favorite deer caliber

7 rem mag/noslers/4831/215m
I estimate 10 deer&pigs per year for about 25 yrs

I've got a lot of favorite but the most recent is a Kimber Montana .280 Ackley I picked up in the classifieds. Great for long walks in the mountains here in PA. It's spoiling me.

Mr.Moa said:

What caliber have you killed the most deer with and which caliber is your favorite. Mine is 308. Killed more deer with it than probably all the other combined. But it helps my gun for it is perfect for it Short, light, easy to walk in the woods with, easy to carry, and great treestand gun.

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Most = 6.5 x 55 swede (Mauser M94 sporterized by my dad); favorite = 284 win (deer include AK caribou & moose; REM m7 SS 7-08 rechambered to 284-passed on to one of my sons now as I'm tinkering w/a Tikka 7RM).

JiggyIi said:

Who needs the NeedMore

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I did buy a 6.5 PRC I a tikka. It's a hell of a nice round. Haven't hunted with it. It got some recoil to it. The ballistics are awesome.

Mr.Moa said:

What caliber have you killed the most deer with and which caliber is your favorite. Mine is 308. Killed more deer with it than probably all the other combined. But it helps my gun for it is perfect for it Short, light, easy to walk in the woods with, easy to carry, and great treestand gun.

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Yup. My go to rifle in Minnesota is a .308 Win Rem Mod 7 with a 20" barrel. Shorter barrels are handy in the tree stand. For more open areas, I use a custom 300 RUM topped with a NF.

In my younger years, it was a .308 and then a .243. I killed 53 one year with just the .243.

Today, I have grown and has my arsenal. I still have the old standards, but have built many customs and most are wildcats and I always have the dilemma of which to take.

If I was only allowed one deer rifle caliber, it would be the 6.5x284

While I own and use numerous calibers/rifles/handguns for hunting, decades ago and following family advise and tradition, it was the 30-06, but I went a different route in loads by using the 165 GK-BTSP and also its HP version. Then I went to 270W using 130-140 BTSP, and a few years later after buying a 243 for my then young son, I found myself enjoying a killing a lot of deer with 243's and 6mm Rems along with the later 6mmRemAI. About 30 years ago, I purchased a 25-06 and immediately fell in love with the caliber.

Many years later and after purchasing and building many more rifles suitable for deer and other, today for deer, I find myself bringing out the 6mm's and 25-06 more than anything else. There have been several very effective loads in each, but lately, I tend to stick with Nosler AB's and Barnes TTSX's.

G19Jeeper said:

I've got a lot of favorite but the most recent is a Kimber Montana .280 Ackley I picked up in the classifieds. Great for long walks in the mountains here in PA. It's spoiling me. View attachment 515528

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I know that feeling all too well. I have an old custom, light weight mountain rifle with an early synthetic stock in 6RemAI topped with an old, light 3-9x32mm Burris. Often, I have contemplated changing the glass, but it is so clear and bright for its size and weight, I have left it alone. It is most pleasurable to carry.

After thinking about my previous post, which I still stand by, but... "if" I could have what I had at one time hunting Deer... a Remington 24" barrel M700 BDL in 6.5 Rem Mag... I think that would be my all-time pick for an all-around Deer rifle. Hunting in 69 above the Columbia River in the Golden Dale area... just plan worked. It's a cartridge that many seem to just pass by that is one of the best 6.5s I've ever used... I wish it had come back in something other than carbines with Remington after the BDL The 6.5 Rem Mag was way ahead of its time. Oh for the old days. Cheers

Mine's 25-06, but I don't own one at the moment. A close second is 280 AI. Both just punch so well.

436 said:

After thinking about my previous post, which I still stand by, but... "if" I could have what I had at one time hunting Deer... a Remington 24" barrel M700 BDL in 6.5 Rem Mag... I think that would be my all-time pick for an all-around Deer rifle. Hunting in 69 above the Columbia River in the Golden Dale area... just plan worked. It's a cartridge that many seem to just pass by that is one of the best 6.5s I've ever used... I wish it had come back in something other than carbines with Remington after the BDL The 6.5 Rem Mag was way ahead of its time. Oh for the old days. Cheers

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A family friend had the 6.5mag in an early production M600. Great caliber, but could use a longer barrel for better ballistics.

Killed more deer with a .300 Winnie, shooting a 6.5 PRC these days and love it too!!!

del2les said:

A family friend had the 6.5mag in an early production M600. Great caliber, but could use a longer barrel for better ballistics.

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I Agree! In a longer barrel, it's a real performer. Cheers

243 Winchester