Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The BEST deer cartridge!

A lot of lightweight bolt actions SUCK for still hunting/driving/tracking in the woods. They're too damned butt heavy/muzzle light {in other words poorly balanced} for offhand shooting whether at moving or standing targets, particularly if you're a bit winded from walking/exertion. The old 18.5" barreled, walnut stocked Remington model 7 was one of the worst "woods rifles" ever foisted off on ignorant hunters for that very reason. Give me a Marlin 336 over one of those any day ending in "Y". With a mag tube full of cartridges it balances perfectly and holds steady for offhand shooting. I practice with mine offhand all the time and can handily punch 2" 3 shot groups from 65 yards over and over. I've killed a couple big truckloads of deer in the woods with it, 90% offhand and many of them on the move and have never wished for a lighter bolt action with more power or reach.

I'm gonna wait for the Tikka T3x to come out, then get me one in a .270. I've never had a .270, and figure I prolly oughta try one.

In the meantime, I should be picking up a Ruger American compact all-weather lefty in 7mm-08 on Thursday. Since it appears to be a special run, I figured I better go ahead and get one if I wanted one. I've never had a 7mm-08, either, so looks like I'm fixing to scratch some itches.

243 is the first choice most times. Although a 12 gauge in close with buckshot does a great job when 1/2 dozen or more pellets meet the mark at reasonable ranges.

I've thought for many years that a 6.5X55 is the perfect deer cartridge if a man hunted only deer: One rifle for all of the deer in North America, from little island blacktails and Coues to massive Canadian mule deer, from thickets to wide open spaces. The 129 grain Hornady would be a sweet match.

7mm08 is probably a more practical generic ideal.

However, in my heart of hearts, especially since I like to hunt mule deer, I'd make my perfect deer rifle a .280.

280 should kill as well as the Swede. An article years ago was published. One good bullet was the title as I recall. Fella used the 125 Partition in Swede and -06. Killed Mulies and Elk regularly along w other game.

All dead A 129 nigh duplicates in terminal performance at modest speeds.

What bullet will you run in the 280?

I've killed deer big and little from New Brunswick and Northern New England, to Alberta and the Central Canadian Provinces;and most of the Rocky Mountain states from 4000-10,000 feet,with a 7 pound 270.

Never found it wanting in the slightest,and noticed a 130 Partition made very short work of all of them,no matter the angles as long as the bullet was directed into vitals.

I've used other more and less potent cartridges and bullets in the exact same places. Nothing worked any better.

I've found killing deer to be ridiculously simple. Getting a shot at a big one is the hard part.

Now Bob, you know that's not true.......


Sad thing about 270's and 30-06's is everyone knows that they could have stopped the search for the holy grail long before they started.


Guilty as charged.......

Yet recoil and blast reduction has it's benefits

Now about the benefits of short actions

Now that's some funny schit.....

Bob,

You reckon a 7-08 coulda killed all them deer as well?

I know what I think...

bludog

Bluedog: No doubt....but some were killed before the 7/08 existed. Even after I bought a 7/08 (and have killed with several) I never saw much difference except on a chronograph.

With bullets and loads of the day I might have had to hold skosh higher on the 400 yard stuff.....but I watched a companion dump a big buck off a mountainside at about 375 yards with a a 140- 7x57. The 7x57 was "our" 7/08 back in the day...... So.....


Like I am fond of saying out to 300-500 yards many of these cartridges have been so much the same.

There just isn't a whole bunch of difference terminally between cartridges and bullets in that category.Most important thing is knowing your rifle, how to hit under the circumstances and that boils down to round count and range time plus field experience.

The more I look at ballistic tables, the more convinced I become that the best mule deer cartridge is probably a .264 Winchester Magnum. It is a fairly easy shooting cartridge and with a 140gr bullet it has great energy and accuracy out to 500 yds.

There are dozens of other cartridges ballistically similar to this, but they all seem to have some trade off (more recoil, more expensive cartridges, etc).

JMO

BH63

I like the 264 also, but IMO, for deer, a good 125 or 130gr is plenty and the recoil is even less than with 140s.

I also agree that there is MUCH overlap in performance with a lot of cartridges, and one could, if blindfolded, not tell the difference in the field. Didn't "someone" say "Boolits is more important than headstamps"

270

270 win. Talk about beating a dead horse.... Geesh..

270?? "everybody" knows the 280 is far superior.

Especially the AI version. Hell, it whips the 7mm rem mags azz, if you ask its supporters. Been thinking about buying one and throwing all my other rifles away...

50,000+ threads on guns and how to kill stuff, 4,800 on how to cook it.


Interesting....

Boy that's a fact! People are funny....

Yeah, Deer are easy to kill, yet people will spend hours discussing and arguing the best way to kill them, spend thousands to produce $150+ per pound venison, then make dry hamburgers and crappy chili with it.