What is the minimum rifle you would use?

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Here in PA we cant use AR's or any semi's for that matter. Personally I use a .243, or .270 depending on where I'm hunting. I've seen many deer taken successfully with a .22-250 however and wouldn't be scared of using one the slightest.
 
People on the east coast hunt differently than you guys do. Most of the coal mountains are straight up and down, and your average shot is in thick stuff at 60 yards. I still take out the old Savage .22 Hi-Power and don't have a problem. If that Gun Writer that made the .270 famous had lived on the east coast, you would have never heard of it. .22 center fires are good enough at close range.
 
I use a rem. 788 in 22-250 as my deer gun sometimes and it works great! But i also use a mini 14 and 25-06 somtimes to all depends on what i feel like.
 
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This deer was shot with an Armlight .223.

My brothers use 223's and 22-250's with jacketed hollow points every year for deer hunting. This past year I used my Puma 357 magnum and I shot my deer at 250 yards with open sights. Like many people have said before its all the shooter not the calibers used.
 
deer size is relative in my book, as far as 223 being suitable.

On Vancouver Island, of the coast of BC, They have these deer that are about the size of a golden retriever, and a mans big game hunting gun there could EASILY be a .223. I doubt those deer weight more then 60-70 lbs.

Go east a tick over to Saskatchewan, and there are bucks there that mooch off the wheat fields that I would really REALLY have second thoughts about going after with a .243, there quite sizable deer.

So depends on the size of the deer, I'd say.
 
We all know shot placement is the most important thing. Good shot placement and knowing the limitations of your cartridge make the 22 LR a great choice. It is in fact the choice of poachers everywhere. I have always found this kind of thought process around this question to be flawed. If you are talking about the minimum caliber that can cleanly take a deer with a reasonable shot out to 300 yeards, I guess the 257 Roberts might be it. I don't own one. I have seen deer hit with 243s, factory 100 grain bullets, with poor results. I like my 260.
 
.243

In Minnesota every once in a while I come across some pretty big whitetails, 150+lbs. It's not unusual to see a couple two hundred pounders in a season and the odd one usually makes the papers up here 300 lbs plus.
I prefer bigger than smaller but I guess my bottom would be .243. That's my thoughts.
I shoot a .338 for just about everything Deer and bigger. Little harsh on the shoulder meat but their ain't no tracking or suffering.:D
 
In parts of TX the .243 could be the ultimate deer rifle and a skilled hunter could get by with a .22 centerfire. Only problem (?) is the hogs. I doubt there's a county without them and they could make an appearance on any lease in the state. I prefer big, slow chunks of lead for hogs and they work just fine for any shot I'll take at a deer. My personal threshold is .45 Colt or .30-30 in a Trapper but my next trip (two weeks!) I'll be packing a .35 Rem T/C Contender backed up by a Blackhawk in .45 Colt. Alternate will be my trusty .45-70 Guide Gun with a stainless M77 Ruger .30-06 in the case for wet weather or longer shots.
 
40+ years of hunting deer in N.H. I have yet to see anyone hunting with or even in the woods with an AR15. Perhaps they are talking southeast like Florida, but I have yet to see anyone hunting in New England with an AR15. I overheard a guy claim he deer hunts with one in a gun shop and he received a few strange looks.

Deer in N.H. can run almost 300lbs FIELD DRESSED and in rare cases over 300, so using a 223 isn't recommended. Then you have the ethical kill situation, is the 223 really enough to quickly and humanely put down a deer? I can see coyotes, but even those have run in excess of 50lbs here in N.H. because they are not true coyotes but a mix of wolf and coyote which was proved through DNA testing.
 
There might be some people here on the east coast that hunt with AR's but I don't know any of them. I don't even know a single hunter who even owns one. As far as the minimum rifle I would use is concerned I'd go with a .243.
 
Lots of deer in the southern US which will dress out under 100 pounds. In some areas it's genetic; in others it's from too high a population. I personally saw a ten-point, 15-inch-spread buck standing by a highway, one night, that didn't look like it would dress out over maybe 80 pounds.

Like a lot of hunting, it's situational. I'd use a .223 if I expected small deer. No qualms. But if I'm in "real" deer country, I'd darned sure use more gun.
 
I personally know of 1 - 920 pound bull ELK that was taken with a .223 in Perry Co, KY this past season. ;) One shot, and he dropped to his knees!

Heart, head, or lung shots & the proper bullet weight / expansion will take down any large game in the US.

Don't get me wrong .... the .223 has a 200 yd. HUNTING limit, and anything over that should be taken with a .30 cal or above.
 
I hunt West Virgina and sometimes take the AR out. It works and I see other guys with them. A few years back the 7.62x39 was the whipping boy for under powered cartridges, and before that it was the .243. Before that the 30-30.......
 
Where I hunt.....

...... deer CAN be on the big side, and shots can be long .....

A .223 might do the job, but with the deer of a lifetime standing broadside in the middle of a hayfield, you'll never wish you had a .223 instead of your .270 WIN or '06..... somebody once said "Use enough gun."

Minimum for me would be .243/6mm with premium bullets.....
 
Last year I did use a .244 Rem in PA. and got one. It worked fine but I would not want to be too far off from my aim point. One year I found a large dead buck on the 4th day in W.V., and the weather had gone up in the low 70's by the third day. I didn't want to roll it around because of the flys, but it had a perfect hole through the base of the main beam and it looked to be about .264-.284 diameter. I have a picture of it but am new to computers and do not know enough to load it on here. An expanding bullet will go through wood or antler like a drill at close range. Point is, someone went John Wayne on it and never recovered the deer. Bigger is better means nothing on a missplaced shot.
 
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