close range shots

Question
hellow sid, my name is craig. i have a question about my rifle and the shots i normally take on deer.  I have a remmington 700 .30/06, i hunt in south carolina. i've taken about 13 deer and all but 1 was within 40 yards.  i've noticed the past couple of years that i've had a lot of straight through wounds on the deer i've shot. i normally shoot 150 grain winchester ballistic silver tips or whatever cheap bullets i see. a few recent deer i've shot should have dropped in their tracks but ran 50-80 yards after perfect shots.  i think i might have too much gun for short shots but i can't afford to go out and buy another gun.  i was thinking that maybe a remmington 125 grain would maybe expand quicker at a short distance for more damage to the deer. does this sound like a good idea?  i do hunt fields with long shots possible, but i normally won't take shots past 200 yards.

Answer
Hi Craig,

Its good that you are thinking about this issue and attempting to come to a decision as to what load to use in your pursuit of deer. It sounds from your "score sheet" that you have a record of success and I doubt that your methods and/or choice of rifle/bullet needs much tweaking.

I personally would not recommend going with a bullet any lighter than the 150 grn. that you are using. As I'm sure that you know, the number one consideration is bullet placement. If you are able to consistently put your shot in the heart/lung area out to 200 yards, you should not experience much difficultly in recovering your deer within a reasonable distance.

I recommend that you consider modifying your method of bullet selection. Using the process of "whatever cheap bullets that I see" is not going to serve you (or the whitetail) well in the long run. Cheap is cheap for a reason and you don't want to scrimp when it comes to chosing a caliber/bullet for the pursuit of big game.

Consider buying a box of several brands of quality ammo in a 150 grain to 180 grain.  Take them to the range and work with them at the distances that you normally shoot deer. You will find that your rifle will like some better than others.

There is nothing wrong what so ever with your choice of a 30-06 for taking whitetail deer. It is a perfectly reasonable choice with many different bullets available to select from.

It is very difficult for me to recommend a paticular bullet that is going to meet the criteria that you outline from 40 to 200 yards. If you were to select a round that did not exit a deer at 40 yards, you would have a serious problem with under penetration and poor performance at 200 yards.

Just remember that a heavier bullet will retain down-range energy much better than a lighter bullet. In other words, think heavier than 125grn. for hunting whitetail under the conditions and distances that you hunt them.

If you are able to make the heart/lung shot with adequate penetration, you will always find your game within a relatively close distance.  It is not often that you will "drop a deer in its tracks" contrary to what you see on videos and/or T.V. programs. In fact, I would take a guess and tell you that out of all the big game that I've shot, maybe 10% fell within 5 or 10 yards. Most, (although lung shot) traveled distances not unlike what you describe.

If you consider that the majority of your shots at deer are probably less than 100 yards averge, you may want to consider and research the major ammo manufacture's "reduced loads". They are available in 30-06 in well constructed bullets in the 150+grn. class.

I hope this helps you decide what direction to take concerning the caliber that you have chosen and what to "feed" it while in pursuit of whitetail deer. If not, feel free to contact me for any further assistance. I'm glad to help.

Thanks for the question Craig.

Sid Lark