Bergara 6.5 factory ammo choice for whitetail

[Jwterry3]

So put together a suppressed Bergara B14 Wildnerness 6.5 cm. Honestly I should have done more ammo research but sighted in with Hornady 143 ELDX…great accurate bullet at longer ranges.

Shot a doe close (65-75 yrds)…no blood trail / deer ran 150yrds / pencil exit hole…again my bad for ammo choice.

Now up against it as leaving for a Midwest hunt in 3 days so if I switch ammo it needs to be locally sourced. White tailed deer at 75-300yrds will be my shots……looked around locally and my options are:

Hornady American Whitetail 129
Barnes 120 TTSX BT
Federal Power Shock Blue Box 140

Not trying to overthink it as I am sure Al 3 will get it done…but which one DRT with a high shoulder shot if I do my part?

 

[Beagle1]

I am not a high shoulder shot guy but I’ve killed a bunch of nice bucks with the Hornady American Whitetail 129.

 

[grfox92]

So put together a suppressed Bergara B14 Wildnerness 6.5 cm. Honestly I should have done more ammo research but sighted in with Hornady 143 ELDX…great accurate bullet at longer ranges.

Shot a doe close (65-75 yrds)…no blood trail / deer ran 150yrds / pencil exit hole…again my bad for ammo choice.

Now up against it as leaving for a Midwest hunt in 3 days so if I switch ammo it needs to be locally sourced. White tailed deer at 75-300yrds will be my shots……looked around locally and my options are:

Hornady American Whitetail 129
Barnes 120 TTSX BT
Federal Power Shock Blue Box 140

Not trying to overthink it as I am sure Al 3 will get it done…but which one DRT with a high shoulder shot if I do my part?

There is nothing wrong with the ammo. The deer went 150 yards and died. What did the inside of the animal look like? Entrance and exit wounds should not be a big hole, thats not how these bullets work.

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[Jwterry3]

Understand they fragment….maybe I am just overthinking like everything else

 

[sconnieVLP]

I would just keep shooting the ELD-X, there’s lots of evidence on this site that they kill well and they have personally killed well for me.

Never had one go 150 yards after the shot, but I’ve had plenty that dropped in their tracks or maybe made it 30-40 yards from where they were shot.

 

[Kyguy]

Every animal reacts differently. My cousin shot a big 14 with American Whitetail in .308 with 150's and it was down in 50 yards with decent blood. He shot a doe with the same ammo, same shot placement, and she went almost 200 yds spiling blood like it was from a bucket. I don't care what anyone says, unless you shoot them in the head, there's never a guaranteed DRT with ANY caliber or ANY bullet.

 

[CJ_BG]

A bullet that works well at long range isn't gonna pencil through at short range, and the only difference you're gonna see in deer between the eld-x and the two lead cores you listed is that the eld-x doesn't penetrate as far before opening nad may fragment a little more.

I've had high shoulder shots with ttsx before that didn't needed follow up shots when I got to the animal because the wounds weren't even an inch wide and didn't disrupt the lungs.

Either stick with the eld-x or go with the american whitetail, if you high shoulder them with the eld-x or interlock you're gonna have them go about 2ft straight down

 

[Brandon_SPC]

So put together a suppressed Bergara B14 Wildnerness 6.5 cm. Honestly I should have done more ammo research but sighted in with Hornady 143 ELDX…great accurate bullet at longer ranges.

Shot a doe close (65-75 yrds)…no blood trail / deer ran 150yrds / pencil exit hole…again my bad for ammo choice.

Now up against it as leaving for a Midwest hunt in 3 days so if I switch ammo it needs to be locally sourced. White tailed deer at 75-300yrds will be my shots……looked around locally and my options are:

Hornady American Whitetail 129
Barnes 120 TTSX BT
Federal Power Shock Blue Box 140

Not trying to overthink it as I am sure Al 3 will get it done…but which one DRT with a high shoulder shot if I do my part?

Pencil size exit means nothing and all of them will create DRTs with high shoulder shots. I personally stopped using high shoulder shots years ago when I had to make follow up shots on deer because all it did was break their back (shooters fault). There wasn't enough margin of error for me.

With that said, I've killed around 150 whitetails with rifles ranging from a .223 to 300 ultra mag. Out of those animals, I have only needed to follow blood a handful of times and the majority of these were with monolithic bullets like a Barnes. The ELDX is a standard cup and core bullet, like the Interlock in the Hornady Whitetail Line and what Federal uses in the Federal Blue Box. The fact of the matter is, if you put a cup and core in the lungs of a deer, take out both lungs, in most cases they won't make it 50 yards. Now there is the exception to the rule but it isn't the norm. The bullets that has led to the FASTEST kills have been the Hornady ELDM and the Hornady SST to for me. Both standard, thin jack cup and cores (I can't speak on the ELDX but it's a similar construction). If you want a good compromises of penetration and expansion the Federal Fusion is a close second to my fastest deaths on animals.

 

[LongWayAround]

@Jwterry3 the small exit you observed probably wasn't indicative of the bullet failing to expand. It most likely fragmented inside of the animal and a portion exited.

Did you look at the internal damage or find any parts of the bullet?

I like the ELD-M bullets, but can't recall if I have personally killed with an X.

Any of the three you listed will work, as will anything else.

I put two 147 M's into a whitetail a couple years ago and he still made it 80yd with his insides absolutely destroyed. Other animals have been drt on the spot.