bigbulls

The 30-06 has accounted for more game animals successfully harvested than any other cartridge.

So it would stand to reason that it would be responsible for wounding more than any other cartridge also.

Sniper151

243 and 6mm. Great for smaller critters, but a bit to fast and light for whitetail.

VAhuntr

If I had to blame it on the gun I would pick the 30-30 for the same reasons previously listed. However, I would say there have been many more deer/game lost due to poor tracking skills.

rost495

I was fortunate enough to guide for a number of years. We worked a ranch that was required to harvest over 300 deer a year. Not counting exotics.

What I've seen is that magnums bear the worst record. Simply because most could not shoot them. I was always happier with a careful hunter and a 243 than a braggard with his new mag. I'm a mag shooter mostly though. But I can do what I need to with them and love the challenge of the long shot.

That being said I've killed lots of deer out to 500-600 yards with both the 243 and 223. Its really about shot choice and bullet placement. Most know that. Its also about bullet choice. Lots of times you get the mag folks hyped on mags and then bullet speed. Speed can be a disaster. And they love the light bullets. THink they are the ticket along with hyper speed to really reach out. When in reality we know that long range and mags require the heavy end bullets. Those light fast types are more varmint suited than anything.

Best chance of wounding a deer? Irresponsible with buckshot. But buckshot can be extremely deadly. But then again numbers wise there is not that much use of buckshot.

I suspect there will never be a clear answer. And I really hate to hear those folks talk about their favorite XYZ caliber that always kills on the spot. How many times have you heard, shot at em and they didn't fall so I missed? Thats a dead deer that never got searched for many times. And many times its dead right there within 100 yards or so.

I suspect that the answer that most deer were shot with a 30-30 may indicate a few were wounded, simply by sheer numbers and averages.

In the end, pick carefully on caliber, choose your projectile very carefully, only take good shots and you'll be fine with whatever you can handle and feel comfortable with. Be it 22-250 or 375 RUM.

Jeff

bigbass191

i would say the 30-30 because of there rainbow trejectory and horrible ballstics and because i have killed deer and seen many killed with a mini 14 with 55 sp wooow o ya

Mike from Texas

In my personal experience I would have to say the .243. Seen a lot of deer lost to this cartridge because lots of people let their kids, wives, g/f's etc... shoot them and fact is they are typically not as well trained in marksmanship as most male or older hunters.

Leverdude

I dont think a perticular calibre is to blame but if there were a way to tell it would likely be the 30/30 or 06 for no other reason than their popularity.
Far as a 30/30 having a rainbow trajectory thats hogwash. I'd say more deer get wounded every year by the guy who just bought a super short whizbang magnum so he can take 300 yard shots even tho he never shot at anything that far away before. Sighted in 3" high at 100 yards a 30/30 is flat enuf for a center hold past 150 & if you shoot it enuff 200 isnt hard.
People need to shoot their guns more than they read magazines & then they'll wound less game.

Todd1700

In my younger days here in Alabama shotguns with buckshot were hands down responcible for more lost deer than all others combined. At close range buckshot is deadly but that effective range doesn't extend very far. Since the virtual demise of dog hunting here however the use of buckshot on deer has just about gone the way of the Dodo. Thank God!

First, the vast, vast majority of wounded and lost deer with rifles of any caliber are due to poor shot placement.

Second, due to the huge number of people who hunt with a 30-06 or a 30-30 and the decades that those calibers have been popular it's a lock that one of those two hold the actual honor of most wounded deer. But that's misleading and has no reflection on their actual effectiveness as a deer cartridge. I also think it's unfair to blame lost deer on the 243 because young shooters use it a lot. That's a shot placement issue not a cartridge problem. I had to force myself to be fair on this type point because I see a lot of people with big magnums wounding deer. But again, it's because the fear of recoil makes them flinch and shoot poorly.

As far as the greatest potential to wound I have to say it's a tie between all the 22 calibered rounds like 223, 22-250 or 222. Light 55 grain or less bullets traveling at hyperspeed are a prescription for eventual disaster on deer.

chuck403

well, averaging everything out, some shooters are fantastic, some are average, some are so-so, and some are terrible. this applies no matter what caliber... from 243 or 30-30 or 338....

So it stands to reason, like already said, the most popular caliber will have the most bad shooters. the least popular caliber will have the least amount of bad shooters.

A 243, or a 30-30 in the lungs means dead. a 300 in the wrong spot doesn't.

brother hal

The caliber responsible for the most lost deer is the one in the hands of the person who doesn't know their own rifle's capabilities, doesn't know where the bullets are going to hit the animal, and probably got in a hurry to make the shot. Just about every caliber mentioned thus far will cleanly kill a deer. BUT, the hunter must do his/her part. Wounding is, IMO, almost always the fault of the shooter.