I've killed several white tails with the 6.5 and never had to shoot any of them more that once. One was a 175 lbs which was facing me at about 100 yds. The bullet traveled the entire length of the animal and lodged under the hide on its back end. I shoot it from a Winchester model 70 featherweight and use 140 Nosler partitions. In my experience the partition is the best big game bullet on the market today including all the high tech bonded stuff that is now so popular.

Good hunting results are dependent on three things:
1. Bullet placement.
2. Bullet construction.
3. Caliber.
With caliber the least important of the three.