The farther west you go, the more you run into velocity freaks. I've hunted a lot in N.M. and if you aren't careful out there the shots can be mighty long in some areas. Speed and flat trajectory are a pretty big help in those situations.

But having said that, I firmly believe 90% of everything that has ever been killed has been killed in under 100 yards. Within that range, often times it's hard for a critter to move out of the way of an arrow. Stepping out of the way of an oncoming bullet...even a slow bullet...can be much more problematic.

To answer your question, don't make the mistake of many beginning reloaders and think the great god of reloading is velocity. This only leads to dangerous pressures and other reloading problems. Been there and done that. The older I get, the more I don't even try to push the velocity envelope. Just find a load your gun likes and will shoot accurately and forget the hype. At the ranges you are discussing, you won't find a load for your 30/06 that won't work plenty good. Any bullet from 150 gr up should be great. Personally I would recommend something like 165 or 180 grain weight. These work fine on elk and I suspect they will work fine on any deer you ever encounter. Remember as the weight of the bullet goes up, so does the recoil coming back at you.