Lets not confuse the issue at hand, even a giant mule deer does not rival an average elk in body mass or stamina.
Of those listed the 140Ab would be an excellent place to start. I myself plan on developing this load in 7mm rem mag for antelope - deer for 06'. Current choice is 150NBT, it flat out performs on range and in the field. Never seen the gerinade internet blab that is so commonly referenced. Maybe our 300lb plus canadian bucks are not enough of a measure? I degress..not part of the question asked. If your wanting to try the NBT bump up to 140 minimally. In my rifle the 150's just shoot better thats all.
I have used the 160AB for deer and it performed very well. The TSX although not mentioned by yourself should not be thrown aside either. My experience with the old x bullet was not a raging love affair however the TSX succeeds it by a large margin. 120 TSX if you get it to fly will flat out scream and no worry about penetration or excessive expansion. However the 140's would also be an excellent choice. I worked a 140 TSX load up last year which was used to harvest; bull elk, bull moose and 2 deer.
Boils down to what the rifle and shooter likes best for the situation. I can't think of many bullets that would not be consider mule deer acceptable, in all honesty.
E, if your wanting an everything load for the 7mm mag and for any possible situation look no further than the 140TSX BT or 150TSX BT. You'll be hard pressed to find many bullets that perform in this manner. If your going to shoot ribs only then a bonded polymer, etc will work equally effectively on big elk on down. I used the 160ab for the same animals as the 140TSX, both resulted in 1 shot harvested animals. The only thing is I never pushed the AB into them big shoulders on the likes of a moose or elk!! The 140TSX was put to that test on my bull moose in a heavy 1/4 away shot of approx 70 yards. Bullet took out both lungs thru opposite scapula and only a few akward steps were taken before tumbling. I found it tucked in the under side of the hide, recovered bullet was slightly over 2x dia expansion(losing 1 pellet) and retained 91% of original weight. Very little meat loss from the opposite shoulder. Considering it was driven at over 3200fps, I simply can't imagine a better result. The other were all pass thru double lungs, only difference higher wound or vital damage with the polymer bullet over the barnes. Just my experience but I really saw no huge differences with a rib in or out shot so either seem like a viable option. While I never pushed a Ab into the shoulder I have a pretty good idea that the results would not have been the same as a TSX. Could they work well the NP has and AB is designed along the same premise but of course without doing it myself it is based on theory. My own experience with a polymer tip bullet is it will work but at a cost of some meat and lost forward progress. On a deer no worries about getting pay dirt but on elk sized tough angled shot or shoulder flush hit I'd stick to what has shown or proven to work.... TSX, NP's, etc.
Good Luck
