Killed quite a few "woods" deer from whitetail does to 300-pound mule deer bucks with the .30-06 and 200-grain Nosler Partitions. Not all were 50 yards or less, but all well inside 100.
Used this combination because at the time a bolt-action .30-06 with a 4x scope was my only big game rifle, having lost some others due to a divorce. Had long known the .30-06 was a fine all-around cartridge for Montana game, but didn't realize quite how well it worked with that one load until using it.
It worked very well on whitetail does without ruining much meat at all, and also shot lengthwise through a big mule deer buck facing almost directly away.
Of course, it also worked well on elk--which is the main reason I started loading it. But also killed one pronghorn doe with a rib-shot at 250 yards, and she dropped quickly as well--with the same minor meat-damage.
All of which is one more factor about why the longer I hunt, the more I've started disbelieving all the agonizing rifle loonies often go through to pick the "perfect" rifle and cartridge. This may seem like heresy, but there it is.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
