over gunned
The numbers put up by the reduced loads in .308 are plenty of steam for whitetails, as "jack's" post show. I've posted before that most of us, me included (many times) are over gunned for deer. I have a safe full of "deer rifles" in the usual assortment of calibers, '06, .270, .308, .243, that I hunt on a regular basis. But what is working for me most often in recent years are light, tidy carbines in 7.62x39 and .44 mag. If I had a 30-30 (traded my last one years ago) I would include that in the carbine list. I should be hunting my .357 carbine as well, but am not.
Now that is all a bit circumstantial. Looking over my deer diary and kill log, (What? You don't keep one?) I note that most all my rifle kills are well under 100 yds, most half of that or less. I don't need the power generated by the big deer calibers for those distances. If I intend to hunt a ROW or large green plot, I will carry a big rifle, but I am primarily a treestand and thick cover guy and just don't need reach and power the big boys offer.
And those mild rifles are sure easy to tote.