Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The best deer cartridge

I have 4 tags for 2020.
I have filled 2 now. 1st one with a 35 Remington from a M141 Remington pump with a peep sight loaded with an old 200 grain CL round nose bullet. 181 yards.
Number 2 was yesterday. 30-30 Marlin M36 24" rifle, also with a peep sight. Used a 170 grain Speer 170 grain Flat Point. 207 yards.

So I have 2 more deer to kill. Lovely moments in my life involve the "pain" of trying to decide what gun and load to use next. I like using iron sights so in my list for my next 2 deer are the following 6 rifles.

6.5 Mannlicher M1903 carbine. I use 156 gr PPU round nose bullets.
270 Winchester in a Win M95 lever action. 150 grain Remington Round Nose Core Lokt.
303 British made in the style of a "Speed Srorter". 180 grain Remington Core Lokt.
300 Savage with a 150 grain Core-Lokt from my Savage M99.
300 Savage with a 180 grain Winchester Power Point from my Remington M81.
9.3X57 Mauser, Husky M48 with 285 gr PPU Round Nose.

So..............which 4 are going to be left out of the 2020 deer season?

6.5 creedmoor, 7mm-08, or .308 would be my best.

The best deer cartridge is the one a hunter just killed a deer with

I just chambered a 7mmSTW... not glass bedded yet.

In summary, I think the 6.5-06 is the best for deer. The only disadvantage is no source of brass. I have to run 30-06 brass through a 6.5-06 die, and then the case head marking is wrong.

I bought some 6.5-06 brass. I forgot who made it.


Midway has 5 boxes.

I remember how cool I thought it was that an old mentor of mine just kept using the .338 WM he’d brought down with him from Alaska. Hard to argue with the results he got with that on deer!

I like smaller these days... .257 Rob, 6.5x55 Swede, 6-250, 7-08, 7x57.

.30 WCF has “vintage gravitas” and tough to argue with especially in a peep-sighted lever gun!

I run .25-06 through the die myself but yeah incorrect head stamp oh well.

I’ve taken deer with everything from a .243 to .338 Win Mag with about a dozen more in between. With all that, I’d find it very hard to argue against the 6.5 Creedmoor as the best deer cartridge.

East or West, 6 - 600 yards (even with the same bullet!), mild recoil, bucks the wind.

Great factory ammo with tons of different bullets is widely available at good prices. It’s an accurate little bugger, and handloaders can get just about any bullet to shoot well in one.

If I was an Eastern or Midwestern hunter, I’d choose something like a 120gr Ballistic Tip or TTSX, or maybe a 129gr SST or 130gr AccuBond for a little extra zip within 300 yards. Out here, I like the 142gr ABLR and 143gr ELD-X for a bit more velocity retention and wind bucking in case a longer shot becomes necessary. There are plenty of other 6.5 bullets that would get the job done but these seem to appeal to me and my rifle the most.

I just can’t see any appreciable difference between dead and dead

I have killed deer with 22 mag,300blk, 22-250,223, 307 Win, 9mm, 45-70,308, 30-06, 243,260,6.5 creedmoor, 270, 7mm rum, 300wsm, 45 mzl, 50 mzl, bow, crossbow, 20g, 12g, and a truck

Pick a cartridge and kill deer within said cartridges limits

I typically use one of my 243’s or my 260. Also use the 30-06 occasionally. 300blk kills them just fine for my kids.

I think too much consideration is given to cartridges honestly. Deer aren’t hard to kill

32 Special

I agree with you and disagree with qualifications.
Yes, deer aren't hard to kill. As you said 22 Mag--- UP, as long as shot placement is correct.

I've dispatched car wounded deer with a 22 LR and hunted and killed with an 8mm RM (totally unnecessary but I own one).

Where the qualifications come in IS the WHERE someone hunts. I've hunted Nat'l Forest, thickets, pastures, cutovers,
and power / pipelines.

I like a cartridge that you can HIT a deer from the muzzle out to 400 yds. NOT all those you listed are good at distance.
Where I hunt now, I can be in a thicket or on an open pasture or fence row and 400 yds isn't out of the question.

MY, MY requisite is a cartridge with adequate capability & trajectory out to 400 yds. My choices are less than in your list.
ATST, as you said, we must *shoot* within the cartridge's limit.

Jerry

Best answer I've seen in this thread!

Like a 6.5x57?

I don't think a non answer does the thread justice nor is it "the best answer". If I was only going to hunt deer for the rest of my life and give up on the Elk and moose drawings I could easily come up with 3 or 4 cartridges that I feel are ideal for that. The 308, 7mm-08, and 6.5 Creedmoor would be my top three.

Yeah. Anything from 6mm to .308 in a short action. Really hard to argue against the 6.5 diameter as being a good fit for deer.....hard argue against the case design and capacity of the CM for pushing it.

yes i will use my 257 Weatherby Mag. when i get in the stand opening mourning looking for a nice whitetail buck but after a few days i will bring out my new to me rifle with my handloads 256 Newton and i plan on shooting a doe with this rifle ! this old rifle 256 Newton is a very neat old bolt action made back around 1920 vintage ? and as Mule Deer explained to me about this cartridge its a 6.5 bullet with a barrel bore diameter is . 256 and that`s how Newton decided the name, same thing as his 300 Newton it is really .308 bore diameter. so what would we do without Mule Deer`s help ! ? thanks again,Pete53

It is 7mm-08 or .30-06 for me because those are the 2 calibers in deer rifles I currently own.

It is the one that will do the least damage to the neck meat.

Jwall.

I agree. I typically wanna be able to go close to mid range myself. Which the 243 and 260 do very well for me. When I’m hunting strictly thick woods I typically grab a rifle with lower power scope that is handy in the stand over anything else. Which is typically a model 7 243. If had a 30-30( which is a problem I need to rectify) id grab it in tight woods.

Most hunters aren’t hunting from point blank to 400 yards. Most have no business shooting much past 150 yards anyways. Most don’t even think of guns the way most of us do on campfire.

Good example is a guy I grew up with. Andy has killed a lot of nice bucks in west Tennessee and middle Tennessee over the years. He will shoot 5-7 does a year and typically 1-2 bucks. He has been using the same 35 Remington since he was about 12( 35 now) I attempted to talk to him about better cartridges and he laughed. Said his rifle has never let him down. It’s the only deer rifle he owns

Most are happy with whatever they have or were given Will buy whatever factory ammo shoots pie plate at 100. Cheap scopes that they never even leveled more than with naked eye

I just feel way to much thought is put into the “best deer cartridge” when there are so many great cartridges around. Non is best

I guess this is, what, post #11?