.308 Deer Ammo

[Schmidty]

Hi everyone, here in central Minnesota our slug/shotgun deer hunting zone will be opened up to rifles next year (2026). I have a suppressed .308 that I would like to use, does anyone have recommendations or experience with a good deer hunting ammo? I have not used this gun for hunting anything yet. I Googled searched some recommendations such as Winchester Deer Season XP 150 gr but was hoping for some real world recommendations. Most likely shots will be 200 yards max and realistically between 50-100 yards.

 

[deewayne2003]

Honestly in .308 any quality softpoint from 150-180gr will do the job just fine.

 

[KEC]

No need for premium bullets for deer from a .308 Win. I have used 150 gr Federal Fusion and Winchester power points with great success. I am now experimenting with 168 gr Hornady A Max but have not used them on game yet. Apparently although the A Max is considered a target bullet, they perform exceptionally well on deer size game at .308 speeds (2660 fps in my testing) and are very accurate in one of my rifles.

 

[BonUm16]

Honestly in .308 any quality softpoint from 150-180gr will do the job just fine.

Yep, there will be dozens of different suggestions offered. Find one that shoots well and go kill deer. Nosler’s solid base Whitetail Country 165gr caught my eye as the next factory .308 load I want to try.

 

[mdwest]

Before I started handloading hunting rounds for my 308, I used Barnes Vor-TX 168gr. The factory load is absolutely devastating on deer and hogs qnd performs more like a 180gr cup and core bullet but is traveling at 168gr velocities.

My handload for what its worth, replicates the Vor-TX. Im using the 168gr TTSX bullet over a charge of IMR4064 that gets the same velocity as the factory Vor-TX load.

Out of both my Christensen and my wifes Kimber 308's we are getting sub .75 MOA accuracy (shes getting closer to about .6).. and again, its absolutely devastating.. Drops deer very, very hard..

 

[dchum]

I love Barnes for all larger game and even small game. It’s the only bullet that goes to Africa with me.

But I just can’t help but notice that “cheap” soft points kill whitetail deer faster for the type of hunting I do.

I really love federal blue box (power shock).
I use 150gr because my 308 is short barreled (16inch) and I need to keep the velocity up, And it shoots the best group.
If I had a 24 inch or even 22 inch 308 I would probably be using the 180gr power shock.

 

[dchum]

Before I started handloading hunting rounds for my 308, I used Barnes Vor-TX 168gr. The factory load is absolutely devastating on deer and hogs qnd performs more like a 180gr cup and core bullet but is traveling at 168gr velocities.

My handload for what its worth, replicates the Vor-TX. Im using the 168gr TTSX bullet over a charge of IMR4064 that gets the same velocity as the factory Vor-TX load.

Out of both my Christensen and my wifes Kimber 308's we are getting sub .75 MOA accuracy (shes getting closer to about .6).. and again, its absolutely devastating.. Drops deer very, very hard..

Great bullet,

The 168ttsx in my 30-06 is just a do it all load and so accurate. I’m at about 2800fps muzzle velocity

 

[RR 314]

No need for premium bullets for deer from a .308 Win. I have used 150 gr Federal Fusion and Winchester power points with great success. I am now experimenting with 168 gr Hornady A Max but have not used them on game yet. Apparently although the A Max is considered a target bullet, they perform exceptionally well on deer size game at .308 speeds (2660 fps in my testing) and are very accurate in one of my rifles.

The A-Max type bullets work great. . . until they don't. Solid shoulder shot can make for a mess with very little blood trail. Behind the shoulder (or likely high shoulder) they will be devastating. I won't allow them on my place for deer. I have seen terrible performance on deer and pigs. 1940 era Core-Lokt technology is a much better option in my experience.