Opinions?

Really depends on the rifle and what distances you plan on shooting. For typical 50-100 yard shots, hard to beat the Hornady SST line or Federal Fusion. 150-165 grain. The Nosler Accubonds are good too. The Federal with the 165 Grain Sierra GameKing always performed for me in the past. Comes down to what ever your rifle groups the best.

Pretty much anything that's not FMJ...

.308 has plenty of power and plenty of bullet weight for deer sized game, so the construction of the bullet is of little concern....Anything from a cup and core style bullet, to the most expensive of the super bonded bullet will put down a deer.


Pick the one that shoots the best out of your rifle, and be confident.

There's a huge thread on this in the Deer Hunting subforum.

Pretty much any 308 will kill a deer.

This.  I shoot XP3's or Fed Fusion of the 150 gr variety.  A lot of good stuff out there though.

The 150g Fusion and the 150g TTSX are what I use.  Both work well.

Pretty much whatever for .308 within 2-300 yards in my experience. Assuming you can shoot with any decency.

I ended up invited last minute to a nuisance hunt one time and was hunting with the 147 Grain FMJ I had(I confirmed zero atleast). Dropped 2 different whitetail does like a sack of potatoes at 70 yards and 160 yards. Niether moved more than a couple of feet.

Usually I use 168 Grain BTHPs with great success on a an assortment of critters. Simply because I get the most accuracy out of my particular rifle with them.

At any normal distance, nothing wrong with a 150-gr Remington Core-Lokt or Winchester Power Point.  The bullets our fathers used.  Probably killed more deer than any other two bullets ever will.  The question is what does Wally World by you have in stock?

Pretty much +1 all said above. I had a nice BAR in .300 win mag that I got rid of 20 years ago and now have no rifles heavier than plain old .308, simply because there's nothing in my state that a .308 isn't much more than adequate for. On 'which bullet', I stick with the ones that are both commonly-available and which my guns like best accuracy-wise.

In one gun, it's plain old federal 308B 180-grain softpoint. It does less than one moa from my heavy-barrel savage if I do my part. My lightweight scouterized weatherby carbine has two favorite loads - the Hornady 168 BTHP match, and believe it or not, the old and near-generic Remington 180 CoreLokt. That lightweight little 20" carbine will put those cheap cheesy corelokt bullets nearly in the same hole at 50 yards. It feels like blasphemy, loading a weatherby with "low end" ammo like that, but it just loves them; so I use them.

Imo, simply define the specifics of your needs - game size (how big are your deer there), likely distances (power-lines, etc), and likely intermediate barriers if any (brush, etc); and simply find a round that fills those parameters logically. IMO, any semi-decent, hunting-oriented, SP or HP load of a reasonably-normal weight from 125 to 180 grains will likely work fine on any deer in Alabama if your gun likes them enough to put them where you want them.

150 grain Remington Core Lokt

Personally I would go with a 165 grain Nosler Accubond or the polymer tipped Sierra Game King offered by Federal. These are premium and very accurate bullets. With so few opportunities to hunt and take a nice buck, I would rather do everything as right as possible to bring the animal down once the decision is made to send the round. I have had good luck with Hornady at the range, but so far they are untested by me on game. In the past I did not use premium rounds, and was successful, but then I was younger and there seemed to be more deer.

Nosler 125gr accubond.

200ft above sea level @ 75*F

1,800fps minimum to expand:

125gr accubond will expand out up to 576yd at a 3150fps muzzle velocity.

150gr accubond will expand out up to 550yd at a 2820fps muzzle velocity.

165gr accubond will expand out up to 515yd at a 2650fps muzzle velocity.

Also, for lower 308 velocities (compared to 300 win mag) the lighter 125 will mushroom better than the heavier bullets out at most hunting distances and have lower recoil.

For what it's worth I use core lok in my 30-06 for deer and moose.

Ive used Winchester ballistic silvertips with good success

Always check new ammo for accuracy and point of aim change.

That said.... within 200 yards, darn near any soft point will work.

I would go for Fed Fusion.... PSA has both the 180gr and 150 for $17.99 / 20rd box.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/ammunition/rifle-ammunition.html?ammo_caliber=1005

http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/daily-deals-new/federal-308-150gr-soft-point-powr-shok.html

If you have the money and desire... I would buy a couple of different brands / types and see if one shoots better groups then the others.

Over the years I have seen dramatic differences in group size and point of aim between the various manufacturers.

I use the 165gr. It's so close to my 168gr federal gold metal match that I don't really change any dope or zero on my rifle. Federal fusion is DRT effective.

there are no non fmj rounds that won't work, I would avoid match bullets as well.  Don't go with to tough a bullet you don't want a bullet designed for moose or elk.  If you are hunting at long range a ballistic tip or sst type of round will help.  Inside 250 to 300 any soft point will work very well.  I have shot stem to stern on  a very large 8 point with regular old 150 grain core lokt's and still got a exit and massive wounding.