I realize this is a varmint oriented loading, but for flatter trajectory it’s pretty sweet. Would a shot to the vitals broadside with a 110 Vmax be recommended however?
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I would not hunt deer with a .30 cal. 110gr Vmax. I cannot think of a single reason to do so.
 
cote_b said:
I was looking for a lighter factory 308 round with some better ballistics and found a federal 110gr varmint load with a Hornady VMax bullet and a Hornady 125grain SST custom lite. Haven’t been able to findthe Hornady but I grabbed a box of the federal recently. I realize this is a varmint oriented loading, but for flatter trajectory it’s pretty sweet. Would a shot to the vitals broadside with a 110 Vmax be recommended however?
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Odds are a varmint load won't get to the vitals, leading to a horribly wounded animal. 150 -165 gr. are more than capable of taking any Canadian game animal at humane/ethical distances.
 
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