Earlier this yr, I examined the brand new Leupold VX-5HD Gen 2 scope with a Ruger American Predator 18″ .308 rifle and premium ammunition, together with the Barnes 130 grain TTSX. This previous deer season put that setup to the check, and it delivered admirably.
What began as cautious preparation and vary work culminated in a profitable harvest of a mature 8-point buck, proving simply how nicely fashionable solid-copper bullet know-how performs when it issues most.
A Fast Recap of the Rifle Setup
For many who may need missed the preliminary evaluate, right here’s the rifle setup I used to be testing:
Ruger American Predator 18″ .308 Winchester
Leupold VX-5HD Gen 2 3-15×44 HTMR-MIL scope
Barnes 130-grain TTSX and the brand new Harvest Assortment ammunition
After in depth vary testing that took this rifle out previous 500 yards on metal, I had full confidence within the accuracy and ballistic efficiency of this mix. However vary efficiency and area efficiency are really two completely different animals. This season would show whether or not all that preparation would translate to moral, efficient looking efficiency.
I particularly selected the Barnes 130-grain TTSX for this hunt due to its stable copper building, 3,000 ft per second efficiency, and the tight teams produced with my rifle. I knew that if I encountered a less-than-ideal shot angle – which is usually the truth of deer looking throughout the rut – I’d want a bullet that would penetrate deep by heavy bone and vitals. The all-copper design of the TTSX is engineered for max weight retention and deep penetration, precisely what’s wanted for these difficult quartering photographs.
The Hunt: A Lesson in Persistence
The 2025 deer season had been a lesson in persistence and persistence. I’d recognized two goal bucks on path cameras again in September, and I noticed them a couple of occasions in daylight throughout late October.
However then November arrived, and with it, unseasonably heat temperatures that threw every part off. The deer went nocturnal, and to make issues tougher, we had a bumper crop of acorns within the woods. With considerable meals scattered all through their house vary, the deer had little cause to maneuver throughout daylight or focus in predictable areas even throughout the rut.
Day after day by November, I sat watching immature bucks and does whereas the mature bucks moved solely after darkish. It’s the type of looking that exams your resolve. You understand the deer are there, and also you’re placing within the time, however the situations and critters simply aren’t cooperating.
Then got here mid-December, and the second rut. This late-season breeding interval generally is a transient however intense flurry of exercise, as bucks which were locked up or nocturnal immediately begin transferring once more throughout daylight, trying to find these final does coming into estrus. I used to be arrange overlooking a meals plot with heavy timber on the perimeters – an ideal location for catching deer transitioning between bedding and feeding areas.
Late one afternoon, I caught motion within the timber. One among my goal bucks, a mature 8-point with a heavy physique and thick neck, was pushing a younger doe by the woods. I might see him nudging her, clearly in pursuit mode. They have been working their approach towards the meals plot, and I knew this is likely to be my solely probability. As soon as that doe determined the place she wished to go, he’d observe, and so they might simply as simply disappear again into the thick timber as step into the open.
The Second of Fact
Positive sufficient, the doe broke from the woods into the meals plot, and the buck adopted shut behind. However that is the place looking usually will get actual – he didn’t provide me an ideal broadside shot. As an alternative, he stopped for a second, quartering towards me at roughly 70 yards, centered solely on the doe. I knew my window of alternative was measured in seconds, not minutes. She had headed again into to the woods, and he’d rapidly be proper behind her.
That is the second the place tools selection and preparation both repay or depart you regretting taking the shot as you seek for a wounded animal. I’d chosen the Barnes 130-grain TTSX particularly for its solid-copper building and deep-penetration traits. I trusted that bullet to do its job even on a front-quartering shot by the shoulder. It was time to place that belief to the check.
I settled the Leupold’s HTMR-MIL reticle on the entrance shoulder, accounting for the quartering angle and visualizing the bullet’s path by to the vitals. We have been within the final quarter-hour of authorized taking pictures gentle, however the scope’s crystal-clear glass and the second focal airplane reticle design made it simple to select my actual level of influence even within the fading gentle. The second focal airplane design retains the reticle at a constant, seen measurement no matter magnification – a major benefit in low-light looking conditions. The Ruger’s adjustable set off broke cleanly at simply over 3 kilos, and the rifle recoiled easily, because of the suppressor serving to mitigate recoil.
By way of the scope, I watched the buck hunch and bolt again into the timber, and I believed I heard him crash a couple of seconds later. The shot felt good, however that’s when the ready recreation begins. I gave him round thirty minutes earlier than taking over the path – a apply I’ve realized is price its weight in gold, even if you’re assured in your shot placement. I prefer to take it actually gradual at first, till I discover the primary signal of a blood path or proof of the buck’s path by the woods.
The Restoration and Bullet Efficiency
The blood path was minimal as a result of angle of the shot, however I might see damaged branches and tracks the place he ran by the woods. A bit of over fifty yards into the thick timber, I discovered my buck piled up. He’d made it lower than 60 yards from the place I’d shot him, a testomony to the effectiveness of the Barnes TTSX bullet on a difficult entrance quartering shot.
Now, right here’s the place issues bought actually fascinating from a technical standpoint. Upon additional inspection, I found the complete story of what that Barnes stable copper bullet had completed. The 130 grain TTSX had entered by the entrance shoulder on a quartering-toward angle, which is among the hardest photographs you may tackle a giant mature whitetail. The stable copper bullet had penetrated utterly by the heavy entrance shoulder bone, traveled by each lungs, and eventually got here to relaxation slightly below the disguise close to the other hind quarter.
That’s roughly 30+ inches of penetration by among the hardest materials a deer has to supply – heavy bone, dense muscle, and important organs. After I recovered the bullet, it had retained nearly all of its weight and had expanded to just about double its authentic diameter. The basic “copper petals” of the TTSX design had opened completely, making a devastating wound channel whereas sustaining the structural integrity wanted for that unimaginable penetration.
That is precisely why I selected stable copper bullets for this hunt. A conventional cup-and-core bullet hitting that heavy shoulder bone on a quartering angle might have fragmented, misplaced weight, and failed to achieve the vitals. The Barnes TTSX carried out precisely as designed.
The Rifle and Scope Efficiency
Whereas the bullet efficiency stole the present, I can’t overlook how the Ruger Predator and Leupold VX-5HD Gen 2 scope contributed to the success. The rifle’s accuracy, which had been confirmed on the vary, translated completely to the sphere. The free-floated barrel delivered the sub-MOA accuracy wanted to put that shot precisely the place it wanted to go.
The Leupold scope was equally spectacular. The HTMR-MIL reticle within the second focal airplane design remained extremely seen even within the final 20 minutes of authorized taking pictures gentle – a essential benefit if you’re making a shot in fading situations. The second focal airplane retains the reticle at a constant, readable measurement, giving me a exact aiming level with out being too wonderful or too thick at my chosen magnification.
The scope’s edge-to-edge readability made it simple to establish the buck as considered one of my goal animals and decide my actual level of influence. The three-15x magnification vary meant I had the scope dialed to 6x – sufficient magnification for a exact shot at 80 yards whereas sustaining a large sufficient area of view to trace the deer’s motion from the timber into the meals plot.
Classes Realized
If I might distill this expertise into actionable recommendation for different hunters, right here’s what I’d emphasize:
Persistence Pays Off: These irritating weeks in November when the deer went nocturnal have been powerful, however staying persistent and ready for the precise situations (on this case, the second rut and chilly climate) ultimately created the precise alternative. Train persistence when situations aren’t supreme.
Take a look at and Belief Your Gear: All these hours on the vary weren’t wasted time. They constructed the arrogance I wanted to take a difficult shot within the area and know that my tools would carry out. When that buck stopped quartering towards me, I didn’t second-guess my setup.
Bullet Choice Issues: I particularly selected the Barnes 130-grain TTSX for its stable copper building and deep penetration traits. That call was validated when the bullet carried out flawlessly on a quartering-toward shot by heavy bone. Select your ammunition based mostly on the efficiency you want, not simply the value tag.
Shot Placement Nonetheless Issues: Whereas the Barnes bullet carried out exceptionally, I nonetheless made each effort to put the shot within the vitals, accounting for the quartering angle. Premium ammunition enhances your capabilities; it doesn’t change good marksmanship and moral shot choice.
Be Prepared for Transient Alternatives: That buck might have adopted the doe proper again into the timber with out stopping. Being arrange, centered, and able to take the shot when the chance introduced itself was essential. Searching usually comes right down to being ready for these transient home windows.
Fashionable Ammunition is Value It: Sure, Barnes ammunition prices greater than conventional comfortable factors. However when you think about the fast, moral harvest and the recovered bullet proving its efficiency, it’s cash nicely spent in my ebook. We owe it to the animals we pursue to make use of ammunition that may carry out when it issues most.
Remaining Ideas
As I write this, my freezer is stuffed with tasty venison, and a good looking 8-point Euromount sits in my workplace as a reminder of the hunt. However greater than the meat or the trophy, this expertise validated the lengthy hours of analysis, vary time, and persistence that sometimes go right into a profitable hunt.
The Barnes 130-grain TTSX bullet did precisely what it was designed to do – penetrate deep by heavy shoulder bone, develop reliably, and ship a fast, moral harvest. The quartering-toward shot, which might have been problematic with lesser ammunition, resulted in a brief monitoring job and a clear restoration.
For hunters contemplating stable copper bullets, significantly the Barnes 130-grain TTSX in .308 Winchester, I can provide this easy endorsement: it really works. Not simply on paper, not simply on metal targets, however in the true world on powerful quartering photographs by heavy bone and vitals. That’s the type of efficiency that issues if you’re sitting in a blind on a December afternoon, watching a goal buck push a doe by the timber with solely seconds to decide.
This setup has earned its place as considered one of my go-to deer rifles, and I’m already trying ahead to subsequent season. Whether or not you’re pursuing whitetails within the hardwoods or muleys within the excessive nation, this mix of rifle, optics, and ammunition can ship the efficiency it’s essential make correct, efficient photographs when alternatives current themselves. Completely happy looking, and will your photographs be true and your restoration trails be brief.
