First deer hunt - which bullet; Partition or Ballistic Tip?

[calpoly93]

Well,
After many years, I am finally going on a deer hunt! It is going to be on private land, guided with all the bells and whistles. At this point, I have more money than time so I thought this would be a good way to start. Especially with California's system of tags and zones etc.

From the glossy ads I've seen in magazines, I need a .338-caliber cartridge based on a necked-down .50BMG ("338 Warp 9"?) with an infra-red/GPS/doppler/BCD scope with a front objective larger than a dinner plate.

Then I woke up, with a .30-06 and a standard Leupold...

On my bench, I have 150-grain Partitions and 165 grain Ballistic Tips, and I have RL-22 and H4895 for powder. I know there are some pretty impressive velocities possible with RL-22.

The deer, I am told, are not giant trophy bucks (I couldn't afford that hunt!) Some questions based on my lack of actual hunting experience:
Is the AccuBond a better way to go?
Does the Partition break up too quick?
Is the Partition heavy enough?

Thanks for the help!

 

[TScottW99]

The Partition or ballistic tip will work fine. I would go with the one your rifle shoots the best. I have shot many deer with 150 grain and 165 grain bullets from a .308win and all were one shot kills.

I mostly shoot 150 grain ballistic tips in the .308win.

 

[russ808]

calpoly93, I've found that partitions are picky, but once you find the right load they are great. The front portion of the Partition is designed to open up quickly, but the Partition part will stay solid and keep on going. A buudy of mine shot a blue wildebeest in the chest and we recovered the Partition part in his rump, just under the skin. For the accubonds, I found them not picky at all and very accurate. For me I like the 165 accubonds and 168 silver tips for my 30-06. JMO. I think what ever you rifle likes best is the way to go. Good luck on your hunt.

 

[JD338]

calpoly93

Welcome to the forum. We are glad that you are here.

First off, you have everything you need. The 150 gr PT is a great bullet. I have used it in 30-06 on WT deer Antelope and Black Bear, always got an exit wound the size of a quarter.

The 165 gr BT is IMHO the best balanced bullet weight in the 30-06 for deer.
RL 22 is an excellent choice to start with. Remember to start low and work up. Sight in at 200 yds and you are set to 300 yds without any hold over on a deer sized target.
Let us know how your loads shoot and post some pics of your deer hunt.

JD338

 

[Colin]

First off make sure you are not in the famed "Condor Range" in California. I assume you are on the central coast by your name. THAT IS CONDOR RANGE. You will need to shoot a non-lead bullet. The E-Tip should serve you fine, although it appears to be a bit picky. Make sure you do not get caught hunting with lead bullets in the condor range, I understand the fine is hefty.

 

[calpoly93]

Nope, I live in San Diego now, but the hunt is way up in Bridgeville, B2 zone I believe. North of the condor range..

BUT I heard that if you are even traveling through the condor range you can be fined!? Is that true?

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

165g nbt will do eveyrhting you need plus more...

 

[Guy Miner]

The 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip is a superb deer bullet!

I also think you'll find Reloader 22 works very well in the .30-06 cartridge... Very well indeed! :grin:

Good luck! We expect photos and a hunt report upon your return!

 

[7 STW]

I've shot moose elk black bear and deer with 150gr Win Power Points outta a 300 win.Think that 150 Partition will be a safe bet...Best of luck on your hunt and I'm hoping you get a nice buck...

 

[TBASTIAN]

I'd use the Partition over the BT any day. A few years ago I lost nice 4X4 mulie, in Oregon's Desolation Unit using a 165 Hornady SST. I popped him at about 200 yards right on the shoulder. Granted it was a bit too far forward but the deer managed to get right back up and take off. I tracked him for a few hundred yards until the blood dried up. My hunting partner watched the deer make it two ridges over before finally being shot by another hunter. After making our way over, we saw that the bullet had exploded on impact, not making it more than a couple of inches into the shoulder...
Last year, while on an Idaho whitetail hunt my hunting partner also shot a nice 4X4 whitetail...again, the shot hit a bit forward, right on the shoulder, long story short, 1.5 miles later and two more shots, we finally finished the deer and again, the bullet had exploded upon impact, with virtually no penetration.
Granted, the SST is not a BT, but they are similar in construction. Due to these two encounters with a non-bonded, polymer tipped bullet, I will never again use them in a hunting situation. When you have something that works as well as the Nosler PT, why take a chance on a shot of a lifetime?!? I'm sure many have used the BT with great success, however, I've never had a Partition fail, and that means something!
Good luck finding a load.
-TB

 

[Richracer1]

Both will work, but my preference with the two bullets you have on hand would be the Partition. My top choice would be the AccuBond.

 

[SakoSteve270wsm]

For deer/antelope I use BT's.Will only change if I am FORCED to use nonlead bullets here in CA. :roll:

 

[rick smith]

Having killed over 100 whitetails with ballistic tips in several different calibers, I trust them for deer hunting. Have seen mulies dropped in their tracks with BTs. A Partition is added insurance for iffy shots and I have also used them but consider partitions more than necessary for most deer hunting. Use the one your rifle likes best and keep the wound channel in the kill zone.Rick.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

+1 Guy.
BT's are made for deer.
I would start with the 165gr BT and the RL22
This would be more then enought for California deer.

 

[calpoly93]

Well, everything worked out beyond great. The Ranch we went to in Northern California, Cottrell Ranch, http://www.cottrellhuntingranch.com/index.html This is part of California that defies all stereotypes of the state; huge areas of nothing but forests of oaks mixed with ferns and evergreens. (No "Bigfoots" spotted) Boys walking along the road with shotguns looking for birds

In the middle of a light rain on Friday afternoon around three PM. We met our guides, Wes and Jimmy. They were very excited about the deer activity they were seeing and wanted us to go out right away. We got our duffles in the cabin and sighted in our rifles. after driving about 500 yds, we past a group of does, and probably three or four more groups I quickly lost count of all the deer! My partner got the first try, and after missing a 50 yard downhill shot, he did this:

He used a Remington 700 30-06 with a 4-12 Tasco "Range Finder", vintage unknown, along with my 150 grain Nosler Partitions. Shot slammed into the right shoulder and went out through the other shoulder, so the deer dropped instantly. Most of the shoulder meat was bloodshot, but he still got quite a bit of meat. The bullet went clean through, and we couldn't find it, due to the terrain.

Here are the wounds from inside the cavity:

This was within hours of us arriving!

After Wes and Jimmy cleaned it up, we were served dinner in the main ranch house and had a great meal with meatloaf, potatoes, salad and apple cobbler for dessert. We slept in a fairly large cabin a hundred yards or so from the main house.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t104 ... C_1682.jpg

It had four beds, wood-burning stoves for us to stack our boots next to, and really warm the place up. Jimmy got us situated and we even had satellite TV.

That night it rained endlessly, and sometimes I awoke thinking I'd better start grabbing two of every animal. It was raining that morning , and we waited until hunting time, and finally headed out around 7:15.

It seemed like deer were everywhere:

And every corner we turned in Jeep brought something else, a group of deer, covey of quail, wild turkeys... I couldn't believe it, I thought I must be in a zoo. It sure as heck beat Public Lands!

We saw a good "management buck", which was what I was after, not a monster buck, up a hillside about 150 yards away. There was a fencepost that I used as a rest, and I could see right through a "hole" in a small tree, to the buck providing me with nice cover. I loaded the 165gr AccuBond in my Rem Stainless 700 .30-'06 and took a second or two to aim and gently squeezed the trigger. I thought I missed when the deer started moving, but my two guides assured me it was a solid hit and he was done. Sure enough, he ran about 10 yards towards a small fence he couldn't get over, back up a few feet and went down. By now, it started raining more than the drizzle we had had all morning.

The Nosler had 60 grains of RL-22 behind it, and a Winchester Primer (std.) in unfired military brass I originally got for my Garand
While we cleaned it, we saw that I had slightly hit the stomach, and vitals through the ribs:

Here is the cabin:

Some of the scenery:

All in all, it was a fantastic time! And I would highly recommend the Ranch too. Wes and Jimmy were great, especially for is novices!
Now I know what things I'd take with me, and what I'd leave behind too.

 

[Guy Miner]

Wow! Looks like you guys had a terrific hunt!

Congratulations!

 

[FOTIS]

Wonderful thanx for sharing.

 

[JD338]

calpoly93

Congratulations on your successful hunt. Beautiful country and a couple of dandy bucks. Looks like the 30-06 did the job for the both of you.

JD338

 

[Greg Nolan]

Nice deer :grin:
Sounds like you had a great hunt even with the rain. Thanks for the info and great pictures. You've got a lot of hunters excited about upcomming hunts now. Congratulations.
Good Hunting
Elkhunt :grin: