Question about hunting rifles...7mm Magnum vs. 30 .06 vs. .270

Welcome to the OB and either Of those calibers would be great for the hunting you have described.

Alo of it at those ranges with whitetails is personal preference.

ETA: I have a .270 and 7mm but primarily use the 270.

Personally, I prefer the .270, its a flatter shooting, more accurate rifle for me, and its more than enough for deer at the ranges you listed.

I have hunted with a .06 and its very similar, its what most of my family prefers, I just like the lower recoil and the flatter shooting round of the .270.

I have shot the 7mm Mag before, but never hunted with it. I think its big enough for Mule deer and maybe elk, but someone else would have to clarify that for me.
Again, for just deer, I would choose the .270 all day, every day. But I am a Remington Model 700 man, I would suggest that until the day I die.

ETA To clarify, the Remington M700 is a bolt action rifle you can find in those, and would recommend it over the Winchester. to you Winchester folks!

.270

270, best all around caliber.

Chicken, look at the 270 mag. It is a good round and perfect for what you'll be doing in Texas.

It is a good compromise for your 270/7mm dilema.

My top three calibers are:

1. .270
2. .270
3. .270

That should give you some options.

ETA: A Remington 700 is more than enough. But since you own a website and all, you might decide to get a Weatherby

quote:

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What I want to know is what is the ideal gun to buy for deer hunting...

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The 7mm Mag is overkill for deer unless shots are 300+ with some consistency. The 30-06 is a good choice due to readily available ammo. I've never understood the benefit of the .270 as ballistically and recoil wise its really no different than the 30-06. To me its really a matter of personal preference when choosing between the two.

IMHO, the ideal round for most N. American big game is the 7mm-08. Energy is comparable to the .308/.270. Trajectory is nearly identical and the 7mm-08 is regarded as being more accurate. The shorter cartridge uses a shorter action which lessens the overall weight of the gun, reduces recoil and allows for faster follow up shots. I've used the 7mm-08 on whitetail, mulies, black bear and wild hogs without problems and wouldnt hesitate to use it on moose, caribou or elk.

.270 here and I've never had any problems with mine. 30.06 is a great caliber gun too though.. From those ranges I'd say the .270 is plenty enough gun to get the job done! Congrats on your first rifle, and glad to see the cluckster on the OB!

If I didn't have elk or something along those lines in my future I wouldn't bother with a 7mm Mag. Like I'm sure people have said on here already, and no I didn't read it, it's overkill on whitetails. And you shouldn't even be thinking about anything beyond 300 yrds if you aren't a serious shooter who's got a shitload of time behind a scope making a bruise on your shoulder.

As for 30.06 vs. 270, it makes no difference. They're interchangeable and can smack a whitetail down at whatever range you can hit it.

As for the rifle itself, I'm a 700 Remington partisan. Can make even the cheapest ones stack rounds on top of each other but if I was going for that kind of accuracy, I wouldn't choose any of those rounds, I'd pick something with a short action like .308.

That said, there are a lot of rifles these days that shoot sub MOA out the box and you're unlikely to ever need anything beyond that to kill a whitetail so get something that you're comfortable toting around all day and feel proud to show off because honestly, that's mostly what you're going to be doing with it at the camp, and something that won't make you flinch from recoil.

Invest at least as much in the optics and mounts that go on it. That's another subject though.

I have one of each and enjoy them both. As far as flatter shooting they are almost identical and ammo costs the same.
Hornady now makes a extended range 165 gr load 30 06 that hits 2800fps with no more recoil than normal which is very manageable. I have different scopes on them is how I decide which to take where.