As i wrote earlier, if I was only going to hunt deer I would go fishing instead - don't care for deer meat much.
That said, if I WAS in a deer only situation, the rifle would depend on WHERE and HOW I was hunting the deer. My custom Interarms Mark X 6.5-06AI with fluted barrel would be an excellent choice for all but long carries. My Ruger Hawkeye All Weather .280 Rem would be another great choice. So would my Ruger Scout in .308 Win. If I was in big bear country I would arm myself appropriately for defense and not worry about what might be more appropriate for "deer only". In swamp country or dense hardwood forests I might choose my AR in .300 Blackout or Marlin .30-30. Nothing "wrong" with using one of my rifles with more recoil, there would be no good reason to do so, either other than the most important one - because I felt like it.
The winner for here in Colorado, though, would probably be my favorite rifle, a Ruger M77 built in 1989 that I picked up used in January of 2004. At that time it didn't even have scratch marks under the tang safety, something I "fixed" the first couple of trips to the range. It is a long-action .257 Roberts with a leade so long the bullets couldn't touch the lands with a stick. Seating bullets to the base of the neck it will push a 100g TTSX to 3233fps and 110g AccuBond to 3163fps. Both loads are very accurate.
Have to say that if elk were never to be on the menu again, I'd go after antelope long before I would go after deer. Or I'd start helping the Texas folk with their hog problems.
