Best All Around Caliber for Whitetail and Mule Deer?

Something in .284 is my suggestion. 7 mag on up with 8.5 or faster twist rate. Shoot anything from 150 gr to 175-180 grain bullets at decent velocity.
Covers pretty much the whole spectrum IMO.

Another vote for .308

I'm gonna toss in my vote for a 280

K.E.C. Darkside said:

Choices are endless.
If Weatherby is a thought.
257 and 6.5/300.

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And the 270 and 7mm Weatherby's. Too often forgotten or omitted, but seldom beat.

Most 'gun guys'(or gals) should be able to name 40 or so 'ideal' deer rifles. After we get the cartridge figured out, we can work on the platform, barrel length and sighting system.
One has to factor in the different types of hunting, are we covering the SC bean field or in a cedar swamp up north? The next is covering a brushy river bottom in NE.


I'm more of a tighter cover hunter, shots average 25-125 yards. I like lighter weight, compact rifles, medium powered scope. I am almost awash in deer rifles. I really didn't have much of a reason to deviate from my boyhood Model 70, in 308.
Since I'm a gun guy, I deviate. It would be boring if we all carried a Savage 110 in 30-06. Most often I use my 20" barrel Browning Micro-Hunter in 284 Winchester. It's light & compact. Most of the time I'm not in a blind.


I'm big on proper shot placement too, another biggie.

memtb said:

I can't/won't argue with that at all.

I'm much more concerned with the use of .22 caliber, highly frangible bullets @ high velocity……which some folks insist upon using! memtb

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I shot a small deer at 25 feet one time. Hit him right in the throat patch as it faced me with a 147ELDM. Dropped it, of course.
Climbed the bank and was shocked to see the bullet had blown all the hide n meat off the front side exposing the spine but did not exit or even break the neck!

I believe shrapnel to the spinal cord killed it or it jus bled out as i was climbing up that steep slippery clay bank.

Muzzle velocity was lil over 2800 which is a far cry from 3300.
Same bullet shot another buck in the head at 92 yds same trip n it went thru n thru n didnt shatter the skull. I dont like to do that but everything else was behind limbs.
Ive killed many deer with much smaller n lighter and frangible bullets and have never had one fail to break the neck on a hit like that.

Rainy day story telling with no particular point over. Lol

Cartridges and bullet designs are all about tradeoffs, there isn't a perfect setup, but just about anything is good for deer with good shot placement. Their scapula are very thin so it's fairly easy to hit the vitals even with sub optimal shot placement. If you want more forgiveness to reliably punch through more solid bones, you'll want to find a bullet that is made to retain more bullet weight. With that design though, you're more likely to pencil through and have minimal expansion and potentially have game run further even with a good vitals hit (but you'll likely have better blood to track with a through shot). If you want a generally faster death, you'll want a higher velocity bullet with a thinner jacket that is designed to "grenade" and probably not pass through the deer. They're super lethal with good shot placement, but you can run the risk of not getting good blood trails or a slow death if it hits a larger bone.

I have taken them with .223, 6.5 cm, and 6.5 prc without any recovery problems. I know a poacher that took a TON of deer and antelope with a cheap Savage 17 hmr before the law finally caught up to him.

When I first hunted in the US, it was up in the Wyoming and SD area's and I had the opportunity to hunt both Whitetail and Mule deer soaking up as much as I could relating to the distances and topograpy and in some areas, the wind.

I returned to Australia and built a 26" SS barrelled .25/06. Even though the .30/06 I had taken performed flawlessly, even including Pronghorn on that hunt, I felt the .25/06 was perfect for that role.

I haven't changed my mind, though have contined to tally up successful kills with my .30/06, far more than that .25/06 that is still ready and in waiting.

Wilderness Blacktail said:

I shot a small deer at 25 feet one time. Hit him right in the throat patch as it faced me with a 147ELDM. Dropped it, of course.
Climbed the bank and was shocked to see the bullet had blown all the hide n meat off the front side exposing the spine but did not exit or even break the neck!

I believe shrapnel to the spinal cord killed it or it jus bled out as i was climbing up that steep slippery clay bank.

Muzzle velocity was lil over 2800 which is a far cry from 3300.
Same bullet shot another buck in the head at 92 yds same trip n it went thru n thru n didnt shatter the skull. I dont like to do that but everything else was behind limbs.
Ive killed many deer with much smaller n lighter and frangible bullets and have never had one fail to break the neck on a hit like that.

Rainy day story telling with no particular point over. Lol

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One thought I had when I read this is that at at 8.33 yards that long bullet may not have fully stabilized when it hit. I shoot 6.5 eldm's in 123 and 147 and 168s in 308. I will be the first to admit that short range high velocity shots are not their strong suit. I like them better at distance. I certainly can't explain the skull shot.
I shoot a whole lot of deer and hogs every year because of a unique set of circumstances. Most of the deer I shoot are shoulder shots from a Grendel or 6.5-06 with shots ranging from 75 to 900 yards and the deer just drop. Behind the shoulder shots are generally caliber in, golfball to baseball out. Many of these deer also just drop. These bullets work well for what I do.
I was zeroing a muzzleloader the other day for a friend because in his words "he sucks shooting at paper". He normally kills around 10 deer per year shooting an old Interarms Mark X in 30-06. I asked him if he was still shooting that rifle and he said yes but last year he had had the opportunity to buy a similar Interarms Mark X in 223. He said since then he had been using it deer hunting and had killed every deer he had shot with it. He said many had just dropped but some made it 20 yards or so. He shoots behind the shoulder shots. So I asked what bullet he was using. SURPRISE, 55 grain Vmax's. His last buck a week or so ago was a 180 pound 9 point. Our mature bucks range from 160 to 220 pounds. He hit it behind the shoulder and the deer went 15 yards. While I don't agree at all with his choice he's not the type of guy that would keep using something that wasn't working for him. But I strongly believe his choice is going to bite him in the butt and most likely sooner than later.
This last paragraph about my friend isn't necessarily replying to your post. It's just more rainy day storytelling and food for thought.

Well it's interesting to see how many are using such large cartridges for something so small.
These days, if I were needing a deer rifle and didn't have the knowledge and inventory i do, I'd have a hard time choosing between a 22 Creedmoor or 6mm Creedmoor. Everything else is overkill.
I use a few different ones now, but my 25-06 feels like it's bigger than needed by far.

My trusty 300wsm is my ideal because it just flat works. I did build a 6arc bolt gun for smaller animals though, no blood on that one yet.

Turpentine21 said:

One thought I had when I read this is that at at 8.33 yards that long bullet may not have fully stabilized when it hit. ..
I shoot a whole lot of deer and hogs every year because of a unique set of circumstances. .. He said many had just dropped but some made it 20 yards or so. He shoots behind the shoulder shots. So I asked what bullet he was using. SURPRISE, 55 grain Vmax's. ...But I strongly believe his choice is going to bite him in the butt and most likely sooner than later.
This last paragraph about my friend isn't necessarily replying to your post. It's just more rainy day storytelling and food for thought.

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Good point about the stabilization. Barrel is a 7 twist for whatever thats worth. I never worried about the blow up honestly, like Id still hunt with em in a area where I could. I wouldnt put it into large bone at super close ranges but i dont do that anyway other than neck shots.

The Vmax reminds me, a friend of mine whos a very experienced hunter loved the 50Vmax, may have been 55, for deer and black bear at timber ranges. He said they killed excellent and penetrated plenty for any reasonable shot. This is out of a 22-250. Hes as good as any so I always kept that as good to know.
I had great luck in 22-250 with 60gr Spire points and then switched to 60gr Partitions just cause.
With the PT i once shot a very big heavy white faced blacktail facing me with slight angle 200yds away, he was on me too. So i put it into his brisket on my right side. Bullet shank was found under skin in the middle of his opposite ham.

Many years ago I had a 270 Winchester 130 ballistic silvertip do about the same thing as your 8 yard shot. But mine was at a much longer range of 18 yards. Killed the deer dead but did not break the spine.

I have the perfect opportunity doing depredation to field trial just about any cartridge or bullet and have a significant sample size. I just never have been a fan of the 223. I find them very loud for one thing. The other is that I've always had a self imposed limit of nothing lower than 6.5 for deer and hogs. Old habits are hard to break. My brother is trying a 6mm Arc right now and I'm anxious to see how it does. I have shot a few creatures with the 50 vmax and it was impressive. But have not shot them at deer or hogs.

Turpentine21 said:

Many years ago I had a 270 Winchester 130 ballistic silvertip do about the same thing as your 8 yard shot. But mine was at a much longer range of 18 yards. Killed the deer dead but did not break the spine.

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I once shot a spike elk walking unaware, broadside behind the shoulder with a 220 gr. silvertip from my 325wsm. It took 2 steps and fell over dead. I was surprised to see 2 exit holes in the offside ribcage. It seemed that the bullet separated, but could have been bone. I've never used those bullets at that velocity since. I try to use premium bullets for any hunting other than varmints. (Still 308 for deer.)