New Deer Rifle

I’ve got a lot of deer rifles and most just sit in the safe if they don’t have a suppressor on the end of them.

Shorter barrels and cans for the anything 100 to 200 yards. They are lighter to spot and stalk with and easier to move around in the deer blind.

If you don’t have a compact bolt action with a suppressor I say go that route.

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I'm in search of a new deer rifle for mainly whitetail but other North American game as well

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How far do you anticipate shooting?
What other calibers do you already have.
Strictly whitetail at normal ranges I would say a Christensen arms ridgline in 308 with a 22in barrel.

Beware of the “exotic” calibers unless you handload or intend to learn. I was reading on other websites where 270 WSM is almost impossible to find now. So if you go with the exotic stuff like 7mm PRC , 28 Nosler etc you better buy a lifetime supply or get set up to handload.

I have a large variety of deer rifles. There is virtually nothing you cannot do with a 30/06 , 7 Mag or a 300 WM and you will always be able to find ammo

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Deer Rifle

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.270, .30-06, .308, 6.5 creedmoor*

Anything else is making this harder than it needs to be just for the sake of making it hard. Which is fine, but let's not talk "better."

Caliber is basically irrelevant with the right bullet and right shot placement when shooting deer. So get something that's easy to get ammo for and go kill deer.

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Are any of these new rounds really wowing hunters enough to offset ammo cost/ scarcity? I

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No. If you aren't shooting deer at 1500 yards it's totally irrelevant and it become slightly relevant at that range. The majority of people rarely shoot 200 yards and at that range literally anything works with good bullets and good shot placement.


*the Creedmoor gets an asterisks because there's loads of ammo out there that really sucks for hunting. Otherwise it's an excellent deer caliber.

You can read my comments in the other thread, but I'm not buying another non-mainstream (let's say, top 10 hunting calibers re: popularity) for my main hunting rifle.

A) even in normal times, you will have less selection of ammo types and brands
B) you run the risk of it dying out and having no options.

With as many calibers and cartridges made today, ammo manufacturers aren't going to keep producing them all. Some of these new calibers from the last 20 years will fade away in the next decade.

Which ones, who knows. But I bet 8t ain't .308, .30-06, .270 etc

Hell, people don't talk about the .260. it's a great round and was fairly popular recently. But not as widespread available today.

30-06 has been killing shite and killing it well for well over a hundred years. Has probably killed more wild game and human targets than any other caliber on the planet. Every manufacturer out there makes a rifle chambered in it. Has a plethora of different ammo manufacturers for it and an unending bullet selection. Nothing wrong with any of the other calibers discussed they all serve a purpose and work but the tried and true aught 6 is gonna be hard to beat. This is just my very very humble opinion.

If I’m buying a gun for elk hunting I’m buying a separate gun for deer hunting.

I’m kind of a minimum .300 win mag for elk. Yes there are a lot of calibers that will kill one, but I want to be sure that if I make a good shot it’s going down.

For deer, the .308 is probably the best caliber made for deer hunting in the south. A .308 with a 16 or 18” barrel is the perfect southern deer hunting gun.

I have a 270 WSM that is basically a boat anchor because you can’t find ammo unless you pay an arm and a leg for it! For that reason I bought a Savage 308 and love it. Stick with the old reliable calibers! 30-06, 308, you’ll always be able to fine them.

30-06, .270, or .300 Winn Mag.

Waypoint would get my vote right now.