Best gun for deer

Status
Not open for further replies.
Theyre an easy animal to kill. Just about anything works. I like 308 but thats just personal preference. Some say its overkill. Some say its underkill.
 
I agree, I think 30-06 would be great. For deer, and other animals. I also like 243 because it can also be used for varmint with 58 grain bullets.
 
With the right bullet and shot placement any of those will work.

There is no "best" for deer. There are just lots and lots of calibers that do it well.

There may be a best for you though...depending on many other criteria such as other uses for the gun beyond deer hunting, availability of ammo, tolerance for recoil, range, desire or need for the gun to be versatile (i.e. can shoot lots of different bullet weights) etc.
 
As someone else said, there is no best deer gun. I have favorites; a .308 bolt and a .270 auto. However, if I am going to be hunting in brush or scrubby woods, I pull out my .30 wcf. Not because of the caliber, but because of the barrel length and iron sights. All have done well and keep my freezer full.
 
Just by the way, I am not asking for advice. I am just curious as to what people like to use.
 
Do a poll then. My guess is .308 will come out on top although most of my hunting buddies use 7mm mag because they are to cheap to buy more than one gun and they hunt elk too..
 
Almost any centerfire caliber is enough for deer if you know your terrain and the limitations of the caliber you've chosen. I know a lot of people who took their first deer with a .22 Hornet. Sit in a blind, wait for a 75 yard or less shot, put it through the lungs. Works like a champ. All bigger or faster calibers buy you is range and possibly a shorter track after the shot. But if you hunt dense brush, the range is useless and if you muff the shot, you'll be tracking for a long time even with a .30 caliber.

Personally, I like the .308. But there are enough very good calibers suitable for deer that I am not prone to argue about it. The argument comes when people insist on taking shots outside their skill level or the capability of the round they're using.
 
When it comes to deer hunting I like a comfortable shooting rifle that carries nicely. In the areas that I tend to hunt deer your shots can be close and quick or you might need to make a 300+ yard shot. One of my favorite deer rifles is a 22" Model 70 with a feather weight "edge" stock in .30-06. I shoot a 165 gr bullet and have my scope , a Leupold 2.5x8 doped out the adjustment limit of the scope. The scope dope thing is primarily just for fun but a deer standing broadside at 400 yards on a calm day would be in mortal danger if I had a solid rest.

There have been a few North American target rocks pay the ultimate price at 800ish yards however. Off season no target rock is safe!;)

I also have a purpose built .270 Weatherby on a M-70 action. This a long range rifle that I had built for sheep, goat and antelope hunting in wide open spaces. It has a Leupold 2x12 scope on it and is dialed out to 980 yards. This rifle is an absolute tack driver it will give me 3" to 4" groups at 600 yards off the bench with boring regularity. Sometimes I like to hunt deer with that rifle too. However if I'm hunting on foot and not from a stand I tend to pick up the light weight 30-06. Not because it shoots better, rather it carries better and you carry a rifle a lot more than you shoot it.

Hope that helps.
 
Just about any centerfire rifle will work (I do not know of any places where it is legal to shoot a deer with a rimfire rifle...if anybody knows of such a place speak up) if you put it in the right place. In places where .22 Centerfires are legal they have taken a bunch of deer but also have wounded a bunch of deer. The smaller diameter and lighter the bullet, the more emphasis has to be put on near perfect shot placement.

For me the perfect rifle is a Remington 700 .308 shooting 150 Grain Nosler Ballistic Tips.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
"The best" hasn't been invented yet if such a gun as a blanket statement will ever even exist, but I'd say it all depends on how you're going to hunt. For treestand I usually bring a semiauto .308, for driven hunts as a driver a slug shotgun and for pass shooting a pistol caliber carbine, for stalking a lightweight medium caliber carbine and so on. Everything is always a compromise and whenever possible, I like to compromise as little as it's practical.

Everyone has a favorite. Mine's probably Remington R-25, even though Ruger Mini 30 has quickly become a close second.
 
I think it depends where you are hunting. I like my 30-30 personally. I hunt in Pennsylvania 99% of the time. It's pretty heavily wooded. I typical shot would be no more than 60 yards for me. My 30-30 is just fine.

Now if I was hunting where my shot would be over a hundred yards, I would use a different caliber.
 
I hunt in open country where shots can go out to 400 yards. Any of the ones you listed will be fine. I've packed a number of rifles but have killed more dear with my 243 as the deer just don't seem to want to show up when I pack my others. It's going to be whatever you are confident in. If closer range was the name of the game a good old model 94 in 30-30 would be my choice (I've taken along a 25-35 before but no bucks showed up to the party).
 
Killed a fair number of varmints with .243 over the last 35 or so years.
70 and 75 gr bullets.
No need for the super screamers.
Having a rifle rebarrelled down the road is no sin either, but some cost more than others.

For the last 20 yrs I have been running Nosler 70gr BT's for chucks.
Model 7, 600, two 700's..........they loved em on max charges of 4350.

Shorter tubes were of some blast, but the groups small. Hence no change.

Got another .243 for possible deer use. 100 grainers there.
 
Pretty much all of them kill deer. It comes down to how far you plan on shooting and how much recoil you can tolerate. Some are more effective at long range than others (some 300 magnums carry enough energy to kill a deer at 3/4-1 mile away) but can generate more recoil than many want to put up with. Plus there aren't many who have the skills to make those shots.

I started with 30-06 years ago, I have rifles with history that ain't going anywhere, but wouldn't advise that round to a new shooter unless game much larger than deer are in the mix. WAAY more power than needed for deer.

I don't own one, but when you factor in killing ability at ranges farther than most people can shoot with the least recoil the 6.5's are probably the best balance. I can see a 6.5 Creedmore in my future.
 
When it comes to deer hunting I like a comfortable shooting rifle that carries nicely.
Click to expand...

This for me too.

Call me old fashioned, but I still rifle hunt on my feet (bowhunting is another story). And because of this, I want a rifle I don't really notice after 3-4 miles through the woods. I've learned that for me at least, that means 7 lbs. or less.

When you rank carry weight/length that high, it kinda takes care of some of the other parameters. Meaning, nobody is going to enjoy shooting an '06/7mag/etc. in a 7 lb. rifle. .308 is about the most I want to put up with in a 7 lb. gun, and that's because I shoot my hunting rifles a lot. I may go through 100 rounds pre-season just to refamiliarize myself with the gun, check zero, sort ammo, verify holdovers at different ranges, etc. I'm not a guy than will go 2,3 or more seasons on one box of ammo. So that being said, a 7mm-08 or .308 is probably the most gun I'd ever use for deer.

Like I said in another thread, the "ideal" deer rifle to me has the following characteristics:

7.5 lbs carry weight (or less) scoped
1000 ft. lbs. energy at 300 yards
1 MOA accuracy to 300 yards
4 or 5 shot capacity
40" total length or less
12 lbs. or less felt recoil

My research lately has shown that there are actually very few calibers that are close to those specs. The .243 is one of them, and that is probably why it's been such a popular deer caliber for so long. The 6.8 Rem SPC is a newcomer that also meets those. My "new favorite rifle" - the 7.62x39 bolt action - falls just short of the energy requirement, but for closer distances, it meets all the others.
 
^^

I agree with all of your criteria. But can live with a little more than 12 ft lbs recoil and there is no reason to handicap myself with only 1000 ft lbs at 300 yards. Lots of combos that will easily beat that with no more recoil. My Kimber 308 is still under 6 lbs scoped and has recoil in the upper teens. My Winchester 308 is 7.25 lbs and generates 15ish ft lbs recoil depending on the load. Depending on the terrain I can live with a little more recoil to save that much weight. I have more powerful rifles, but can't think of anything these won't kill and at ranges farther than I can shoot.

You need to look at the 6.5 Creedmore or 260. They meet all of your criteria including recoil, but can meet your 1000 ft lbs of energy at over 600 yards with trajectory matching the 7mm and 300 magnums. Even if you never plan on shooting that far there are no disadvantages at closer ranges.
 
Cool cartridge in a cool gun, who cares if it isn't the hottest rig on the block?
Recoil.........if one wants a certain level of perf, then it costs.
Lead sleds and other, it seems as if today's shooters are wimps.

My old coworker was a chuck hunter, going elk hunting. He bought a .300 winmag.
It was the cannon of cannons, if you heard him yak about it. Gun arrives, he sets it up, shoots it................and holy cow.............he was unleashing the most wicked thing on the planet.

Or so he said.

Over and over.

Funny, by end of summer, spending bench time, messing with handloads...............he changed his tune.

That big old three hundred............wasn't so big and bad after all. Popped his elk right on the money with it too.

My hunting bud has a 760 in '06. Says it whacks him. Same size and build as me. I bought an old one too.........dunno what the heck he's whining about.

Downright comfy.

But then, he has a 39A and jerks shots on that...........
 
Plink&Hunt said:
Just by the way, I am not asking for advice. I am just curious as to what people like to use.
Click to expand...


I like to use lots of different guns. I generally hunt deer anymore with revolvers. I have killed them with .357s, 44s and the .460. I have also killed them with carbines in .357 and .44. What gun I take is generally decided by the terrain, type of hunting I'm doing and the distances and which I think my farthest shot will be taken. Sometimes it just comes down to how full the freezer is and how much of a challenge I want. For years I hunted with a .32 Special winnie before moving up to a Sporterized M1917 ought-six. I also killed deer with an old Model 97 pump shotgun. I liked using everyone of them, and still occasionally take them to the field in pursuit of whitetail. To me it's not about the kill, but the hunt.
 
I stalk hunt with a M-4 in .223, tree hunt with a scoped Marlin 30-30, mountain hunt with a scoped Win 94 in 30-30, field hunt with a Win Mod 70 in .308.
 
If it gets the job done it's the best one at that time. I have used the following . 22 lr ( legal in places for crop damage) , 250 Savage, 7x57, 308, 30/06, 300Savage, 32 Special, 44 mag, and 45/70. Have used the following action types. Lever, bolt, and single shot. All have worked just fine when the shooter did his part.
 
Just about any centerfire as well as many muzzle loaders kill deer. A have killed dozens of deer with all kinds of weapons. Some demand less range and better shot placement. In my opinion the best all around is 30-06 or 7 MM mag with an edge to the O6. My current favorite is a 7-08 Tikka bolt action. Soft point bullets in excess of 2600 fps are the quickest and most humane killers. Especially with good shot placement.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
  • Poll
Best Deer Cartridge.
2 3 4
Replies
84
Views
4K
Art Eatman
A
J
  • Locked
Best hunting gun for deer with medium recoil
2 3 4 5
Replies
117
Views
7K
mustanger98
M
whatnickname
  • Locked
The case for the .243 as a deer cartridge.
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
160
Views
10K
Robert
Robert
J
  • Locked
What is the best deer gun available?
2
Replies
47
Views
3K
paintballdude902
P
redneck2
  • Locked
Rifles for Indiana deer
Replies
20
Views
2K
Ttexastom
Ttexastom
Back
Top