ORIGINAL: Exoman

hello all.
since theres not a general ammo section I figured reloading forum would reward me with the most intelligent responses. this post may be long but please bear with me.... here goes.


I have quite a tripod stand in one of my hunting areas that allows me to take shots from 170 yards out to 350 yards plus.
So far I have taken 4 deer this season ( two 6 points and 2 does)

...problem is I have shot at 7 deer total.

yes, sadly in the past week I have lost or missed 3 in this stand at ranges of between 220-260 yards. the last one being what seemd to be an 8 point or larger today. something is not right and i need to start elimnating possibilities, I am led to believe my ammo may be inadequate

all 3 deer acted hit and all 3 shots felt solid and dead on but no blood to be found and no deer either (please do not assume I am not looking hard enough as I assure you thats not the case).

i have never had a problem with losing deer until this year (they really have all pretty much dropped or if they ran i always found them) but then again I havent been trying to take deer outside of the 100 yard range until this year as I didnt have an area that would allow it.

I can tear up a target at 250 yards no problem. I have a busnell elite 3200(very good scope for what it costs) with ballistic reticle that allows me to use multiple crosshairs, and with the bullet I am using the second ballistic notch in the reticle puts me on bullseye at 250.

the bullets I am using are .308 federal 150 grains with the green nosler tip.

One of my six points I took at 200 yards with this bullet had no blood trail and ran over 50 yards into the woods from the point in which I shot him.
The only reason I didnt have a problem finding him is because luckily he had gathered a crowd of does in the woods and I busted them out trying to find him which gave away his position.
I traced him back to where I shot him and couldnt find any blood until 10-15 yards before he piled up.

this bullet just doesnt seem to be very effective at long ranges.

I chose 150 grain because I figured the lighter bullet would carry longer distances better and flatter but i am starting to wonder if i made an error in judgement and maybe a heavier bullet would deliver more energy thus causing more knockdown. whats the general consensus on the proper bullet weight for long range shooting?

I need guidance on what bullet and weight (150, 165, 180) would be right for my application. handloaded or commercial.

I have used silvertips with much success but I dont like their tendency to explode on a twig so Id like to find something that will stay together good and still give a good whomp on the big end.

I have been looking at these copper bullets like the barnes MRX, but there maybe better choices out there. fwiw, I dont mind paying $40 for a box of ammo or $20 for a box of bullets If it gives me the piece of mind I am going to have a clean kill and wont be mutliating deer .

TIA