Excellent cartridge, factory ammo can be had just not as much choice as say 7 rem mag, 270win, etc. For a handloader it has great potential as their is a wealth of .284 bullets to choose from without the recoil and blast of a rem mag. However since you really want it for deer you should have no trouble tracking down appropriate factory ammo to use(Winchester, Federal, Rem, Hornady)...if you said moose or elk then the choice narrows somewhat in OTC ammo.