Your Favorite Deer Bullet?

It's just a deer. Myself unless you plan on using 6mm to 6.5mm for these critters see no need premium bullets.
Or maybe your magnum case tends to run comparative bullets faster.

Number one choice old Silvertip of 150 grain for any thirty caliber. Runner up and a tiny edge in accuracy Remington Core Lokt in the same weight for same bore size. Silvertip seems to bash them up a little more in the vitals. But either one is perfectly sufficient IMO.
 
We’ve shot a pile of deer over the last 20 years with Hornady interlock bullets which pretty much everyone in the group uses

Speer Grand Slam bullets for me.

We always find them, they don’t get to far, meat damage is passable

Last few years I’ve been using Nosler accubonds because I got a deal on some premium factory loads, but last 2 years they blew up in the deer, no exit wound, so I’m done with them
 
I use whatever is handy, and usually, cheap.

Have taken an awful pile of deer with bulk bagged Winchester cup and core bullets, usually 150 grains, sometimes 180's, or 125's on a fairly mild .308 Win loading.

Have taken deer with 50grain cup and core soft points too, in a 223.

In my opinion, most guys overthink things far too often. The deer don't care all that much what you hit them with.

I've shot way more deer under 50 yards, than over 100.
 
I have used standard cup and core SP's more than anything else, Hornady, Speer, Sierra... the last few years, I have used the Nosler Ballistic Tip in many weights and many calibers... they have done a great job on deer, bear and moose.
 
ELD-X works well for me! It's definitely a soft, rapid-expanding bullet. I haven't used the 6.5mm 143 but I have shot a pile of meat with the 200gr out of a 300 WM. Lung shot deer have all fallen on the spot with quite a lot of bruising and huge internal damage. I had one go in between the ribs and still had a 1" entrance wound and tennis ball size exit. With a massive fan spray of blood in the snow.

The only shot it didn't pass through was an angled shot into the spine of a moose. Moose dropped instantly, though. So big bones are a no go but I can say from first hand experience that deer shoulder blades are not an issue. Neither is the front leg bone of a big black bear. Deer spine was a pass-through, as well.

Then again, pretty much everything I just wrote also applies to a bog-standard Hornady Interlock. Consider the ELD-X to be an Interlock with high ballistic coefficient. Don't expect it to drill through heavy bone like a Barnes. But on a deer...do you really need a Barnes? I don't think so. I had bought a few hundred 143 ELD-X before the OIC that banned my planned new hunting rifle. Never got to try them out so I sold them to a buddy who swears by them.
 
took a doe at 75 yards with my 6.5 prc bergara using hornady 143 eldx factory precision hunter.Bullet went in right behind shoulder hit a rib and came out other side about baseball size hole draging out internals with it,kinda explosive . lots of bloodshot around holes but cleaned up well because not much there.Deer flipped on its back ,kicked a few seconds and expired about 15 feet away. If i hit a shoulder i would have lost the front half. Ive switched this year to 120 gmx in the 6.5 prc.A barns x or ttsx would be similar to the gmx as there all copper. 6.5 in prc is moving a lot faster than the creed which the 143 eldx was originally designed.remember the prc is basically a creed on steroids.
 
Honestly, i've never seen a Woodleigh that didnt perform almost textbook, or textbook 4 petals.

cheap enough an a brilliant deer bullet as often expansion begins always, an enough shank to drive er home.. the faster it goes, sometimes the fatter it gets and ya might get em back on even a average doe broadside.. slow em down a bit and you can shoot the length of them proberly..
 
Largest number of deer probably taken with 308 Win and 165 Speer HotCor - maybe 20? Almost that many with 7x57 and 150 Partition. Was able to find some Woodleigh, so have some .312" 174 grain for 303 British, as well as some .312" 180 grain Hornady Round nose - hoping my 303's like those. Also found some Woodleigh 7mm 140 Weldcore PPSN - hoping they are short enough for my Schultz and Larsen 7x61 - has a slow 1-12" twist, so will not like longer bullets. And stocked up with 95 grain Partitions, for if that little 243 Win Compact ever shows up!!!
 
i think 80% of the deer i've taken were with federal power shok 180gr .303 brit and I've been a fairly successful deer hunter over the years
 
I have shot a lot of deer with bullets in various 6.5 rifles using Sierra 140's and 160's with great accuracy, and most of my deer have been shot with 303's using various bullets and all worked well.
The last 9 animals have been shot with 150 grain TSX Barnes in a .303 Brit, and performance is perfect .
Cat
 
Haven't shot anything with an ELD-X (or -M) but I have shot literal tons of animals with Amax's in 75/105/162 gr's. Definitely a favorite bullet on deer.
 
I'm liking my 85gr ttsx out of my 6mm Remington the last few years Dropped 3 so far right in there tracks, however all were under 100 yards so very high speed hits. Otherwise 100 gr softpoints do the job as well.
 
Whether it's 6.5 ( mine is a 264) or 30, or 375, it really doesnt matter. Partition, I use that shet for everything.

My personal ability, better than average. Even with that, I seldom hunt in areas allowing long shots. I live in a coastal rainforest, hunt in interior rain forest and boreal. My longest harvested game animal, 275 yards. The point, I dont need a high bc projectile, the partition is adequate. For the OP, in a modern 6.5, you probably have a fast.twist barrel capable of stabilizing long high bc projectile approaching 150 gr. What's the ethical energy commonly thought of for deer? Believe it's 1000 ft lbs. Probably putting you at 400-500 yards, are you capable of ethically shooting that far? Field conditions, concrete range benches are hard to carry.

Long winded insomniac answer to a question not even asked. You gain very little using a more aerodynamic projectile, that you don't give up in on game performance. Partition, 120 gr and up.
 
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