Whitetail deer

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Shouthern Hunter

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What is the best rifle for hunting Whitetail Deer? I hunt with a tree stand, and I am 15 to 20 feet in the tree. I will be shooting about 100-150yds. Max, most shots will be about 65yds. I am looking at a 30-06, is that a good rifle for this type of hunting?
 
Who knows what is "best"? Best rifle or best caliber or best caliber in best rifle. My preference is to choose a rifle in 270 win, 308 win, or 30-06. So you are looking at the right kind of rifle caliber for whitetails. Works well for any shot out to 300 yards in open country. woods, or brushy country. No gun is great for brushy country. Some like to push the 7mm as the optimum caliber. I think it is a tad big, but I'm ok with anyone who chooses it. The 300 win mag is probably a little big too, unless you are thinking about flexibilty for say an elk hunt perhaps. I like the traditional calibers as the factory ammunition is fairly reasonable and I don't shoot my "deer rifle" much for anything other than deer (at the moment). But, do practice with your rifle and put a scope on it.

Good luck hunting!
 
Welcome to THR. And yes, that is a fine rifle and will work well for this purpose. If you already have it and are familiar with it, it is the best one to use. Of course, there are a LOT of rifles that will do the job you want under the conditions you stated. Just choose one you can shoot accurately at those ranges and don't skimp on the optics you put on it. It always amazes me how people will buy a fine rifle and then put the cheapest scope they can find on it. When it doesn't shoot well, they blame the rifle. Good luck this season.
 
What is the best rifle for hunting Whitetail Deer? I hunt with a tree stand, and I am 15 to 20 feet in the tree. I will be shooting about 100-150yds. Max, most shots will be about 65yds. I am looking at a 30-06, is that a good rifle for this type of hunting?
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I'm thinking your height above the ground is pretty much irrelevant to which rifle you choose, except for the fact that you must carry it and sit with it regardless of how you hunt.

I'm thinking the best rifle for hunting Whitetail Deer is any rifle with enough punch to do the job without punching the shooter into flinching and missing.

A .30-06 is long since proven an excellent deer rifle, but inside 150yds, it won't do too much a .30-30 won't do aside from the '06 kicking harder. It's not the recoil that kills game, but rather penetration, expansion, and kinetic energy. With either round, I've seen a 150gr bullet punch clean through a deer's lungs and keep going. Everything ahead of the diaphragm was mush and the deer didn't walk 20yds. One of those shots I saw wasn't 50yds.

Now, that said, I've also seen real good performance with .243 Winchester with 100gr SPs. The original .243, mind you, none of this newfangled SM/SSM johnny-come-lately. If you want a flat trajectory in a good deer rifle, get a .243 Winchester in either a Model 70 or Savage Model 11. It'll shoot flat to 200yds, so you'll be good to go within your stated ranges.

I'm editting to add that:

while many like scopes, and that's fine, I like to hunt and shoot with aperture sights. I have no complaints against my old Winchester .30-30 with Lyman #2 tang sight.
 
30-'06 Spgfld will work fine, but it's a little much in the recoil dept, and not needed to kill a deer. I'd go 6.5x55mm swede, .260 rem, or .257 Robts for a dedicated whitetail rifle - maybe even .243 win, .30-30 win, .35 rem, .44 mag, .357 mag, or 7.62x39mm. I believe it's been said that the .30-30 win has killed more deer than all other calibers combined (may be true). But if you don't mind recoil, then 30-06 is a very good choice, as ammo is everywhere, and it will double as an elk or bigger game gun.
 
Thank you oldnamvet for welcoming me. I am looking for the best caliber. Where I will be deer hunting most I can only see 150yds. MAX, because the woods are so thick. Most spots I can only see about 50yds. I am only 16 years old so I am not looking for anything with much more kick than a 30-06. I have shot a 30-06 before so I know I can handle that amount of kick. I want a gun that can shoot about 225 yds, because some spots that I hunt I can make a shot 225yds. I have only went deer hunting about 6 times. I do not have a deer rifle yet. I used a 30-30 last year with 150gr.SPs. They have alot bullets for 30-06 in stores here. Whats the best 30-06 bullets for this hunting?
 
Good rounds mentioned already....

Don't forget teh good old .30-30 or .300 Savage either.

.300 Savage out of a Model 99 in bad mojo for white tails.

Smoke
 
Problem with BEST

Problem is "THERE IS NO BEST CALIBER, GUN, SCOPE, ETC." If so, we would all be using the same one! The .30-06 is a long proven caliber and more than adequate for killing deer to ranges much longer than you stated. But so are many other calibers including .243/6mm, .257, .270, and 7mm/.284 calibers in their many variations. You can't go wrong with the .270, .308, or .30-06 in almost any big game hunting situation in the US short of very large or dangerous game. My personal favorites are the .25 and 7 mm calibers.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB
 
Shouthern Hunter:
I am looking for the best caliber. Where I will be deer hunting most I can only see 150yds. MAX, because the woods are so thick. Most spots I can only see about 50yds. I am only 16 years old so I am not looking for anything with much more kick than a 30-06. I have shot a 30-06 before so I know I can handle that amount of kick. I want a gun that can shoot about 225 yds, because some spots that I hunt I can make a shot 225yds. I have only went deer hunting about 6 times. I do not have a deer rifle yet. I used a 30-30 last year with 150gr.SPs. They have alot bullets for 30-06 in stores here. Whats the best 30-06 bullets for this hunting?
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You sound like you're pretty well settled on .30-06, so... I'm going to recommend in that caliber the 150gr SP loads. Take your pick and there's a lot out there. Theoretically, if you sight in 2" high at 100yds, it'll be dead on at 200-225yds.

Don't rule out a .30-30 though. That's a 200yd deer rifle too if you know the trajectory.

LHB1:
Problem is "THERE IS NO BEST CALIBER, GUN, SCOPE, ETC." If so, we would all be using the same one! The .30-06 is a long proven caliber and more than adequate for killing deer to ranges much longer than you stated. But so are many other calibers including .243/6mm, .257, .270, and 7mm/.284 calibers in their many variations. You can't go wrong with the .270, .308, or .30-06 in almost any big game hunting situation in the US short of very large or dangerous game. My personal favorites are the .25 and 7 mm calibers.
Click to expand...

I agree that there is no "best caliber, gun, scope, etc." I tend to like a variety of rifle and prefer aperture sights over scopes, even at 100yds+, as a general rule. Most of the time I've found people hear "sights on a bolt action sporter" and they start hollering "noooo, glayyass iiiit". It's all personal preference. That's the thing about all this; most of it is good for most everything... for somebody.
 
I like to have a scope, but I use the see-trough scope mounts. So I can use the open sight too. I like the open sight for quick shots, but if I have time to take the shot and it is a still target I like a scope. My uncle has an old 30-30 lever action, I like that 30-30 when hunting in thick woods, because it's short. But for hunting in a stand I think I like a 30-06 with a scope the best.
 
The variable scope like a 1x4 I think is a better choice than see through mounts .Close in set at 1x ,if they are farther away crank it up to 4x. My favorites have been 6.5x55, 30-06, 45-70. There is a big choice and for the longest 225 - 270 ,280, 7mm08, 308, 30-06 , all fine cartridges.
 
Shouthern Hunter:
I like to have a scope, but I use the see-trough scope mounts. So I can use the open sight too. I like the open sight for quick shots, but if I have time to take the shot and it is a still target I like a scope. My uncle has an old 30-30 lever action, I like that 30-30 when hunting in thick woods, because it's short. But for hunting in a stand I think I like a 30-06 with a scope the best.
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The first .30-30 I ever shot had see through mounts and a fixed 4X scope. I've shot with 3x9x32's and like the lower powers better. The problem with cranking the power up is you get it so you see tree limbs all over your sight picture, or you can't see the animal for the fur. But with a fixed power of 4x or less, that don't seem to be a problem.

Since I started shooting on a regular basis, I've learned that scoped don't help your group size. They do give you a better view of your target, but they just don't make the gun any more accurate or make the shooter any steadier. But, my preferences don't say a scope don't have it's place.

mete:
The variable scope like a 1x4 I think is a better choice than see through mounts .Close in set at 1x ,if they are farther away crank it up to 4x. My favorites have been 6.5x55, 30-06, 45-70. There is a big choice and for the longest 225 - 270 ,280, 7mm08, 308, 30-06 , all fine cartridges.
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Who's making the 1x4 variable? I haven't seen them around here.

I've heard a lot of good about 6.5x55 and grew up with .30-06 and .30-30 so I've seen all the good results I need to recommend those. FWIW, I have a .45-70 :uhoh: and I'm gonna have to put that one on wheels 'cause it's a anti-mutantninjazombiebear cannon. :D

rick_reno:
I like the .243 - it's light.
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Me too. I've seen what a 100gr SP will do and what I can do with a couple of rifles chambered in .243.
 
I put a 3 to 9 power scope with see-trough mounts on my .22 rifle, and all the rifles that I use have the same scope and mounts, and I like the 3-9 power scopes. My uncle uses 150gr. bullets in louisiana, and like 185gr. bullets in TX.
 
Shouthern Hunter:
I put a 3 to 9 power scope with see-trough mounts on my .22 rifle, and all the rifles that I use have the same scope and mounts, and I like the 3-9 power scopes. My uncle uses 150gr. bullets in louisiana, and like 185gr. bullets in TX.
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Good idea about using the same scope set-up on everything, I think. One less thing to worry about.

Has your uncle explained why he uses one weight bullet in LA and the other in TX? I haven't hunted in either state to know the game laws and differences in size of deer, but I'm not sure it matters nearly so much as bullet placement. If we knew more about the situation, that detail might be more easily understood, by me anyway.
 
Does it matter what type of action the rfile is, I think I want semi-auto so I can shoot more than once if I need to. If I would shoot 2 times I would use the scope the 1st shot and open sights 2nd shot.
 
You'd be amazed at how fast you can get two shots off with a bolt rifle. Also, your "switching from scope to open sights" isn't very practical. Once the deer is in your scope, you can easily put him there again for a follow-up shot.

I've hunted with .30-.30, .308 and .30-06 for northern whitetails, and prefer the .06. The other calibers certainly work, and I've killed a bunch of deer with them. Get a good 3x9 scope, leave it on 3-4 power unless a tremendously long shot presents itself, at which time you can dial the scope up.
 
Almost any centerfire rifle cartridge from .243 to .375 H&H Magnum has been used effectively for deer, but something in .30 caliber is probably most common. Although I'm a bit partial to .270 myself, plenty of power, shoots a little bit flatter than most larger rounds.

I have variable power scopes on all my guns, usually 3-9x or 4-12x...This gives you some flexibility...If hunting in brush where shots will be closer you can "dial down"...If you hunting along an open field, for example, where you may have a longer shot, increase magnification as needed.

Rmember that you owe it to the game to make a quick clean kill, and practice to the point where you know your(and the guns) limitations.

My .02
 
Whatever rifle you get, shoot enough to become proficient. And that doesn't mean just shooting from a bench, either. Try some sort of hasty rest, leaning against a tree or post. Try from a sitting position...

Scopes? From a "need" standpoint, I've not really shot any better with a 3x9 than with a fixed 4X or a lower-power variable of the 1.5x5 variety. One of my longer one-shot kills was with a 3x9 set on 3X at the time; 350 yards...

I was 16 years old and was a tall, skinny 130 pounds or so when I got my first .30-'06. Military rifle. Steel buttplate. Danged near beat me to death. A soft butt pad made life better, and I've been an '06 shooter for the last 55 years...

Final comment: Read up on handloading; don't be in a hurry to get into that. But, it sure does make for a wide-range of types of hunting with the old '06, from squirrels to moose...

:), Art
 
$0.02

all good advice.
if you want a .30-06 it will be fine.
if your still looking, consider:
1. how much/how hard do i want to be kicked? (not usually a problem when hunting but can make practice less fun)
2. how much and how avalible is the ammo for my gun?
3. will i be asking my new weapon to take larger game or shoot longer ranges in the future? (this is a double edged sword if you want an excuse to buy another gun in the future)
 
Southern Hunter,
I would strongly suggest getting rid of those see-thru mounts. Choose a low powered scope or open sights and STICK WITH YOUR CHOICE. Switching from scope to open sights or vice versa with see-thru mounts requires you to move your head on the stock and re-adjust your eyes for a totally different sight picture. I'm sure there will be some who disagree but IMO see-thru scope mounts are a gimmick designed to trick the new or inexperienced shooters. The see-thru scope mounts also require you to hold your head up off or higher on the stock to see thru the scope and are further away from the rifle barrel bore. Both of these cause difficulties. Scopes are best mounted as low and securely as possible. Firing multiple shots with scopes or open sights is not difficult if you don't try to switch back and forth. In any event, the idea is to place the first shot so that a second shot is NOT needed. During my hunting career, most of my deer were killed with Ruger #1 single shot rifles. Good luck with your choice.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB
 
one-shot-one said:
all good advice.
if you want a .30-06 it will be fine.
if your still looking, consider:
1. how much/how hard do i want to be kicked? (not usually a problem when hunting but can make practice less fun)
2. how much and how avalible is the ammo for my gun?
3. will i be asking my new weapon to take larger game or shoot longer ranges in the future? (this is a double edged sword if you want an excuse to buy another gun in the future)
Click to expand...


1. I can handle the kick when practiceing, during the summer last year I was shooting 100 12ga. shells in less than an hour once every week for duck season. So I am am used too alot of kick.
2. Every time I go to a sporting store I see 30-06 bullets, so I know bullets are no problem for a 30-06.
3. When I am older I will most likely go elk hunting every couple of years.
 
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