One must consider MT hunting and where Mule deer live. They will range from the open prairies up to the highest sheep elevation at times. One can not only consider the actual ability to Kill a mature mule deer, most modern rifle chamberings will have the ABILITY to do that at 600 yards. He main issue is generally having a rifle with the ability to hit the target consistently in the vitals at this range. As such, WIND is often the main consideration. Being a native MT boy and lived and hunted here my entire, wind is the killer. On the prairies you can have clean wind but often times not, a 20 mph wind is just another day on the east side of the rockies.
Wind is the reason i started designed my APS wildcats 20 years ago. Wind is the reason why my Raptor and Stalker rifles are here today.
Many looked at my wildcats and thought, those are massively overpowered for simply hunting deer……. Here in Montana and many western states, killing the game is not the challange, hitting the game in the vitals on the first shot is the challenge because of the wind. That is why my idea of the perfect deer rifle is a 7mm with the ability to drive a 180 gr bullet to +3400 fps or a 195 gr bullet to +3300 fps. Yep, thats my 7mm Allen Magnum and thats out of a conventional weight sporter style hunting rifle.
Now i said thats MY idea of the perfect deer rifle for Montana but that one has the ability to add 1000 yards to your 600 yard range goals. Still, if i am hunting mule deer in Montana, there will very likely be a 7mm AM on my shoulder.
The question however was what is the smallest chambering recommended for mule deer in MT out to 600 yards. The question alone worries me a bit, SMALLEST….. why in the world would we want the absolute minimum? With the smallest, the margins for error are the smallest as well…. If recoil is an issue, there are many fine ways to eliminate that issue…….
But if a customer came to me asking me my recommendation to this exact question. I would likely say at least a 6.5mm round with the ability to drive a minimum of 140 gr bullet weight to at least 3000 fps. That would be my absolute minimum. So something such as the 6.5-06 AI, 6.5 wsm class and up.
Ideal minimum would be a 270 or 7mm with at least 150-160 gr bullet weight and ability to drive those to around 3000 fps or more. 270 wsm, 7mm wsm, 7mm rem mag
Are these required for mule deer, nope, but hitting the target precisely at 600 yards greatly complicates this project.
I can hear it already, all the anti-magnum crowd typing away to argue the need for this class of rifle. Anyone that says its just as easy to hit a one moa sized target at 600 yards with their 6mm creed compared to doing the same with a 7mm wsm in a 10-15 mph variable wind is either not overly experienced or flat out being dishonest. They can talk all they want about numbers on paper, when the bullets actually get in the air, its obvious, the larger rounds make hitting small targets at longer ranges easier.
Then we get into the margin of error issues which unfortunately in the real world are legit concerns. Hit s mule deer on the fringes of the vitals at 600 yards with a 243 or 6mm creed an likely you will have a rather challenging recovery project ahead of you at best or loose a mortally wounded animal at worse.
Same hit with a 7mm wsm or better yet 7mm AM
, will increase the odds of recovering that game animal DRAMATICALLY. yes there will still be thr possibility of poor results, hitting the vitals dead center is always the goal, but in the real world, not always reality….
In my opinion, looking for the SMALLEST possible option that could work is not the best choice. And often times will result in a less then ideal outcome which can cause much headaches and frustrations…