I own a number of good useable calibers for deer and even larger game...30-30, 25-06, 7mm-08, 300 Win Mag and a 9.3x62. Hands down, my favorite deer rifle is my Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 358 Winchester. I would not hesitate to use it in brush or at longer range at up to 300 yards for deer and up to 225 to 250 yards for elk. Using a stout load of Ramshot TAC with 225 grain Nosler Partitions, I have a lot of confidence in this rifle.
Much wisdom here. My .358 is a Model 7. I have killed a bunch of blacktail with the 200 grain Hornady SP, which is a wicked little ashtray, and a bunch with the 225 Partition You are spot-on with the TAC recommendation; it ends the compressed-loads stuff.
I had tremendous success with RL-7 and 200's, easily driving them to 2650 fps with eternal brass life and no pressure signs. Also no powder compression.
The 225 Partition isn't going to jelly lungs and so on. It makes a big, polite hole through the deer and is easy on the meat. The 200 Horn SP is going to smack them harder. Either works great. The 225 NP has a usable BC that lets you stretch it into a 300-yard plus rifle if you choose to do that. No way with the 200 Horn- it's a butterfly in the wind!
The 225 Sierra is a good practice stand-in for the 225 NP. Sierra told me it was too hard for .358. I haven't used it on game.
