Jim Burns

For deer I would say a 243 or 6mm.

Austinhuntman

you could also do 257 weatherby the rounds are expensive but by god a deer will never even know what hit em

Pazzoman

Thanks everybody for all your help!

I will be writing all the guns and tips in a journal. As I will look up each gun and look at specs, costs and effectiveness.

Thanks A Million, you guys pretty much nailed it! Thanks A Million!

Will update eventually when a decision is chosen.

Valentine

One can go broke buying deer rifles, they are so varied. The .308 is a good caliber and so are the numerous calibers that use the .308 case.
Even the rifle calibers with numbers, following by several letters. I have not kept up. Sorry.

To think there are calibers around for over 100 years. You might discover one of them.

But then hunters buy rifles; not deer.

Joe.USMC

I have two deer rifles. I have a Ruger 77 Mark 2 270 that is a sweet shooting gun. My favorite gun to hunt with right now is my 7mm WSM Browning A Bolt. It is expensive to shoot but man does it deliver on the killing end. Nothing I have hit with it has taken another step which is most important to me.

nchawkeye

I bought a Ruger M-77 in .243 in 1980, it's the only centerfire rifle I have owned since then...I've killed at least 300 deer with it...

Caliber doesn't matter much as long as you are reasonable...

What matters it where you are able to put the bullet and that you know when to shoot and when not to shoot......

I probably would have been just as successful with any of the more common calibers mentioned but if starting today I'd stick with either the .243, .308, .270 or 30-06...

These seem to be what you can find in most any sporting goods store...

If a fellow reloads you can add the 25-06, 7mm-08 and .260 to that list...I wouldn't start with a 30-30 simply because any of the above calibers are easily capable of killing deer out to 300 yards, whereas the drop of a 30-30 would make that "challenging"...

toejoe625

thats my same setup works great

Jenks

I think all those mentioned would do the job. A .223 was once thought to be too small. I use a 3006 myself, it is a good all-purpose caliber, and I sometimes use a 30-30 when I am on a 4 wheeler, I will not use it past 100 yards. For those other old timers, a 7X57 is a very good caliber as is the 6.5X55. They will get the job done with less kick. I once shot a deer with a 9X57 using 245 grain Kynoch soft points. It did the job, but the ammo is too expensive now. If I only had one gun, it would be a bolt 3006 with a scope.

Grizzly13

You said GUNS and not CALIBERS ? It mostly depends on the individual and the terrain. I have buddies with the best guns money can buy, but if you can't put the bullet where it counts, you might just as well use a rubberband and a paperclip ! LOL Bolt actions are my choice because of the accuracy. My 06 Rem pump in Maine for fire power and being able to retain the target quicker. Calibers also can be a concern on terrain, heavier grainers for thick and the lighter wind bucking spire points for long open ranges. I also have alot of experience with the shotguns because I reside in PA now I'm on the border of NJ and still hunt our old dairy farm. NJ has always been shotgun, we were only allowed to use buckshot when I was a young lad but now we can use slugs also. Some of my thicker minded friends still use buckshot ( LOL) but I prefer the slug with a rifled barreled gun. I have used a Ithica 37 pump slug gun with a fixed rifled barrel for the last 25 yrs and love it. 3 inch groups at 100 yds all day long. (Pretty good for a 12 gauge slug) I use federal sabots 2 3/4 inch. Spent alot of money over the years experimenting on which slugs work best. But in the last three years I purchased a 20 gauge HR single barrel rifled slug gun that shoots like a High powered rifle. I can shoot 3 shots in 1" moa at 100yds, it is unbelievable ! Alot of us use these now some in 12 gauge and some in 20. They are cheap to purchase and probably out shoot any factory or even custom shotgun out there. I hope this blabering helped you some.

Austinhuntman

Yeah I shoot 20 guage slug gun remington 870 nwtf edition.