Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Best caliber for hunting long range whitetails .

What are your opinions for the best long range caliber for hunting whitetails out to 500-600 yards?

7mm

Out to 5-600, they'll all do it, beyond that can get dicey...

Just my personal opinion, but something in a moderate-sized 6.5 case would seem to be a good choice, and you could stretch it beyond that distance if/when you get the urge. If you want to be deadly at 5-600, a wise man once told me to shoot at longer ranges than that for practice.

Most any of the commonly used deer rounds should do the job. For 5-600 yds, it's more of a function of rifle and glass quality. And, of course, a practiced shooter.

My choice is a 6.5-284 with Z5 3.5-18x44 BT. I do like turrets for that application. My hunting bud has a .270 Sendero with Conquest. He knows the trajectory and how much to hold over out to 400 yds.+. For 5-600 yds, one really needs a ranging reticle or a turret, IMHO.

I'm a long time reloader and that helps. My bud, however, shoots factory ammo and kills a lot of stuff. He even named his Sendero, "E. F.", as in E. F. Hutton; "when E. F. Hutton speaks...". In his case, the name is quite appropriate...

DF

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http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/7267683/1

.264

6.5 mm

What kind of terrain? Whitetails are not that big, nor are they bulletproof, but I'd want more bullet and more trauma/blood if hunting 500yd deer as they cross roads/trails/lanes through thick cover than I would if I was hunting them in a meadow or pasture. Some locations may let you watch an animal for quite a while and pick your shot, others may force you to take a quicker shot with a tough angle or pass on the shot.

A fast one. SAUM, WSM, Rem Mag, maybe a 280 with 140's

300WM gets my vote

28

STW case

Why so serious, you guys? I thought we were talking deer, not elk or moose, here. I'll go with the .243 or .260, since IME a .243 is plenty of gun to get the job done, as long as good bullets and placement are used.

^Pretty much my thinking as well... a 6mm running something like a .5BC around 3050 would be pretty handy.

Exactly the reason why.Most of my deer hunting overlaps other big game.Rather enough that not.

I can certainly sympathize with that sentiment and situation, but the OP mentioned WT deer only.

I could slum a 6mm at .5bc at warp speeds for whitetail too.
But prefer it for antelope.

ok

No doubt it's got to be darn near perfect for speed goats too

A 7mag will flatten a whitetail at 630yds