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Best All Around Deer Caliber

I have owned a 30-06,it has more selection of bullet weights than any caliber I would think.I also own a 25-06 that is a great all around gun,use it on varmits and deer!I also own a 7 Mag T/C Encore that will kill anything up to elk size!Every gun has good qualities and some short falls!
 
7mm08 said:
The question IS …. What is the best bullet . At 2500-3000 fps in all of these mentioned, bullet choice is critical.

I like a 7mm08 , but just bought and plan to use a .35 REM from a Marlin 336 this fall.

BTW…. Years ago I got exposed to Hepatitis A from eating at a Waffle House in Clinton TN right off the interstate. It was all over the news about one of their workers. I used to go there A LOT after fishing the Clinch to get warmed up. I had to take two shots and had the RN's at the Anderson Co health clinic pop both arms at the same time!
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I also had to be vaccinated for hep due to awful house contamination.
 
How I got involved with the 300wm was due to reading about elk rifles, back in the day when elk were being brought in to Tn I asked Santa for a single shot 300wm , there was a gun shop in Madisonville that carried a nice selection of H&R with laminated stocks. The day arrived and no package under the tree in that shape disappointed me lol. presents were opened and wife found a small box behind the base, I opened it and there was a box of 300wm bullets, I thought boy I blowed my description of what I wanted. Wife said I hope I got the right bullets you wanted, I said yes thank you , a few minutes later she brought out my Winchester Black Shadow model 70 300wm tomatoe steak lol , have only shot 165g as the heaviest and stuck with 150g for deer. If I live long enough to to hunt them here I will zero it in with a premium 180g. it's nice having choices even though about any thing will work if you do your part, blood trails are really good with that round.
 
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My favorite deer hunting rifle probably say 270. But I been hunting for past 4 years with a 30/30 marlin. My first gun when I was a teenager was 44 marlin. Killed my first deer with it. Next gun I get will most likely be 308. And I can have the best of both worlds. Henry makes the long ranger in 308 and it's a short barreled lever action 308. Not sure how long it's been on the market. But I just seen it a few months back. If I buy another this will indeed be the gun.
 
BSK said:
I always find it strange how a particular gun will like one factory bullet while a different gun in similar size/speed likes something completely different. My 7mm-08 likes 139 grn Hornadys or 140 grn Remingtons. Yet my 308 performs much better with heavy bullets, especially the 180 grn Remingtons.
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Yep I have always noticed the same. My good friend always hunts with a Browning 30-06 and uses Remington ammo and I hunt with a .270 Savage and can't hit a target with Remington to save my life but throw some Winchester Deer Season XP or Hornady American Whitetail in it and it don't miss! I can hit a softball sized plate at 300 yards.

All-star breakfast it is for me also!
 
BSK said:
I always find it strange how a particular gun will like one factory bullet while a different gun in similar size/speed likes something completely different. My 7mm-08 likes 139 grn Hornadys or 140 grn Remingtons. Yet my 308 performs much better with heavy bullets, especially the 180 grn Remingtons.
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The gunsmith that built my gun said that in most rifles, it's a stock bedding issue (Making sure it's rock solid and the barrel is free floating). This surprised me but he was very confident.

If your gun likes heavier bullets, it's possibly due to the rifling and turn rate of the barrel. Barrels with faster turn rates typically like heavier bullets.
 
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Wrangler95 said:
I have owned a 30-06,it has more selection of bullet weights than any caliber I would think.I also own a 25-06 that is a great all around gun,use it on varmits and deer!I also own a 7 Mag T/C Encore that will kill anything up to elk size!Every gun has good qualities and some short falls!
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The thing about the 25-06 is that the BC of the bullets is not great and you end up with a long action rifle only shooting 110-115 grain bullets.

It's flat for sure, but falls below 800 ft/lbs before it even gets to 500 yards.

If you want a long action with similar trajectories and a wider range of bullets, the .270 is just a much more versatile caliber (and a lot easier to find) for similar recoil
 
Clearly the answer is a 460 Weatherby.

Seriously though there are generally 3 ways of hunting deer: ambushing them up close like inside woods, shooting them farther away like across a bean field, or jump shooting / shooting close in at running deer (like in front of dogs)

In the woods a light, small short action is nice. That's why guys like the 30-30 etc. I have a small bolt action .357 mag that works wonders in that setting. I like a scoped gun even in that situation but with a low power setting of 2x or less.

Across a bean field? So many choices like 25-06, 270, 308, 30-06, 6.5CM, 7mm mag, 300wm, you name it they all work well. Of course any of those also work in the woods , it's just that there's something kinda nice about carrying a small light rifle in the woods.

Jump shooting or hunting with dogs? Buckshot is king of that scenario. Just like rabbit hunting but with a much larger rabbit. Just thinking about that kind of hunting brings back some fond memories .
 

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