Coyote/Deer caliber?

My WalMart had the .25-06 but not the 7mm-08 or .300 WM, or amazingly the .30-06(!) the last time I cared to notice.

My local Dick's had everything except .25-06, but they had .35 Rem and .270 WSM. The Gander Mountain has all those and three dozen more.

I have been hunting for nearly 50 years and have only had to buy extra ammo once, and that was dove hunting. I thought I was a pretty good scattergun shot when I was young, but did not know that stone dead doves could still fly away. As far as deer hunting goes, I have never fired more than 4 times in a season.
I would go with a .243 in a rifle of your choosing with good optics. A properly fitting rifle will be a great confidence builder, the lower recoil makes you want to shoot more, the cheaper ammo will allow you to.

My preference would be, in order:

.308
25-06
7mm-08

I selected the .308 first in case you decide you ever want to hunt elk. I know you said it wasn't in the plans but plans have a way of changing as one hunts more. It's not the optimal cartridge, and truth be told I prefer something else for longer range deer, but it can be made to get the job done.

If I was limited to one rifle for all North American game it would be the .300 Win Mag. Personally I think you should look at two rifles instead of one. Those two being the 25-06 and the .300 Win Mag.

BikerRN

If you don't want a pelt, who cares what you shoot them with.

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This.
If you don't care about the pelt, focus on what you like for deer hunting. It'll do fine on the yotes. I'd go with .30-06 or .308 Win myself.

In order: .243, .260, .270

As far as the advice that the .243 is "not enough gun" all I can say is that IMO many hunters vastly over-gun themselves for deer.

I actually think that while the .30-06 may be a more universal round for NA big game, the .25s are probably closer to ideal deer rounds and the .243 has more than enough power for any whitetail and was in fact intended for just the use you propose (deer/varmint).

About the only reason I can see why your sources are discounting the .243 is that in some circles it's still considered a boy's/woman's round, unsuitable for a "real" man.

My 257bob has served me very well for both whitetail and cyotes

A 257 Roberts is a great round.
But sadly,finding ammo in the middle of the country stores and even Wal-Mart is another thing.
I love a 6mm but again finding ammo in the hinterland when necessary is none too easy.
Which is the beginning of the end for some ammo except what is known as standard American useage ammo except for the online buyer or reloader.
Sad...But getting very true.
Hit the hinterland stores to get a good grasp of what I am saying here.

Well... my choice is of course the 7-08.

But, so much of this thread has been dedicated to availability and if I was only going to choose based on that, then I think I would go .270.

You will find it anywhere you find 30-06 and imho just a better caliber for the end of the hunting spectrum your interested in and, will take the bigger stuff if you need it to.

Downrange energy vs recoil, flatness of trajectory is just better with the 6.5-7mm projectiles in the weights you'll be shooting.

AND...I've always stayed away from .243 as a do it all rifle because of its reputation as a barrel burner.

I've always been an admirer of the .270 and as you aren't worried about saving pelts your could shoot any garden variety 130 gr load for terrific performance on deer or coyote for verh reasonable cost. The .243 would be terrific as well, but generally the ammo I see for it is more expensive than .270 and it doesn't hurt to run a premium bullet in the .243 for the best performance on deer which adds even more to the cost.

There's a whole class of cartridges designed to do just exactly what you want to do with this rifle. The oldest is the .250 Savage, the hottest is the .240 and .257 Weatherby, and there are a ton of cartridges in between.

The one you will find the most rifles chambered for, and the one you will find the most ammo on the shelf for, at the lowest price, is the .243 Winchester. It is designed to be a varmint and deer killing cartridge. It is easy to load for, and you will be able to shoot it all day and still be enjoying yourself when you run out of ammo. Other cartridges may actually be "better" designed, but the .243 is a success story with no end in sight.

I bought one in July. It's a Savage, and it shoots very, very well. Enjoy!

Yea, a .243 is perfectly fine for deer. Also i would look into .257 weatherby, 25-06, and you could even use .223 for both as well.

if you are considering one of the smaller calibers (204 ruger, 5.56x45, ect...) you should check your states wildlife code to see if they have caliber restrictions for deer. I know Missouri law dictates that for deer you must use "a centerfire cartridge of greater than 22 caliber", I can't say for other states, but it is a possibility.

If I could only own one centerfire hunting rifle, it would be a .30-06. There is little you can't do with one.

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Especially since I handload, I could say the same thing about a lot of calibers....my 7 mag is one. You can load .300 win mag down to .30-30 levels if desired, but you can't load the .30-30 UP to .300 win mag....ditto the .30-06.

But, we're talkin' deer and coyote here. My original post stands.

Just because my local dealer doesn't carry 25-06; didn't change my mind about buying two rifles in 25-06; which is my favorite caliber by far. That ammo problem is not even a problem. I ordered 10 boxes of 85 grain ballistic silvertips back in 2003; which is 200 rounds; I zeroed the scope; went on two predator hunts in Texas, am Awesome Coyote Hunt in New Mexico, plus countless coyote hunting here in the East; and I have 145 rounds left. They'll last me the rest of my life probably. All I did was order them from Natchez. It was easy, and I'm supplied for life. Now, if you must shoot at the range every year with that gun just to get some trigger time in; then maybe it's not for you; but once I zero a scope; that zero does not move; at least not yet. I get my trigger time in on a .223 at the range.

I just wanted to share that My choice is the 25-06; the 85 grain ballistic tip bullets are the ultimate Coyote Killer; BUT NOT IF YOU'RE COLLECTING HIDES. It flies out the muzzle at a blistering 3450 fps. Then, if you want to go on a whitetail or Mule Deer hunt; The 115 Grain Nosler Partition would be hard to beat(In this caliber). Although you can go to a 120 grain bullet if you want. However, I went with a 100 grain Nosler Partition for deer. But my 100 grain partition is loaded by Nosler Custom Trophy Grade Ammo and has a muzzle velocity of 3300; which is plain awesome for 100 grains. I was initially set on 115 grain partition; but with the velocity of this particular 100 grain load; I will have the ultimate long range deer round. Some people have their own set of rules; and will absolutely not shoot a deer with anything less than a 270; but you don't have to look hard to find many articles about how awesome the 115 grain partition is on terminal performance in a deer. I found many discussions of guys hunting deer with 100 grain bullets as well. If it was not intended for deer, Nosler Custom would not have chose the partition for their projectile. The partition style bullet has one of the longest track records of big game killing performance. Federal loaded the Triple Shock in the 100 grain load. These loads are just fine for North American Whitetails/Mulies. Please know that this is my opinion.
I do a lot of research but also have experience in the field, which gives me confidence that the 25-06 is a heck of a deer cartridge with 100 to 120 big-game bullets. And it is the ultimate coyote cartridge with 85 grain bullets. I just wanted to add to this discussion guys; I couldn't resist; because I feel so strongly about the 25-06; It's my absolute favorite. With very similar ballistics, the .243 is right up there with it. But I don't think you can go as heavy with the .243. However, you can go to 100 and I think I've read where people use 110 grain on .243; but I could be wrong.

I've killed a couple of dozen bucks with a .243, and I don't recall any which moved out of their tracks when hit. Mostly neck shots. A few cross-body heart/lung shots. I don't take angling shots.

Coyotes? The .243 is nicely ruinacious on Ol' Wily. The Federal load with the 85-grain Sierra HPBT does horrible things to him.

My rig is a little Sako 19" carbine; seven pounds ready to hunt. I've never noticed the recoil as other than "mild".

Absolutely .243 Winchester. You can buy/load V-max bullet 65-80ish grains rounds for pest control. You can buy/load 100 grain soft point rounds for larger game. Can't go wrong. It isn't too loud either. Shoot a .30-06 a few times without ears on and you will know what I am talking about. Of course, the choice is yours to make. .243 is also a lot cheaper than any other centerfire round you are considering and will do the job. All you have to do is hit the animal in the engine bay and it won't be going far. I wouldn't take shots over 300 yards myself, but that is your concern. Ever checked out a Tikka T3 rifle? Good luck.