Best Round For A Quick Kill

[Kachok]

Totaly agree with that David. Different bullets for different shots. Lightly constructed bullets can cause a more dramatic effect but require more careful shot placement, slightly quartering away right behind the shoulder being ideal, just like bow hunting. Higher SD strongly constructed bullets are a little less picky since they can reach the heart and lungs through bones and thick muscle tissue, though they are less likley to cause a bang flop. That said when I break bones with my high SD bullets they never go far at all. The last one limped about 7 feet before dropping.

 

[BBQLS1]

Like this hasn't been said already. Shot placement is king. Even with a good shot, the deer may run a bit. I took a doe last season with a 325 grain .45-70 off hand at about 75 yards. The deer ran 50 yards into the bottom of a ravine. It didn't take her long to get there at all and she expired quickly. After I cleaned her, I found that the heart had been destroyed.... it was a good shot, but they don't always fall right where they are.

 

[Loosedhorse]

White-tail are not that tough. I would avoid non-expanding "target" bullets, pick an inexpensive soft point, and figure out which weight (150-180) gives the best accuracy and shootability in your gun.

Once you have your preferred load, shoot a whole lot of them. Easier to do with less expensive bullets.

Good luck.

 

[exbiologist]

What you listed, the 180 TSX is probably among worst choices if you are looking for a quick kill. That is on the extreme opposite end of what tends to kill the quickest. You want a fast opening bullet, not an all copper monometal type bullet. John Barsness, the gun writer has his own stats that back up the gut feeling that deer shot with similar bullets run further when double lunged. Also, a study in South Carolina reached similar results.
You want to go faster (lighter) and more explosive in your bullet choices. A good compromise if you like the all copper is stuff is something like the 130 TTSX. Otherwise I'd go 150 Ballistic Tip, Sierra Pro Hunter, Horn SST, Hornday Interlock, Winchester PowerPoint, Rem Core Loss, Federal Hot Core and similar plain jain cup and core or tipped cup and core bullets.
Speed and fragmentation kill quicker than deep penetrators

 

[irondavy]

I hunt mostly hogs but I like the 165 gr corelocts for my 30-06, usually a thru and thru shot, even through bone. Also the corelocts are plenty accurate in my rifle out to about 200 yards, which is the longest shot I have taken here in the Texas brush.

shoot what works best in your rifle and make sure the bullet goes where you want and you will be in good shape.

Happy hunting!
ID

 

[Savage99]

The solid metal type bullets would be the worst choice for a quick humane kill.

Use a bullet that wiil fly apart in the soft vitals of a deer.

Gun writer John Barness found that deer ran the furthest when hit with X bullets. He found that Berger VLD bullets gave the fastest kills. Of course shot placement is important.

If you don't handload and can't get VLD's loaded the Nosler Partition bullets have a legendary reputation. A 150 gr in a 30-06 would be about right.

 

[Kachok]

There are actualy factory loaded Berger VLDs. Only in certain calibers though. I like the fragmentation profile of the VLDs better then BTs but my local gun shops don't carry them yet, untill they do I will stick with my BTs Accubonds, SGKs and SSTs (have several rifles)

 

[25cschaefer]

180s are just overkill

In my experiance on whitetail, the 180s blow right through, some like this but I like finding that bullet just inside the skin on the other side. This means the bullet expends all of it's energy inside the animal, if you have 20,000 ft lbs and it only expends 2 inside the deer, you only have 2 ft lbs of energy.

 

[22-rimfire]

I use Remington 150 gr Cor-lokt for deer hunting with my 270. Should be more than fine for the -06. Choose the bullet that you do best with at the range that is neither a HP or full metal jacket. Hits in the front shoulders (heart lung area) won't mess up much meat.

Buck fever... I have to chuckle. I don't know if these folks are serious or all are just pulling your chain. But it is real. Happened to me when I was bow hunting once when I was 15. In hindsight, I wish I could get that excited now.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Buck fever... I have to chuckle. I don't know if these folks are serious or all are just pulling your chain. But it is real. Happened to me when I was bow hunting once when I was 15. In hindsight, I wish I could get that excited now.

When it STOPS happening to me I'll quit hunting. I still, after 40+ years hunting, get that rush even on a doe!

 

[medic-rod]

BARRETT .50 best 1 shot kill I can think of......... but not so real world

 

[22-rimfire]

...get that rush even on a doe

Me too, but only AFTER I shoot.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

When it STOPS happening to me I'll quit hunting. I still, after 40+ years hunting, get that rush even on a doe!

I'm with you Freedom fighter. The day I don't get excited is the day I find a new hobby.
I'm kind of like .22-rimfire though. I still get the feeling, but I'm getting better the older I get about not letting it get me until afterwards.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

I learned many many moons ago to control it but it is still there. That anticipation rush, if you learn how to control it, is what sharpens your senses to a razors edge. It's mostly why so many misses are contributed to "buck fever". All your senses blast at you all at once and you start shaking. Learn to breath through and control it and USE it. Think back to all the deer you have shot, picture the shots in your minds eye and you will realize what I am talking about. Your eye sight sharpens to a point that you can count the hairs around the target zone that you have picked out. You can hear each and every sound around you and your brain dials them all in to assess your surroundings. You can feel the slight breeze on your face and you automatically assess it's direction and speed. The feeling in your hands, for your release/rifle trigger or string, triples sensitivity to where you can feel every gram of pressure.

All in all a wonderful feeling that no drug in existence can come close to.