Up until recently i believed my .30-06 was the ultimate deer rifle. It's what everyone at camp has always used, and nearly every hunter i knew preferred. It does the job nicely, but at the end of the day the deer is no more dead than the one shot with a .280,.270,7mm-08,.25-06,.243, etc. Deer are not particularly difficult to kill if you put the bullet where you're supposed to. I'll be buying a lighter caliber or two soon as my kids will need hunting rifles.

25-06 is my favorite. I've used most calibers from .223 to .375 H&H and they all do the job as long as you hunt within their limitations. I use a larger caliber if hunting in dense brush though. If I can't see 30 yards in brush, I use a .35 Rem to cut through brush or .375 H&H to cut through trees.

.308 Winchester

30-06 or .300 savage.

My favorite whitetail deer caliber is a .243. That is because I have harvested more deer with a .243 than I have with any other rifle. The .243 caliber has more than adequate power to kill a whitetail deer. It was one of Grit Gresham's favorite calibers. The main thing I love about hunting with a .243 is the lack of recoil. It is easy on the shoulder. If you have a good recoil pad, that makes shooting a .243 even more pleasurable. Low recoil translates into more accurate shot placement. How can that be? High recoil tends to make a shooter flinch. I am not a favorite of the big-booming calibers that makes the shoulder sore. Call me a big baby; I don't care. I am now hunting deer with a 25.06. I really like it. I call it my lightning rod! It really reaches out there.

I could give so many different calibers for different situations lol. But I like my .280. Shoots like a 270, but just a little more power for long range.

My 7mm/08, and 30/30 Savage Pump for Back-up or Bad Weather!

270, 243 for a marksman who knows where the bullet is going, I bow hunt, but if I were to rifle hunt, I would get good with my family's 270, and go for a neck shot. less tracking.

My 264 win mag and my T/C Omega.

.270

Shot placement is the biggest factor as long as it is .223 size or bigger

.257 Roberts or .308 Win for deer only hunts. 7mm Weatherby or .30-06 / .35 Whelen for combination hunts. I don't own any mouseguns, so they are irrelevant for me.

.300 Savage, and not just because I have it in a sweet little rifle. I think it's perfect. Enough velocity for any decent hunter, plenty of power and bullet weight, and very little recoil. It seems to combine the best of .30-06 and .30-30 in one cartridge.

Can anyone explain to me why the .300 Savage seems to kick like nothing, yet the .308 (just one little step ahead) has more noticeable recoil? My .300 Savage is light with a metal butt plate and some significant stock drop, so the rifle isn't helping any.

.270

I'll use a .338 on anything from praire rats to eland.

7/08 personally, lot of good ones out there though to choose from.

Yep.