I've hunted whitetails in northern Mo. since birth. I have shot them with everything from a .22LR to .416 Rigby. My favorite is the 7x57 Mauser with handloaded 140's at 2900 fps or so. I sure wouldn't consider a heavy barreled rifle for a primary deer rifle,a 24 in. barrel about .625-.650 at the muzzle suits me fine. As a bit of a clarification, I often use my .375's, .416 and other big bores during the winter doe season just to get some practice with them before a hunt. A 150-class gross whitetail isn't too hard to find in some parts if the area has been managed at all. You can't shoot a 120 pt deer the first day and ever kill a big one.
