Day of firsts

First post, first deer, first question.

Got my first deer today. He's on the porch in the cooler now. I took him from about a hundred yards with a Mossberg Patriot in .308, and it did a number to him.

Is this rifle and caliber overkill for the size of whitetails in central Texas?

First off, welcome. Secondly congratulations.
Third, 308 is a fine round.

What's over kill? You shoot he goes down, no question.
Welcome to THF.

I assume this is a dammage question. Your caliber is fine. Where did you hit him, what direction was he facing and what type of bullet did you use.

Boom goes the dynamite

This. I shot a doe today with the 178gr ELDX at less than 100 yards. Lung shot, pencil entrance, $.50 piece exit. She never moved and nothing was damaged except organs.

Nothing wrong with a 308 unless you want to use this as a excuse to buy another rifle

Welcome, Congrats, only one f you can't hit with it!

Welcome to the forum sir. I prefer a .270 but a .308 is a fine round.

Ditto to all. Welcome, congratulations, and not overkill. I use 180 grain bullets in 30-06. Does the job and doesn't tear up too much ic I shoot well. If I don't shoot well, most anything will tear up the meat.

Congratulations and welcome!

.308 is a perfect choice, a great do-it-all round!

Welcome and congrats!

The .308 alone won't cut it. You're gonna need a 30-06, 30-30, .260, 6mm Rem, 25-06, .243, 45-70 govt, 6.5-284 the list goes on and on

308 is a fine round. Everyone has their favorite. I like to hunt with all types 30-30, 30.60, 308, 6.5CM
compound bow, cross-bow, muzzleloader. Just depends on the season and hunt location set up for that outing.

308 is my go to round hunt with it 80% of the time. But I’ll hunt with 7-08 for close in places less than 100 yard shots or 7mm RUM for longer distance hunting, greater than 500 yards (usually break this out for out of state hunting). Congrats on the first deer. As other have said, shot placement is the most important vs caliber. I’ve heard of hunters taking down wt humanely with 223.

Thanks for the welcomes, folks. I'm using 150 grain Remington core-lokt. The entrance and exit holes were about quarter sized, through the ribs behind the heart. The only thing I was uneasy with was these spots around the wounds where the meat was pretty busted up and bloody. They were each about six or so inches across.

He was pretty much perfectly broadside to me, standing still, looking my way. Missing his heart was my fault. Just picked up this rifle last Monday.

The blood spreading laterally around the wound site is common, and it can travel quite a ways under the shoulder area- it fills in between the muscles and any place it can migrate. It will congeal after it cools. You can generally scrape that away as you butcher and discard without any impact to the meat, although there may be some actual "blood shot" meat (meat with blood tight within the muscle fibers around the wound area) that may need to be discarded. What you describe is normal. No worries.

A 308 works well for hogs and deer.

The consensus says I'm using the right caliber. Thanks for that. I know my rifle isn't the best. I decided Monday I wanted to get out on opening weekend and my tight budget steered me to a Mossberg Patriot. I'm taking it to the range every day to dial in my cold barrel zero.

I was talking to my dad last night about the antler restrictions and daily limit and he laughed. Georgia's been no limit, either sex, for most of my life, and there's a ten a day bag limit. Might have to make a trip back home once I get better.

Thanks everyone. Good times in the kitchen getting this buck in the freezer.

308 is a perfectly acceptable rifle for Texas deer...or deer in just about any state...and nothing wrong with a Mossberg Patriot either. If it will put the bullet where you are aiming, it does it's job.

.308 is probably one of the better all around cartridges to hunt deer with. Mine is a bit of over kill (.338 win mag) but is an old gun that's harvested many deer before me love toting it around just full of memories.

and congratulations

And ditto what the fellas are saying.

Probably more deer have been taken with modest budget rifles over the years vs those that pay for glamour, if she holds zero and you are good with it, you have all you need for most hunts in Texas or about anywhere else.

Big congrats on your 1st Texas deer as well