Best All Around Caliber for Whitetail and Mule Deer?

[RB II]

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.

 

[Dirtybird552]

Another vote for .308

 

[Gristle]

I'm gonna toss in my vote for a 280

 

[AussieWriter]

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

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

 

[sourdough44]

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.

 

[Wilderness Blacktail]

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

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

 

[nubraskan]

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.