What cartridge do you use for deer?

[Batt816]

I am on my second year using a .350 Legend on an AR platform. No complaints. I am mostly in shotgun/ straight wall county.

in western Maryland I prefer my .270

 

[steves1911]

Mostly a 308 but the 257wby comes out to play if I'm overlooking big hay fields. My son uses a 223.

 

[steves1911]

Isnt .223 illegal to use in MD?

Not if the load used makes 1200ft lbs.

 

[Goldslammer]

Md deer with 50cal Hornady SST out of a muzzleloader, WV deer all fall to the 270 or 308

 

[fabsroman]

.300 Win Mag - shot the deer in the pic at 70 yards and he fell right over. Broke the front shoulder, hit both lungs, and blew the heart out completely. I have also used .270 Win, .30-06, .50 black powder, and 12 gauge with Barnes sabots. My favorite is my .300 Win Mag in the pic. I have a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .25-06 sitting here that needs glass and I think I am going to let my son work himself up to it. Looking for its brother in .243 to get him and my 10 year old started on bolt rifles, but finding one new is painful. Ruger offers the Hawkeye in .243, but only in a compact rifle. Not sure I want a smaller rifle for them to start with because of less absorbed recoil.

 

[2500yards]

Isnt .223 illegal to use in MD?

If it is, I definitely broke the rules. I’m on the 6.5 Creedmoor kick right now but have taken many deer with a 223. 223 works fine with the right ammo. Also hunted deer with 308’s, 270’s, a 338 Lapua, 7MM and the 6.5CM.

 

[fabsroman]

You must shoot on the ES or Out West to be taking a deer at over 150 yards.

You must be stuck in the city too much. Plenty of farms right around me in Carroll County where a 400 yard shot is possible. Saw some deer yesterday and today just standing out in the middle of an open cornfield. From the road, the shot would have been close to 1,000 yards and way out of my ability, but it was clear sailing to them from the road and definitely from somebody's backyard, with a massive hill as a backstop.

Is Washington County considered out west? I shot two out there at about 250 yards, both with the .300 Win Mag and holding a couple inches above their back. 1,000 yard shots were possible on that 250 acre farm.

 

[2500yards]

You must be stuck in the city too much. Plenty of farms right around me in Carroll County where a 400 yard shot is possible. Saw some deer yesterday and today just standing out in the middle of an open cornfield. From the road, the shot would have been close to 1,000 yards and way out of my ability, but it was clear sailing to them from the road and definitely from somebody's backyard, with a massive hill as a backstop.

Is Washington County considered out west? I shot two out there at about 250 yards, both with the .300 Win Mag and holding a couple inches above their back. 1,000 yard shots were possible on that 250 acre farm.

Even better further west where I live. I don’t even enjoy hunting deer at close range anymore. I often won’t even take a shot if it’s less than 500 yards. My longest deer kill in MD is 1500 yards with my 338 LM. My goal is 2500 but I’m not there yet.

 

[sxs]

There aren't too many off us whoever heard of Accident, MD.

Not far from Friendsville and McHenry

 

[firemn260]

I’m a bow hunter at heart so even when I’m gunning my set up usually has them in close. Since the strait walls became legal my 444 marlin has been getting the nod. With a hornady 240 gr CL SIL bullet which is pretty much a xtp with a crimped tip, it smashes deer.
I put a 350 legend barrel on my encore for my son to use but we have dropped the hammer on any critters with it yet.
At some point I hope to take one with my 44 mag super Blackhawk.

 

[dieselfarmboy]

If it is, I definitely broke the rules. I’m on the 6.5 Creedmoor kick right now but have taken many deer with a 223. 223 works fine with the right ammo. Also hunted deer with 308’s, 270’s, a 338 Lapua, 7MM and the 6.5CM.

Ok so I looked it up. It must meet 1200ft lbs per MD law, some ammo BARELY meets that at 1293ft lbs. With out further research it wasnt stated what size barrel was used to achieve that. Also after watching ammo test I know it can vary easily by rounds in the same box. So yes .223 is legal but I wouldnt want to risk it if they really wanted to push it. I could understand using it for crop permit cause if the deer got away well its gone, but if trying to put food in the freezer id be using something with more put down power for sure.

 

[wpage]

308. 30-06, 35 Rem, and 12 ga slugs have all worked. All my deer have been taken at 100 yards or less. However, choosing the right projectile grain for the long shot is a good consideration for that opportunity.

 

[steves1911]

Ok so I looked it up. It must meet 1200ft lbs per MD law, some ammo BARELY meets that at 1293ft lbs. With out further research it wasnt stated what size barrel was used to achieve that. Also after watching ammo test I know it can vary easily by rounds in the same box. So yes .223 is legal but I wouldnt want to risk it if they really wanted to push it. I could understand using it for crop permit cause if the deer got away well its gone, but if trying to put food in the freezer id be using something with more put down power for sure.

62 grain gold dots in front of 25gr of tac meet the minimum from an 18" (barely) and do a number on deer. The last one my son shot was at 90yds hit it where the leg meets shoulder shattered the bone passed through ribs and offside shoulder and left a 1" exit hole on the offside. Deer went 15yds maybe. Shot placement is everything. The buck I shot yesterday was on the move and quartering away probably wouldn't have tried that with the 223 but it's a decent deer round when you pick your shots just have to be a bit more patient.

 

[gwchem]

I use a .308 in WVa, and our fields are huge. I see deer up to a thousand yards all the time, but my longest shot taken was just under 300 yards.

In Maryland, I use a .350 legend AR upper. It sucks at feeding cartridges.

In both states I bowhunt with 100 grain rage expandables.

 

[DaveP]

Yes.

Do you still?
LOL, I'm honest enough to admit I need some work beyond 300!

That said, most of my shots are 50yds or less, often considerably less.

 

[Brickman301]

Depends on where I’m hunting, and what mood I’m in.
This year I’ve only hunted deer with my Marlin Guide gun in 45-70. This is odd as I usually switch up a few times during the season.
I’ve used the following to hunt deer in the past:
12ga and 20ga slugs, as rifles weren’t allowed,
223, 30-06, 30-30 , 6.5 CM and 7.62x54

Now for muzzleloaders, I’ve used 50 and 45 cal side locks rifles, 50 cal inlines, a1863 Springfield in 58 cal., an original model 1816 Harper’s ferry in .69 cal, and a 44 cal 1858 Remington revolver.

 

[lazarus]

On y

Mostly use a 300 BO last few years, but I'm finding its just too short range. 150 yards shots is just too far.

Over the years:

223. Mixed results. Some run, sometimes bang flip.

25-06. Killing machine

308. Does fine, just boring

300 BO. Keep your shots short

44 mag. Short range, big cool factor.

12 gauge. Not as impressive as I would hope. But got the job done.

Want to hear what gives you BANGFLOP every time you hit the spot.

On your last, unless you are stepping it up to 50BMG or 20mm nothing will give a guaranteed bangflop.

A bad hit is a bad hit.

That said, the more energy the more likely it is to happen. Also the more meat damage you’ll have. Typically you need velocities at impact in excess of 2000fps. After that the faster it transfers energy in to the vitals and the more of that energy there is, the better. Ideally the round would penetrate to just under the opposite hide leaving all of its energy in the deer. Typically the higher the velocity the better a round does with this.

IMHO this balance of energy transfer and meat damage is why I don’t particularly like things like a .25-06 or magnum calibers for deer unless your shots are typically fairly far. No, I’ve never shot a deer with those. I have seen the results a couple of times IRL and have seen the results a ton more poking around online forums. For sure gets the job done, if once you are getting 2800+FPS unless you use a bonded/controlled expansion bullet it really, really F’s up the insides (even then). Which causes a huge amount of meat damage if the shot is off a little like you hit a shoulder. But there, your bullet is likely to zip right through imparting less energy in something like a deer, so why use something that powerful if you want a reduced expansion bullet, that’ll leave a smaller exit and entrance and not leave any more energy than a lesser caliber?

That’s my thought logic anyway.

12ga sabots or slugs is fine. But especially on the later tends to go slow enough it cannot generate a bang flop. You can sure blow limbs off and what not. An okay hit and the deer is dead. But it might be dead a quarter mile away. A sabot is, IMHO a rich man’s center fire muzzle loader bullet.

Me personally I use .308 and 6.5 Grendel. I really like the later. It certainly can get the job done fine. A shoulder hut can easily generate a bangflop. Not what I am going for though as I don’t gun hunt anywhere that I can’t track a deer 50 or 100yds. Of my two, I had one to less than 50 yds. One went about 300, but it wasn’t a very good hit. In both cases the damage was substantial. .308 light, but not light by a lot. Less at the surface damage, but that likely is more down to bullet construction.

Fine for a deer to 300yds. Though I’d want to keep it to more like 200 and under. That’s a personal thing, not because it isn’t effective to 300 or isn’t flat shooting enough.

Part for me also is I can use a shorter action rifle, that weighs less, isn’t as long, and it suppresses better than my .308s.

 

[lazarus]

.300 Win Mag - shot the deer in the pic at 70 yards and he fell right over. Broke the front shoulder, hit both lungs, and blew the heart out completely. I have also used .270 Win, .30-06, .50 black powder, and 12 gauge with Barnes sabots. My favorite is my .300 Win Mag in the pic. I have a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .25-06 sitting here that needs glass and I think I am going to let my son work himself up to it. Looking for its brother in .243 to get him and my 10 year old started on bolt rifles, but finding one new is painful. Ruger offers the Hawkeye in .243, but only in a compact rifle. Not sure I want a smaller rifle for them to start with because of less absorbed recoil.
View attachment 391657

Do you have the reloading gear for center fire rifle? You could always work up a reduce recoil .243 load.

Or, I might be able to convince you of the merits of 6.5 gendel if you want to try out my Howa mini 1500 in it.

 

[Uncle Duke]

A Remington 760 in .30-06 was my first deer rifle. Didn't go 742 because of PA laws against semi. Then I bought a .243 for a backup gun, and with having deer/varmint versatility in mind. And an also fast handling Marlin .30-30 lever, short and well balanced and just because. Then a slug gun for Maryland shotgun only counties. And a buckshot rig for Virginia. Then a TC Hawken kit, which I built to be able to hunt muzzleloader seasons. Then a .223 for varmints, that I've used for deer with selective shots as well. Also a few handguns, which is a whole other world of fun. I've enjoyed good fortune with all of them.

 

[Slackdaddy]

All MD "Shotgun counties",, farthest I shot a deer was 110 yards, but 99% are 80 yards and under, with most in the 20-50 yard range.

H&R 20ga USH shooting Rottweil laser sabot slugs. (15/16oz @ 1600 FPS)