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Caliber is not near as important as having a handy, lightweight, easy to point rifle that you are an expert with and can make quick accurate shots with.
My recommendation is to buy a lever action 30-30 and train with it A LOT, by that i mean not shooting off the bench but shoot it in hunting scenarios from the standing unsupported, or using a small tree or something to shoot off of.
Training with the rifle is key. I cant tell you how many folks have great rifles and miss easy shots due to misteps in shooting when the deer presents itself.
good luck!
Good choice,military calibers are much cheaper to shoot and its all about practice and hitting the vitals with one shot.
There is no best caliber. That's why I have 3 deer rifles.
1. A Ruger .44 mag carbine with peep sights for walking around in the thick stuff
2. A CZ 550F in 6.5x55 for field work
3. A custom 35 Whelen just because I like 35 Whelens.
On the lower end, I wouldn't go lighter than .243 win.
There is no limit on the upper end. Dead is dead.
The 30-30 is a proven killer, as is the 35 Rem. The only problem is I couldn't have that as my only deer rifle. Like I stated earlier, I use a Ruger .44 mag carbine with a peep sight as a walking around brush rifle, but if I only could have one deer rifle, it wouldn't be that one for the same reason it wouldn't be a 30-30/35. Not because of the round, but because of the rifle. I prefer to hunt with a low powered scope, but I just can't bring myself to mount a scope on a little trim lever action rifle or my .44 because it ruins the whole reason why I bought it.
.308, 270, or 30-06 is never wrong, but they bore me to tears. I'm more of a 257 Roberts, 7x57, 6.5 swede. 35 Whelen, 375 H&H guy. I'm kinda caliber-queer.
My last 2 deer here in Maine in my back/front yard:
This little guy who dropped like a sack of rocks with one shot from my 6.5.
View attachment 166293
And my last best, 206 lbs that fell to my 35 Whelen (sold it, shouldn't have; am in the process of building another)
View attachment 166294View attachment 166295
If I was heading up to Maine hunting this November my 99F would be in my hand. One of my favorite rifles.It's too bad this rifle and caliber have gone out of "style" but my Dad's old 1960s Savage 99 w/ a Weaver K series scope in 300 Savage has taken more deer then I could count over the years. The 300 Savage is a great round with just about the same characteristics of the 308. You could not go wrong with this setup if you're out hunting deer. NH and Maine were my Dad's favorite hunting grounds.