What is the Absolute Best All-Around Deer Hunting Caliber

[Crohnos01]

30-06 sure destroys a high percentage of the meat... on a bug.

Not if you do it right. Shot placement is imperative

 

[284guy]

You have to neck the suck out of the 284 Winchester. 6mm-284, 25-284, and 6.5-284 almost redeem that squatty rebated rim abomination!

All of the bastards created off of it are more popular, but it's still one heck of a cartridge. I have/do own 35, 30, 277, 6.5, 25, and 6mm-284. Great parent cartridge. It will do anything the 280 Rem will do, but in a shorter case. I guess I'm just a sucker for the older cartridges. 284, 257 Roberts, 358 win, etc.

 

[No_Regerts]

In 2011 I shot a spike back in Escanaba Michjgan at about 50 yards with a old jc higgins model 50 in 30-06. I was shooting 30-06 federal 165g standard hunting rounds. I put a exit wound on that deers back that you could pass a coffee mug through. It turned me off as a hunting load and caliber for deer. There are a lot of variables but I think a 30-06 is too much for deer. Yeah I know it's just my opinion. I have shot white tails with slugs that did not do that much damage.

I never had much use for any bullet weight besides 180gr in 30-06. The flatter trajectory of the lighter bullets is within my avg group size. I used to load 150gr bullets at 3000fps until I shot something with it. Same result as yours. I'm convinced Nosler uses a thinner jacket on its light .308 bullets vs its lighter .284 bullets.

 

[No_Regerts]

All of the bastards created off of it are more popular, but it's still one heck of a cartridge. I have/do own 35, 30, 277, 6.5, 25, and 6mm-284. Great parent cartridge. It will do anything the 280 Rem will do, but in a shorter case. I guess I'm just a sucker for the older cartridges. 284, 257 Roberts, 358 win, etc.

Ive seen its bastard children mostly housed in long actions though.

Love me the 257 Bob! I can't believe I sold the Ruger M77 Ultralight I had in 257.

 

[Vaultman]

Not if you do it right. Shot placement is imperative

I guess I just need more practice.
I bet the concussion of a 30-06 would kill a fly at 20 feet too.

 

[284guy]

Ive seen its bastard children mostly housed in long actions though.

Love me the 257 Bob! I can't believe I sold the Ruger M77 Ultralight I had in 257.

You should be drawn and quartered for that. I've been looking for one to go with my 250 savage UL

 

[No_Regerts]

I guess I just need more practice.
I bet the concussion of a 30-06 would kill a fly at 20 feet too.

It WAY overpenetrates, just like 9mm.

 

[titsonritz]

The one that make them most dead.

 

[Member 34319]

I'm curious, how many here talk calibers, but actually have hunted?

Asking for a friend.

 

[No_Regerts]

The one that make them most dead.

Im convinced that if we took a rifle like a Tikka T3 that has only 1 action size and handed a hunter a loaded rifle and didn't tell him what it was chambered in, had him shoot 10 deer with it, and repeat with 5 different rifles/cartridges.....the reactions of the deer after being hit would be about the same across the board regardless of chambering.

 

[No_Regerts]

I'm curious, how many here talk calibers, but actually have hunted?

Asking for a friend.

 

[No_Regerts]

Found me a couple of nice rifles next to some roadkill.

 

[titsonritz]

Im convinced that if we took a rifle like a Tikka T3 that has only 1 action size and handed a hunter a loaded rifle and didn't tell him what it was chambered in, had him shoot 10 deer with it, and repeat with 5 different rifles/cartridges.....the reactions of the deer after being hit would be about the same across the board regardless of chambering.

I'm pretty sure you're right, but I could be wrong.

 

[DB is Here]

I'm curious, how many here talk calibers, but actually have hunted?

Asking for a friend.

I haven't commented, then again I didn't want to lose my "Armchair Computer Bullshooter" status.

 

[titsonritz]

View attachment 559982
View attachment 559983

Beware of game sleeping with their long guns.

 

[G8rHunter]

If you really want a cheap deer gun that's effective with in 100/200 yards and with low recoil.
I'm going to throw a wrench in here.
Besides 223, the 7.62x39.
Think of the x39 as 30/30. But cheaper and accurate as you can get it in a bolt action and scoped.
cz527
And 2 groups with cheap Russian ammo
Imgur
Me personally I think 308 case is little short for 30 cal while it can be re loaded properly. Might as well get the 06 to shoot the heavier 180 or 220 if need to.

I think the Russian 7.62x39 would handle deer in Oregon with no problem, and, yes, the recoil is very tolerable and ammo cheap. Heck, the .243 would handle smaller deer, and, a sharpshooter, could take a big buck! I have no reason to speak I'll of the 30-06. I just find it to be a bit excessive for deer. If I was only hunting deer I think the 30-30 is quite adequate and plenty of pioneers found it to be so.

Sounds like you want the 6.5.
Just bite the bullet and do it

I just spent $180,000 on an attorney, so I really don't have a lot of free cash at the moment! I merely am impressed with the trajectory and velocity of the 6.5 cm and 7mm-08, and they both match well with the .308. With that said, I think those three are great for any deer in Oregon.

I would have to go with the .270 if I started hunting again.

The 270 and 284 are also great deer guns!

But I never met a magnum I didn't like. Ive used the 257 Wby Mag, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag and 300 Wby Mag on deer and found them to be great.

I just think magnums are overkill!

 

[bbbass]

The 300 Weatherby is an impressive open country cartridge.

OUCH!!! I bought one used from a horsetrader (literally). He even threw in a box of boolitts! I went out to my favorite shootin hole near a wooded area, and BOOM... dang thing was a cannon and nearly broke my shoulder. When I finally decided to get back on the horse and chamber another round, I couldn't get the bolt open. I don't remember how I got it open, but the case was difficult to extract, and the primer was blown clean out. A look at the bolt revealed a cratered boltface. My next foray into magnums was a Ruger 77 in 7mmRemMag for elk (I had a 7mmRemExpress for deer), which was ok to shoot but kind of a sharp crack compared to other mags or 30/06.

Love me the 257 Bob!

My best shooting buddy had one for deer... sweetest thing I ever shot!

I'm curious, how many here talk calibers, but actually have hunted?

Only one that I know of that hasn't, and he always says so right out front. IMO talking calibre is kinda like sittin on the porch and talkin wimen. I think a better question would be "How many here talking calibers have actually killed more than one deer, or any at all?" I don't care, let em talk... I know what I think no matter who is being an Armchair Computer Bullshooter. We just have to make sure the forum gang doesn't send the new guy out to hunt Bambi with a howitzer!

 

[bbbass]

 

[tac]

Well, I haven't hunted, but I've helped to cull in Northern Norway back in 1990, when a general lack of snow prevented us from doing much in the way of skiing in the area. My take for the day was a Northern Moose. I took it at about 80 YARDS, or in Old Norwegian measurements, about three lås. I used a Carl Gustaf rifle, made in 1902, and converted to m/38 short rifle around 1940. It had open sights and had the appearance of a rifle that had been tossed into a cement mixer a couple of times. I took the animal's heart out with a 3/4 across-the-chest shot with a 140gr Norma something or other and it dropped right there in its own hoofprints. It weighed about a thousand pounds, but as the ranger said, it was starving and railing, hence the need for it to to be culled.

The rifle, in case you haven't noticed yet, was a Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55 Swedish. It had been his father's rifle since 1946 or 7, used for exactly the same job of culling beasts who would not make it through the winter without suffering a bad death. He noted that it might have taken six or eight thousand of them over that length of time.

 

[No_Regerts]

I just think magnums are overkill!

I was on this backpack hunting kick for a while. Oddly enough, I'm not one of thise spider monkeys who run marathons like most that hunt the backcountry and I had no desire to chase deer around. If I saw a deer, I wanted the whole thing to be over with. So, I decided that if I had a shot, I wasn't going to say "no" just because of an odd angle. I also didn't want to have to do much thinking out to 400 yards. Same thing with antelope. No real need for a lot of power to kill a 100lb animal. But, distance and wind make the more powerful cartridges a good choice.