I know this has probaly been posted a couple 100 times, but what is the best all around whitetail deercaliber out there? Whether it is a 50 yard shot or a 300 yard shot. I'm in the process of buying a new gun and i am going in circles on what caliber i want to go with. I'd appreciate your feedback.

PS: I hunt in northwest Alabama

Best all around whitetail deer caliber??.270

.270 or 30-06, can't go wrong w/ either!

I'm a huge fan of the .300 magnum family.

I have a 30.06, .243, .22-250, .270and a .300 Weatherby. All of the guns have good scopes, finely tuned triggers and are accurate, but my .300 is in my hands on opening day.

It does a sufficient amount of damage even after a bad shot that recovery is not a problem. On a good broadside lung shot, meat damage is very minimal. It has excellent range, and performs well in close quarters as well. It has tremendous knockdown power, even 350 yards downrange. It's also handy to have a "big gun" around, if you get the chance to hunt bigger game.

Remember, the buck of a lifetime is a survivor - he's a bit bigger, a bit tougher than your garden variety 110 pounder. He's not a 90pound doe. It's nice to have that extra bit of "umph" if you need to take a marginal shot, or make an errant shot.

To sum it up, while the other calibers can do some good things, the .300 can do each of those things, onlybetter.

I don't really differentiate between .300 Rem mag., .300 RUM, .300 WBY, .300 Short mag, and .300 SUM, they're all basically the same. Just stay away from the .300 Savage, which is a different animal.

That said, a gun is only as good as it's scope, and a scope is only aseffective as its trigger.

some here may argue, but i think the best deer cartridge available may be the 7mm-08. It's short action, mild recoil, range and power are all there. I myself have a 7mm-08 and a 30.06. I feel prepared to hunt anything in NA. I am quickly beginning to love the 7mm-08.

that being said, hunting conditions apply. If you are not shooting long distances and are in the woods, a 30-30 or a 12 gauge may be the best caliber to get your deer. So in a sense there is NO best cartridge.

I have a marlin 30 30, thats what i've been hunting with for a while now. I joined a new hunting club this season and the longest shot i'll probaly ever get to squeeze off will be about 250. Most of our lease is cutovers etc. I'll be bow hunting the hardwoods. How far can you reach out with the 7mm 08 and still have some good punch to it? I've been considering a 30 06 7mmremmag 280

For many years there was no real .270 family of cartridges, only the original .270 Winchester and a couple of wildcats. Winchester created the .270 by simply necking down the .30-06 case to accept .277 inch bullets. For many years it was the high velocity king of commercial big game rifle cartridges. The .270 Winchester was (and is) so good at being a combination long range and all-around cartridge that perhaps no other cartridge in the caliber was necessary. Given the powders available in 1925, the year of its introduction, perhaps no better long range cartridge was possible.

I'm gonna have to go with a .270

25-06

The best one is one that you can hit a softball with at 5 yards to 250 yards....if you can do that with a .243 to .338 Win Mag you are good to go....Close your eyes and pick one, then learn to shoot it...

What do I shoot??? .243 I bought in 1980...it has killed at least 130 whitetails, haven't lost a one....

But....I advise most to go with a .270...no need for any more....most don't or won't shoot a .270 enough to get really good with...Anything more just isn't needed.....

For strictly deer hunting, for a guy that doesn't reload...25-06, .270, 30-06, 7mm-08 or .308...Plenty of factory ammo, you would never know the difference if you hunted deer with all your life.