entropy
Member
.30-06. I've used that, 12 ga., and .50 ML to take deer. I'm hunting with my Axis in .223 again this fall.
My favorite for deer is the splendid and wonderful .250/3000 Sav. I have two rifles in this caliber and started hunting with the .250 about 40 years ago. I reloaded for it but never tried to soup it up because it is perfect as is. I find factory level velocities to be ideal. I load for a Ruger M77 and for a Sav. 99A. Can't begin to count the deer I've taken with them. For the longest shots I like my 30 year old .257R. Though some will call it "overkill", I have taken many with a Remington M700 .350 Rem mag hand loaded with 200 grain Hornady spire points.
I've used the .357, .41 and .44 mags to take truckloads of deer. Of these three I prefer the Ruger BH .41mag and consider it the ideal for handguns.
I need to be honest, however. For the past 10 years I've hunted exclusively with flintlocks. My favorite has been a late Lancaster flinter which has killed the most deer for me. While I've also used the .50 as well, I'm enjoying shooting round ball in my early American flint smoothbore .62 more and more.
X1.270 Winchester. Sixteen white tails at ranges from 50 to 300 yards, all one-shot kills with factory ammo.
What more could one want?