Best All Around Caliber for Whitetail and Mule Deer?

[Longtine88]

Well since factory is what your going with and Western states my top three would be:

1. 6.5 PRC
2. 7mm Rem Mag (Not 7PRC!!!)
3. 300 PRC

 

[Rick Richard]

6.5 PRC, 6.5SAUM, 7SAUM

 

[john k]

Enjoy the process of choosing between more than a few different cartridges. .280AI should be considered in my biased opinion.

 

[Recon$$]

Waste of time, deleted.

 

[lamiglas]

If you dont mind sharing, What bullet are you using, and what distances? Sounds like some really good data!

I've taken over 500 whitetails, a 176 & 184" mule deer, Coues, Carmen Mtn. whitetail, and 120" blacktail with my 6.5/.284 XP-100 handgun, plus a whole lot of African game.
This round kills way beyond what you would expect with much less recoil than the bigger rounds.

 

[Turpentine21]

I've killed 100s of whitetail with the 270Win and 100s of deer and hogs with 6.5 offerings from 6.5 Grendel to 6.5-06. The 270 win is the easy button. A lot depends on your max distance that you intend to shoot. I like a 308 and 30-06 too.

 

[ObiWanKannoli]

I shoot any and all big game that I intend to with a 300 prc.

 

[ObiJohn]

Best all-around? That means the best combination of flat trajectory, moderate recoil, and effective terminal ballistics, from point-blank range to at least 500 yards? Eastern whitetails in deep woods or western mulies in the mountains?

The jack-of-all-trades is the master of none. Lots of good choices, at either extreme or as compromise cartridges. Within 400 yards anything from a .243 to an '06 will do fine. I have hunted the single shot straight wall deer season with a Miroku Low Wall .44 Magnum, whietails with a M70 .243 and '06, mulies with a .338.

Any reasonable cartridge and rifle will do, if you will do.

 

[lancetkenyon]

6.5mm.

 

[Bullbuck]

270 win

 

[bearhtr2]

This is for deer only in western states . Never seen any mule deer running around on the east coast side of the USA. I have been torn between a 7mm mag, 270 win or a 300 RUM. Wanting opinions from those more familiar with the area out there. I know not one caliber or bullet covers it all. But I have long favored the 7mm mag with a 160 Nosler partition for most all conditions.