The Ten Best Deer Cartridges
BY Herschel Smith
1 month ago
The old .270 Winchester ranks near the top, or at the top. His list is interesting, and it would never have occurred to me to choose a small caliber like that to hunt deer.
I will also say that I spent some of the evening studying the 280 Ackley Improved and I like what I see. It’s basically much like the 270 Win except about 20 grains heavier bullet weight.
What’s your favorite, and why?
On November 14, 2024 at 10:12 pm, george said:
Charles Askins Jr. disrespected the .270. He also despised jack O’Connor.
On November 15, 2024 at 2:57 am, Phil Ossiferz Stone said:
The 25-06. After what I have seen that gun do with bonded bullets I’d honestly take it after anything but griz or buff.
On November 15, 2024 at 7:04 am, Wes said:
Personal favorite freezer-filler: 7mm-08, with my handload under a 139-140gr spitzer, out of a 20″ barrel boltgun. Sufficient ballistics for woods or the other end of most fields, and relatively pleasant to shoot. Excellent precision can be had. If you want more velocity you can go with a 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.*
* Regarding this last I had a conversation with Nosler about that 120gr pill some years back. It is up to the task because they had to beef it up, because MV freaks were loading it in their 7mm STW to take cross-canyon Coues deer shots.
On November 15, 2024 at 7:15 am, jrg said:
My wife shoots the 7mm-08, but only because it was the chambering for the rifle it came in. Remington Model 7 Youth, which I will admit is a light easy shooting carbine. But finding that for sale, if can be found at all, is not easy. Too bad – it does have a lot going for it. The limited bullet weight doesn’t figure in this because of what is said below.
My favorite – .308 Winchester. We don’t have large deer here (deep south Texas) and the ranges in brush country are usually very reasonable, inside 300 yards is fairly easy. So heavy bullets aren’t required. Inexpensive and easy to find – checks both boxes. I’ve shot it since 1976 and have zero bad to say about it. Are there better – maybe but I don’t miss them. I prefer taking shorter, more sure shot and will pass on anything where losing the animal is a possibility.
On November 15, 2024 at 7:15 am, MN Steel said:
Most people I know still shoot .30-30, .30-06 or .308 in the northwoods for a few reasons: Available anywhere ammo is found, deer that dress out between 150 and 310 pounds, and in the northWOODS you may need to bust a bit of vegetation.
Unless you’re hunting on a pole line or across a marsh, there just isn’t a whole lot of wide open range to shoot, and deer don’t like going out in the open with all the wolves around. Hell, they stay in the swamps to stay away from wolves.
Guess we’re just overpowering deer and our shoulders for no reason, and should look into new calibers to spur on demand for his special pet round.
On November 15, 2024 at 10:30 am, Bill Sullivan said:
At our area of Vermont where we have a cabin, most ranges are under 75 yards. Deer are generally not very big, so anything will do. I live in eastern North Carolina, and here the deer are bigger, and some fields are over a mile wide. Most hunting is done from elevated stands, as there aren’t any hills for backstops. It’s flat here. Long range cartridges are favored.
On November 15, 2024 at 11:18 am, Herschel Smith said:
@ Bill,
Be more specific. What cartridges?
Yeah, since the chestnut blight, deer need to find oak stands with acorns dropping to grow big. They turn to the corn later, although I see deer spending a good deal of time in food plots regardless of what part of the season it is.
On November 15, 2024 at 11:29 am, Don't mind me. said:
Type of cartridge depends on the range where you’ll typically be hunting. I’ve hunted rural Maryland where everything is at less than 150 yds to Wyoming, where taking a 400 yd shot is common. Deer also vary in size from one part of the country to the other.
There’s no magic round.
On November 15, 2024 at 11:35 am, Tsquared said:
I have used a Remington model 78 30-06 since the mid 80’s. I am currently loading a 150gr soft point boat tail that is getting 2900fps. I have the scope dialed in at 200 yards as that is the max distance for one of my stands. Most of the kills are less than 75 yards. SE Georgia farm country.
On November 15, 2024 at 12:52 pm, Ken said:
I don’t believe in this magical thing called “favorite deer caliber”. My favorite depends on location/game. Texas hill country, little whitetails 243 in a Rem 788. West Texas/New Mexico mule/blacktail (my elk rifle too) I prefer the ’06 in a 1909 Argentine sporter . Going to Kentucky big whitetail but very brushy/dense woods my favorite changes to a 35 Remington. I have favorite shoes for going to town, going to church or going fishing or hunting. Same with shooting, just depends. Guess that makes me a gun/caliber slut. I will admit I don’t care for the latest/greatest whizz bang caliber. Those three have been doing me just fine for over 60 years.
On November 15, 2024 at 1:18 pm, jrg said:
@ Ken 12:52pm – agree, a lot of cartridges will kill a deer just fine. I said above I used a .308 Winchester, but a Savage 99T lever gun in .250 Savage has been used to take quite a few deer too. The .250 is on shaky ground though – not a whole lot of rifles currently using that cartridge. A pity – it is a joy to shoot.
Those who hunt different states have it good. My hunting is very confined to local ranch or nearby properties. Hunting in the mountains would be very foreign to me and a good thing too. Dragging a buck UP a mountain will probably kill me at my age. :^)
On November 15, 2024 at 7:58 pm, RonP said:
A golfer doesn’t carry just one club.
On November 16, 2024 at 9:00 am, Ken said:
JRG, I’m a bit ahead of you. I could not lead a buck down a mountain even if he was on roller skates. My little 788 and “06 went to my oldest grandson. My 35 Rem that belonged to our (me and my Kentucky 1st cousin) grandfather, went to his grandson (his great, great grandfather’s rifle). He took his first buck with it a couple years ago. Both grandsons love to hunt and fish, but his grandson told me what he loved was the time he was spending with us at camp. Lets me know we did right. Ken
On November 17, 2024 at 9:56 am, Paul B said:
I like 350 legends my self. Use a Ruger for delivery. Every deer I have shot with that combination has been DRT.
On November 18, 2024 at 11:54 pm, RHT447 said:
Learn to cut sign. Learn to move up wind. Learn the habits of the deer you hunt. I use my T/C 50 caliber Hawkin. My oldest son uses a bow and arrow.
On November 27, 2024 at 11:18 pm, X said:
.30-06, 165 grain over 48 grains of 4064. Not a super-hot load, but accurate as all hell and mild recoil. Makes deer deader than Julius Caesar in a floated, bedded Remington 700.
In fact I just killed a decent sized 8-point with this load tonight, one shot offhand at about 130 yards, he went 30 yards and dropped stone dead.
It’s my go-to meat getter, I have probably killed 25 deer with this load.