Favorite Deer Calibre

[clayton86]

Love my mosin, and for 100 bucks you can go wrong.

There so cheap we picked ours up at a gunshow for 120 with all the goodies. The bayonets are listed in cheaper than dirt for 80 so really if ya wanted sell it and the gun only cost ya 20-40 dollars. I want to pick up a few more just cuz there so fun to shoot and I want to get the old scope for one but I don't want to cut the bolt on it so buy 2 one with open sights one scoped like vasily zietsev(sp)

[bwell]

I put a scope on my using a long eye relief scope. It shoots great and you only have to take the rear sites off.

Ammo for the gun is or use to be dirt cheap. I bought 440 rounds for 90 bucks.

[central.PA.bass]

7mm08 for sure. great accuracy and it doesnt mess up any meat!

[RoLo]

Originally I owned a 308 for close-up brush-bucking and a 222 rem mag for woodchucks.

Eventually I sold off the 308 and the 222 rem mag and now do everything with .270 caliber.

For vermin, the 270 may not have the FPS of a 22/250 wildcat, but has FAR less wind-drift.

For big game, the 270 may not have the brush-bucking of the 308,

but shoots a FAR flatter trajectory. I use the 270 as I use my bow-and-arrow,

by sticking to field edges, wooded clearings and swaths I manually cleared.

By the way, the 270 is a Remington Model 700 bolt-action with Redfield scope.

Roger

[MuffinMan]

ive killed so much with my Marlin 336W 30-30 i have renamed it as my "dirty-thirty" it is the only gun i will ever carry for deer hunting here in Florida. For all those other 30-30 shooters out there, you nerd to try a 165 gr Hornaday LeverRevelution round. Ive never had anythimg move from where i shot it at.

[new2BC4bass]

I often go for the unusual. Or should I say overlooked? My favorite is a Ruger 7 x 57mm Mauser. Accurate, easy on the shoulder, reasonably light and the 100 gr. Hornady hollow point sure does the trick on woodchucks. Sold a 7mm Rem. Weatherby Vanguard to a cousin. I'm recoil shy. He loves it. So does the guy who reloads his shells. Tries to buy it from my cousin every time he reloads another batch.

I have another that could become a favorite if I ever got back into hunting. A Ruger in .257 Roberts. One reason being my father had one in a Remington that he loved for deer and woodchucks. Mine needs a bit of stock work before working up reloads. Needs some wood removed in the channel. No clearance at one point. Opens up groups considerably. Rifle is a bit lighter than the Mauser. A pleasure to shoot.

Still......it would be awful hard to replace that 7 x 57mm Mauser. Great, if nostalgic, cartridge. More than enough given the areas I hunted.

[Mattlures]

The only benefit I can see for a 308 is that the ammo is cheap and availible. However the 30.06 is also cheap and availible. The 308 makes no sence to me. The 30.06 out performs it in every way. I used to hunt with a 30.06 but I have changed to a 300 win mag. I can shoot 180 grn faster and flatter then my 06 shoots 150grn Hornady light magnum round. I think it is important to get real good with one gun instead of pretty good with several. Plus I am not a good tracker. Where I hunt the terrain is thick and it looks like your looking at a camo pattern. A wounded deer can disapear even if it only runs 100ft. Soo I brake them with my 300 mag and I always take out 1 front shoulder along with the lungs.

soo its a 300 mag for me.

[tholmes]

I picked the .30-06 for a number of reasons:

1. I own one, and I've worked out a good load for my rifle. I'm familiar enough with my rifle to know what it (and I) am capable of. I feel confident with any shot out to about 300 yards.

2. It's accurate and packs enough power to bring down anything I'm likely to point it at, including elk.

3. In the unlikely event that I arrive at a distant hunting location without my ammo box, I can go to pretty much any store that sells ammo and pick up a box of serviceable loads.

Tom

["BRB"]

When hunt in thick wooded areas I like my 44 but my number one would be 270. Flat shooting its does matter it his 100 yrds or 300+ yrds I know I can get him.

[boystcroix]

30-06 has been my go to deer cartrige for a number of years, I can't remember the last time I've shot a deer more than one time with it. I use the Superformance 150gr. I did get a new "brush gun" in 45/70 to hunt the thick laurel in the mountains in north central PA, I like the 325gr Leverevolution ammo

[outdoorsman110]

243 and 30-30 for eastern deer, 30-06 for anything in the Midwest.

[DeadEyeDavey]

.303 Fast, smooth and powerful. shorter than the 30-06 but bigger 'round, use the 180gr FMJ and you could drop a deer no matter where you hit it.

[BamaBassChaser]

7mm-08, It's killed every deer I've ever shot with it.

[Busy]

.270 WSM for Deer.

7mm Mag for Elk.

[bigcattracker]

280 rem 140gr ballistic tip is one bad to the bone rifle

[rb56]

i've owned .243, .270, .308, .30-30, 30.06 and i hunt in central arkansas which is wooded, some open clearcuts but most shots have been within 100 yards and here is how i'd rate these...

1. .270, flat, hard, fast and if i get a long shot it can drill a deer with enough kill at long distances. plus in brushy parts it has enough speed and power to clip a twig and stay on target.

2. 30.06. in brush it has enough to cut through if it hit something, knockdown is unbeatable. long shots are very make able if you know your gun.

3. .308 - 30-30, to me is a toss up at which you want to shoot. .308 has a little more distance than the 30-30 but that many deer hunters and cowboys can't be wrong. i think 30-30 and that's a lever action, usually short, quick to handle and is best for short range and in cover.

4. .243, 4th on my list is not fair. i had a single shot .243 with a 3x9 on it and i loved the gun. i may own another soon and that's because of the trust i have in it. dead on for accuracy and speed is just unreal. shoot a stop sign and it looks like you used a drill (no i haven't but have seen one's shot by others). the range i'm not sure it has one...very far. my only thing is where i hunt i don't get many long shots. .243 is not a woods round as is easily deflected. the man who taught me about hunting/fishing most of all besides my dad told me the best deer cartridge ever was the lr .22. .243 isn't much more lead wise.

5. 12 gauge, last and again just because i usually have a rifle to use, but a 12 ga. slug is hard to beat within 100 yards. unbelievable power.

[Bass-minded]

30-30 is a good brush gun. 30-06 is a good all around gun but the 7mm Remington magnum is a deity to behold.

[retiredbosn]

use the 180gr FMJ and you could drop a deer no matter where you hit it.

Just thought I would remind everyone that a FMJ is designed to minimally wound unless a vital organ is hit. That's why the military adopted them after the Geneva Convention, the consensus was to minimize wounding from bullet shrapnel. FMJJ for those who may not know stands for Full Metal Jacket. I know ultra big game rounds are solid but the rounds typically fired at lions, elephants and the like are almost a 1/2 inch. Deer are thin skinned and easily killed, a FMJ round would have to take out the heart, lungs or break the spine to kill. By design they do not expand and do minimal tissue damage.

[backcast88]

270 WSM.

Flat shooting, packs a punch, and can easily kill any animal in North America. I have killed deer with 130 gr. 270 Win and 165 gr. 30-06 with good results. But my 130 gr. hand loads from my 270 WSM are absolutly devistating on whitetail, deer don't move from where they are shot even without hitting the spine or shoulders and with the right bullet meat damage is fairly low. I switched to Nosler Accubonds and they are shooting just as good look forward to dropping the hammer on a deer this year with them.

[Bass-minded]

Just thought I would remind everyone that a FMJ is designed to minimally wound unless a vital organ is hit. That's why the military adopted them after the Geneva Convention, the consensus was to minimize wounding from bullet shrapnel. FMJJ for those who may not know stands for Full Metal Jacket. I know ultra big game rounds are solid but the rounds typically fired at lions, elephants and the like are almost a 1/2 inch. Deer are thin skinned and easily killed, a FMJ round would have to take out the heart, lungs or break the spine to kill. By design they do not expand and do minimal tissue damage.

In Tennessee FMJ's are NOT allowed to hunt big game.