10-4, good buddy!!!

I'm partial to the 308 Win. Great selection of bullets and very accurate in dense cover and long shots when needed.

+1 Very versatile, flat-shooting cartridge. Short action, too.

Take halfbaked's advice and (1) go look at how much a box of 7-08 costs compared to say at 30-06 and (2) see how readily available those cartridges are. I just picked up a 7-08 last year and plan to hunt with it this year. to my surprise cartridges are more expensive and harder to come by where i'm from.

I have not read all the responces, but here is my take on the subject. I personally own a 30/06, 25/06, and a 243. I think the ole 30/06 cant be beat for whitetail, although, I hunt with my 25/06 or 243, depending on if my wife is hunting. She uses my 25/06. The reason I like the 30/06 is you can find shells for them pert near anywhere and in a wide range of selection. Im not a handloader. I believe the 30/06 has all you need and more to put a smack down on deer. The reason I use a smaller calibur is because I tend to flinch. I'm a big ole boy, you may call me a wuss, but I have a problem with flinching. It helps me with that when I have a gun I know has little recoil and I can relax. I may have to trail up my deer, but I have always had good blood trails so that hasnt been a problem. If I had no issue with flinching it would be 30/06 all the way! JMO Have a Great Day!

In case you ever might go hunting for elk or bigger north american game also it may be a good choice to get a 300 wsm 300 win mag 7mmmag or ultra mag or any decently hot 30 caliber because they are not overkill for a deer either

The 243 is about perfect for deer and yotes.Not much of nothin kick,plenty of knockdown power.I love my 243!

When I thought about the same thing I decided on a stainless steel ruger 25-06 and I absolutely love it!!!

I would use the search feature and you can read about 1000 posts on this.

You may want to ask the question which calibers shouldn't I get for deer, it may get you more information. Everyone has their favorite but in real world hunting all of the posters on here are correct with their choices.

From .243 to the 300mags pretty much everything in between(and some above) are great for deer.

Goto Remington.com and check out some ballistics tables, goto some stores and get the feel of the guns that are short actions vs long actions, try and shoot a buddies super duper ultra mag and see if you like that type of recoil. You really can't go wrong with any of the calibers that were posted. You just need to decide what you want.

I think you will find that the .30 cal. range dominates through NY and New England for a reason. The northern regions (think Adirondacks and northern NY) can hold some dang big deer, generally quite a bit heavier than found in the south where the .243, .25 cal. etc. really do well. I myself prefer the .308, but also love the 8x 57. Along with big deer, the opportunity for bumping into a fat old bear is possible. The .270 is well proven, but the .30 cals soundly hold the northern hunting territories for a long time for a reason.