Opinion on Longer Rang Cal for Deer

i agree with C3 completely on this. your distances are going to be dictated by how far you can hit, each and every time you pull the trigger, accurately. several of the cartridges you listed will go quite far and easily drop a deer, in the hands a practiced hunter. the person behind the trigger is the most important part of the equation, and the cartridge and rifle secondary.

that 300 WM and the 7mm RM can have some healthy recoil and yes they will reach out pretty far on a deer, but practice is key. how many hard recoiling rifles have you shot on a regular basis? the get good shooting any rifle requires trigger time, and some just can't handle the heavy recoil it takes to get good at shooting them.

 

awwhh hell, they shoot deer 25,000 yards away on the deer hunter video game.

 

You missed one of the best all around deer cartridge ever, the 270Win. Also, the 260 Remington(basically a 308Win necked to .264") has proven to be a pretty good long range cartridge with a wide variety of bullet weights available for use.

 

Most deer are shot at ranges less than 200 yards,and any of the calibers listed will do the job out past that distance easily with a shooter that knows his stuff.
I personally like to use the 25/06 and 7mm-08,but I shoot all the calibers listed except the 7mm Mag,and magnum calibers aren't needed to put down whitetail's.
I've killed more with a 223 than any caliber,but it's legal to use that caliber in my state.

 

I use the .30-06 for everything from antelope to moose. It's never let me down.

It may be a little heavy for deer, but it will do the job.

IMHO, cartridges like the .300 and 7mm magnums are gross overkill. My biggest objection toi the magnum is that thery tempt inexperienced hunters to take shots that are out of range, and cause a lot of wounding of game.

The .308, 7-08, .260, .25-06, .257 Roberts, 6mm Remington, .243 are all exccellent deer cartridges to 300 yards.

 

i agree with this 100%. well said Locutus.

many people try and compensate for their inability to hit a desired target by stepping up to a larger magnum calibered rifle. problem is they never shoot it enough to become proficient with it and now they think because they have huge magnum they can increase their hunting distances.

if you want to ethically hunt at 400-500 yrds, then you need to be able to hit a target at 400-500 yrds, 10 out of 10 times. this means much time behind the trigger. huge magnums have much recoil and if you can't stand the recoil, then you have no businsee shooting at 400-500 yrds.

simply put, it's about practice and trigger time, irregardless of what caliber you choose to hunt with.

 

A lot depends on what size the deer are in your area and what you consider long range.

In the swappy area of Georgia a "Long shot" might be 150 yds and the deer are most often well under 200lbs and usually closer to 100 lbs. A .30-30 or a .35 Rem is plenty of gun. A .243 or .308 is fine too.

Out here in Washington the Mule deer can get pretty big. Ranges accross a clear cut or accross a ravine could be 300+ yds.

I agree that you first have to figure out what YOUR maximum range is for humane hits. Then a caliber and bullet to get you performance on target is next.

I like the flat shooting and light recoil of 6.5 mm bullets in the 6.5mm Mauser round and the .260 Remington, but on big boned deer you might have some trouble on long shots, though the sectional density of these rounds is really impressive.

There is a lot of variety in well constructed .30 cal and 7 mm bullets, and lots of good cartridges that use them.

 

It's not a matter of how far the rifle can shoot. It's a matter of how far you can see. I have a hard time seeing further than 75 yards. Deer are creatures of habit. I put my stand near deer trails. All the deer are near my stand. I only see one or two deer a season a long way away from my stand. It must be old age. I can't see all those deer moving in areas where there are no deer trails.

I prefer the 30/06 for it's versatility. You can buy cartridges made for about any situation in a box. The .270 is a good caliber. I shot a 270 for several seasons. The 270 did everything I asked it to do. It's very difficult to track deer in this area. I prefer heavier caliber rifles.

 

Mini-14 My Only Rifle

I'm not posting this to stir up any controversy. I reload my own ammo and shoot about 150-200 rounds per week. I get a lot of ribbing at work, that the 223 Rem. is inadequate for deer. (Mule Deer ) I shoot many MOA at 100 yds. and a few at 150. I set my distance limit at 150 yards. My loads are 2960+/- on my croney and impact figures out to be 1140 FPE inpact at 100 yards. I'm 74 years old and not in the best of health. This year I filled my Mule Deer Doe tag, with the help of a friend, the day before the season ended. Watching through the scope, my buddy lazered her, and said over my shoulder, "137 yards" on impact, she humped up took 2 "boings on the third one, she went up and her hind legs gave way and she was down. Kicked with her front legs a few times. DRT- DEAD RIGHT THERE. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, you have to know all aspects of your weapon and cartridge. When field dressing my doe we found that the 64gr. bonded boat tail had enter the right leg, shattering it, blew out the top of the heart and made a nickle hole as it passed through a rib on the left side. Perfect preformance on my hand load. I try to make it a habit to shoot in all phases of daylight. Some times at sun up, some times sundown, or any time in between. Main 3 things: Know your weapon and loads, and remember POINT OF AIM and POINT OF IMPACT is the most important of the three.[/

 

I prefer the 30-06 I have one that I set up open fields and power line where I can get shots out to a good 300 to 400 yards but like everyone said you need to find your long range limit

 

I men't range limit

 

I use my 7mm-08 for everything from deer to elk to bear to cougar and I haven't ever put more than two rounds into an animal. I use handloads though. It's by far my favorite all around caliber

 

The .24-06 that the OP mentioned is actually the 6mm-06 Wildcat. This is an extremely over bore round. Of the cartridges mentioned, the 7mm-08 is probably the best of the lot for what most hunters want to do. I shoot the 7x57 Mauser round which is almost identical to the 7mm-08. It is flat shooting, hits hard and there are a variety of bullets available for it.
cottontop

 

musicman How far is a long shot for you . How tough do you feel you are?? recoil question. I have a 308 and a 7mmrm. The 7mm rm is my LR hunter and a very good and accurate rifle to 425 yards before you better have the yardage spot on. The 308 that would be 325 to 350 yards. To me for a hunting rifle you shoot it enought to know what it will do at different yardages and then don't shot it all that much away from hunting . Then after that an 8lb 7mm rm is not hard to shot well. But Not a range gun for many but a good hunter.

If your recoil sensitive then add a short 6.5 cal to your list like a 260rem, 6.5x55 or 7-08. That would may choice today. With these you have a solid 350 to 400 yard deer rifle that easy on the shoulder with the lightest of hunting rifles.

 

I've gone the 30-06 route because of the options it affords me. Deer in Northern Minnesota tend to be of the large variety. A Remington 700 in 30-06, in the right hands, is going to be effective up to 500 yards. I do not have the right hands (lol) but I can put my rounds in a pie pan from 220 yards with 165 grain. I also want to go Elk hunting in Montana one of these years - not your best quarry with smaller calibers regardless of all the ballistics improvements. Some animals, you need maximum stopping power.

30-06 Springfield is one of the most commonly available ammo types out there. Any place that sells ammunition will sell this round. The only downside might be recoil. From a bolt action rifle, this round will tap your shoulder "a little".

 

25-06 It will kill anything in NA.

 

I think a person should be able to stalk to within 300 yards of any big game if they're any kind of hunter at all. At that range if someone wanted a low recoil round that'd get the job done you can go with a .243Win or 7mm08
Rem in a short action gun or a 25-06 in a long action gun and not beat yourself up and still get your deer. I've read about many guys that take deer all the time with the .223/5.56mm with proper bullet selection and by keeping the range to 200 yards or less so it'll work if you know it's limitations.
When the time comes to get a bolt action I'll be looking for a 243, 7mm08 or a 25-06 though.

 

I'm in agreement with the majority of opinions here, which is you don't need a howitzer to kill deer. .243, 7mm-08, .308 are all excellent. Nothing wrong with the long actions like .270, .280, and 30-06 either, but the short actions are more than adequate and usually have less recoil (some .308's have a pretty good thump to them). Anything over 300 yards starts getting tough and not because of the limitations of the bullet but because of the limitations of the shooter. Those deer start looking pretty small past 300 yards. You can go with a large scope and bi pod in the prone position but then you limit your effectiveness up close (less than 200 yards) which is where you will probably see most of your deer.