25.06 and the blacktail buck

[Reloader]

I got my deer yesterday. 120 Grain Nosler Solid Base out of my 25.06 went through the front of both shoulders at 150 yards.  Not ideal shot placement but it is what it is.  The buck went down out of sight for about 5 minutes but before I could get to him managed to gain his feet and go 50 yards with two broken shoulders.
Although I think he would have expired quickly I still put a kill shot into him to end his suffering.  The bullet did everything I thought it should and I was suprised that a deer would survive as long as it did with such
massive trauma.

[Siskiyou]

The 25-06 is a fine cartridge for blacktail.  An old timber faller I knew always used a .220 Swift with 60 grain bullets until he switched to the 25-06.   For some reason I think his was a M70 Winchester.  I believe he had another barrel made up for his .220 Swift which was on a M70 action.  This was a few years before Remington adopted the 25-06 and standardized it.

[Lawdog]

Reloader,

Not the first time I have heard or seen a deer travel with both front shoulders busted.  As a long time(over 40 years) shooter/user of the .25-06 I would change loads to something a bit lighter in bullet weight.  At the moment I am using Barnes 100 gr. TSX and they are working great.  My new daughter in-law used this bullet a week ago to take her first buck with her new .25 WSSM.  Solid heart/lung shot and the buck dropped on the spot.  Very little meat loss.  Lawdog
 

[Reloader]

I've taken deer with the 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip out of this rifle
but I've been happy with the performance of the 120 grain solid base bullets. They also group well with this rifle.

I've tried Barnes X bullets but couldn't get a decent grouping load out of this rifle with them. I'm not knocking the bullet as there are other guys in this area that swear by them but they didn't show much promise out of my rifle. I tried them out of my 257 Roberts without much luck either but its not beyond the realm of possibility that I just haven't tried the right combination.

[Lawdog]

Reloader,

I too have had problems getting the X and XLC versions to group.  Had to play around with seating depth and powder charges to get them to group.  That isn't the case with these TSX bullets.  They all seem to group well straight out of the box and with lots less copper fouling.  I have three different .25-06's and the Barnes TSX groups great in all three.  Same with my .250 Savage, .257 Roberts and .257 Weatherby Magnum(love them “Quarter Bores”).  They are well worth the try.  Lawdog
 

[OR-E-GUN Hunter]

Reloader -

What part of the coast are you hunting?  And now the important question - were there any friends of his with him?? :twisted:

I hunt the Stott Mt. area and can't buy a deer.  Almost no sign in any of the usual spots AND some of the unusual ones. :x

[Reloader]

I live in the Saddle Mountain Unit near Astoria.  It was just a fluke that I found this buck and he wasn't much to brag about for size.  It was raining pretty good last Friday and that sometimes helps get them moving.

I spent most of the early morning checking out a spot where I saw a couple of bucks last elk season.  It had snowed then and there were deer tracks everywhere, but they were probably just on the prowl because of the rut.  Gives some confidence to go back if you at least see some sign.

[James B]

I have about all of the 25's as well. Another quarter bore fan. I feel that without a doubt that for deer the 100 grain bullet is best for the 25's I have not been impressed with any of the 120 grain bullets in these guns. The 100 grain Ballistic tip is my favorite in the 250-3000. I like the 100 grain X bullet and the 100 Grain Hornady in the others. The Barnes can be fussy about how they shoot but I get hunting accuarcy from them in most guns. That is to say groups in the 1 1/2 to 2" range. Most of my shots (95%) are 200 yards so thats good enough.

[Hildy]

I used a 25-06 to harvest a nice 4-point last year using Winchester 115g Ballistic Silvertips. The shot was at 100y and the deer was hit in the left shoulder, smashing it to pieces, then the heart and lungs were smashed, and the bullet exited leaving the right shoulder smashed. Entry hole was the size of a softball and the exit was smaller with a baseball sized hole.

So, I would say this is a good bullet choice as long as you keep the shot in the right spot. This bullet fragments big time on impact and then it continues through with less damage as the frontal hit.

The buck dropped on the spot and didn't get up...

Good Shootn'

Hildy