Originally Posted By BabaYaga22:
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.
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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.