Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Lowest recoil rifle & caliber for deer & bear

357 is fantastic at shorter ranges. The 180 XTP at just 12-1400 is deadly.

For longer ranges, the Grendel or ARC use 30% less powder than a Creedmoor or 243, but still have plenty to kill deer and bear. Creed and 243’s are still a little overkill unless you’re really stretching the range.

Typical answers on these sorts of threads:

"Recoil is between your ears." Uh, no it's not.

"Get a brake." Sure, add more noise to recoil.

The question has already been answered intelligently several dozen times, so no need to add to those. Just wanted to point out some things here never change...

I can't get enough of my 20", suppressed 7-08 launching 140 AB's @ 2710fps.

Does anyone actually notice recoil when shooting at game? I would vote 7x57 using OP criteria or 6.5x55.

I’m amazed by them. My 7 year old daughter can shoot and shoot a mid weight(howa) 6 creedmoor suppressed. We spend much more time with a 223 but she has no problem with the 6mm. Obviously it’s not a recoil monster but to a little kid it would have a little pop without the suppressor. I plan to teach my kids what recoil is rather than going back and correcting mistakes by introducing it too early. Like happened with me and every single honest friend I have. Most of it was our fault wanting to shoot the bigger guns to show we were big boys but all of us ended up with a flinch that needed sorting out.

Doubtful shooting game but some of us shoot for practice and recreation a little on the side.

Not the point, ever. Flinching starts at the bench, and is unconsciously carried over into the field.

What affects shooting at game is the preparation which includes sighting in and practice. Whatever effect recoil will have is ingrained then. The subconscious won't just disappear because hair is in the sights.

Right on Brad.

The OP asked for the lowest recoiling rifle to reliably harvest deer and bear. Not whether a Creedmoor has a lot of recoil. Not whether you notice recoil when shooting at game.

The easy answers to the question is 223 if you’re comfortable (I would be), and if not, a 357 Mag rifle for short range or 300 Blk/ARC/Grendel for longer. Or you can download to those same levels with a whole host of other calibers.

Lol so you put down mentioning creedmoor recoil but mention 357 mag 300 BLK etc etc??? Makes perfect sense.

Yes. Extremely good point there. Comfort from solid practice helps carry over to solid shots in the field. Combine some buck fever with a well-developed flinch, as well as an improvised field rest and you're are asking for some sub-par results.

Not sure what you mean? Those calibers recoil less than the Creed, but still have the guts to kill medium game, as the OP was asking…

Or a 120 BT @ 2925..........

I haven’t put suppressor on my 708 yet but I shoot the 120’s right at 3,000 from a 22” barrel. I’ll have it cut off some when I get it threaded. Those 120’s sure don’t leave a fella looking for anything more from what I’ve seen. I admit I have used 22’s and 6mm’s much more though.

Wrong!

What is "wrong"? The notion that bench flinching doesn't tend to disappear in the field?

I don't bear hunt, so I can't answer that question. For the deer, I would say look at the 250 Savage and 6mm ARC. Too bad we don't live in 1936 because lots of mild cartridges worked for all sorts of game.

Adrenaline might compensate for you "noticing" recoil, but as JPro and others are noting, that doesn't mean you aren't still flinching. From what I've observed, folks who flinch on the bench actually flinch *worse* in a hunting situation if they don't have a routine they've practiced a TON. (How many new hunters tell themselves "I'm going to watch for a long time, then slowly move the rifle up, then slowly..." but in reality, they see a deer, grab the rifle, yank the trigger, flinch, and who knows how it ends up?

There it is.