I was asked a couple of days ago what do I recommend for a cartridge for deer hunting. As I am not a hunter, I had to think about this. I have hunted previously, but I just am not interested in hunting. I prefer to watch nature, not kill it. The question remains, though.
One of the biggest factors I would suggest is simple--Availability. The new Remington and Winchester Short, Long, Ultra, Super Short, etc cartridges are probably fine rounds, but can you walk into any gun store or Walmart and find them? I use Walmart as the "gauge" for cartridges. If you can find it in Walmart, you can probably find it at any gun shop. I also put recoil on the my discriminating list. Recoil sucks. A good rifle will still bruise the hell out of you with a heavy recoiling cartridge. Practice makes perfect. If you don't practice because the recoil bothers you, you won't practice.
So, here are my choices, in no particular order: 30-06, 308 Winchester, 270 Winchester, 30-30, and the 6.5x55mm Swede. These cartridges can be found the world over and have been used to take more deer together then probably all other rounds made in the U.S. The 30-30 is still a great game getter, even after over 110 years. With modern improvements, like polymer tips, it will still get the job done well. Nothing else needs to be said about this classic.
The 6.5x55 Swedish round may be the oddball in the group, but it is a great cartridge. It has low recoil but still has quite a bit more power then the 30-30 at all ranges. Bullets range from 100 grains to 160 grains, almost the same as the 30-30. This is a very popular round in Western Europe.
I am going to link the 308 Winchester and the 30-06 together. They are similar in power, although the 30-06 can be handloaded to a bit more power. The bullets range from 55 grs to 220 grains. The 270 Winchester is a necked down 30-06 and fairly similar in power to the 308/30-06, but it doesn't have access to the heavier bullets over about 160 grs that the other two have.
Like I said earlier, there are a bunch of other rounds out there, these are my selections.
