Sharp Shooter

270 or 7mm

busyhunter56

30-06

gonzodemon

just to clarify . the 30/06 and the 308 are ballistic twins. the 308 has less recoil which in most cases makes it the better choice of the two in some opinions. the man who invented the 243 took it to col. elk hunting for 15 years and took elk every year the most rounds he ever put into an animal was 2. ive seen people with 300 mags do 3 or 4 shots. so it was just bulet placement. in my opinion every caliber out there is a viable deer caliber in the right hands. i have taken deer with my 22 hornet. i also have used a 45/70 . every round mentioned here is a great round everyone is corect. its just personal preferance. i personaly dont like getting my shoulder murdered so i like the 223 wssm with 68 grainsp. this hot round has put several big deer down for the count for me. but you pick yours.

kbick

270 personally

countrymudder

This is a really hard question to answer. Ive used many different rifles since i started hunting 13 years ago. Im 19 now.
[ul][*][align=left].250 savage[/align][*][align=left].243 savage[/align][*][align=left]30-30 winchester[/align][*][align=left]Browning 270[/align][*][align=left]Savave 270[/align][*][align=left]7 mm mag remington[/align][*][align=left]30-06 browning[/align][*][align=left]30-06 mossberg[/align][*][align=left]remington 308[/align][/ul]

buckstalker1187

Honestly, all the answers on this post were correct (given that each caliber is used within its limitations) And to be quite truthfull, there probally isn't a (best) caliber that will ever be agreed upon. here is a list of calibers that can be used for deer. (some states do not allow certain calibers, so check with the laws first) where I hunt in new york...a caliber of .243 is the smallest that we can use for deer. So lets start with the .243

.243
6mm
240 weatherby
250 savage
257 roberts
257 weatherby
25-06
6.5mm
260
264 win
270 win
270 weatherby
280 win
284
7mm
7mm ultra mag
7mm stw
7-08
7-30 waters
30-30
300 savage
300 win mag
300 ultra mag
300 weatherby
308 win
30-06
303 british
303 savage
32 special
8 mm
338 win
348
358
35 rem
35 whelen
405 win
444 marlin
450 marlin
45-70 gov.
45-90
45 cal. muzzleloader
50 cal.muzzleloader
54 cal.muzzleloader

find out what your applications are and go from there. you have quite a list to choose from. (and there are even more cals. that u can use for deer) even though not on this list. good luck huntin I hope you choose the right gun for you

Barth

12 gauge cause i dont hunt the Rifle

kbick

y does everyone always post this?you just opened up a can of worms, but i think 270 personally...i know i know 30-06 is nice but its a perference

Soilarch

I'll toss my vote onto the pile.

ANYTHING from 6.5mm up to .338 (this includes nearly all the popular cartridges...the 243 and .44mag rifle being the only 'good' deer cartridges I think it leaves out)

The type of bullet you shoot is going to matter a whole lot more than its diameter...or even its weight.

However, If I was going to have only one cartridge to shoot only deer with for the rest of my life I would choose a modern 6.5X55swede-OR-7X57mauser or a .260-OR-.280 (flip a coin, there the same difference) in a carbine rotary lever action...which I'm pretty sure haven't been made since the Savage M99's.

turkeyhunter1590

iuse a 30-06 and i feel that is the right gun for me. also there are bears where i hunt and if iwanted to go bear huntin while im deer huntin then i have a big enough gun to take a bear down