What cartridge do you use most when hunting DEER?

Just thought it might be an interesting discussion.
I found this on another sight, and it surprised me what their number 2 answer was.

For years I used my trusty Model 99 300Savage.
Now I have an old Remington 30-'06 that is my #1 deer slayer.

Question:
Vote for your most frequently used deer cartridge.

(not your ultimate choice, the cartridge you actually use)

Choices:
30-'06
308
270
243 Win
300 Win Mag
300 Rem UM
338 Win Mag
7MM Rem Mag
7MM-08
35 Remington
30-30
300 Savage
Other (please specify)

 

2 different questions.
What's the most popular deer cartridge?
30-06
What cartridge do you use most when hunting DEER?
308

I use my 7mm-08 for pretty much everything except predators. As far as the most popular and/or most used, I believe the trusty old 30-30 has still killed more whitetails over the years in the USA than the rest of the pack. I think the 30-06 and .270 would still be in 2nd and 3rd place??

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
2 different questions.
What's the most popular deer cartridge?
30-06
What cartridge do you use most when hunting DEER?
308

The poll results will answer the first question. (thread/poll title)
Maybe I should have called it "What is the most popular deer cartridge AR posters use."

The second question is for you to answer.

There is always one...

I have used my 6mm rem more but my 270 wby is gaining on it and just about prefer the wby.

Rad

I have used the 6.5-284, 6.5-06, 7mm Rem Mag, 35 Whelen, and 9.3mm to kill deer with. But when push comes to shove I end up using a standard, pre-64 M70 in 30 Govt 06. I don't know if it's the rifle or the cartridge, it just works!
Thanks, Doug

I've used the half-forgotten .32 Winchester Special (in a Winchester Model 94) and a borrowed Browning BAR in .338 Win Mag. (With this one, I definitely felt that I'd brought enough gun, but it wasn't as overly powerful as I would have imagined even with 200 grain bullets.)


Therefore I picked .308!

What, no .257 Bob?

quote:

Originally posted by rnovi:
What, no .257 Bob?

Or 25/06??

Damn man! I hate choosing just one... I've shot a truckload of deer with quite a few different rounds. I'd have to say that given the constraints of this survey, the most used round (by me) would have to be the 7mm Rem Mag. Shot a bunch of deer with it, and a bunch more with other things ranging from the .22s to the .50 cal frontstuffer. They all seem just as dead to me. #2 would have to be the '06...

gd

Surprised you didn't list the .280.

quote:

Originally posted by Z:
Surprised you didn't list the .280.

Yes I did.

That would be "other."

I actually hope "other" gives 30-'06 a run for it's money!!

quote:

Originally posted by GD:
Damn man! I hate choosing just one... I've shot a truckload of deer with quite a few different rounds.

Remember, I asked "What cartridge do you use most?"

Mine is .270, but not by much. I use a lot of stuff. Based on hunting deer in 3 states for the last 10 years, I would rank:

1) .270 Win
2) .30-06
3) .300 Win Mag
4) .243 Win
5) 7mm Rem Mag
6) .30-30

7) all the rest a far way behind the top 5-6

Lou

For many years a Savage 110 in .243 cal. Then
changed over to a Savage 99 in 300 cal.

It probably varies with area, but here the most popular three carts for deer are 30-06, 270 Win, and 7RM with the 300WM shortly behind.

For low recoil and great deer sized game performance, it's hard to go wrong with a 06 or 7RM IMO.

Have a Good One,

Reloader

Voted in the "OTHER" catagory. 25-06 w/120gr Partitions

Other.

I grew up using a Rem 760 pump in .30-'06. Then it got stolen with the rest of my guns. I found a used Rem 7600 pump in .35 Whelen. That has been my choice for whitetailed deer ever since. So, as you can see, it isn't so much the caliber as the gun itself. The old slide action lends itself well to the deep woods style hunting here in Penn's Woods.

Although I have taken deer with 223 Rem, 25-06 and 338-06AI bolt guns. Hell, I even took my .416 Rem mag but didn't get a shot.

I voted "other". I use my 264 WM. The ML comes in second. A few years ago I could have said 308, no question, but not in the past few years.

.270, .280, .30-06 and let's not forget the .308.

They're all good.

270 has been my number one since I was 16.
In addition, I have used:
22-250
243
257 Roberts
338-06
338 WM
348 WIN
350 RM
375 H&H

Conspicuously absent are the 7mm and 30's.

Used to be the .243 or .300 H&H but now my most used cartridge is the .375 H&H. I use it for everything so I voted other.

quote:

Originally posted by SDhunter:
270 has been my number one since I was 16.
In addition, I have used:
22-250
243
257 Roberts
338-06
338 WM
348 WIN
350 RM
375 H&H

Conspicuously absent are the 7mm and 30's.

All the more reason to have one, or three!!

Have used most of the common calibers but 270 the most. Will try a 260 Rem this fall in 700 mtn rifle.

Specify others:

not in any particular order, all see similar amount of use...

260 Rem, 7 x 57, 6.5 x 55, 6.5 x 57...6mm Rem

personal favorite.. 6.5 x 57...

quote:

All the more reason to have one, or three!!

I did purchase a Whitworth in 300WM from a friend of mine. I haven't taken possession of the rifle yet. I am kind of hoping he changes his mind about selling it and he buys it back.

I don't see a 7mm anything in the near future. But if I was to have a 7mm, it would have to be a 7x57 Mauser in a full blown custom mauser action of some type and a top notch stock. But then I wouldn't need my 270, and that will never happen!

I plan shootong deer with 416 Rigby and 444 Marlin cartridges this year. I may as well add the 300WM. Lest my 270 gets jealous.

Ruger #1 in 9,3 x 74R.

Three whitetails; DRT, DRT with a slight twitch, and DRT.

A bison did take three shots; the first one killed it but it took two more to be fully convinced of the fact.

quote:

Originally posted by SDhunter:
But if I was to have a 7mm, it would have to be a 7x57 Mauser in a full blown custom mauser action of some type and a top notch stock. But then I wouldn't need my 270, and that will never happen!

It really is never about NEED.

If it was about NEED, the 338WM would really be all you would NEED.

(maybe the .243 for the really small stuff)

.270
Never know if that deer will step out at 10 yds or 300 yds.

Living in a Shotgun only State limits my choices to a 12 gauge or 20 gauge. I use a 12 gauge slug gun.

When I hunted in other States I either used my 30-06 or 45-70, or a handgun.

quote:

If it was about NEED, the 338WM would really be all you would NEED.

In know, I know, but I have to try and apply some logic to this rifle loonie business.

I shoot 'em with almost every cartridge listed but I carry a .308 or a .300 WM most of the time.

I'm sitting here thinking, which is always dangerous, and I really wonder about the old saw, "the 30-30 has killed more deer than any other cartridge". Maybe that is true, probably was certainly true back in the 1930s or whenever it became a popular opinion, but, without researching it, I suspect that there are MORE WHITETAILS killed each year now that there were in the decade of the 1930s or 40s and most of the current kill is certainly not by a .30-30.

For instance, in Texas, and I'm not sure of the year, there were essentially NO deer in large parts of it until the restocking programs started in the 50s or so. They had all been killed out, at least, in my families part of East Texas in the late 1800s, early 1900s. We didn't see a deer in San Augustine or Shelby County until the 50s, there weren't any.

Point is, while I'm sure many of the hunters used a .30-30 back then and most of the rest probably used a .30-40 or a .30-06, there just weren't as many hunters nor as many deer, so totals killed by the .30-30 are suspect in my mind. Just random thinking.....

I had to vote "other".

Since about 1980, all of my Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Pronghorn Antelope (except two), 4 Bighorn sheep, a Dall sheep, a 6-pt Elk, and a Mountain Caribou which total 75-100 animals have fallen to my .257 AI.

quote:

Originally posted by larrys:
I voted "other". I use my 264 WM. The ML comes in second. A few years ago I could have said 308, no question, but not in the past few years.

264WM, very good choice!
A good friend of mine has a Pre ’64 Model 70 in 264WM and it is a shooter!

quote:

Originally posted by seafire2:
Specify others:

not in any particular order, all see similar amount of use...

260 Rem, 7 x 57, 6.5 x 55, 6.5 x 57...6mm Rem

personal favorite.. 6.5 x 57...

Not less than I would expect from Seafire. Bravo!
You are the only guy I would expect to use a 6mm Rem…

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
Living in a Shotgun only State limits my choices to a 12 gauge or 20 gauge. I use a 12 gauge slug gun.

When I hunted in other States I either used my 30-06 or 45-70, or a handgun.

I received an old Remington 870 Wingmaster from my step-Dad a few years back. I looked brand new. He had shot many, many rounds through it pheasant hunting, but kept it really nice. The first year I loaned it to my brother and he killed a buck with it. The holes were big enough I believe you could probably have seen daylight through them! Awesome!

quote:

Originally posted by buffybr:
I had to vote "other".

Since about 1980, all of my Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Pronghorn Antelope (except two), 4 Bighorn sheep, a Dall sheep, a 6-pt Elk, and a Mountain Caribou which total 75-100 animals have fallen to my .257 AI.

That is a great cartridge! I have the “little brother†6mm and they are all shooters!
Pretty flat shooting and plenty of power.

Cartridges I've used for deer hunting:

.223
.243
7-30 Waters
.280 Rem
.307 win
.308 Win
.338 WM
.44 Mag
.444 Marlin
45-70 gov
.375 Ruger
12 ga slugs

The 2 cartridges I've used the most for deer:

30-30
20 ga slug

My 30-30 is a Winchester Trapper model with a 16" barrel that's set up with a scout scope. It's so easy to carry and I'm able to aquire targets very quickly with it. Here in the thick NE woods that counts for a lot.

Much of New England is shotgun only territory so I ended up getting an H & R Ultra Slug Hunter in 20 ga and have taken 2 deer with it in the last 3 years. I had my gunsmith shorten the barrel to 20" and it handles very well and puts 265 grain sabots into under 2" at 100 yards. That would be a very long shot in the woods where I use it.

columbian blacktail 30-06; mule deer 300wm cause I had elk tags with me in CO

gatogordo,

There you go thinking again........

I don't know the up to date numbers, but I do know it was true for a long time. What you say about Texas deer hunting is, of course, dead on. I was thinking about the long term hunting back east and in the south that has been going on for a long time. It would be interesting to see the actual totals since the turn of the century.

For the non-Texans in the bunch, anything east of Texas is either "the South" or "Back East", there is no such thing as the "Midwest".

Bob

257 wby 100gr tsx 3650 fps.

quote:

Originally posted by 375 H&H Fan:
257 wby 100gr tsx 3650 fps.

Bang--FLOP!
TSX bullets are awesome. Especially in a great long range cartridge like the 257WBY.

i still say the 30-30 has killed more deer then the others and people in the woods still grab this cartridge.Remembe this ain't texas this is nation wide