I own a 30-30. It's a 336 Marlin. And I am not a new hunter. I am 55 years old and having been hunting whitetails here in Alabama since I was a child. Not sure how many I have killed but well over a hundred. Killed them with a recurve and a compound bow. Killed them with muzzleloaders. Killed them with buckshot back in the dog hunting days. Killed them with a 243, 25-06, 7mm-08, 30-30, 35 Rem, 7.62x54R, 8mm Mauser, 45-70, 30-06, and a 7mm Mag.
And my opinion of the 30-30's performance on deer is a resounding, meh. They die, eventually. Often a 100 yards away out through a briar thicket where you have to locate them with a flashlight and a scant or non existant blood trail in the dark.
Maybe this is the problem for me. My personal Marlin 336 will not group any 150 grain bullets worth a flip. It will however shoot 170 grain Winchester power points well enough. Nothing to brag about but more than adequate for a 150 yard cartridge. Our Alabama bucks typically weigh about 170 pounds and the does considerably less than that. Maybe these 170 gran 30-30 bullets at such a low velocity just don't expand very well on our deer. Because my experience has been caliber size exit holes and long sparce blood trails.
To me even a 243 leaves the 30-30 in the dust when it comes to deer. Never understood the love for the cartridge outside of nostalgia for using the same lever action rifle that grandpappy used to own. Whenever I carry a lever gun in the woods now I take my 45-70. A slow bullet doesn't need to expand as much when it starts out 15 calibers larger. LOL!
Try some different bullets or ditch that .30-30. It doesn't seem it shoots very well from your description. My own 336 consistently shoots sub MOA 3 shot groups at 100 yards. I too have killed a lot of deer. Well over 200 in total and with several different cartridges. My experience with the .30-30 has been very positive as told in my post above. I have not seen that the big bores I've used put them on the ground any quicker than the .30-30 either. That would include many killed with 12 gauge slugs, 44 magnum, .50 caliber muzzleloader and .35 Remington. I also have a .243 and have killed several deer with that cartridge over the years. In no way has it proven more effective for me than the .30-30. In fact I am more comfortable at woods ranges with a .30-30 as I have gotten more consistent exits and consequently more consistent blood trails with the .30-30 than with the .243. All of this is on NY deer which I would think would average heavier than your Alabama deer. If the .30-30 didn't work completely satisfactorily for me, my .308 and .30-06 would have spent more time in the woods than they have.
