Would a .308 be overkill for deer?It's been 40 years since I've bought ammo for hunting.....well, except for the 7.62x39, Wolf 154 SP. I've got a couple of rifles that have never fired a factory round.
But, I think you hit on it, ACCURACY. Whatever soft point ammo is accurate. .30-06 is way overkill for deer, so I don't know why you'd need something special to hunt deer with. Plain ol' Remington Core Lokt should do fine, so long as it's accurate.
How large were the exit wounds? I shoot the deer in the lungs and sometimes the neck.I use it in my Remington 7600 carbine, 150 gr bullet. It shoots about a 1.25 inch group at a 100 yds for me in that rifle. You may want to avoid shooting any deer in the shoulder though, as the meat destruction may be pretty severe. I shoot mine just behind the shoulder only taking out ribs and lungs and the exit wound has always been rather large. I'd hate to see what it would do if it hit more solid bone.
How large were the exit wounds? I shoot the deer in the lungs and sometimes the neck.
Would a .308 be overkill for deer?
Would a .308 be overkill for deer?
Cuz unless you're getting a cns shot or using something with "weatherby magnum" or "creed" in the same sentence, you're just risking too much with such undergunned mentality. Put a win deer season xp in a .240 wby and you'll be conquering prairie dogs at 2+ miles and charging grizzly bears just by putting your finger inside the trigger guard.Yeah, but it's popular and my fave deer rifle is a .308. I kinda LIKE overkill. I just think of the .308 as a .30-30 on steroids. I just point out the .30-06 will kill a deer without the high dollar magic bullets or fancy new latest and greatest and most up to datest ammo. It was doing it 55 years ago when I shot my first deer. It ain't broke, why do you wish to fix it?