25-06 ?

[outwest]

What do you all think about the 25-06 for large mule deer out to 500 yards?

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[osprey]

If you can put 5 shots into 5" at 500 yds with it then giddy up!

 

[Nosferatu]

Use the right bullet and it's no biggie.

 

[kenboy]

Been there ....done that
Hornady 117 gr BTSP

 

[No_Regerts]

I like quarter bores. The 25-06, in my opinion, does best with bullets weighing 100 to 115gr. The reason is case capacity gets you to the 400-500 yard line fairly flat, negating the generally poor BCs. For most prairie hunting, this is fine because you'll have a fairly shallow trajectory out to the distances that most people shoot. Beyond that, you would actually do better with the higher BCs found in 6mm/.244 bullets of that weight range.

Above 115gr, you have one of two problems. the standard 10 twist will keep you from using really high BC bullets. The lower BC 117gr and 120gr bullets such as interlocks and partitions, are shorter and will stabilize but will bleed energy faster due to poor BC. At that point, you'd have done better with a 270.

 

[Legs]

Very fond of the 25-06 myself. If you can keep your 500 yard groups at minute of coffee can you will do fine.

 

[outwest]

Thanks for the replies. I hope to keep shots at 300 and under but may have to go longer as this hunt is in the desert. Was just wondering if the 25-06 would have enough energy to knock down a big muley at 500.
I have a 270 WSM which would most likely be better but I shoot the 25 much better. Guess I could get out and practice more with the 270.

 

[osprey]

If you hit vitals it will do the job. I have been hunting open country mulies for 30 years and have only had to shoot longer than 300 a handful of times. Best tool is a good set of binocs and patience to make sure and see them before they see you. Even if they spot you first as long as they are a ways off, you can turn on your heels and let them watch you walk directly away from them until you can find a fold of land to disappear behind. Then hopefully you can plan a sneak downwind from an angle they are not expecting. I can't tell you how many mule deer have fallen for this tactic I learned many years back. Many of these shots have been up close and personal as well. Good luck

 

[2506]

It's all I have used on mule deer since about 1990
100 NBT goes about 3550FPS out of mine

 

[trevi]

If you hit vitals it will do the job. I have been hunting open country mulies for 30 years and have only had to shoot longer than 300 a handful of times. Best tool is a good set of binocs and patience to make sure and see them before they see you. Even if they spot you first as long as they are a ways off, you can turn on your heels and let them watch you walk directly away from them until you can find a fold of land to disappear behind. Then hopefully you can plan a sneak downwind from an angle they are not expecting. I can't tell you how many mule deer have fallen for this tactic I learned many years back. Many of these shots have been up close and personal as well. Good luck

What is your cartridge?

 

[osprey]

Last few years I have been using 6.5 creed and made my longest shot to date at a bit over 500 yds last season. I have also used 280 ai and 270 win. All very worthy cartridges for open country hunting.

 

[DeanMk]

......

 

[No_Regerts]

What do you think of this 120 gr. Speer Boat Tail?
BC is .480. I don't think that's too shabby, but you seem to have quite a bit of experience with this caliber.

It would be a great load for all-around deer hunting. Flat enough for open country, not so fast that you'd ruin a whole lot of meat. I tried 120gr partitions and with powders like H4831, I was able to get right around 3000fps. That kills any deer out to my self-imposed limit of about 400 yards. But then again, you can do the same with 140gr bullets in a 270 with the same trajectory.

My purpose for the 25-06 was to shoot flatter than the 270 to that 400 yard line, so I went down in bullet weight to flatten the trajectory. Going to 100, 110, or 115gr bullets didn't make it less gun, so I just went with flat over BC since I didn't care what happened after 400.

 

[DeanMk]

So if you want to use the heavier bullets, like that Speer, you really need a little tighter twist (1:8, 1:9, etc.), right?

 

[No_Regerts]

So if you want to use the heavier bullets, like that Speer, you really need a little tighter twist (1:8, 1:9, etc.), right?

That speer isnt especially long, so I think you can stabilize it with a 1 in 10. Pretty sure factory twist is usually 1 in 10.

 

[DeanMk]

Yeah, seems to be.

 

[Poofelscotch]

Oh how I wanted a .25-06. I was going to make that my main muley cartridge. I loved the ballistics of it. But I don't and won't reload, so finding off the shelf ammo available is next to impossible in my area. I ended up with a .30-06 .

After all the research I did previous, your good at 500 yrds.

Here's what I was going to use (which I now use for my .30-06 150gr XP):

X2506DS | Winchester Ammunition

Winchester Ammunition manufactures ammo for all shooting activities: hunting ammo, shooting, target ammo, and personal defense ammo. Winchester offers rifle ammo, shotgun ammo, and handgun ammo.

winchester.com

- P

 

[oldcorpgunny]

Personally, I think that the 25.06 is an excellent White Tail rifle, but a poor choice for Mule deer. I am mindful of hunting in Montana with a friend that was using a .243 for Mule deer. He put three well-placed shots into the animal and then we chased it until I was able to put a single 7MM Mag into it. It's not that I'm a great shot and the animal was just about bled out, it's that's no way to harvest an animal. We had to carry the meat a long way and the animal had released a lot of adrenaline into it's system. It just didn't taste that good. This is just my opinion not a criticism of your choice of firearms.

 

[FishnhuntOR]

As mentioned before.
If you shoot and practice that far and you can hit a pie plate 5 for 5.

 

[turq]

shooting a 25-06 at 500 yrds with the oldSierra 90gr hpbt was not hard to do, mule deer at 500 not so good. went for to 7-08 then 7mm SAUM 160 AB. much better but never got one as I was getting off hunting. Youwant to see a rather big muley go down hit him in the. chest at 75 yrds quartering across your sight with a 225 Sierra BT from a 35 Whelen
far shoulder suffered meat loss....