What bullets are you using for Wisconsin whitetail?

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Bond007

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I am trying to pick the right ammo for deer season this year. I am hunting mostly woods with some field edges, so shots are typically under 200 yards. I've been running 150 grain .308, but want to know what's working for you guys
 
I’ve had good luck in Wisconsin woods with 165 grain soft points in .308. Federal Fusion and Hornady Interlock..both drop deer cleanly under 200 and they expand well but still hold together if you hit bone
 
While I have tried a lot of different bullets over the years I always end up coming back to Nosler Partitions. 270 = 140 gr, 308 & 30-06 = 165 gr, 338 = 210gr They are super accurate and are one shot kills, DRT. Excellent expansion and with the exception of the 338 dissipate all their energy inside the deer. I had one gentleman tell me that if the bullet did not exit that it would not leave a blood trail. If the deer is DRT, no blood trail needed. He had a hard time understanding that concept. :cautious:
 
knight said:
I’ve had good luck in Wisconsin woods with 165 grain soft points in .308. Federal Fusion and Hornady Interlock..both drop deer cleanly under 200 and they expand well but still hold together if you hit bone
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Good tip, thanks. I’ve been running 150-gr but am considering 165-gr soft points, do you prefer Fusion or Interlock for consistent expansion and accuracy in thick cover?
 
Tabby said:
While I have tried a lot of different bullets over the years I always end up coming back to Nosler Partitions. 270 = 140 gr, 308 & 30-06 = 165 gr, 338 = 210gr They are super accurate and are one shot kills, DRT. Excellent expansion and with the exception of the 338 dissipate all their energy inside the deer. I had one gentleman tell me that if the bullet did not exit that it would not leave a blood trail. If the deer is DRT, no blood trail needed. He had a hard time understanding that concept. :cautious:
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Nosler Partitions are legendary, it is great to hear they work for you. Which exact Partition load do you run in .308 or .30-06, and what's your usual point of impact and group size?
 
Bond007 said:
Nosler Partitions are legendary, it is great to hear they work for you. Which exact Partition load do you run in .308 or .30-06, and what's your usual point of impact and group size?
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Partitions have always worked for me. Shooting factory loads I use Federal Premium, but I also have my own hand loads that I have developed that pretty much duplicate the performance of the Federals. I hunt private land so in most cases the deer are not pressed, or running. They wander down off the hill or out into the field I am hunting over. My Tikka T3x 270 much prefers 140 gr partitions, Winchester Model 70 308 and Tikka T3x 30-06 prefer the 165 gr. Tried the 150s and 180s which work but the 165s are more accurate. The Remington 700 338 Win Mag shoots the 210 or 225 gr equally well, all shoot between 0.4 to 0.8 moa all day with either Federal or handloaded ammo. In all cases the deer are one shot, DRT. My point of aim is just rear and a bit above the shoulder blade. Beyond 50 yards the 270, 308 and 30-06 rounds dissipate all the energy into the deer, don't exit and the shock drops the deer DRT. The 338 will will exit out to around 125 yards and leave a baseball size exit, but again, DRT. I have not had to chase a deer for at least 25 or more years.
 
Tabby said:
Partitions have always worked for me. Shooting factory loads I use Federal Premium, but I also have my own hand loads that I have developed that pretty much duplicate the performance of the Federals. I hunt private land so in most cases the deer are not pressed, or running. They wander down off the hill or out into the field I am hunting over. My Tikka T3x 270 much prefers 140 gr partitions, Winchester Model 70 308 and Tikka T3x 30-06 prefer the 165 gr. Tried the 150s and 180s which work but the 165s are more accurate. The Remington 700 338 Win Mag shoots the 210 or 225 gr equally well, all shoot between 0.4 to 0.8 moa all day with either Federal or handloaded ammo. In all cases the deer are one shot, DRT. My point of aim is just rear and a bit above the shoulder blade. Beyond 50 yards the 270, 308 and 30-06 rounds dissipate all the energy into the deer, don't exit and the shock drops the deer DRT. The 338 will will exit out to around 125 yards and leave a baseball size exit, but again, DRT. I have not had to chase a deer for at least 25 or more years.
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Partitions are great bullets,they never fail. I've found their ballistic tips to be more accurate. Some of the early ballistic tips blew up and made mush of the lungs, but failed to exit. No blood trail,none . My wife shot the buck of a lifetime,dropped like a rock,she turned to exit the ground blind and he got up and made a hasty retreat. We even took our blood trailing dog out and never recovered it. Did a grid search,spent a week looking. Never found it. The newer ballistic tips if they are labeled hunting, have performed flawlessly for me. I use the 7MM 140 BT in my 7-08 and have had great results.
 
As I get older, recoil has become a problem, so I do what I can to reduce it. Almost all my hunting is short range woods shooting. In my lightweight 7mm-08 I shoot 120g Nosler Ballistic tips at about 2800fps MV and they are devestating on deer.

This summer Nosler made a run of .264" 100 grain Partitions and I am working up a load for my 6.5 Grendel.
 
critterpicker said:
Partitions are old school,but they just plain work. Face it,most hunting shots occur at less than 400 yards. Do we really need a 600 BC ?
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Actually Partitions shoot accurately out to 600 yards, 140 gr in my 270, 165 gr in the 30-06. No it wasn't hunting I don't shoot past 200 when hunting. I was shooting out at a friends farm up around Tomah. 210 and 225 gr Partitions are dead accurate in my 338 Win Mag. My alternate is also the Accubond. I've also found that Sierra Game Kings are also just as accurate as the Match Kinds.

My friend, who has the farm I deer and turkey hunt decided to use Hornady Super Performance in his 308. He did shoot a nice buck this year, but when the bullet was recovered it was the copper jacket only, The bullet had separated and there were lead fragments all along the would trail. Don't know about you, but I've never had any good luck with Hornady products.

So my final word on Nosler Partitions, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
 
Tabby said:
Actually Partitions shoot accurately out to 600 yards, 140 gr in my 270, 165 gr in the 30-06. No it wasn't hunting I don't shoot past 200 when hunting. I was shooting out at a friends farm up around Tomah. 210 and 225 gr Partitions are dead accurate in my 338 Win Mag. My alternate is also the Accubond. I've also found that Sierra Game Kings are also just as accurate as the Match Kinds.

My friend, who has the farm I deer and turkey hunt decided to use Hornady Super Performance in his 308. He did shoot a nice buck this year, but when the bullet was recovered it was the copper jacket only, The bullet had separated and there were lead fragments all along the would trail. Don't know about you, but I've never had any good luck with Hornady products.

So my final word on Nosler Partitions, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"T
Click to expand...

The point that I was trying to make is that Partitions don't have a very high BC . They are quite accurate. I shot my biggest buck with a 85 grain partition out of a 6MM. It's a long story so I won't get into it,but the shot was 2/3 of the way across a 40 . 1 shot ,buck went 2 steps.

And I love Sierra GK's like you said,they have MK accuracy. I also agree that I'm not a big fan of red boxes. Nuff said!
 
Tabby said:
Actually Partitions shoot accurately out to 600 yards, 140 gr in my 270, 165 gr in the 30-06. No it wasn't hunting I don't shoot past 200 when hunting. I was shooting out at a friends farm up around Tomah. 210 and 225 gr Partitions are dead accurate in my 338 Win Mag. My alternate is also the Accubond. I've also found that Sierra Game Kings are also just as accurate as the Match Kinds.

My friend, who has the farm I deer and turkey hunt decided to use Hornady Super Performance in his 308. He did shoot a nice buck this year, but when the bullet was recovered it was the copper jacket only, The bullet had separated and there were lead fragments all along the would trail. Don't know about you, but I've never had any good luck with Hornady products.

So my final word on Nosler Partitions, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Click to expand...
I've used Hornady Heavy Mag/Superformance in my .338 exclusively from the time Hornady introduced them. Every Elk or moose that has been shot with them died on the spot. That's my definition of good luck!
 
Tabby said:
Actually Partitions shoot accurately out to 600 yards, 140 gr in my 270, 165 gr in the 30-06. No it wasn't hunting I don't shoot past 200 when hunting. I was shooting out at a friends farm up around Tomah. 210 and 225 gr Partitions are dead accurate in my 338 Win Mag. My alternate is also the Accubond. I've also found that Sierra Game Kings are also just as accurate as the Match Kinds.

My friend, who has the farm I deer and turkey hunt decided to use Hornady Super Performance in his 308. He did shoot a nice buck this year, but when the bullet was recovered it was the copper jacket only, The bullet had separated and there were lead fragments all along the would trail. Don't know about you, but I've never had any good luck with Hornady products.

So my final word on Nosler Partitions, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Click to expand...
The Hornady product I would stay away from is the ELDX. I know they can work, but also know they can fail. Heard too many bad experiences with them.
 
I know the season is over for most, but I have used Nosler Ballistic tips on and off for years. Shot two deer this year with them out of my new 308. Can't say either dropped in their tracks (shot placement related), but Stevie Wonder could have followed the blood trails.
 
I hunted with a 308 for many years. I loaded my own ammo and it was always 165 g Nosler Partitions. Never had to follow a blood trail simply because the Wisconsin whitetails would drop in place or if they did run it was no more than 10 or 15 yards. Beyond 50 yards there was no exit wound because the bullet expended it's energy into the deer which was more shock than the deer could take. I shoot other calibers these days, 270, 30-06 and 338 Win Mag. All with Nosler Partitions.
 

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