I guess that would be relative to the era, climate, ranges, and size of the deer.

These scrawny hill country deer, well maybe a 223 or 22-250 would be all you need. Shooting under a feeder at know distances makes them shine.

Now go to the subzero, wind swept prairies with knee deep snow, then you might want a 300 mag. It's hard to get close to them in that crunchy snow.