First and foremost, the bullet must be accurate. If I can not make that bullet accurate out of my rifle, all testing means nothing.
After that I shoot them into poplar wood blocks. Poplar is a "soft" wood if there is such a thing, but it is also a compact wood. The last test I did, I got eight inches of penetration. To me if that bullet will penetrate eight inches of poplar wood, a deer has no chance.
Newspaper media works good, but it is such a mess to clean up.