Bonded vs non bonded ammunition for white tailed deer

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
Anybody exclusively shoot bonded loads for white tails and mulies?


Are they worth the extra cost for deer?
 

apexhunter

Ten Pointer
Depends upon the caliber being used. For lighter/slower loadings like .243 or 7mm-08 for instance they are a good idea to assure the bullet holds together in order to get to the vitals should a shoulder blade be in the way. For heavier/faster stuff like a 30-06 they aren't necessary as there's enough energy for a good but non bonded bullet to penetrate bone and vitals in animals the size of a white tail.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
if you are shooting super fast sooper duper magnums at whitetails, you would be better served shooting a mono metal like a barnes or the GMX or E-tip. For everything else cup n core works fine........'bonded' bullets are no more effective then CNC bullets are........deer aren't that hard to kill(nor are Elk for that matter. or most game animals in north America except maybe the big ole bears in Alaska) so any cup n core bullet will work fine. I have shot the Nosler Accubond and the Hornady interbond and killed deer......but have done the same with core lokts, Hornandy interlocks and speer and sierra cup n cores and the deer never bitched about being shot with any of them........WHERE you put the bullet is more important then anything else.......
 
Last edited:

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
There isn't a need for them on whitetails I don't think, although I did pick up some Accubond bullets for my 25-06 I thought I would try.
 

Buffet Trout

Twelve Pointer
I've made good shots on 4 different deer with 308 fusions and only one was a quick kill...all shots were within 100 yards

Winchester power point seemed to kill them faster.

Will be using SSTs this year
 

apexhunter

Ten Pointer
As is the case regarding any cartridge with any bullet design, weight and velocity (within "normal" parameters) bullet placement is the final say so in the attempt to quickly dispatch game animals. Hits within the vital area of a deer can result in many different results from DRT where the animal collapses virtually dead before it hits the ground to running some distance; and the difference between these results can be a matter of inches or less. As long as the bullet has an opportunity to damage vital organ tissue (heart, lung or even spinal cord) the animal will expire almost regardless of the style of bullet.

I have seen and made high shoulder shots that destroyed the top of both lungs and the deer ran 60+ yards and I have made very similar shots where they fell seemingly dead in their tracks. The difference was shock and damage to the spinal cord and the entrance position was less than an inch difference. I've also made several low shoulder shots with similar results where a few ran up to 75 yards and others stumbled 6' before falling and all had completely blown apart hearts with surrounding lung damage. Simply put different deer react differently to very similar shots from identical or very similar bullets.

All of this said I have recently changed to Berger Hunting VLD bullets that expend virtually all of the kinetic energy within the animal creating as much internal tissue disruption/damage as possible. The results are staggering and tracking jobs, if at all necessary are but a few yards. Many don't like the idea of not having an exit wound for tracking purposes and with the occasional less than perfect shot placement a limited blood trail can be problematic. But considering the load I shoot has around 2100 ft.-lb. of energy (at 200 yards) and that energy is instantly dumped within the body of a whitetail; on even a not so perfect shot the results are tremendous organ and tissue damage so tracking does not last long as the deer expires very quickly. I've seen the results of shots a bit rearward of ideal where lung and heart tissue liquefied 8" or more away from the bullet path and the deer expired within 20' of where they were struck. This is a different style of bullet than most but the basic point is a good bullet, bonded or not, placed into the vitals of a deer should and will result in a dead animal the vast majority of the time and that is all we as hunters can expect to ask of our equipment.
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
I guess I'll stick with the old reloads I always use then.

Thanks for the replies
 

JLove1974

Twelve Pointer
I like bonded bullets that retain weight in .223 like 64gr Noslers. Theyre reloaded hot. Same thing with the .243 but Speer.
Both kill deer dead and the kids will be using both tomorrow at PeeDee
 

ka30270

Six Pointer
I base it off of muzzle velocity. Standard cup and core up to around 3000 fps anything over gets loaded with the Barnes X. I am giving the Berger 175 a try in the 308 this year also.
 
Top