Our lease has had two different tracking dog owners come out. Both said that they track more deer from 7mm mags and 300mags than any other caliber.

This!

fiffy

I say any caliber I don't have

.44-40, 25-35, .243, 30 carbine, .351 Winchester, etc

The reason they track more deer with 7mm’s and .300’s is those people can’t shoot. Hand them a .270 and they would still wound deer.

7mm mags and .300 mags are great all purpose rounds IF you can handle the recoil

full disclosure statement: my preferred doe gun is a 9 twist, bolt action .223.

Worst- have to agree with DQkid on the 22 Hornet, followed closely by .223.



Gotta disagree here. It's not the fault of the caliber if a hunter is too limp wristed to shoot a belted magnum well....




Everyone knows the woods are crawling with them. There have been reported sightings for years. Are they good to eat and how do you cook it?

Why? Because it’s become wildly popular? Every deer I’ve shot with mine has fallen right over without taking a step. You probably also think sitting and watching a corn feeder is really hunting.

Why? Because it’s become wildly popular? Every deer I’ve shot with mine has fallen right over without taking a step. You probably also think sitting and watching a corn feeder is really hunting.

I agree with this. City boys that wanna be country and a hunter. They make us all look bad

Some city boys like to hunt.

I was going to nominate the .300 Weatherby.

Gee, you must be bored, but Palehorse, this post is just plain mean spirited....

best answer

Yea, I guess I can be a mean drunk.

Any caliber that Tikka chambers for...

.................... You must really be bored !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nobody mentioned bullet construction. Oh yeah, I forgot match grade ammo what the cool guys kill deer with!!!

I remember our old lease owner hunted with a 22 hornet. Those deer looked like they got stung by a bee and died of an allergic reaction. It killed em as long as you put it in the right spot though.

22-250 is bad sum b! That thing will put the smack down on a deer.

Caliber don't make much difference, The main difference here is between hunters and shooters. For deer, I'm always in hunting mode.

For some clarity here - if I'm hunting hogs - looking to harvest for the meat, then I'm careful and focused on my shot placement. If I'm shooting hogs or coyotes, then I don't care where they're hit, I'm more focused on just hitting them. Unfortunately, some deer hunters are just shooters. Maybe their eyes are focused on the head gear instead of the crosshair.

IMO, it boils down to margin for error. The big bore rifles might have the largest margin for error in terms of knockdown power, but they can also greatly decrease the margin for error in the shooter. And an unreliable shooter is far more likely to be the reason for an unrecovered deer than a reliable shooter with a smaller caliber rifle.

I would not suggest anything smaller than a .243 in terms of margin for error with the rifle. Beyond that, it's up to the shooter to determine what bullet with a greater diameter than .243 inches they can shoot 10 out of 10 times without wounding an animal.

Yep. 3 of the 5 deer I killed this year hit the dirt with a 22-250, love that round.

It is not the caliber or bullet. It is usually the person that pulls the trigger that blames both because of a bad shot.

I’ve killed a lot of deer with a .22-250.

While it’s adaquate under a lot of circumstances, it’s not ideal.

I would put the Ubermagnums way above .22 centerfires as the worst deer cartridges.

Three doe in three years with three .223 rounds, and my hunting buddy has shot three doe in three years with three .223 rounds. 5 of them dropped at the shot, one went about 30 yards.

The three ways to be successful with .22 centerfires on deer:

Shot Placement
Shot Placement
Shot Placement

A close 4th is using the right bullet. A good rule of thumb is 60 grains or heavier, soft points or controlled expansion (Partition, Bonded, etc) soft points.

I have seen more .22-250s and .220 Swifts used for deer hunting than varmint hunting. See above four caveats.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I went to a MLD ranch this past weekend to shoot doe's, I haven't deer hunted in 15 years (been on Quail only leases), decided to break out my old trusty Remington model 7 .223. I fired four times, killed two doe and two hogs. Another guy there shot a doe with his 30-06 and she got up and ran off. Never found her.

So the other 2 ran off?