A look at Winchester Deer Season XP ammunition – what makes it unique and why it might be a good choice for your next deer hunt.
Ammo manufacturers know there’s big money to be pulled from deer hunters. Understanding the lucrative market created by deer hunters, virtually every major company produces a box of ammo with a proud whitetail buck, usually one with a thick neck and a massive rack.
Hornady makes the American Whitetail brand. Federal has Terminal Ascent and Fusion. Sierra has the GameChanger line. All of these are marketed, in some fashion, to deer hunters.
Winchester is no different. This company makes a line that many consider a top option for deer hunting: Deer Season XP.
Available in a couple dozen different cartridges, this brand could be the perfect choice for your next deer hunt. But what makes it so special? What justifies purchasing Deer Season XP over other options? To find out, let’s look at the unique features that define Winchester’s flagship deer-hunting cartridge.
Winchester Deer Season XP Ammo for Sale
Looking to score a box or case of Deer Season for your rifle? Scroll through the carousel above or just the the links below to go to our product pages.
| Caliber | Single Box | Case of Ammo |
|---|---|---|
| 30-30 Win | 150 grain, 20 Round Box | 150 grain, 200 rounds |
| .308 Win | 150 grain, 20 round box | |
| 223 Rem | 64 grain, 20 round box | |
| 350 Legend | 150 grain, 20 round box | 150 grain, 200 rounds |
| 30-06 | 150 grain, 20 round box | |
| 6.8 SPC | 115 grain, 20 round box | |
| 300 WSM | 150 grain, 20 round box | |
| 6.5 Creedmoor | 125 grain, 20 round box | 125 grain, 200 round case |
| 7mm-08 Rem | 140 grain, 20 roun box | |
| 7mm Rem Mag | 140 grain, 20 round box | |
| 450 Bushmaster | 250 grain, 20 round box | |
| 243 Win | 95 grain, 20 rounds | |
| 243 Win | 85 grain copper, 20 roun box | |
| 300 Blackout | 150 grain, 200 rounds | |
| 270 WSM | 130 grain, 20 round box | |
| 300 Win Mag | 150 grain, 20 round box | |
| 7.62x39 | 123 grain, 20 round box |
About Winchester’s Deer Season XP
Winchester’s Deer Season XP is a premium hunting round designed for maximum performance when striking a deer. It includes a variety of unique features, which are generally concentrated in the bullet construction and design. Highlights include the design of the bullet tip, the shape of the bullet’s base, and the material used in the core.
While not the most expensive, this is not a line of cheap cartridges. It’s not meant for high-volume range shooting, but for precise, selective deer hunting. You can find higher-cost options, but unless the selections are extremely limited, Deer Season XP won’t be the cheapest box available. But again, cheap shooting is not the purpose for this product line.
Larger Impact Diameter
Perhaps the most important feature of Winchester’s Deer Season XP lineup is the wide impact diameter. Essentially, Winchester places a larger ballistic tip on the bullet, which moves the connecting line between the bullet body and tip backward, towards the base of the cartridge. The further away from the tip, the larger the diameter of the impact.
With a larger impact diameter, the bullet creates a wider wound channel while delivering more impact trauma and superior energy transfer. All of this, at least in theory, results in a faster knockdown on whitetail deer, minimizing suffering while allowing hunters to retrieve the animal faster.
Note: Don’t be fooled by the grey ballistic tip. It is a grey-colored polymer, not a lead tip.
Alloyed Lead Core
The core of the bullet is made from alloyed lead. This optimizes energy transfer and impact power, once again creating a more impactful performance when the bullet strikes a deer.
Tapered Jacket
Wrapped around the lead core is a tapered copper jacket. This jacket allows for consistent mushrooming, while tapering helps stop expansion at the ideal point. With tapering, a bullet should maintain weight retention and drive deeper into the target.
Flat-based Bullet
Most long-range cartridges use a boat-tail design, which is more like a football in shape, as it narrows towards the back. This design is generally believed (for good reason) to maintain straighter flight trajectory and accuracy. The Winchester Deer Season XP, however, has a flat-based bullet, which is shaped more like a cone. This design is supposed to carry more energy to the target, creating deeper, more powerful wound channels.
Streamlined Profile
Winchester also claims that the bullet has a “ballistic profile” that creates a flatter trajectory and better energy retention as the bullet travels downrange.
Exactly how much this streamlined profile benefits accuracy is hard to determine, but statistics from Winchester show a slight trajectory advantage compared to other products. For example, the .30-06 Springfield Deer Season XP, when zeroed to 200 yards, drops 7.4 inches at 300 yards. Under the same conditions, Winchester’s 150-grain .30-06 Power Max drops 8 inches, while Federal’s 150-grain Fusion Rifle drops 7.5 inches. It’s a small sample, but it appears the Deer Season XP does maintain an above-average trajectory.
Cartridges Available in Winchester’s Deer Season XP
Cartridges in the Deer Season XP include the most common and widely-adopted deer hunting rounds. Rifle loads like the .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, and .30-06 Springfield are represented in this brand. However, there are also unique and new cartridges that don’t have the mass adoption of these classic rounds.
Whatever rifle you use for hunting, you’ll likely find a Deer Season XP round that can be used in your rifle. This is one of the more expansive deer-hunting ammo brands, as many are limited to the most popular (and therefore profitable) hunting cartridges.
As we’ve discussed, you’ll find the most popular and widely-used loads, including the .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, and .30-06 Springfield. But you’ll also find modern, 21st-century rounds, including .300 Blackout and 6.5 Creedmoor cartridges.
Some hunters live in areas where only straight wall cartridges are allowed for deer hunting. For outdoor enthusiasts in these regions, there are Deer Season XP options. The .450 Bushmaster (250 grain) and .350 Legend (150 grain) are available for hunters who need a straight wall round to legally hunt deer.
Winchester Deer Season XP Products:
- .223 Remington: 64 grain
- .243 Winchester: 95 grain
- .25-06 Remington: 117 grain
- .270 Winchester: 130 grain
- .270 WSM: 130 grain
- .300 Blackout: 150 grain
- .300 Winchester Magnum: 150 grain
- .300 Winchester Magnum: 180 grain
- .300 WSM: 150 grain
- .300 WSM: 180 grain
- .30-06 Springfield: 150 grain.
- 30-30 Winchester: 150 grain
- .308 Winchester: 150 grain
- .308 Winchester: 168 grain
- .350 Legend: 150 grain
- .450 Bushmaster: 250 grain
- 6.5 Creedmoor: 125 grain
- 6.8 SPC: 115 grain
- 7.62×39: 123 grain
- 7mm Remington Magnum: 140 grain
- 7mm-08 Remington: 140 grain
- 400 Legend: 190 grain
Deer Season XP rounds are sometimes heavier than typical or standard loads, especially for the smaller cartridges. The standard bullet weight for .223 Remington, for instance, is 55 grains, while the Deer Season XP is 64 grains. Winchester packs a 95-grain round into the .243 Winchester product, which makes it higher than the typical load. The .300 Blackout packs a 150-grain round, which is heavy for the cartridge, but not the largest available. (Most Blackout rounds over 150 grain, however, are sub-sonic loads.)
Heavy bullets are not universal across the entire product line, and it’s not something that Winchester works into their marketing material. A 150-grain load for .308, .30-30, and .30-06, as examples, would not be considered a heavy bullet. Some in the product line could even be considered light; the 7mm-08 Remington can pack bullets as heavy as 175 grains or more, but the Deer Season XP option is 140 grains.
Find Deer Season XP with Ammo To Go
If you want to use Deer Season XP for your next hunt, visit our site. You’ll find a variety of Deer Season XP options, as well as affordable target-shooting rounds, self-defense loads, and everything else you need for affordable, effective gun ownership.
