many of you guys may think I'm on drugs for saying this ,
but I have used similar loads hunting deer as I use for elk,
I've used mostly heavy for caliber bullets,for 5 decades,
I don,t shoot unless I have a precise target,on the deer,s vitals
and to the utter astonishment of many people,
deer generally drop within a few yards... dead as a stump
your options or choices in caliber and flat trajectory are not as critical as many people might suggest.



for deer hunts I'm a fan of the browning BLR carbines


117/120 grain/257 roberts (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/1415
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...erlock-btsp#!/


180/200 grain /30/06 (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/2211
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...nterlock-sp#!/

250 grain/ 358 win(BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/2453


350 grain/450 marlin (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...nterlock-rn#!/


hit the deer with a 358 win, 250 grain or 350 grain from a 450 marlin caliber rifle
and place it in that (X) draw a line from a-c and a second from b-d (between the letters in the deer diagram)
picture that (X) described and you'll seldom find you have any issues,
with potential tracking, or deer running more than a few steps,
the more I hunt with the 358 win and 450 marlin chambered BLR carbines the more impressed Ive become

I sight all my rifles in to impact 3.5" higher than the cross hair in the scope indicates at 100 yards
this allows a very easy no calculations required hold,
for consistent shot placement, in the first 150- 200 yards where an easy 75-80%,
of all the deer and elk Ive shot for decades are shot at

many of you guys may think I'm on drugs for saying this ,
but I have used similar loads hunting deer as I use for elk,
I've used mostly heavy for caliber bullets,for 5 decades,
I like using a BLR on deer hunts, caliber is not critical but accurate shot placement is.
I don,t shoot unless I have a precise target,on the deer,s vitals
and to the utter astonishment of many people,
deer generally drop within a few yards... dead as a stump
your options or choices in caliber and flat trajectory are not as critical as many people might suggest.



for deer hunts I'm a fan of the browning BLR carbines


117/120 grain/257 roberts (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/1415
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...erlock-btsp#!/


180/200 grain /30/06 (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/2211
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...nterlock-sp#!/

250 grain/ 358 win(BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/2453


350 grain/450 marlin (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...nterlock-rn#!/


hit the deer with a 358 win, 250 grain or 350 grain from a 450 marlin caliber rifle
and place it in that (X) draw a line from a-c and a second from b-d (between the letters in the deer diagram)
picture that (X) described and you'll seldom find you have any issues,
with potential tracking, or deer running more than a few steps,
the more I hunt with the 358 win and 450 marlin chambered BLR carbines the more impressed Ive become

I sight all my rifles in to impact 3.5" higher than the cross hair in the scope indicates at 100 yards
this allows a very easy no calculations required hold,
for consistent shot placement, in the first 150- 200 yards where an easy 75-80%,
of all the deer and elk Ive shot for decades are shot at

Bocajnala, Thanks, imgbb worked on a test post for me.

I didn't set up an account as I don't want my photos to be accessible to the anti-hunting weirdoes that are on some of the photo hosting sites.

Yes sir, no problem. Great looking buck on the test photo you posted. I also don't use an account there.

I don't know what may eventually happen if that site ever goes down. Possibly all of our linked photos will disappear? I don't know. When photo bucket made their changes a few years back it messed up tons of forum posts.

But that seems to work well for me

-Jake

Hardcastonly posted "...many of you guys may think I'm on drugs for saying this , but I have used similar loads hunting deer as I use for elk... "

I don't have any trouble believing that. For my first 10 years of hunting deer and elk I only had one rifle, a .30-06. I used to get my deer and elk every year, and I loaded 150 grain Hornady Spire Point bullets for deer and 180 grain Sierra GameKing bullets for elk. Back then where I lived in NW Colorado the deer and elk seasons were concurrent, and several years I would be hunting deer with the 150 grain Hornadys and come home with an elk.

After I moved to Montana, I had my .30-06 rechambered to .30 Gibbs for elk, and I built a .257 Ackley for deer size critters. One year I was hunting bighorn sheep in one of Montana's unlimited sheep tag units in the Wilderness Area north of Yellowstone Park. I didn't see any sheep, but when a big, heavy 6x6 bull elk walked by me I couldn't resist, so I put a 117 grain Sierra GameKing bullet from my .257 just behind his shoulder, and he dropped like a rock. One of the quickest elk kills that I've ever made.

Within about 300 yards, I think bullet placement is more important than bullet diameter or weight, and I wouldn't hesitate to use my deer loads for elk.

That's not crazy. The high shoulder shot is actually a popular shot among handgun hunters using big, heavy hardcast bullets.