Best short range deer caliber?

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For the OP's stated purpose, nothing beats a Marlin M336 in .35Rem with a 2-7x scope. King of the eastern woods!
Just enough more "splat" than the .30/30, and bigger entry/exit wounds to make tracking a bit easier. (Wider, shorter blood trails).

I've killed deer with .22lr to 12ga shotgun to include .22cf to .45/70.
Have 3 .30/06, 3 .30/30, 3 .223, .22/250, .257Roberts. (Close favorite to .35!), .257 Wby, .270, 7/30Waters (darn good too!), 7mm08, .300 BO, 3 .338's, .358win, .375Ruger, 3 .45/70's!!!. Not to mention a .22 Hornet, a .218Bee, and lastly a .25-36Marlin.

The .35Rem is just a little " more better" than the .30/30, but I do enjoy my Marlin/Glenfield M30 .30/30. Light, handy, accurate, and quite effective. Bit cheaper to shoot if you don't reload.
 
30-06? The suggestion is just a joke but this actually happened to me a couple of years ago. I shot a doe from less than 50 feet with my 30-06. It had a fist sized hole on the exit side. Effective...yes, overkill...probably. I am in the process of switching to a .243 because all we see around here are whitetail deer and they aren't monster size. My vote is for the .243 caliber.
 
Taurus 617 CCW said:
30-06? The suggestion is just a joke but this actually happened to me a couple of years ago. I shot a doe from less than 50 feet with my 30-06. It had a fist sized hole on the exit side. Effective...yes, overkill...probably. I am in the process of switching to a .243 because all we see around here are whitetail deer and they aren't monster size. My vote is for the .243 caliber.
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.243 is still pushing 95 gr upwards of 2900, big supporter of that .243 but we knock deer over 3-400 yds out here (including big muleys) with em. Up close, the velocities are devastating to most bullets. There are 4 options that are practical for your described use, 85 Sierra gameking (with the intention of no real exit but still tough jacket controlled expansion to penetrate deer sized vitals), any partition for obvious reasons, a copper solid, or a real tough 100 gr rn (discontinued by hornady) or Sierra pro hunter, I've caught sp interlocks and hot cors disintegrating under 50 yds but these 2 just work. For your situation, a 300 aac looks better, think big bullet low speed. At 50 ft velocity will be overkill in a .243 as much as (or more than, depending on bullet construction) your 30-06. .357 and .44 mag would shine at those distances, but if you're stuck on .243 then I welcome another to the cult and suggest tons of practice and a crosshair on the central nervous system to avoid that ugly exit in the chest.... also the 30-06 is not a joke at close range it obviously does the job, but bullet construction and shot placement are a larger factor at 50 ft than bullet diameter.
 
When I see these caliber related discussions that can go in many directions I would ask the shooter or potential buyer....

With the 308w being our service cartrige that is plentiful and affordable in any load one could imagine and/or plentiful and readily available components.
What would the average hunter could expect from a caliber that the popular and current service cartridge could not do?
It is also available in every single platform we could imagine. Bolt, lever, auloading, pump, break open,etc...
Also if hunting in dense forest or brush a more suitable round was preferred then the 308 gave birth to the 358 winchester that is a meat production plant
and not only can shoot heavy premium bullets but can also use 357 pistol bullets for inexpensive practice giving a cost effective alternative like the 308.

From there we can make it as simple or as complicated as we want.

I am giving this approach because in the sports, like we do in life many times, we tend to focus on the "how-to" before we give some serious thinking
to the "what" and specially the "why"?
 
If you are absolutely certain you will never need to shoot at a deer past 75 yards, it would be hard to beat the original Ruger semi auto carbine in 44 Mag. I bought one for my wife long ago. Added a recoil pad, put a 2.5 X scope on it, bought a box of 240 gr. semi wadcutters and told her to go at it. She killed the very first buck she ever fired at. He was standing broadside @ 35 yards and it was BOOM! FLOP! She gave up hunting shortly there after, said it was too easy.
 
Im looking for a rifle for 75 yards or less.

Ive been thinking about 357 mag, 12 ga buck or slug, muzzleloader and obviously the venerable 30-30.

What in you alls opinion would be best, not necessarily from this list?

Id like to get into cowboy action shooting so the 357 magnum is really apealing, but not more so than loosing deer.
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I love my H&R Handi rifle in 44mag for what you describe. Love.
 
.30-30. I'VE taken dozens of deer, hogs, coons, even one porcupine (didn't know what it was up in that tree; had to ground check it). I have never felt under gunned, and only one deer ran. Everything else was cleanly DRT.

Some folks in this thread have dissed the old .30 win, saying they have cleaner kills with a .44 mag. That is not my experience. several kills were 170+ yards; no way I would take that shot with a pistol carbine.
 
I live in the Missouri Ozarks, heavily timber and hilly. I've never killed a deer around here at any range beyond 75 yards and usually closer. Here 30-30 and deer rifle are terms used interchangeably to describe a tool to kill deer. The man that mows for me saw a big buck while driving down the road he said "If I'da had a 30-30 he'da been mine".

It makes little difference what gun you use at close range. It is and always has been shot placement.
 
DDDWho said:
I live in the Missouri Ozarks, heavily timber and hilly. I've never killed a deer around here at any range beyond 75 yards and usually closer. Here 30-30 and deer rifle are terms used interchangeably to describe a tool to kill deer. The man that mows for me saw a big buck while driving down the road he said "If I'da had a 30-30 he'da been mine".

It makes little difference what gun you use at close range. It is and always has been shot placement.
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30 30 pretty good choice but i will take my shotgun over anything else for shots of 80 yard or less with the right slug combo it is hard to beat .
And in the woods in most parts of the country you usally cant get a clear shot farther then that anyway .
 
Caliber is irrelevant. Long range calibers work just as well up close as at distance. The rifle it is chambered in is the key. It should be lighter, shorter with very good optics and it doesn't need a lot of recoil. Flat trajectory and extreme accuracy are more important in the woods than in the open. I often hunt in thick woods where shots range from 25-75 yards. The deer/bear aren't smaller, but the only shots are often baseball openings in the brush where the arched trajectory of traditional 30-30, class rounds will be 2" or more above or below the line of sight. There is no such thing as shooting through brush. Hit it with any bullet and it will be deflected. A 1/2 MOA rifle is a lot easier to hit tiny targets with a 50 yards than a 3 MOA lever gun. Good optics make it possible to make those shots at near dark.

The best close range rifle is a compact, accurate 18-20" bolt gun weighing no more than 7 lbs scoped in a flat shooting accurate caliber 243-308.
 
jmr40 said:
Caliber is irrelevant. Long range calibers work just as well up close as at distance. The rifle it is chambered in is the key. It should be lighter, shorter with very good optics and it doesn't need a lot of recoil. Flat trajectory and extreme accuracy are more important in the woods than in the open. I often hunt in thick woods where shots range from 25-75 yards. The deer/bear aren't smaller, but the only shots are often baseball openings in the brush where the arched trajectory of traditional 30-30, class rounds will be 2" or more above or below the line of sight. There is no such thing as shooting through brush. Hit it with any bullet and it will be deflected. A 1/2 MOA rifle is a lot easier to hit tiny targets with a 50 yards than a 3 MOA lever gun. Good optics make it possible to make those shots at near dark.

The best close range rifle is a compact, accurate 18-20" bolt gun weighing no more than 7 lbs scoped in a flat shooting accurate caliber 243-308.
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You cant see what brush is there all the time the idea that you are going to find a hole in the brush to shoot thro sound good but in practical terms not likely all bullets deflect but light fast bullets deflect more
 
I'm kinda with some others in thinking that you don't need to necessarily pick a "short range" cartridge just because your shots will be at a short range. That said - when I think of a "short range" cartridge typically .30-30 jumps to mind. Does absolutely great within 100 yards and it's not so handicapped that you couldn't take it out to 200 if you needed to.

I will say though that while I've got 3 .30-30's my go-to regardless of range has traditional been .30-06, though I've been hunting with a 7mm-08.
 
jmr40 said:
Caliber is irrelevant. Long range calibers work just as well up close as at distance. The rifle it is chambered in is the key. It should be lighter, shorter with very good optics and it doesn't need a lot of recoil. Flat trajectory and extreme accuracy are more important in the woods than in the open. I often hunt in thick woods where shots range from 25-75 yards. The deer/bear aren't smaller, but the only shots are often baseball openings in the brush where the arched trajectory of traditional 30-30, class rounds will be 2" or more above or below the line of sight. There is no such thing as shooting through brush. Hit it with any bullet and it will be deflected. A 1/2 MOA rifle is a lot easier to hit tiny targets with a 50 yards than a 3 MOA lever gun. Good optics make it possible to make those shots at near dark.

The best close range rifle is a compact, accurate 18-20" bolt gun weighing no more than 7 lbs scoped in a flat shooting accurate caliber 243-308.
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I have a really hard time taking this seriously. So even at short range we need a half-MOA rifle capable of surgically placing a bullet through tiny openings in the vegetation???

Even a 44Mag rifle is only going to be a half inch high at 50yds with a 100yd zero. So obviously the .30-30 is going to shoot even flatter.

I know you like to tout the boltgun as superior to the levergun in every way imaginable but let's be realistic.

If I only need to cover 100yds, I am not going to subject myself to any .308 or .30-06 class cartridge. A pistol cartridge levergun is going to be milder in report and recoil and be much more convenient all the way around.
 
As a Land of Lincoln hunter for a couple decades where slug guns were mandated by law, I can say they absolutely work great up to 75 yards. If anything they are extreme overkill for deer. If you already have a shotgun grab a couple boxes to see where they hit and you are good to go.

If however you are in the market for a new hunting tool, suggest you go with just about any rifle or pistol caliber carbine if they are legal alternatives. Whole lot less recoil, much better accuracy (they have sights and scopes are easy to add!) and cheaper ammo if you shoot much.

Beyond that, which caliber? They pretty much all work with appropriate bullets ..... pick one you like and can hit well with
 
something to consider...

Once we mention short range one might picture the northen woods.
Sometimes heavy forest and possibly shooting through brush.
In this potential scenario often found stocking up close and short range we can see how heavy bullets and larger calibers have a distinctive advantage.
Even many of the typical the 30 and 338 calibers might show considerable deflection when shooting through branches and heavy brush.
So would suggest looking into the 35, 375 calibers and up that still shoot pretty flat o therise 430 or 458, etc.. that are going
to be potentially more pronounced trajectories but this is not an issue in short range
Some will show more recoil but they are top performers in this type of scenario.

35 remington
358 winchester
35 whelen
375 whelen
375 ruger
375 H&H
444 marlin
45/70
450 alaskan
458 win mag

Most too much for deer but also very popular and they can be reduced.
 
I hunt with 243, 308, and 223. I would take 223 or 243 out to 300 yards, my 308 to 600. My point being long action or magnum calibers just aren't necessary for me where I hunt, especially since most of my kills are between 30- 150 yards, and I'm a fairly decent shot. The calibers you mentioned I guess will work ok, but it doesn't make sense to me to get rifle that will push you into a corner as far as the short effective range you mentioned - you never know what the future may hold in hunting opportunities.
 
I am hoping to find a pistol caliber rifle of some sort sometime this year. I have been using a rifled slug gun and while it is devastating on deer, the stock is too short for me, the ammo is too expensive to practice with at nearly $3 a round, and I don't feel particularly safe shooting it with houses and stuff around because they really don't seem to slow down one bit going through a deer. I have never recovered a slug, and I do all my own processing.

Obviously you have to know your target and backstop, but having something that won't go through the deer and the tree behind it would be nice at times. I think the notion that slugs are less dangerous at long range is pretty obsolete now that we have sabots available like the hornady STS that pushes a 300 grain copper bullet at 2000 fps and only drops 6 inches at 200 yards with a 150 yard zero.

My longest shot has been 100 yards, and the opportunity to shoot farther would be a rare occurrence where I hunt. I'm thinking a .357 or .44mag that I can have fun with all year is pretty appealing.
 
I can say that I personally didn't care for the .357 mag for deer. Been there did that....didn't like it.

another thing that I can add is the fact that if you have a small acreage to hunt on...it is really nice to have a very SHORT blood trail.
It's not much fun to track your trophy buck off your property and onto your neighbors.

I say use enough gun....for a number of reasons.
 
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