Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Favorite Caliber for 200+ Yard Shots?

I'm considering a new gun for the upcoming season due to the new lease I was lucky enough to stumble on. It has some nice flat, open fields and I'm looking at some 200+ yard shots. What is your favorite caliber for deer for those 200+ yard shots?

I've never shot a deer at over 100 yards. But I use a 30-06 for most of my hunting. It is said that an '06 is never a wrong choice.

How far past 200yds are you expecting to shoot?

Not over 400

One could never go wrong with a 270…..a pure hunting round designed by Winchester to kill big game animals at long ranges.

Then I'd say anything between a 6.5CM and one of the WSM chamberings. Something pushing a .400BC+ spitzer of 120-165gr at 2,700 to 3,100 or so. That's a pretty big spread, but they'll all work.

What's more important is having a reasonable degree of accuracy, a sound method for calculating shot impacts at the various ranges, and some quality time on the trigger at distance. It's no thing, really, to wear out the 200/300/400yd gongs with a sporter in 6.5, or 7mm-08, or 308, when you can plot the impacts. Some use BDC-style reticles, some use turrets, and some use scorching velocity with minor holdover. It all works if you practice it.

well my favorite caliber is 25 , my favorite cartridge is 257 Weatherby mag i shoot a 100 gr, Nosler partition 3800 fps and no out to 400 yards a 6.5 Creedmoor doesn`t - not - nope -no - never = out shoot this cartridge for deer in those ranges,

7mm RM
280AI
280
270
30-06
25-06
300 Win Mag
257 Weatherby
270 Weatherby
7mm Weatherby
264 Win Mag
6.5-06 AI

And then - Nosler cartridges, 8mm RM, 300 Weatherby

Having too much power or too flat shooting is better than too little power or rainbow trajectory.

I have or had many of those chambered rifles. I think all would work. If I knew the shots would be possibly 400 yards and I wanted to stick to a commonly found on the shelf, I’d pick either the 7mm RM or the 300 Win Mag.
I normally don’t shoot 400 yards at game any more though.

This last year I was watching a pond and out of a corner of my eye I noticed a deer standing still. I had not taken my range finder with me and I estimated the range to be 350 yards. I had a 308 Win and I knew the trajectory of the load, I took the shot. The bullet went under the lungs. The range was close to 425 yards. I filled my tags later. I did not expect to need a range finder - I did.
If you’re shootings at those distances don’t [bleep] up like I did, take a range finder along and know the trajectory of your load.

My favorite is this 25-06 Remington 700 CDL with the 6x Leupold. Typically I'll handload 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips to 3150 fps. I've taken most of my mule deer over the past 15 or 20 years with it at ranges from 20 yards to 400 yards. Mild recoil, good accuracy. But honestly, there are many different cartridges that will do just fine.



Regards, Guy

My 25-284 or 257 Wby

GreggH

My favorite rifle for hunting deer and everything else I'll ever hunt is my push feed Model 70 Featherweight 7X57. It's topped with a 1980s vintage Burris 4X scope. All I load it with are 160 grain Nosler Partitions and a stiff load of H4350 powder in R-P cases and WLR primers.

You pretty much could use most anything in a loading book save a few straight walled or some smaller .22 cartridges

The world is your oyster

No question. The .25-20.

Personally, I think a 270 with 130s or a 270wsm with 140s is the answer. Having said that, I have used and wouldn’t think twice in the future about using a 7MM-08 with 140s, 308 with 150s, 30-06 with 150-165s, or the 7MM and 300 mags with mid weight velocity appropriate bullets. Hell, some of my longest shots on deer and antelope have been with a 338/340wby and 200 to 210g bullets. The choice is not as important as an accurate rifle and shooter. The answer for longer range shooting is always to use a rest of some kind (shooting sticks, tripod, tree, rock or pack). Get out and practice shooting from field positions.

I'm a 7mm guy. 7mm-08 and on up. Wouldn't mid someone coming along and chambering a rifle in 7mmBR just to play with.👍🏻

Boy we just love to over think things......
What do you own now?

How much beyond 200 yards? That is not very far for most deer cartridges .. bottlenecked cases for bolt action rifles. Among those you'd have to work pretty hard to find one that is not going to get the job done. If it's only a smidge over 200 yards, a good .30-30 will get the job done. A few straight cased cartridges will be ok even, .38-55 or .45-70 can make it with practice.

Today I'm shooting a .308. Not my favorite cartridge by a long shot, but mine is accurate. It is 5-3/4 pounds, scope and all, and gave me a nice 1.34" group at 320 yards sighting in last year or the year before. Hard to argue with. My favorites would probably be .257 Roberts but anything bigger will do.

Probably a max of 400 yards for me

I went through this about 10-11 years ago, and after looking at everything that was available- I went with a .270 Weatherby. I don’t think it was the wrong choice, either. Then again- neither would a .264 Winchester, or a 7mm Remington Magnum, or a .300 Winchester. Depends on if you want to be able to buy ammo off the shelf, or if you like to hand load- then again, the brass for Weatherby’s is more expensive, so either way you could take that into consideration, but in the grand scheme of things, I feel like that is inconsequential.

What everyone above said is true- pretty much anything will work, but I think I know where your head is at- you want something that is the best tool for the job at hand. Get a fast, flat shooting cartridge and learn where it shoots and the system you decide to use with it (adjustable turrets, BDC reticles, or KY windage), and you’ll be just fine. Just don’t buy a 6.5 CM- that would be silly.

The 675 mega blaster