Jasonlester

Ohio is all shotgun ...so its Remington 870 with a Nikon scope for me....Savage has a nice bolt action shotgun my dad just bought...My shots are normally 50 yards and under but my shotgun is pretty deadly our well past 100 yards ....I also shoot the Hornady SST slugs...fast and flat...Any the two deer I have shot with them haven't taken a step after.

Catus Magnus

All will do. Dump the 7mm mag - extra money and blast for no real gain. And forget about premium ammo.
Worse of all, Dixie left off a very important one: Marlin 336 in 30/30 - it'll have the cheapest ammo, and has a cool factor none of the above mentioned rifle/manufacturers can approach, and will kill the deer very effectively at the distances the vast majority of hunters have any business (or opportunity) shooting at.

Father Forkhorn

Good advice for you, here. All of those calibers are easy to find and do the job well.

.308 is a dandy caliber for deer and is easy to find in any place that sells ammo. It's got an added bonus of having some less expensive shells produced for it if you want to target practice. (These won't do for hunting, though).


Here's my take on each:

.243--light kicking and great for youth/newer hunters who aren't used to recoil. Not really thought of as a cartridge for bigger animals like elk, though. This is an ideal cartridge for my home state of Kansas as it handles deer and works for coyotes in the lighter loads.

.308, .270, 30-06--all of these perform about the same. Capable for black bears and elk, if you are sensible with your ranges. Personally, I like the 30-06 because it offers more selection when picking shells--more bullets and loadings. You'll have no problem with the others, though. Most people can handle a 30-06 recoil.

.30-30--an old classic but shorter range than the others. They'll easily outperform it. Keep shots under 150 yards for sure especially with open sights.

Now here's what it's got going for it: it shows up in lever actions that are slick, light, and fast handling. In woods and heavier cover or anyplace where quick shots and short shots are the norm, the guns built for this cartridge are normally perfect. A Marlin 30-30 or similar gun is a great piece to be carrying in the woods .

Personally, here's what I'd get as a first rifle--30-06, bolt action. It's very versatile and hard to go wrong with one. It'll do just about anything you ask with the right bullets.

skinnnner

Pretty hard to answer this question with a number or brand name.all depends what you like and shoot best or how much money you have to spend haha

ADVWannabee

I have only every shot deer with two types of guns, a 30-06 and an in-line blackpowder rifle, with most of my deer falling to the 30-06. I have only ever had one deer run out of sight when shot with the 30-06 and he only went about 75 yards. A few deer ran just a little ways with most deer falling in their tracks. If I hit the deer anywhere close to right, they go down right there and I can't ask for any more than that.

Now I have never shot a deer past about 90 yards so I can't say what would be best if you are shooting long distance. I do use Federal Premium ammo with 165 grain Nosler Partitions.

DeppedyDogg

Got it right: that 336C in .30-30 is a Deer Slayer.

If you get one, get a see-thru mount for the scope. Fast, accurate, deadly in the Northeast woods I hunt, shots are normally well under 200.

That .30-30 rounds drops off the face of the earth out past 150 yards so you'd better have a BDC Scope or not take those longer shots, especially without a scope.

I understand Buffalo Bore produces a round capable of downing Grizzlys in .30-30 caliber now. I haven't heard anyone I know that shoots the .30-30 using this round but the ballistics are similar to other heavier rounds for this caliber; just retains more energy out there.

Don't know if I'd use a .30-30 as a defensive round in Griz country but there it is.

FYI: In the right barrel, the newer 12GA Sabot rounds out-perform similar rounds in .30-30 slightly within a certain range.

Check ballistics charts, YMMV.

WestVirginiaBrent

30-30 is a good brush gun, but ever notice the people that are recommending them also mention something to the effect of "....out to 150 yards...." Nowadays there's plenty of options in guns and ammo where you can use one that can be a good brush gun, as far as mobility because you shouldn't shoot through brush with any gun, IMO, or hit a deer out to 400 yards. If you got a 30-06 in a Browning BLR, you could do it all at every game animal in North America. I just sold my 330A Marlin 30-30. It killed every deer I ever shot with it, and none traveled farther than 25 yards once shot, but none ever acted shot afterwards either. My buddy who bought it is 2 for 2 with it as well and he said to me, "I thought I missed, neither acted shot," but neither traveled more than 50 yards once shot. I just think that there is so many options these days that a person can just skip the trusty 30-30. I know I plan on buying my son a 243 as his first weapon, after that he can inherit my 30-06 and pass them on down the line to his kids.

Palehorse

308 gives you great performance at a great price, plus milsurp ammo options.

I like flat trajectory over all else, so recommend the following:

6.5x55
6.5x57
6.5-06
264 Win Mag
270 Win
270 WSM
7x57
7mm-08
280 Remington
7mm Rem Mag

Austinhuntman

.243 is great for deer it expands quickly and always passes through with remington cor lokts

skinnnner

If you want gun that will do it all buy a remington 700,perfurably with an adjustable trigger in 30-06.you will probably never need anouther gun for any big game in north amarica.true story.