for short range deer hunting theres nothing better then a handy lever action carbine in 30-30. nice thing about a 30-30 is if you have to you can push it a little further then 100 yards and now with that new hornady leverevolution ammo you can push it even further if needed.

I agree with ya HDW 30-30 I know rebel he said smaller but that round is perfect fit for the range at hand.I would also consider the .44 mag in a lever gun .Just seems to work.Hell even a .243 loaded with 117 grain bullets would work.Lots of choices but I would still fall back toa 30-30.

i've searching the site and it looks like the .243 is a viable option. majority of the opinions seem to be in favor. the stand/blind locations where i'm hunting are within the 75yd mark until we get some lanes cut down on the property. in this calibre, what is everyone's ammo suggestion. expansion and energy are my biggest concern. thanks again for everyone's input.

Seems to me you are just looking for less recoil, but by no means is the .243 a short range cartridge.
When I hunt with the .243, I use Federal 95gr NBT.

32-20 might be good. or 30 carbine. But don't over look the 7.62x39.

maybe we are just a bit byist towards the 30-30 too, since it is the Missouri state caliber and us being a couple a missouri farm boys..... lol everyone back home i know has a 30-30 and for good reason too it works for every terrain anywhere in the state of missouri.

Ive shot more missouri whitetail with my 308, but I have carried my 30-30 on more hunts then i can remember just because its such a handy little carbine. especially when im hunting in bosworth my 30-30 is my choice of gun for that area 10 to 1, in the bosworth area I have never had to take a shot further then 40 to 50 yards. infact my last deer i shot out there was a 15 yard shot.

243 might not be bad I know alot of folks out here in the west who swear by it for everything from varmints on up to mule deer. One of the guys at the local gun range was talking about his wife taking a pronghorn at 300 yards with her 243. I have a 6mm which has just a tad more velocity then a 243 but uses the same bullets Ive nailed coyotes out to 500 yards, and this fall I might go to new mexico for a pronghorn hunt and plan on using it. from what 2 guides I have talked to, told me the 6mm with a 80 to 90 grain bullet will flatten a pronghorn to 400 yards.

I suggest you look for a winchester M-94 in 25-35

.243, 30-30, or even a slug gun. A slug gun is not going to be less recoil though. Hey, you could try an inline muzzle loader as well.

A .357 or .44 mag carbine might work nice too. Really depends on how challenging you want to make it.

Paul

Winchester shows 904 remaining foot pounds at 100 yards which is a whole lot better than the 25 20 WCF. Wish they sold better, I just have never seen one on the racks. Much easier to find 25 wssms these days.