What is the Most Common Western Deer Caliber?

There have been a great many debates over the best deer hunting caliber. This article alone will probably generate a lot of heated discussions when my friends and coworkers see it. I’m going to wade in on the "best deer rifle caliber" for hunting out west. More to the point, I’m going to cover the most common deer hunting calibers in the western states. This doesn’t mean I think one is superior to any other—I’m only looking at what’s popular and why.

Full Disclosure: I hunt mule deer with a .25-06 Rem, not a particularly common caliber and sometimes difficult to find ammo for (especially these days). You won’t find another mention of .25-06 Remington ammo in this piece, but so far, it’s been the best deer rifle caliber for me in my personal experience.

What Caliber Do Most Deer Hunters Use?

There are some key differences between common eastern whitetail deer hunting cartridges and mule deer hunting cartridges. For one, western hunts tend to be longer-range when compared to eastern hunts. There are also fewer restrictions, like straight-walled cartridges or shotgun-slug-only hunts in the east. Out west, short-range hunts are atypical, and anything under 100 yards is pretty much a gimme. Big game hunters go with centerfire rifle ammo, typically in necked cartridges. Although there are whitetails in the western states, the big draw for most hunters is mule deer hunting.

It might surprise easterners to learn that mule deer are often considered big game animals, not medium-sized like whitetails. Why? An average whitetail buck comes in around 150lbs, an average mule deer buck comes in around 250lbs, and a big trophy muley can come in over 450lbs. However, a lot of western deer hunters will opt for one deer cartridge no matter which species they’re going after.

In western deer hunting, these are the most common rifle calibers:

• 30-06 Springfield: It came out in 1906 for military use, and started showing up in deer camps within 10 years. For over a century, plenty of shooters have considered it the best all-around hunting rifle caliber. All of the big names in ammo make hunting cartridges for it, including Winchester, Hornady, Nosler, Browning, and a whole host of others. Finding decent 30-06 hunting ammo at a reasonable price isn’t much of a problem.
• 308 Winchester: Winchester put the .308 into the commercial market in 1952, a full two years before it was developed into the 7.62x51mm NATO for military use. Even in these trying times of market shortages, 308 Win ammo is still pretty easy to get your hands on. Since FMJ ammo is comparatively inexpensive, as low as $0.90 per round, you can put in plenty of trigger time at the range.
• 6.5 Creedmoor: Yeah, there’s no way the new kid in town won’t show up on any list of deer cartridges. Some decry it as a "marketing hype" caliber. Others boast that they’ll never hunt with anything else again. Only time will tell. 6.5 Creedmoor ammo took off almost immediately after it was introduced in 2007. It’s definitely flat-shooting and packs enough muzzle velocity for big game hunting. It’s found its way into competitive shooting and varmint hunting, too. The downside? It’s such a popular rifle cartridge that finding it can be boom or bust. If you find a load you like, it’s best to strike when the iron’s hot and get stocked up when you run across it.
• .243 Winchester: This is a very common caliber for introducing new hunters to big game. It has a comparatively limited range, but you’ll still see quite a few younger and small-frame hunters packing one in the field. 243 ammo is nice due to the low recoil and lightweight bolt-action rifles you can find it in. An inexpensive example would be the Savage Axis, but there are a lot of budget-friendly first-gun options out there.
• 270 Winchester: Another flat-shooting caliber, the 270 Winchester has dropped a lot of deer (both mule deer and whitetails) since its debut in 1925 and is still found in a lot of bolt-action rifles. While a tad weak for elk, it fits the deer hunting niche quite nicely. Unfortunately, it also suffers some on the supply-side of ammo.
• 7mm Remington Magnum: The 7mm Rem Mag is not uncommon in deer camps but not really a huge contender for Top 5. It is a touch more powerful than the 270 Winchester, but 7mm Rem Mag ammo can be hard to find. Still, plenty of western hunters swear by it ever since it came out in 1962.
• 300 Winchester Magnum: Some will say the .300 Win Mag is a bit much for deer and is better suited for elk and moose. It’s definitely a deer-dropper though, and meat spoilage can be minimized by careful shot placement. It really shines at long-range hunting, and an ethical shot can be taken at 800 yards in the right hands.

What Caliber Has Killed the Most Deer?

Oh, boy, here we go again. This one’s a little touchy.

No specific numbers definitively nail down what caliber has killed the most deer, and it would be nearly impossible to quantify. So, it comes down to subjective opinions. Here are the three most commonly cited in forums and articles, with my own commentary:

• .30-30 Winchester: Let’s face it: the iconic lever-action .30-30 Winchester is probably never going away as a deer rifle. Out west, it’s usually considered a "brush gun" kept handy when ranges will be out to about 150 yards, and iron sights win out over 3-9x40mm scopes for quick target acquisition on a jumped deer. When you add whitetails to the mix, the venerable .30-30 is definitely a top contender for bagging bucks and does alike. Ammo companies report 30-30 ammo sells the most to second most hunting cartridges every year. That’s saying a lot.
• .30-06 Springfield: It’s just been so common for so long that it’s definitely in the running for killing the most deer. Especially in the west, if you can only afford or have one big game rifle, the .30-06 is most likely going to be your best all-around hunting rifle caliber. I’ve heard more than one seasoned hunter flatly state, "A .30-06 will bring down anything in North America." I tend to agree with them, so I have a .30-06 Model 70 for anything bigger than a mule deer.
• 22LR (Long Rifle): Sooner or later someone will always stand firm that the ubiquitous rimfire has killed more deer than any other caliber. This is because it’s the poacher’s caliber of choice with the quiet report, and poachers don’t really care if they wound an animal and leave it to suffer a slow death. Poachers also take more deer than law-abiding and ethical hunters, so it does stand to reason that 22s have killed the most deer.
  There is very little argument that hunting deer with a 22LR, or any rimfire, is unethical and overwhelmingly illegal in most places. Even where it is legal and barring those arguments about how shot placement is key, I’d urge you to go with something bigger.

Sorry, Six-Five Creedmoor crowd. Your dog just hasn’t been in the fight long enough to claim any honors for killing the most deer. Given another 50 to 100 years, maybe so. Start talking year-over-year since about 2010, and you might have a solid argument.

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