Last year I shot a doe that field dressed at 80 LBS -- a smallish doe -- with a .30-06 loaded with 180 grain bullets at 25 yards. That doe was able to run 20 yards before dropping. When I picked the doe up to move her a bit to field dress her there was a loud sucking noise as air sucked in through the two holes in her chest. When I had her field dressed I saw two quarter sized holes on either side of the inside of her rib cage, lined up with the vitals. It was an awful and deadly wound, but that deer still moved 20 yards after that hit. Don't count on any deer dropping in its tracks after being shot. Put your bullet in the right place and the animal will die, but you may need to follow them to find them.

That being said, choose a bullet that will expand properly on deer. I think most 150 grain bullets in .308 diameter are intended to be used for deer, so choose some 150 grain commercial loads. While 180 grain bullets will work, they probably won't consistently expand properly on soft targets like deer; they are intended for elk. I used 180 grain bullets because I was field trialing my rifle set-up for my 2006 elk hunt. The big hole in the deer was probably a result of a rib bone being taken out rather than expansion of the 180 grain bullet, at least that is my theory.

A specific commercial load is liable to shoot differently in different rifles, so what works in my rifles may give poor accuracy in your rifle. Select about three different suitable (using 150 grain bullets) commercial loads and find out how accurately they shoot. If one of them shoots up to your standard, you are good to go. If you can't find a cartridge that suits you, try using 165 grain bullets -- probably a little harder than 150 grain bullets but still likely to work on deer. If you can't find the accuracy you want, you may need to have a gunsmith do some "accurizing" of your rifle. Maybe the trigger is too heavy (often manufacturers sell rifles with heavy triggers to avoid law suits for guns firing unexpectedly in the hands of dumba$$e$ who shouldn't be in possession of firearms in the first place). Maybe the fore end of the stock presses too hard on the barrel. Maybe the action is not properly square with the barrel -- this a mass produced mechanical product and such things happen.

I suggest trying Remington CoreLokt ammo to start with. These are inexpensive rounds, widely sold,and they will kill deer. If they happen to be accurate in your rifle, you are lucky. But do try several different commercial rounds to find most accurate load. I find some ammo shoots 3" groups or worse out of my .25-06 while my preferred ammo shoots 1.25" groups out of the same rifle. The only difference is the ammo, accuracy difference must be the ammo. And I'm not saying the 3" ammo is BAD ammo, just my rifle doesn't shoot it well -- a matter of tuning the load to the mechanical harmonic frequency of the rifle. Handloaders do this, consciously or unconsciously, when they tune loads to shoot accurately in their rifles.