Medium bore white tail caliber

[Cleveland48]

At the edge of a cypress swamp and the Tombigbee river in AL. Great scenic area to hunt.

What part of Alabama are you in? I live by the Tombigbee river in NE Mississippi.

 

[Deleted member 74105]

What part of Alabama are you in? I live by the Tombigbee river in NE Mississippi.

We hunt in Washington County.

 

[Scrumbag]

Well, a 257 Roberts will do a lot of what you want. I have one as my light walking - stalking rifle and I enjoy is immensely.

 

[MS 9x56]

I have 2 rifles specifically for hunting thick nasty cover by still hunting. Both are over 100 years old and the bullets still don’t bounce off the deer. The first a remington model 14 in 30 remington. It wears a factory peep sight. The second is perhaps one of the first purposely built stalking rifles a Mannlicher Schoenauer model 1905 in 9x56 MS. It has the open V express sight with 100 and 200 meter leaves. I love hunting with both.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

Unfortunately we have an over abundance of lawyers in our country and only load anemic amounts of powder and too light bullets in the 7x57. My son has a 7mm-08 and was complaining about all the wasted bloodshot meat on his deer. I loaded him up some 175 grain round nose bullets and presto no more problem.

The Hornaday 175gr RN is my bullet of choice in the 7X57. They work well, would not hesitate to shoot an elk with that load!

 

[MS 9x56]

The Hornaday 175gr RN is my bullet of choice in the 7X57. They work well, would not hesitate to shoot an elk with that load!

They work just as well in 7mm08.

 

[CBH Australia]

They work just as well in 7mm08.

7mm08 Well, they just work!

 

[Rick Cox]

All good choices but if not the .243, I would lean towards the .257. I always felt that would be the ultimate deer gun especially with the bullet choices today. And especially as you specified a
light weight rifle which of course will not help to moderate recoil. I have been using a .223 for deer on the property here, where I would prefer to keep the noise down not to mention 'over penetration'. Does a great job, but I have been careful with bullet placement.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

All good choices but if not the .243, I would lean towards the .257. I always felt that would be the ultimate deer gun especially with the bullet choices today. And especially as you specified a
light weight rifle which of course will not help to moderate recoil. I have been using a .223 for deer on the property here, where I would prefer to keep the noise down not to mention 'over penetration'. Does a great job, but I have been careful with bullet placement.

@Rick Cox
Mate even the little mild mannered 250 Savage is a better cartridge than the 243.
A nice 100gn soft point or ttsx is fine for deer or the old 117grain Hornady roundnose would be great inside 200 yards.
Bob

 

[Rick Cox]

@Rick Cox
Mate even the little mild mannered 250 Savage is a better cartridge than the 243.
A nice 100gn soft point or ttsx is fine for deer or the old 117grain Hornady roundnose would be great inside 200 yards.
Bob

Good choices but my go-to would be the Swift Scirroco 2. Violent expansion, excellent weight retention, deep penetration. I would look at Woodleigh as well.

 

[Nevada Mike]

A .257 Roberts is an effective round with bullet choices and light recoil. I have one and love it.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Good choices but my go-to would be the Swift Scirroco 2. Violent expansion, excellent weight retention, deep penetration. I would look at Woodleigh as well.

@Rick Cox
Unfortunately Woodleigh have had a fire. Prior to that I have been pestering Geoff to make some nice 110 or 115 grain 25s but to no avail
Bob

 

[AustinM]

Personally for deer, my favorite medium bore is a Modified 1894C Marlin. We lengthened the OAL of the 357 that could feed through the action to approximately 1.83". Then we found the 180 gr Speer Hot-Cor and worked up a load to 1900 fps. It will absolutely lay the deer out and with next to no recoil anyone can enjoy it!
Range wise, I normally hunt an area out to about 300 yards and I wouldn't hesitate to use this load at that distance.

 

[sgt_zim]

Deer hunting south Louisiana in late December. Just too hot and humid for pants.

Thank goodness for the thermacell

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Deer hunting south Louisiana in late December. Just too hot and humid for pants.

Thank goodness for the thermacell

View attachment 443988

@sgt zim
That was a bit to much info about the pants until I saw the photo then I beathed a sigh of relief.
I have to be careful wearing shorts with my legs. The police always want to arrest me for having no visible means of support because of my scrawny legs.
Bob

 

[Tam Dl]

30-30 with Barnes bullets is pretty nice as far as having the right power and bullet.

I am exclusively a traditional bow hunter on deer. I am 62 at this point, and around 1 pound per year. Some guys who were titans of the sport are now aging out. They are down to 30 pound recurves or longbows. probably shooting a 300 grain arrows at around 155 fps. Still making the grade year after year.

 

[WAB]

A .308 in a light rifle can kick surprisingly hard. I remember a little Ruger International that I gave my twelve year old son that made us both want to cry. We unloaded it, and he did brilliantly the next several years with a Steyr .243. In spite of the opinions of some of our down under friends, the .243 with a 100 gr premium bullet is an outstanding deer rifle.

I agree, sorry Bob! I use 100 gr Speer HotCor bullets in my .243. It has dispatched a number of deer with no issues at all.

 

[CBH Australia]

Personally for deer, my favorite medium bore is a Modified 1894C Marlin. We lengthened the OAL of the 357 that could feed through the action to approximately 1.83". Then we found the 180 gr Speer Hot-Cor and worked up a load to 1900 fps. It will absolutely lay the deer out and with next to no recoil anyone can enjoy it!
Range wise, I normally hunt an area out to about 300 yards and I wouldn't hesitate to use this load at that distance.

The .357magnum is a great little round and the Marlin is a fun gun.
I've never considered it will do 300m and never tried, but I have other rifles for that.

 

[AustinM]

The .357magnum is a great little round and the Marlin is a fun gun.
I've never considered it will do 300m and never tried, but I have other rifles for that.

I've grown up around lever guns all my life and the improved version of the 357 out performs most common 30-30 loads. Plus, being in Arkansas most shots are within 100-200 yards, but some sneak up on you at the 300 yard range.

 

[Daveboone]

I didnt go through all the other suggestions, but was surprised the .270 wasnt mentioned. I recently acquired one and was delighted with how much fun it was to shoot. Usually shot with a 130 grain bullet, flat shooting, I think the key to keeping recoil down is NOT to go with a light weight rifle, stay with a standard medium frame /bbl arrangement. My .308 with 165 grain bullets is much milder than most any 30-06s. Be sure your wife practices with heavier clothes like she would be hunting. to help with the recoil/cushioning.