The last piece of the Perfect Deer Rifle Puzzle is Ammunition.

There are guys out there that will tell you Barnes TSX is all you need to know. I have a friend that hunts with it exclusively. Let me just say up front, if you’re hooked on premium ammo, there is no reason to change on my account.

The reason I am writing this is for those of you who may be forming your ideas on deer hunting, or second-guessing your ammunition choices. I am here to give you a middle way. Let me give you some basic truths about hunting whitetail deer.

1) They are not that hard to kill. If you put the round where it does the most damage, a deer will either fall over or run a little way before caving in.

2) Premium bullets do nothing to improve the success of a marginal shot.

3) If it shoots well through your rifle, it’s probably good to go on whitetails. Most ammunition companies optimize their loads in whitetail-friendly chamberings for whitetail-sized game.

4) Don’t push the envelope. Most deer are taken with 80 yards of the hunter. If you know what you are doing, 300 yards is quite reasonable. If you know what you are doing, you probably are not looking to me for advice.

5) If you lose a deer, don’t blame the bullet. It’s usually the nut operating the trigger.

6) Bad things happen. I’ve shot deer that went back to feeding. Their hearts and lungs were blown out, but they did not know it. I’ve had a big buck take 4 rounds of 35 Whelen at 80 yards and stand there defiantly. If you have not had some strange stuff happen, you have not been hunting long enough. When it does happen, it is usually not the ammunition’s fault.


I’ve been writing pretty much the same stuff for the entire length of my outdoor writing career. What I can tell you is that 150 grain Remington Corelokts and 165 grain Hornady Interlocks have taken dozens of deer out of our 30-whatever deer rifles. I have shot deer for nearly 40 years and I have yet to see a bullet fail.

What have I seen? I’ve seen botched shots. I’ve seen guys who tried to take 300-yard shots with their 30-30. I’ve seen a case where the hunter did not understand what “Full Metal Jacket” meant. I’ve seen a 1/2-inch diameter sapling turn a bullet 6 feet out, and turn a dead-nuts slam dunk into a pig rodeo. However, I have never seen a bullet’s failure to expand or blow up on the hide. I’m not saying it does not happen. What I am saying is that I’m smack dab in the middle of some of the most intense deer hunting in the world, and I have not seen it– not at my camp, and not among my neighbors.

Therefore, if I were to write a prescription for what to do with the knowledge you have gained from the previous two pieces in this series, I would say. . .

. . . drat, I forgot. Walmart stopped selling rifle ammo. Bastids.

Okay, what I used to say was go to Walmart and look through what they have available. Pick something that they offer and run with it. If it is not accurate, try something else. When you find something that is accurate, stick with it. Nowadays, I’d substitute another local store that sells ammo at a good price in reasonable quantities. Exhaust all the cheap alternatives before moving upscale. Me? I’ve been reloading for 20 years. In fact, no one at our camp has lobbed factory ammo at a deer since I started loading in 2000.   What did that buy me?  For deer hunting, not all that much.  I save money. I get a bit of a boost on accuracy. I can control the amount of recoil. I get to shoot more for the same amount of money. 

How does that net out for a beginner? It means old tried and true offerings like 30-06, 308 WIN, and such are going to be easier and cheaper to find.  They will do just as well on a whitetail and it will be one less thing to worry about.

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