I guess I'm confused........ not hard to do anymore......... I thought from the original post that he wanted a caliber smaller than the .280 for deer hunting in his location, not necessarily a less powerful round. If that's the case, I would have to recommend the old .257 Roberts, or perhaps a .260 Rem. The .243 would be my third choice, but that's just my opinion
I f I got it wrong, then I'd have to recommend the old 30-30 in a nice lever action of your choice. Been killin' deer for over 100 yrs, so they have...............