I'm a Hunter-Ed instructor and, last year, a student asked me what rifle calibers were useful for deer. This year, I would like to give them a sheet with rifle calibers and shotshell availability.

So, my question for you hunters is:
What caliber of rifle do you use and why? If in shotgun only territory, what gauge of shotgun and what shotshell?

Thanks!

odin

My three are:

Rifle: 270win or 45/70

12ga: slug

To make sure.

Deer are not hard to kill. So the list of possible deer hunting calibers will be quite lengthy, especially if you include all the various wildcat cartridges. We're talking many dozens to hundreds of different calibers...

Personally, I use .30-06 for my dedicated hunting guns. It's kinda overkill for the typical deer hunting around here, but it's a useful all-around hunting caliber that's capable of taking any North American game.

I also use 7.62x39 for deer and hogs. It doesn't have the long range power of .30-06, but it works well at shorter ranges. (Equivalent to the venerable .30-30.)

Other popular deer hunting calibers among guys I know around here are .223, .243, .270, .308, 7mm-08, .30-30, and .44 Magnum. But as stated, there's a very wide variety of potential calibers.

Not trying to be funny or a jerk, but you're the teacher...you don't know? Just go with what you know works in your area.

Of course, I have an opinion...... I was going to list the popular calibers that have ample ammunition commercially available. A hunting gun is a big expense for someone starting out and, if that person chooses a .300 Creedmore (for example), they may not find ammunition when they need it. For example, when I was younger, .32Win was a popular caliber. Try finding ammo for it now!!!!

300 black out subs,
308 Subs,
6.5x55 swede super
50 call muzzle loader
40sw, 357mag, 45lc.

obviously, some are at much shorter distance than others.

30.06 will take down all game in the lower 48 and by far the easiest to come by.

What was still on the shelves during the ammo panics in your area?

Anecdote: Surprisingly to me, 30-06 was still around in gobs here. I mean people are born with an '06 in their hands here, so I figured it would be the first to go. Our moms are the only ones that can handle it btw.

You can find 12 Gauge 00 Buck, and .308 Win all day long and twice on Sundays. I recommend you stick to the basics.

H&K-Guy

While .30-06 or .308 Win work fine on most North American game, I prefer my .35 Whelen. Basically a necked up '06, but the heavier bullets offer better penetration/stopping power on larger game such as moose and elk. I've got several rifles in the other two cartridges (as well as others), but having taken down a number of larger species as well as deer, it's pretty much my "Go to" rifle/cartridge combination.

If you're trying to keep it simple, .243, .308, and .30-06 seem to be the "big three" American hunting calibers. (At least as far as bolt action rifles go.)

Also check your State laws - .223 is not legal for deer hunting in some states.

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Also check your State laws - .223 is not legal for deer hunting in some states.

Yes, Colorado won't allow that. 25-06, 300 Win Mag, many of the Weatherby cals, 270, their certainly are many more.

In my hunting days, I slayed deer with a 25.06, a 22.250 and 6 times with my car. Road hunting in the last case.

I don't think you'll find ammo for a '.300 Creedmore' but you can find 6.5 Creedmoor.

Some of my favorite cartridges are
.257 Roberts
.260 Remington
.307 Winchester

.243 on Texas whitetail. It works every time, probably an average of 1 deer per year for the last 30 years with it. I inherited a browning bolt action .243 from my grandfather. The barrel is marked made in Finland (I assume it was made by sako). The gun might be 70 years old, but it shoots 1 moa. There have been plenty of years I have only shot it one time, take my deer with one shot and back it goes in the safe.

30-30 in a lever gun. That's all I have and that’s all I need.

I do have a question for those who hunt with a shotgun: is a 20 gauge with slugs sufficient for deer out to 100 yards?

Over the past 39 yrs:
Deer-
6mm
243
308
30-06
30-30
Deer/Bear-
12ga slugs
30-06
35 Rem
7mm Rem Mag
Hogs-
30-30
35 Rem
44 Mag (rifle)
357 Mag (rifle)
Pheasants- All #6 shot
28ga
20ga
16ga
12ga

Whitetail deer in S TX for me.

Started with a Marlin 30-30 & used that for about 15 years.
Picked up a Tikka T3x in 270Win a couple years ago & it's my go-to now.

Still have the 30-30 & have loaned it to a friend to use for his first hunting trip with me.

i would not shoot a deer with any slug out past 75 yards...some would.
i have not seen accuracy at 100 yards with slugs to warrant such a shot.

if you have confidence and experience with slugs out to 100 yards or beyond, heck, go for it, i would use a rifle.

good luck with your classes op.
good on you for teaching!