Plan on using my 30-06 on whitetail this season. Shots will likely be 100-200yds, but there is a possibility, due to the terrain that there could be a 30-50yds shot. I'll be using Hornady 150 gr. SP " American Whitetail" with Interlock bullets. As strange as it sounds, I've read high powered rifle rounds often fail at close range, leaving a long tracking job or lost deer. Is this true ? Any advice or input. -Thanks

No way, no how.  Sure, some bullets are constructed in a way they are less likely to hold up at close range (higher velocity), but it's a .30-06 against a deer.

I shot a pig last fall with a .300WM at about 50 yards with Hornady Superperformance (supposedly the worst choice ever for this type of thing) and the pig just about split in two.

ive only shot a few deer....all close range with a 30-06. Using winchester powerpoint 180s. no issues, if not too much for the situation.

I've shot several deer within 100 yards using 150 - 160 grn rounds in .30-06.  Punched strait through but our deer are small down here.  I did have a soft point hit the spine and fragment to the point where it didn't come out the other side but the deer dropped in it's tracks so no tracking necessary.   Any double lung shot and they are always laying within 60 yards.

When people use very high powered rifles on deer at close ranges, yes, they sometimes do fail.  It's usually a case of inappropriate bullet.  

Each and every bullet made, by every manufacturer, has a specific 'window' in which it will operate well.  If you go too slow, the bullet doesnt open and acts like a FMJ.  If its going too fast when it hits, it opens too fast and too hard and explodes and doesnt penetrate.

You'll see a couple of kinds of failures.  One is the magnum at close range failure.  This is too fast an impact speed, too explosive expansion and lack of penetration.  Someone will buy a 300 Mag of some flavor (or a 26 nosler) and then stick the lightest fastest bullet in it they can find. Think along the lines of a Nosler 150 Ballistic tip.  Impact speeds are way up there, beyond the upper limit for the bullet. It comes apart after 3 inches of penetration, leaves a massive gaping wound, but never reaches vitals.  This failure is classic.....  Its because the user used the wrong bullet in that application....That same 150 BT is near ideal in a 300 Savage or a 308 Win.

The other one is someone reads that really premium bullets like the Barnes TTSX are the hottest thing going.  So they load it in their .308 and shoot it out of their Remington Mdoel Seven with the 20" barrel at deer at 375 yards.  and it fails.  Impact speeds are too low for that bullet to really open as well as it should.  They get a narrow pencil-like wound channel that doesnt kill cleanly.  Wrong bullet again.  That 150 TTSX is the best thing going in your 300 Win Mag....

Your 30-06 is pretty much a middle of the road cartridge as far as speeds go.  The 150 Interlock is a decent bullet.  Its not as fragile as a Nosler Ballistic Tip or a V Max, and its not super tough like a TTSX or an Accubond.  You have a middle of the road cartridge, with middle of the road impact speeds, and a middle of the road bullet.  You should be well within the design limits for the Interlock.  At 30 yards, its going to open hard and fast, but really shouldn't be "explosive'.    I think you are within the ideal operating impact speed window for that bullet...  The beauty of the 30-06 is that its pretty much vanilla -  not too much of anything, and very 'average'.  It will work with almost any bullet on the market (more so than a 300 AAC BlackOut or a 300 Mag)

For what its worth, I used Hornady BTSP Interlock 150 in .308 Win for several seasons and on a half dozen deer.  Out of my 308 it killed okay, but I wanted a little faster, harder opening.  My short barreled 308 wasn't pushing them quite fast enough.  My impact speeds were often about 2400 fps at the ranges I wa shooting.  Out of your 30-06, with I am assuming is a 24" barrel, you should get impact speeds of about 2800 at 30-50 yards.  That is within the ideal operating window of that bullet, and you should be absolutely fine.  I wouldn't want to take the 30 yard shot with that same bullet out of a 30 Nosler or a 300 Ultra mag.  But your 30-06 will be absolutely fine...

If you find that for whatever reason you are worried about over expansion at close range, the easiest thing  to do is go up one weight. For example, move from a 150 to a 165 in a similar bullet.  Going up one weight usually slows velocity down by about 100-150 fps at the muzzle in most moderate bottle neck cartridges (270,308,3006 etc).  Slightly heavier bullet, going slightly slower, means less violent expansion and deeper penetration at those short ranges...

30-06's shoot bullets to pretty much middle of the road speeds.  Faster than 3030,s 300 Savages, 308 Winchesters, but slower than 300 Win Mags, 300 Weatherbys and all the 300 short/fat/long/ultra/mega/loudenboomer Mags.  Almost any 150,165 or 180 bullet on the market will work decently well at 30-06 speeds.  What will work in the 300 AAC won't work in the 300 Mag and vice versa, but if its a basic, non-exotic, regular everyday vanilla 150,165 or 180, it will work well in any 30-06 out to all normal ranges (powder burn to 350 yards).

If it matters any, I personally use about 2600 and 3000 fps muzzle velocities as the limits on many bullets.  When I get close to or over 3000, I start looking for a tougher, premium bullet.  I also use about 2600 as a lower limit.   Any time muzzle velocities are below 2600, I start looking for a lighter, more fragile bullet.    Using that rule of thumb (its rough), I use Nosler Partitions or Accubonds in my 280 Ackley Improved (Muzzle velocities are right at 3000).  And I use Nosler Ballistic tips in my 308 (moderate loads out of a short barreled rifle for modest MV of about 2550 -2600).   My 3006 is smack dab in that 2600-3000 window, so I can comfortable just about anything...

The 150 Hornady interlock is my favorite deer bullet. It will not fail you.

Shot one at the distance you are describing and it traveled straight down.

ETA With a 30.06

50yds with a win mag, and cheap ammo, likely to see a bullet failure. 300rum, cheap ammo, guaranteed bullet failure at 50yds.  30-06, should be ok, though you could push it up to 180gr.  The higher the velocity, the more stress on a bullet for a given design.  When it hits an animal, it sheds speed rapidly, and the closer the target is, the faster the bullet is traveling, so the more stress it has on it.  Standard cup and core bullets like core lokt, etc will suffer lead and jacket separation when shot at high velocity and connects with target at high velocity.  This means less mass and less penetration.  Also the faster the bullet is going, the more it expands, reducing penetration.  30-06 shoots at low enough velocities that you shouldn't suffer any failures.  Now my magnums, 7mm, 300win, 300rum all get fed Nosler bullets.  My 30/30, 338win and 45/70 don't.  My 375 and 416, bonded core for hunting or Nosler.

I once shot a mule deer on our ranch at about 20-25 yards (because everyone knows all the shots out west in sage brush country are so far...). 165g NBT from my .30-06 performed just like it always had (entrance and exit holes as well as cutting two ribs on the way though)and I had a dead deer within 3 steps of where I shot him.

+1 on the Horandy 150gr Interlocks. Shot a buck at 68 yds coming directly at me. Dropped him right in his tracks. Shot a doe quartering away from the ground at less than 40yds and she dropped right there. No tracking at all.

The only "problem" I've had with my 30-06 pushing 150 Gr. Nosler ballistic tips was on a quartering to me deer at 60 yards.  That bullet transferred SO MUCH energy it quite literally blew up that deers insides - all of it.  Liquified the lungs, shredded the liver and unfortunately, blew up the stomach/guts.  The bullet did not pass through the deer.  Bucky was DRT and fell to the ground like someone instantaneously sawed its legs off.  That gut job was the worst of the 50 or so deer I've field dressed.

Thanks for all the input guys. Sounds like I'm good to go.

I've shot deer from 5yd to ~350yd with Remington CoreLokt 150gr in 30.06.
On closer shots on larger deer, the bullet did fragment spectacularly and sometimes failed to pass all the way through, but deer almost never made it more than 50yd, if they ever even took a step.
In such cases, the jacket could normally be found wadded up under the skin on the far side.

On anything past 50yd, the bullet would behave "normally" and pass through without fragmenting.

pretty much every deer ive killed with an -06 has been under 100 yards, and many were closer to 50. I have used a mix of federal power point 150's, remington coreloct 150's and Hornady american 150's. all killed the hell out of the deer

This

I shoot deer with a 30-06 at 3-5 yards on occasion in heavy timber and have for the past 34 years. dozens, if not hundreds of deer killed with it and I don't think I have ever shot 100 yards with it at a deer. almost all are under 30-40 yards.

use a good bullet. most will frag all to hell ( some people don't care one way or another). I do not use Remington loads.

my load of choice is the federal premium Trophy Bonded Tip 180 gr.

shoot your gun at 10-50 yards on the range.

excellent round. if I reloaded, I would load this or a partition.

If you have any fears of close shots, step up to 165gr or 180gr.
I hunt where my shots range from 35-250 yards, with most falling between 90-175.
Either weight will get it done from "up close and personal" to "way out there".
I tend to load the 165s when the field is cut, the 180s if it hasn't been.

I use 150 grain Speer hot core flat base rounds. The rounds disinigrate under 50 yards, but not before reaching the vitals.

I've killed several over the years with a 30-06. I echo the others; use a middling bullet. Your choice is fine. I like the 165 GameKings. I did have a problem with a 180gr round many years ago. I was young at the time, now I know better; bullet was really meant for larger game. Shot a buck at about 35yds; kept walking, had time to put 2 more in it before it went down. Shot a doe at about 130 yds with the same bullet - crappy blood trail that gave out quickly. From the color looks like I screwed up and made a liver hit; what bothered me was how poor the blood trail was. It's my belief the bullet was just poking holes and not really expanding. I'll be out with a 30-06 myself come gun season.

There's a reason that the 30-06 has been the benchmark, go to caliber, since 1906 !

Holy shit!  A guy that actually admits to having sub 300 yard kills!  

In the last 4 years, I have shot deer at 120, 65, and 95 yards from the same spot, all with a Hornady Interlock 150gr out of a Savage 111 in 30.06. Two dropped on place, one took maybe five steps.

I doubt anyone carrying a Garand doubted its "stopping power" at close range.

You will be using superior, soft point ammunition compared to the standard in those days.

If you are worried about a long tracking job, as in 25 yards, then yes.. choose another round.

Many folks have successfully taken larger animals with SIGNIFICANTLY smaller calibers.

My first choice is not 30-06 but I would have absolutely no problems using it from point blank to 200+ yards.

Instead of whitetail edition, A-max is devastating.

I've shot some animals on the farm at 200-300 yards, but they have been dogs, cats, coyotes and a speed goat. but in 95% of my hunting spots in the timber we can't see past 25 yards in a major opening with spotty openings out to 40-50 yards. when people come into my lab and see my deer mounts they always ask how far each one was when I shot them.. its like  3 yards, 12 yards, 15 yards..that one on the end was the farthest at a little over 20.

if they don't have a powder burn on them, I feel bad on the inside..

I have never killed a deer past 300yds; and I'd say maybe only a half dozen past 200yds. Also,  I'd say the majority would be 100 or less. Bet it's the same for the majority of hunters as well.



 

no sir.. you're gtg..  like the other fella said.. i've shot em from 15yrds to 250+..nothing over 300 that i can remember..  the last few years i've been running the Hornady 165gr SST... i don't think i'll ever shoot anything else.  even my hand loads are 165 SST's.. no worries

Your ranges sound familiar to me.  I hunt some thick Virginia woodlands that are broken up by fields on a farm.  Because the farm is also used for beef cattle, I prefer to hunt in the thick stuff where I'm quite certain no cattle will be found (I know the difference between a deer and a cow, but I prefer to hunt from the ground, so I'm very cautious about pass through bullets).

My all time long range record on this farm is a whopping 87 yards. The rest are at various ranges from 10 to 50 yards. I use a 6.5x55 with a decent quality bullet and it kills them fast every time.

I hunt from brush blinds a lot or set up ambush points on trails.  when my boy was really young I had a brush blind right on a flat on top of the mountain that had 4 runs diverging 10 yards in front of it. I had my boy in that blind from 4 years old till I put a tree stand up for him and gave him that spot when he was 15.  we had too many close encounters to count. when he was 5 he had a doe walk right up and stick her head over the brush to about 4 inches from his face and blow. the boy stayed completely frozen when my hand gripping his leg. my boy shot his first deer out of that blind at 6 steps when he was 7 with a .357 youth handi-Rifle on a bi-pod.

I am a firm believer in the Scentlock hoodie/facemask. I've killed more deer under 10 yards on the ground in the past 15 years than ever before. I always get a kick when a bowhunter is telling me about shooting them at 20 yards and how cool it is.. then I tell him "you ought to shoot them at 5 yards with a .444 marlin, its freakin awesome".
I've had a lot of people ask me what my most important piece of equipment is and I tell them the Scentlock facemask. I carry 2 in my backpack.

I was lucky, I had a father who taught me the woods and how to hunt deer in deep timber mountains and in creek bottoms.
when I see a deer whiskers, I know he's close enough to shoot.

an interesting note.
when I was 14, I shot a 8pt at about 10 yards with a Remington 742 30-06 using 180gr Core Lokt's. it immediately went down with a massive gory shoulder wound and then tried to get up, I shot him in the neck and my dad found me and started reaming my ass over shooting it twice, he finally calmed down after I told him the shoulder wound was the first shot and something wasn't right with it. I had killed quite a few deer and my dad knew what I was talking about.  we explored it when I gutted it and found that the bullet exploded on impact and only damaged the ribs. there was virtually no damage to the internal organs.

this pissed me off, so I had dad drive me to Wal-Mart and bought a box a Federal shells and I wrote a letter to Remington and enclosed a picture of the shoulder wound. they wrote me back and point blank told me that their bullets were not meant to be shot at animals under 50 yards and they could not guarantee any bullet performance under those conditions. this was my initiation to quality bullets and their terminal performance.

I've tried to shoot premium bullets in factory loads since 1984.

I still hunt with that 30-06....as one of my main hunting rifles.

I'm a believer in Winchester's 165 grain load for whitetail.  I've killed deer with it from 4 yards to 400.  I've never lost one that I shot at, and the vast majority of them are down within spitting distance.

I've only had one run further than a hundred yards, and that was a big buck that ran 350+ yards. There was nothing about the shot or the bullet performance that I could discern from field dressing him that gave me any clue as to why he ran that far, other than the fact that he was dead on his feet but had nice open ground to run across and he was a tough son of a bitch who felt like running. The shot was at 20 yards and the heart and lungs were jelly when I opened him up.

My father-in-law and my dad both used 30-06's to deer hunt with in WV.  It's woods and mountains and most shots are under 100 yds.  My father-in-law used 180 grain Remingtons and my dad used 165 grain bullets (reloads, don't remember the brand).  Never had to shoot one twice and never had to track them.

One of my father-in-laws brothers (Korean War veteran) told me he remembered two things about the M1 Garand.  "It was heavy, and it killed good, it killed real good."

If I still deer hunted I'd be using my M1 with 150 grain bullets in it.  It's all about bullet placement.

In Missouri, most of my shots are around 50 to 75.  I use a 200 G Sierra soft point and none of my deer have taken as much as one step.   One deer shot at 175 was a jump in the air stumble and down.

Worst ammo I used was Hornaday light magnum 150.   Poked a hole right through the vitals and that deer ran and ran with little blood trail. We did find it and the shot was good.   I think that light bullet was just moving to fast and poked through the deer rather than the devastating 200 g soft points just plowing through.

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I took a six point buck in 2002 at about 30 yards with one shot dead on to the front of chest.With a Winchester Fail Safe 30-06 Round 168gr, I believe. He went about 20 yards and went down dead.

I have shot a couple over 100 yards but almost all have been at bow range.   Have only shot 2(one buck one doe) in last 7 years that weren't in archery season.  Buck was at 40 yards and doe was around 100.  Here in PA most shots are under 100.  There are a few spots I hunt where 200 to 250 are possible but most spots 100 yards and in and even then its picking spots between trees if your shooting over 50 yards.

I have experienced a little different results these past few years.
3 seasons ago I switched from 150 Winchester ballistic tips to Hornady Superformance SST 165 gr.  THe accuracy of the Win's went away, not sure why.  I still have half a box of them thT someday inwill plY with.  A few of the Guys that I hunt with were using the SSTs with good success, so I gave them a try.  Great round, and very repeatable accuracy.   THe results are a little mixed.
First year, one lost Mulie at 150 yards, huge blood pile, good blood trail for around 25 yards and then nothing.
Later that year, 2 deer at 480 yards, dropped within 10 yards.
Second year, still very acurate but no shots on deer.
Last year, 25 yard shot at a deer while running.   Bullet hit 2 ribs and redirected to the opposite side rear flank.  AFter cleaning that deer, it looks like the bullet hit the rib cage and went 90 degrees decimating the guts.  THis deer ran 25 yards and laid down, I waited for it to expire and when I thought it was gone I slung my rifle and dropped my hiking stick, the sound caused the buck to jump up and run out of the bottoms, causing me to have to track and search for over an hour and a half.

These are my experiences and are real world circumstances. Close up,  I believe the velocity is too high, past 200 yards, DRT.  Close shots for me are few and far between,  so I will stick with it as it really performs at distance.

Just get some 150 gr Federal Premiums with the Nosler Partition bullet and you can stop worrying about it 3 yards to 300 yards it is going to punch through a deer.  Usually just about any SP round is going to work in a 30-06 on a deer but for those "moments" the Partition just does its thing regardless of angle/bone/weight.

if someone wanted me to pick one load to hunt everything in any conditions in North America, I would choose a 180 nosler partition for my '06 and smile the entire time.

Absolutely