When it comes to hunting deer, you need the right cartridge for the job. You need a cartridge that can work anywhere at any time in any condition. Over the years, some rounds have stood out and proved themselves as a worthwhile deer hunting cartridge. In this article, I will share the top deer hunting cartridges to help you have more success in the field.
What makes a cartridge a good deer round
Deer hunting cartridges should have enough energy to kill deer at ranges beyond 300 yards, but not so much energy that it wastes all the meat in the area you shot it. It also needs to be a round that is available everywhere, not just as ammo, but as a chambering in a rifle too. This round also has to be available in hunting rounds and widely produced. It also shouldn’t loosen your teeth after shooting a couple of rounds, so you can shoot it accurately with repetition.
.243 Winchester
The .243 Winchester (two forty-three) is a deer round that has taken who knows how many hundreds of thousands of deer. The 243 has enough energy to take deer out to 400 yards, But this round best shines when taking deer within 200 yards across fields or food plots.
The 243 is readily available and you can find a ton of rounds, from FMJs (full metal jackets) to soft points to hollow points. This round can be loaded from 60-grain varmint rounds to 100-grain hunting rounds. This round also can be found in just about every sporting store across the US. This round is also ideal for youth as it is a very light recoiling cartridge.
6.5 Grendel
The 6.5 Grendel is an intermediate rifle caliber introduced in the early 2000s. This was a caliber made for the ar15 platform as a hunting round. This round compared to the more common ar15 caliber, the 5.56 NATO has 660 more foot-pounds at the muzzle. This pushes the effective range on deer from 100 yards with a 223, to 300 yards.
Because this round is commonly found in an ar15 platform, parts are easy to find, and if you already have an ar15 all you have to do is get a new upper and bolt carrier group.
This round is also very easy to find and can be cheap to shoot. This round best shines in open fields where shots are between 50 and 250 yards. This round is also light kicking and can be offered in a bullet weight range of 90 to 130 grains for most all hunting applications.
.308 Winchester
The 308 Winchester was introduced in 1952 for the civilian market, and it took off as a popular hunting round. Today it is commonly used to hunt pronghorn, deer, and elk. This round became popular for its versatility in being able to take down anything from varmints to elk. The 308 packs a punch as it can take deer out to 600 yards with the right bullet, this allows you to take deer in pretty much all deer hunting situations.
The 308 is a common caliber all over the US and is very easily found in pretty much every sporting store. This round can be found from 130-grain varmint loads to 180-grain hunting loads. The 308 is good for any deer hunting situation from open fields, to hunting thick the brush, to long shots across valleys. The best 308 deer loads would be 150 to 165-grain soft points to minimize meat wastage and have plenty of energy and expansion.
30-06 Springfield
The 30-06 Springfield was introduced in 1906 and was adopted by the military soon after. It was used in both world wars and the Vietnam war. This cartridge is very powerful and can take down any game animal in the US. This round has been proven as a true big-game cartridge, being used by hunters to take moose, elk, deer, and pronghorn. Another reason this round is so popular is that it can be loaded with bullet weights from 130 grains up to 210 grains, this made it gain popularity among reloaders.
The 30-06 can take deer out to 750 yards. This round performs well at long range, making it an ideal western mule deer cartridge. This round, like the 308, works well in pretty much every deer hunting situation and then some. Because this round has higher energy than a 308, it works well for shooting across fields and valleys.
6.5 Creedmoor
The 6.5 Creedmoor is a 308 case with a 6.5 mm bullet. Because it is a 308 case it has the energy of a 308 but the flat trajectory of 6.5 mm bullets. If you want a long-range precision rifle that can hit a tac at 700 plus yards this is the caliber for you.
The 6.5 Creedmoor can kill deer at 600 yards, so about that of a 308 but it shoots way flatter. The 6.5 Creedmoor can be used in any deer hunting situation, but is best used at long range. This round can run loads from 100 grains to 150 grains. This round is best used with 140-grain bullets for the best accuracy, energy, and expansion.
30-30 Winchester
The 30-30 is probably the oldest and most popular deer cartridge that is still used today. This cartridge was introduced in 1895 and soon became a popular cartridge for deer hunting. The 30-30 does not have as much energy as most popular deer hunting cartridges, but it is easy to find and works great within 100 yards.
The 30-30 can only kill deer out to 150 yards, but the round is amazing when within that distance. The 30-30 is best used when hunting tight brush or shooting at close range. 30-30’s are best used with 175-grain soft point ammo, this will allow you to get maximum energy.
45-70 Government
The 45-70 is on this list for one reason. The 45-70 can shoot through thick brush. With the 30-30, you can hunt thick brush but with the 45-70, you can shoot through the brush at game.
There are a ton of situations where you are still hunting you see a good deer, but on the other side of some tight brush. With a common caliber, if you hit the brush, your bullet would miss or wound the game, but the 45-70’s heavy bullets have been proven to punch right through the brush and hit the game animals without the risk of wounding it.
The reason the 45-70 can punch through brush is that it’s a slow-moving heavy projectile that is super hard to stop. And there are only a few cartridges that will have the same effect. The 45-70 can kill a deer at 300 yards. The downside to the 45-70 is that it has low velocity, so it drops like a rock and doesn’t have much energy past 300 yards.
.280 Remington
The .280 Remington or 280 is a long-range hunting cartridge for deer, elk, and antelope. The reason the 280 made the list is for long-range hunting in the west for mule deer. The 280 was made to be a flat shooting round to make long shots possible while still having a lot of energy.
The 280 can kill deer out to 700 yards, which is far past the shooting capabilities of most. For those who want a heavy-hitting cartridge for western hunting, this is probably one to look into. This round would also work great for hunting wide open country where it’s hard to get within 500 yards of a deer.
Honorable mentions
Now, in my opinion, the calibers mentioned above are the best deer hunting calibers, but there are some more calibers that didn’t make the list that are worth looking into.
The 300 win mag. This is a heavy-hitting round that has a lot of energy. The reason it didn’t make the list is that it had too much energy for most hunting situations, and you end up with a lot of wasted meat.
The .270 Winchester. The 270 is an amazing round but it didn’t make the list. The 270 is awesome at long-range shooting and has great energy for all deer hunting scenarios, but I had the role of the 270 is filled with either the 30-06, the 6.5 Creedmoor, or the 280 Remington.
The 7mm Rem mag. The 7mm mag didn’t make the list for much of the same reasons as the 300 win mag. Plus the main role of the 7mm mag was filled with the 280 Remington. The 280 Remington has less energy so less meat is wasted and it has really good ballistics.
The 300 Blackout. The 300 Blackout just doesn’t have enough energy to kill a deer past 150. It is a great caliber, but the 6.5 Grendel is just a better cartridge in most if not all ways, and it has a lot more energy.
.257 Weatherby. The 257 is a great long-range high-energy cartridge, that can effectively kill all kinds of game. There are a bunch of different bullet weights for reloaders. But the round just isn’t as popular as the other cartridges so it would be hard to find, and some rounds work just as well.
So there is my list of the best deer cartridges. There are millions of cartridges out there, and it was hard just to pick a few. There are a ton of rounds out there so do your research before choosing one to spend your money on.
See more blogs here