Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Your favorite deer caliber and rifle?

I have not been very consistent on one rifle for deer for a few years now, bouncing all over from 45-70 to .22 cal things.... But starting to level out back to more of a consistent.... 7mm cal either 280 rem or 7mm rem mag. Tang safety ruger 77 in both calibers and as of late, a trim ruger Hawkeye in 7mm rem mag.

270 always does the job for me.

No flies on my 243 AI with 105 BTHPs.

Tikka T3x hunter stainless in 308 is my current favorite

For blacktail, my Model 7 in .358 is my hands-down favorite.

For my 3 mulies I’ve used 7 WSM and loved it.

Spent a lot of years hunting deer with a Rem mod 660 in 308 w/2 3/4x Redfirld Widefield. Son has the rifle now and I have the scope on my 30-06. Got a Win mod 70 featherweight in 6.5x55 could become #1 now but waiting on a Rem mod 700 beinging rebarreled to 260 Rem I'm planning on 129gr bullet's in that might do it. Used to switch off my 308 for a Ruger mod 77 in 7x57 now and then. Even have shot a few with a 243 and for big game I've never been real big on the 243. One I have now is a Mossberg Patriot set up with 70gr bullet's, my plinking and target practice gun and now and then coyote rifle.

Main elk rifles are a 30-06 1903 Springfield by Paul Jaeger and sharing the spotlight there is a Rem mod 700 in 6.5x06. Both just seem to drop elk where they stand.

Marlin 444P in 444 w/ 290 grain cast bullets or Tikka Veil in 308

Remington model 7 .260 for a woods gun. Remington model 700 6.5=.284 for long range gun.

I used to have favorites, first a 03 Springfield w/4x El Paso Weaver, then a 721 Rem 30-06, both with 180 grain CL’s, then Interlocks.
Now my favorites include: 257R, 25-06, 7x57, 280, 270, 300 Savage, 30-06, & 308.

I’ve hunted/shot deer with other cartridges (256 Win Mag, 22-250, 6mm, 30-30, 32 Special, 264 Win Mag, 7mm RM, 300 Win Mag, 350 Rem Mag, 375 Whelen AI and 338) and with muzzle loaders. If I have an elk tag and a deer tag I tend to use rifles with larger cartridges than when hunting with just a deer tag. The 256 Win Mag was a mistake.

This year it will be one of the 25’s: 250, 257, or 25-06. I need to take out my 7mm-08 and I believe that will be a favorite too.

A 303 SMLE, a 8x57, and a 30-40 Krag are on my to do list, but their sights limit where I’d hunt with them.

I’ve killed the most deer with the 30-06. The bullet most used would be Interlocks, but I’ve tried quite a few including cast.

The choice of cartridges varies every season any more — just because!

By far my favorite "deer rifle" is the Tikka T3 chambered in 7mm/08. Also works pretty good on just about every other game animal, excluding the big coastal grizzlies.

Been using a Ruger Mk II Stainless in 30-06 for alot of years, so long that she will always be a favorite. However in the last few she has been taking a back seat to a Kimber Montana in .308. Amazing hunting rigs.

Why do people refer to a rifle as a she?? Asking for a friend. It’s a thing, wasnt born either. It was manufactured.

Whoops, gotta watch those pronouns.

DF

I just had a PacNor barrel put on an Interarms action in 6.5x284 & boy, it shoots. Might be my go to for long range too.

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I too like my SS Mk II '06. Bought it here on the Classifieds in a boat paddle stock for around $750, didn't like how that stock fit, sold boat paddle on eBay for $385, bought a Boyd Classic for less than half, slimmed it down, removed the cheek piece, drilled out the butt to get the weight down to around 28 oz. Tung oil/Urethane finish, Jard trigger and a glass job later, here's what you get. It would be on my short list of favorite deer rifles.

DF

.270 and the 1899 .303

This coming season I'll be hunting mainly with 3 new to me rifles, a Ruger M77 RSI in .250 Savage, a Kimber Montana in .257 Roberts and a Ruger 1A in 6.5 Creedmoor. Any (or all) of them could turn out to be a favorite, but so far, it's the RSI.

Currently it's a Marlin in 35 Remington.

Hey friend, those are some great photos from some good times hunting.

When I open safe, the rifle that hollers the loudest gets to go.