Best deer caliber

For me; a 7mm STW, 28 Nosler, 270 WSM, 7-300, 300 Win , or 270/7mm/300 Weatherby.

For you; probably something else. It might even be a .270 Win for all I know.;) It certainly wouldn't a bad choice. It's better than much of what came after and most of what came before.
 
I have found my .458WM's are the best, because it puts them down faster than anything else, 350 Hornady at 2550. But they are a bit heavy to carry.
 
For me the 30-06 is perfect. I hunt some really rough country and don’t want deer running off too far into steep valleys or ravines after being shot. 30-06 180 grain Sako super hammerhead puts them down on the spot. Trajectory is good for a 300 meter maximum point blank range. My tikka T3 is plenty light weight enough for an all day mountain rifle. 3-10x40 leupold VX3i , pretty much the perfect deer rifle for me. Added bonus of the ‘06 is with 180 grain’ers it’ll stand in as dependable protection against hungry or pissed off mountain critters as well.
 
Jay said:
For me, this question is too vague. Whitetails can be in thick brush, like here in Eastern Ontario... Or out West where you could shoot much further in vast farm fields...
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That's why I suggested the 7x57. Use the traditional 175gr round nose in thick bush, or switch to a 140 gr and it shoots as flat as a .270 for open country.
 
9.3mauser said:
That's why I suggested the 7x57. Use the traditional 175gr round nose in thick bush, or switch to a 140 gr and it shoots as flat as a .270 for open country.
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This. 7mm-08, 7x57 and the usual assortment of 6.5mm all work well. The venison in my freezer was bang flop with factory S&B 173gr SPCE in a 70 year old Brno.
 
Bratwurst said:
Here is my reasoning for Mule and Whitetail deer

0 - 200m : 5.56, 7.62x39 or .308 Winchester

Why?: Availability and affordability of ammunition. You can have the best whizzbang rifle in the world in obscure calibre X but you most likely won't put the time and more importantly money into practicing enough to really know your rifle, it's holdovers and to practice shooting said rifle from a variety of positions. Those calibres are plenty to kill a deer. It's not a battle armoured warrior it's a thin set of meat and ribs covering some lungs which when shot make it die.

200-300m : .308 Winchester

Why?: The same reasons as above but recognising that 5.56 and 7.62x39 will have suffered quite a lot of energy loss and/or drop once you go past 200m. They'll still work but less effectively, and from an ethical perspective it would be better to upgrade to the 308 Winchester to make sure the energy remains high, especially when for obvious reasons it becomes harder to hit exactly where you want as range increases. Wind obviously impacts 5.56 and 7.62x39 far more.

300-400m : 308 winchester

Why?: You might expect me to suggest 6.5 Creedmoor for these longer range shots, however if you check out the drop charts you can see here that there isn't all that much difference between the two. So what makes more sense? Avoiding between 2.5 and 10cm drop at 400yds and paying significantly more for the ammo to get good at these ranges or spending the cost difference on being able to practice more or buying a rangefinder and not missing that buck? Do't forget that 30

400 - 500m: 308 Winchester

Same as above only the drop isn't so significant

Beyond 500m I honestly can't comment. The only thing I would add is that if you want a lower recoiling but equally effective calibre to 308 winchester for going out to 500m I would suggest 6.5 creedmoor

if you want something that is equally good for Elk and Moose I would suggest 308 or 6.5 creedmoor at all ranges.

If you want one for all species and ranges go 308 winchester
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hey I was wondering if you like the caliber .308 ?
 
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