You wouldn't play a round of golf with just one club, so why would you want a single rifle to hunt whitetails with? A single rifle would have to be a compromise, since there are so many different hunting scenarios that would call for different specs in an attempt to achieve perfection.
Or so it seems to me.
Agreed. I know my collection is small compared to yours but still I have 20 or so sighted in deer rifles, all with their respective reloads in bore diameters from 224 to .451. The only gaps are 6.5 and .338. Well no 416 either. I was thinking along the lines of a rifle that will do most deer hunting without issue.
Probably so, but I think that a person could cover the spectrum pretty with two rifle, a bolt action rifle set up for longer ranges and a lever/pump/semi-auto set up for still-hunting in tight cover.
I have a two rifle set that I use for hunting elk, a CLR for over-watch and a Remington 760 for tight cover, both in 270 and both using the same ammo.
