There is no perfect deer cartridge only the one that is most suited to each persons conditions.I hunt open fields and ranges can be anywhere from 25 yards to over 400 yards.I have settled on the 7mmstw due to these conditions.Many of the cartridges others like such as 30-30,444 and 45-70 would be useless to me due to their range limitations yet they work well at short range in the thick woods.