Playing devils advocate here for a second, maybe they aren't needed but are high powered rifles needed? I've killed countless whitetail with smoke poles and round balls and I've never not recovered a single animal I dropped the hammer on with them. But I did start using conical bullets simply because of better accuracy and better penetration. I've killed lots of game with cup and core from everything .243 and up. Do I need premium bullets to take whitetail? No. But I may get one of those rifles that will only shoot a premium bullet with consistent accuracy. That is what anyone should be more focused on rather than bullet makeup as it is well established that plain lead, if delivered accurately, will kill a deer just as well as about anything else. Focus on your accuracy from field positions and find the bullet combination that best suits that particular rifle and ignore the marketing ploys of the bullet manufacturers. And to the person advocating for monster magnums for whitetail, I agree with the others in saying that is a very bad position to take in advising new hunters/shooters to be trying to use them. Flinch is a very common problem with new shooters and it is one of the hardest things to overcome once developed.