Kaleb,
OK! Glad we got past that.
I know you can take a lot of deer in Tennessee, and don't discount your experience there at all. I would probably choose something similar to your suggested choice--and actually have, since for a long time I hunted several states a year, including some in the South, though unfortunately not Tennessee.
Among other short-action cartridges I've used have been the .243 Winchester, .250 Savage, .257 Roberts, .257 Ackley Improved (in a NULA), .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Remington, .300 Savage, .308 Winchester and .358 Winchester (both in a Savage 99 and a NULA). have used the .243 and both versions of the .257 Roberts more than any of the others, and took my biggest whitetail buck with the .257 AI. Have also had a Model 20 NULA in 7x57, which does work in the 3" magazine when handloaded, and even some factory loads will fit.
But have also used the .308 quite a bit, and over the past 12-15 years have come to really like the two 6.5's and 7mm-08 as well. Though right now my 7-08 is on loan to the daughter of a friend for deer and elk. (It's actually pretty popular as an elk round here.) It's a nifty little rifle, one of the tang-safety Ruger 77 Compacts rebarreled with a 22" #1 Douglas.
I don't consider a long-action cartridges necessary even for really big-bodied deer, but do kinda prefer them for hunting big deer in open country, partly because they can push bullets with higher BC's faster. Those cut down on wind-drift considerably, and it does blow out here now and then, both on the plains and in the mountains.
You have a good evening too!
