Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Small area caliber choice?

Yeah, what's too large if you can handle it and shoot it well.

Looks at Elkhunternm's jackwabbit ordinance, or what gunner500 uses to kill those killer Okie 'dillers...

DF

45-70

I'm saying .44magnum or a slug barrel on a shotgun.

a bigger faster cartridge kills faster less wounded deer running around neighborhood ? and much better one shot kills too.to be honest you can`t beat just a 30-06 rifle for factory to find anyplace.

Go hunt them and see how "tame" they become. The 10 acres we used to hunt had the same tame deer.

We wod get out of the guys yard and in a tree and they were just as wired as deer that rarely see humans.

Maybe so, but if I wanted to kill a deer I wouldn’t leave the yard. I’d wait for a good buck to come out and eat the bread I throw for the does. A nice 3x3 gave me poison oak a few years ago when he let me pet him while he was eating apples out of my hand. I sort of forgot where he lived and didn’t wash my hands right away.




P

I’ve had dead deer run far enough to leave a 10 acre parcel after a solid hit with a .30-06.

CNS is the only sure thing in my experience.



P

This right here.

I have, too. Seem’em run way out of 10 ac, solid hit with a 26 Nosler, the bullet smokin fast.

Head or neck shoot’em. Round choice less important.

DF

Good point. There have been several times where I have really not wanted deer to run far. I have and also have had my son intentionally aim for where the neck and front shoulder meet. With a .40 cal 200 grain XTP traveling north of 2600 f/s from an SML, results have been spectacular.

I have both a ruger 77/44, and a ruger 44 carbine, they are both awesome deer slayers and are pretty quiet. I would recommend any rifle in a pistol caliber though with a short carbine type barrel.

Remington 125gr corelok managed recoil. Good for your stated 20-60yards. A lot quieter than your full power 170gr loads.

For shots to about 100 yards my favorite rifle is a flintlock. Just a cool way to bring home the meat.
But for short range it's pretty hard to beat a 30-30 or 35 Remington. And revolver shells in carbines (357 mag and 44 mag) work great too.
Of course any gun is OK if you gave a safe backstop and a bullet that opens up fast and isn't very strong will make a close range deer rifle out of a 300 Mag with little danger to the neighbors too. Just hard of deer meat.

I would go real precision and use head shots. A 22 Mag is quiet but is a rim fire. The other choice would be a 223 with 40 grain Nosler BT’s. Sight in at 35-40 yards. Either way get a heavy short barrel with plenty of scope and be very precise with shot placement. No meat loss and down right now. Be disciplined and if you don’t get a perfect shot then don’t shoot. You should be able to set up multiple suitable stands for this on your 9 acres.

Practice shooting something the size of a walnut until you can hit 100% of the time. At the distances of 20-60 should be fun. I like getting close and watching game. You don’t have to take everything that shows up.

There isn’t anything that will immediately anchor deer with body shots, nothing.

And with precise head shots they all work the same whether a 22 Mag or a 375 Magnum.

I wouldn't worry about the difference in sound level of any of the cartridges you mention. You're looking to do a one shot drop dead. A single rifle shot won't matter. Personally wouldn't go 30-30 as first choice. I'd pick the .308 with 150gr Accubond from Nosler or Underwood. Underwood lists that load at 2950fps and from what I hear they don't exaggerate. And the price is less than Nosler. Go shoulder shot a third to half way up. The deer will fall down and die. Maybe die and fall down. You're aiming for bone but even if you're off a little that load will make up for small errors.

Full disclosure, I've never shot anything with a .308 but have been on both sides using Ballistic Tip among others in 30-06 150gr and 7mm-08 in 120 BT and TSX, also .270 with 130 Accubond. At anything around 2900 fps with a 150 AB in your .308 you're as close to drop dead as you'll get even burning more powder with more noise. If you're really trippin on the 99 do it. Just about any 150 will work, maybe 170 for bone. And the 130 Hornady mentioned sounds very interesting, maybe for high lung/spine/shoulder blade. Personally don't care for head shots because they can turn into jaw shots etc. OK, cough medicine wearing off. Better stop yakking and get some sleep.

Mike:

Slug guns are not all that safe. If they hit a rock, the ricochets tend to travel a lot farther. I wouldn't necessarily scrap the slug idea, but don't use safety as a reason. At very close range, a slug will be devastating. However, you will be limited in range.

Really anything you've mentioned will work. The only one I'd really cross off is the 350 REM MAG. I shoot a 35 Whelen at times, and my neighbors know when I've had a successful outing.

My advice is to use the 308 WIN. It will bring the animal down. It is not THAT much louder than a 30-30, but it will do demonstrably more damage to the deer and with good shot placement, the deer will be anchored on the spot. It covers all the ranges, all the likely scenarios, and does so with aplomb.

If all you got is 9 acres and you've got houses all around, I'd just make sure that you are hunting from an elevated position and firing down. This is the best way to ensure the bullet goes into the dirt fairly close to the animal.

Slugs ricochet like a superball...

This is the realistic best answer.

One loud report, regarldess of what its from, is much better than any bullets or wounded deer stumbling or tumbling into their back yards.

Shoot from a stand, always aim into the dirt, hunt the property like you have a bow and be glad you can use a rifle. From above hit spine into the vitals and they are DRT regardless fo what you use.

Were I you Id bloody each gun on the new property.

An then start loading cast bullets for your 350 or for your new 45-70 falling block or rebore dads old 38-40 to ... something.