Try a variety of weights and brands between 150 to 180 grains. The one your rifle shoots best is the one to give preferential consideration. If there is a possibility that you will need to shoot lengthwise through your deer try to pick either a premium bullet, (like Nosler Partitions or a bonded bullet), or try to find a conventional 180 grain that shoots well. With a .308 Winchester you can reach the vitals of a Whitetail from any angle......assuming your bullets hold together and penetrate. Don' t forget though that if the bullet is too tough it won' t expand as well on a broadside shot and as a result will NOT transmit shock as well. So a lot depends on how well your rifle handles different bullets, how you envision using them, and the terminal performance you expect from your bullets.

If you handload other options become available to you depending upon your needs. For many years I carried a Sako Mannlicher in .308 Winchester while deer hunting in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Because of the hunter density, and the willingness of some of those hunters to tag any animal, (regardless of who made the killing shot), I wanted a bullet that would transmit massive shock in an effort to put the animal on the ground before it could get out of sight. I loaded .308 caliber bullets in both 150 and 170 grains that were intended for .30-30 velocities. Knowing that these bullets would not handle the much higher velocity well I intentially loaded them to velocities approximating .300 Savage velocities and limited my shots to strictly broadside shots through the ribcage into the chest. I killed 13 or 14 deer with those loads and predictably I got " near explosive" performance on those shots. Many of those deer had heart and lung tissue nearly liquidfied by those bullets and they seldom penentrated completely through the body. But you would not want to take anything resembling an angling shot with those loads....they would NOT have given certain enough penetration to reach the vitals on anything but broadside-ribcage shots. Of all of those deer only one of them moved more than 20 or 30 feet after the shot. (The lone exception traveled nearly 100 yards but left a blood trail a blind person could have followed.)

To make a long story short...determine your needs....find a load that shoots accurately in your rifle....and pick your bullet to fill its intended purpose. Any accurate bullet between 150 to 180 grain in the .308 Winchester will work well on Whitetails, (and most will give total penetration from any angle). Whitetail are not big nor heavily built. Reaching the heart/lungs from any angle will provide a clean and quick kill.