My gun loved the Remington Scirocco 150g bullets back in 2001-02. Took several deer and hogs with it. Very accurate, but the large exit holes ruined too much meat. Tried the Winchester Silver Tips because they were a little cheaper. Accuracy fell apart, and still had the meat damage. Been using nothing but 150g Core Lokts for the last 7 years. I seldom have a chance to shoot beyond 100 yards, so don't need the premium stuff for accuracy. Any old cheap stuff is great at 30 yards, I have much less meat damage, and the pigs have never gone more than 20' after being hit.

Remington Core lokt 150 & 180 grains are popular for a reason, we get better groups with them than other brands that cost twice as much. Another thing to consider some 30-06 REALLY like 180 grain & heavier, you really just have to find what your gun likes. As far as deer running off with core lokts and small exit wounds, I have never had that problem, even with my .243, which I shoot 100 grain core lokts out of. Dropped many deer in their tracks in both 30-06 & .243 with the green & yellow box, sounds to me like you've just had some bad luck.


Yep same hear, also tried the winchester power points, smallest exit wound I've seen, had a buck shot through both lungs go 300 yards with very little blood trail. Couldn't believe it, I've had deer I shot with a bow pile up in 60 yards, and to have one shot with a large caliber rifle with perfect shot placement go that far blew my mind.

i think the 06's are a little much for deer too.

i shoot 165 grain in the new 06' that i aquired, but haven't shot a deer with it, i love my .270 too much

I just talked with Elk Outfitter out of Red River, NM and he won't allow anything less than 300 or 7 anymore. He had too many wounded Elk with 30-06. Also you got to consider many of the clientele paying to hunt with him might not have been too accurate.

Deer hunting shouldn't be about the smallest caliber you can recover a Deer with. There is all a balance between a quick kill, accurate, and preserving the meat (more to do with the bullet.

Right now my only deer rifle is an old Marlin 30AS 30-30. I am wanting to get a new rifle after the first of the year, and I'm leaning towards a .30-06, because it will work for just about anything in North America. I don't subscribe to the "too much gun" philosophy...except maybe when it comes to hunting squirrels or something. With the right ammo, a .30-06 will kill a deer just fine (which is why I'm reading this thread), and I don't have to buy a new rifle if I want to hunt something bigger in the future.

My .30-30 is fine for whitetails up to about 150 yards, but it's inadequate for hunting anything bigger.

Please listen and listen carefully.

When you lung/heart shoot a deer 8 out of 10 times it will run a little ways, just like yours, regardless of caliber. Even deer hit through the lungs with a fast expanding bullet like a Ballistic Tip will often run a short ways.

Don't be shocked when you shoot a deer through the heart/lungs with the Ballistic Tips or Fusions and it runs just like the last ones did.

If you want a deer to drop right there, shoot it square through the shoulders.

Sounds to me like the core lokts performed perfectly. If you want DRT kills change your shot placement , not your bullets.

Bill

I have been using the Hornady 165gr SST Custom Light Mag factory loads in my 30.06 for the last 3 years and have zero complaints.


I personally and my gun do not care for the Winchester Ballistic Tips. There is nothing wrong with the Core-Lokt's and I keep a box in my trailer as back ups.

tx270 is right

They will run with lung shots, and even with heart shots. If you dont want deer to run so far you have to limit their mobility.

I had and oldtimer explain it to me like this

"If you take the oil out of your truck it can still go a ways before the motor blows; but if you take the oil out and the tires off....you aint going no where!"

Ever since then I have started aiming right for the middle of the from shoulder blade with good bullets such as Accubonds in my .270win or TSX in my .257wby.

The bullet hits the shoulder bone expands, then goes through the ribs and blows chunks of bone and the expanded bullet through the vitals then out the other side taking out ribs and hopefully the opposite shoulder leaving a large exit wound and plenty of blood to follow even if it does run.

Since doing this the farthest I have had one run was 50yds and it was last weekend on a 120lbs doe at 150yds with my .257wby and 100gr.tsx

Hit her in the should she jump and ran 50yds leaving a THICK and easy to follow bloodtrail.

I've been using 150 grain Winchester Power Max Bonded with zero complaints. Are they the best out there...probably not but they've dropped several deer and hogs and aren't too expensive, so until I see a reason not to buy them I will continue to use what's been working


A few weeks ago a buddy gave me a box of 125 grain Remington Managed Recoil bullets as a secret Santa gift at work. Will test them out to see how well they shot, as I've only shot 150 and 180 grain

yep...I go for blood trail and shoot behind the shoulder (mainly because I don't want to chunk most of the front shoulders away)...but even shooting 180s out of a 300wm and turning a heart into mush, they are usually going to run a little ways...some deer give up the ghost quicker than others, but blood trailing one has never been a problem..if I want one to DRT, it's getting shot in the head or neck.

Federal's 165 grain Sierra Game King boat tailed soft points work wonders.... and are very very accurate from our savage and remington rifles

I've killed two bull elk with my '06 as well. Both went down within sight. So much for Elk Outfitters theory. Guess he doesn't take bowhunters either.

Shoot them right in the shoulders drops them everytime.No meat to waist there ! I do not shoot a 30-06 but I would choose a Rem Core Lock in a 150 gr by looking at the balistics. Just my 2 cents worth.

Federal Premium 150 grain.. I also use Hornady SST's 150 grain.. it left an amazing exit wound on a hog I shot..

I agree passthru, I have guided a little. I'd feel a heckuva lot better seeing a well worn 270 or 30/06 come out of a hunters case than a nice shiny new magnum.

Elkhunter is asking for alot gut/a%# shot elk IMO by having that requirement. Just what an outfitter wants, a client who's scared s*&^less of the gun he carries and and jerks and flinches every time he pulls the trigger.

30/06 is one the finest elk rounds around with the right bullet. Of course people forget the bullet does 90% of the work, the headstamp on the case means little.

I guess when one of his clients shows up with a .300 and a fast expanding bullet that blows to peices on the shoulder of a bull because of the high velocity he'll start requring 416's.

Bill

he said no on that too.

Does he do much business? I know he wouldn't get mine but hey, I like to bowhunt.

Shoot the bullet that you are the most accurate with.

If you want the deer DRT, then shoot it in the neck. 95% of the time, if you hit the deer in the neck, it will drop right there.

I did a mini ammo test today...

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1967399/30_06_Ammo_Test

I have a friend that has been outfitting for years in Montana and he would much rather see someone show up with a 30-06, 270 or 308 (his own choice for elk) than about any magnum. He says he has seen too many that cannot shoot the megnums well enough. He hates the 338 win mag for elk for the reason of no one that has been in his camp has ever made a one shot kill on elk with one. Until he has seen you shoot he is uncomfortable with anyone using a Magnum.

I shot both of the elk I killed with hand loaded 165 grain Nosler Partitions.

Keep in mind that Federal Premium Vital-Shok ammo can be had with several different bullets as well as bullet weights. I noticed that you (the original poster) did not specify the actual bullet that the Vital-Shok you were using was loaded with. I am a big fan of Federal Premium Vital-Shok loaded with 165 grian Barnes bullets (all copper). They are consistently very accurate and absolutely deadly on deer used in my Winchester M-70. Many claim that different rifles shoot different loads of ammo better than others and I suppose this may be true, especially if you were using some off the wall brand X ammo. I am surprised to hear you having this much innaccuracy with Federal ammo.

I guide some too, and set up some hunts for other guides, and everyone I know requires people to shoot when they arrive now. We've all seen either someone with a cannon and no clue, or even a gun that hasn't been shot in a year or ten...

Well said sig226

I think every well established ranch should have a lighted shooting range, that way there is no excuse for guns not being sighted in when people arive after dark.

I dont understand how a .30-06 is too much for deer, but a .270 is not. They are essentially the same round, with the .270 being a tad bit smaller. Both shoot bullets from 125 grain to 150 grain. The only major difference is that you can get from a 165 grain bullet to a 220 grain bullet.

Ballistics are essentially the same, case IS the SAME, and both can shoot the majority of the same bullets. Those bullets are both great rounds for Texas deer.

IMHO, the .30-06 is one of, if not the best all around cartridge ever made. There is a reason so many soldiers kept using that round when they came back from war.