Upon reading your post, I went over to Midway to do some checking. 2 of the various reviews deserved the best attention. One, the hunter stated killing an 160" class whitetail-if he's being honest. The other poster claimed to have taken a Muley. I won't imply the Hornady's won't work, but you may want to purchase and see how well your wife and the gun like the 120 gr. tipped triple shock X loads. If worse comes to worse, it can be used as a back up to the Hornady if necessary. The extra recoil would be marginal and between these 2 loads, the Barnes Vortex got the better reviews. This hunt is costing enough and the extra insurance from the better load is worth considering.