Opinion: Best deer cartridge or caliber.

[wildhobbybobby]

I've taken deer with arrows, shotgun slugs, various muzzleloader projectiles, .357 and .44 magnum revolvers, .223, .243, .257, .270, .30/30, .308, .30/06, .300 H&H Mag., .300 Wby Mag., .348, .44 Mag., .45/70 and .458 Win. Mag. rifles.

80% of my deer hunting now is with a .270. It always works, up close or far away. I have killed around 35 whitetails, a mule deer, a pronghorn, 2 caribou and one elk (and about 20 prairie dogs) with mine, and, like I said, it always works.

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[n8dawg6]

wildhobbybobby ... cant argue w/ success! ive killed more deer w/ the .270 than anything else. all 130 g. bullets, too. have yet to lose one w/ that caliber

 

[wildhobbybobby]

Yup, I use only one load, the 130 grain Nosler Partition with WWII surplus H4831 powder. I get 3100 fps and a point blank range of 325 yards with no holdover required when sighted 3" high at 100 yards. It shoots flat and hits hard. I have never lost an animal with that load either.

 

[choc-dog]

I am going to be odd man out here but lately I have become impressed with the 260 rem for the eastern deer woods.

Chocdog

 

[wildhobbybobby]

There's nothing odd about the .260 at all. It is a great deer caliber...I bought one for my daughter and she does well with it.

 

[Bucker]

ammo

30-06. Can reach and touch and knock em down in close. All kinds of rounds availible in dofferent types of configs. Old reliable trusted round.

 

[hakx]

My vote is split between the .270 Win and 30-06 Sprg. Relatively boring given the array of cartridges available today. I have taken everything from coyote to moose (and my biggest bear) with my .270 Win. They (who ever "they" are) say that it is not appropriate for the largest of bears, but fortunately the Alaskan Brown bear's range does not include rural Alberta, nor will I ever seek them out.

 

[Widude]

Mine is the 308, usually 165 grn bullets. I have been trying to branch out lately though. I took a doe 2 weeks ago with a 243 & a 95 grn partition. I also have a 284 win thats very nice. Most of us could list 20+ ideal for deer chamberings.

 

[vabowhntr]

My vote is for the 308 in a rem model seven. It is a sweet little gun to carry and plenty of punch. Good accuracy and ammo can be found anywhere. The 7-08 is a close second.

I did shoot a 338 ultra mag a couple of weeks ago. It was nice to hit what I was aiming at out to 700 yards (it was a rem custom shop gun and was very nice). Although, at $100 a box of ammo, I think I'll stick with my cheap 308.