Written by Larry Weishuhn
“And just how many whitetails have you taken Mr. Knowitall?” countered the hunter poking a stick at the coals, sending a spray of embers into the dark November sky.
“Now…Wait a minute! Everyone knows it ain’t the rifle, caliber, round, nor load, it’s the person pulling the trigger!” Then pointing a gloved finger at me, “You’re the one started this! Don’t think you’re going to get off that easy without telling us what you think!”
I smiled, having long enjoyed posing the question to campmates, “What’s the perfect whitetail caliber and round?” knowing most deer hunters are highly opinionated when it comes to their choice.
Growing up in rural Texas my first perfect deer round was the .22 Long Rifle. It was the only rifle we had other than my dad’s .30-30. Thankfully rimfires were legal back then! In time I “graduated” to a 12-gauge single-shot shotgun loaded with buckshot! I used it to take my first whitetail.
Later I would cast my vote for the .30-30 Winchester being the absolute perfect deer round. If you did not believe me, you could ask my dad, mother, and uncles. It’s what they hunted with and swore by! Shortly thereafter my opinion was shaken after reading my hero, Jack O’Connor in Outdoor Life, extolling the .257 Roberts, 7×57 Mauser, and the .270 Winchester. During that era, the quickest way to start a campfire “discussion” was to suggest the .270 was better than a .30-06, or vice versa.
Today, asked the “What’s the perfect round?” there are those who will suggest cartridges older than 75 years. Others, usually younger hunters, swear by or swear at, the recently introduced rounds such as 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC and 7mm PRC. With legalizing straight-wall cartridges in previously only shotgun and muzzleloader States, such rounds as .350 and .400 Legend, .360 Buckhammer or the century old.45-70 Gov. and .405 Winchester might also be mentioned!
As a lifetime hunter, guide, research biologist, and “gun writer” I have taken deer with .22 to .50 caliber rifles, .45 to 54 caliber muzzleloaders, .357 Mag to .500 S&W Mag revolver and single-shot handguns chambered in numerous rifle rounds, and, 20 to 10 gauge shotguns. I have studied hard and long, and, continue doing so to find “the true perfect deer round”!
What constitutes a perfect deer caliber and round? And does such exist? Let’s take a look…
Several things need to be considered; accuracy and down-range energy being paramount. Of course ammo availability must also be considered.
Most all whitetail deer’s, “vital zone”, meaning heart and lungs, is 8 to 10-inches in circumference, when standing broadside. Facing straight on and quarterly to or away, those vitals shrink to 6-inches, or less.
Many of us strive to consistently shoot 1-inch groups at 100 yards (1 MOA). Such accuracy works out to keeping shots in a 4-inch circle at 400-yards. Not all guns or hunters are capable of such accuracy. Does that mean unless you can achieve such accuracy you should not hunt? Not necessarily! If you are capable of consistently keeping your bullets within a 6-inch circle, you should be “OK”, although not “perfect”.
The distance at which you no longer keep ALL shots within a 6-inch circle, should be the absolute maximum range at which you shoot at a deer. That said, I am a firm believe hunters should place their bullets into the heart and lungs, and avoid neck shots. There is too much room for error taking shots at the neck.
Bullets kill by damaging vital tissue, blood loss, and hydrostatic shock. There are several good deer hunting bullets whose job it is to enter the body, expand, do considerable tissue damage to lungs and heart creating a wound channel, and then exit, leaving a blood trail, if the deer does not go down immediately.
Some bullets are all copper or copper alloy. Traditional hunting bullets are a combination of copper and lead. I like both types. Which bullets I use depends upon state regulations and which bullets and loads my individual rifle or handgun prefers in terms of accuracy.
I am a long range shooter, but not a “long range hunter”. I shoot my rifles and handgun out to extreme ranges at steel plates. So…when I crawl in close I can precisely place my bullet into heart and lungs with great confidences, where it will quickly and humanely kill the animal. As to bullets and loads, outside of some handguns, I mostly limit my maximum range to the distance at which my bullets drop below 1,000-foot pounds of energy. I however know, there have been many deer killed with bullets and loads that were below that level.
If it appears I believe using a bullet properly designed for deer-sized animals and accurately placed in the vitals while producing sufficient energy to allow the bullet to do what it was designed for, could be a “perfect deer round”…you are right!
Frankly, I have a whole gun safe full of near perfect deer rifles and handguns! However this fall I’m leaning toward a Mossberg Patriot 7mm PRC loaded with Hornady Precision Hunter, 175-grain ELD-X and topped with a Steatlh Vision scope. How about you?
