November will be my first time ever hunting deer (I’ve killed a raccoon or two). I’ve be using my only center fire bolt action rifle (Savage Model 12 LRP in 6.5 creedmoor wearing a Nikon 4-12x).

My gun likes 140-143gr ammo (sub-moa 5 shot groups at 100 yds). My question is what is a good load to use on whitetail?

All my FIL said was “any soft point”. I know from testing that a lot of the cheaper euro soft points don’t really expand. My LGS has Federal Fusion and Hornady precession hunter.

I have been using Federal Fusion in my .308 AR-10 for years. Good stuff that is not very expensive.

I love Nosler Ballistic Tips and they have always been very accurate for me In handloads.

I think Federal loads them in a factory ammo.

Some people don’t like them because they are explosive in their expansion and often fragment, and sometimes don’t exit.

My philosophy is I’m not overly concerned about a double penetration blood trail if a grenade went off inside the deer and he dropped a few steps away.

Texas deer are small, Ballistic Tips will be fine for them.

If you like a deeper penetration and a bullet that holds together better, Nosler Accubonds are excellent as well.

Winchester makes a Silver tipped , moly coated load which is just a Ballistic Tip in fancy pants, they work well too.


ETA; Hmm, my advice sucks, I looked around, didn’t find any ballistic tip loads for the Creedmore. I handload 6.5’s so they make the bullet, just didn’t find any factory loadings.

If you have Federal Fusion available locally you can not go wrong with that.

Fusion factory.308 works well on elk.

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Any soft point. Seriously.

This ain’t dangerous game. Deer are not hard to kill. You can certainly obsess over the expansion and terminal performance of the projectile loaded in the case. But for white tails at sub-300 yards, it’s not as critical as a lot of people think.

You obviously want to have your optic zero’d for the ammo you are using, but other than that, there isn’t a whole lot to worry about.

Federal Fusion is fine. It’s plentiful and affordable. I’d go with that just because you are more likely (due to popularity) to find it again next year and the year after. Using the same ammo line should save some time and money each season when confirming your zero every year.

Ammo makers are good enough that lot to lot from year to year usually won’t require drastic adjustments for zero. There will be some. But you’ll usually be re-zeroed within 10 rounds unless you moved your scope around since last deer season. I always burn more ammo confirming my zero than I do on the deer. So I could get by with one new box of ammo each year provided it was the same type as last year. And I’m pretty much a stickler for using 5 round groups to zero.

I have always had good luck with Remington Cor-Lokt in .308 and Winchester Deer Season XP in 6.5 creedmoor as far as accurate, affordable loads. Hornady Non-Typical has never shot well for me. Federal Game Shock shoots as well as Fusion in my experience across multiple calibers…which is accurate enough for hunting.

There are usually rebates going about this time of year that can knock $5 off a box of 20. I’ll usually max out the rebate when it’s available so I get same lot #’s.

"Any soft point. Seriously."

Well, in Arfcom fashion I bought both and will use whatever groups the best in my gun. I’m hoping the Fusion shoots the best!

I have been using an Armalite 7.62x39 AR for deer hunting.  I have used both the PPU and Steel Case Soft Points that work great for deer.  I haven't tried any Fusion ammo, but when I hunted with a Rem 7mm mag I used Federal and Winchester ammo from Walmart.  Now if I was hunting Elk I would buy better bullets, but deer seem to be pretty easy to take down quickly with basic soft point rounds.

Hard to beat a 143 eldx

Both the Hornady and Federal work just fine up here on deer sized deer so they should have no problem on TX sized deer.

Ya I know it’s heavy lol I’ll be in a blind all day so weight won’t be a major issue. I’ve done accuracy testing and decided to use Federal Fusion. Sub-MOA in my gun at 100.

This.

I have killed a pile of deer with federal power shoks in my 308, it is great. The power shock and fusion are nearly identical if not completely the same other than the box and marketing. I have use the fusions in my grendel but can’t find them anymore, they also worked great just not quite the authority of the 308.

I have switched to a 6.5cm as well and I’m using hornady American whitetail this year which is their equivalent (only because I couldn’t find any 6.5 powershoks or fusions)

I'm a huge fan of Nosler ballistic tips in 150 Gr or 168 for my 30-06.

The best answer to your question is to find THE hunting round that performs best in YOUR gun.  Any modern day hunting bullet all the way from 60 grains through 300 grains when PROPERLY PLACED will kill any deer.  A 143 Grain pointed soft point applied to the "boiler room" of a deer will usually drop it DRT or within sight distance.  Find one that shoots well in your gun, and put it in the right place - success.  Don't overthink it.