Out of a .243,.270,.308,300 mag,and 30-06 which would you use for hunting deer and bear?

243 and the 308 for deer hunting and 300 mag 30-06 for the bear.








good luck huntingOut of a .243,.270,.308,300 mag,and 30-06 which would you use for hunting deer and bear?
270 for deer, 30-06 or 308 for black bear, none of the above for brown bear.


I used a varmint caliber for deer in my youth, but I got over it, and I won't use 243 any more.


By the way, my answer doesn't include the usual ';this is my rifle'; bias. I don't even have a thirty caliber of any description. Mostly I use metric-designated cartridges.Out of a .243,.270,.308,300 mag,and 30-06 which would you use for hunting deer and bear?
.243 for deer. 30-06 or .300 Win Mag for bear. Drop the .270 (ballistics are inferior to the .243) from your search. The .308 is, arguably, as good as the 06, in a short action gun. Still the 06 has a larger variety of bullet weights.


The 30-6 will punch a big hole through a whitetail, and leave a good blood trail, but the .243 will drop it in its tracks
any will work on deer Most bear hunting is down in relatively close cover, where trajectory isn't critical. Here's where power and placement come into play; you want to drop that bear quickly. For bear I would suggest 7mm Rem. Mag., .30-06 and .300 Win. Mag. will work for all black bear hunting.


Bigger isn't necessarily better, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with fast .33s from the .338 Win. Mag.


Shot placement remains the most important issue, but I think a .30-caliber firing a good 200-grain bullet is absolutely minimal. I can assure you that I will never again hunt a big bear with a caliber as light as .30. Good choices start with the 8mm Rem. Mag. and work their way through the magnum spectrum to about .416.
Any of them would work on deer.





As far as bear, what kind? They all would work on little black and brown bears. But grizzly and polar bears are a whole different problem. For those I would go for the one with the greatest muzzle energy. That would be the 300 mag. (But if I knew I was going after the big bears, even that would not be my first choice. I am partial to the good old 375 H+H Mag, legal on everything up to elephants.)
if you wanted one solid gun for all of that i would say the 300 mag because the gun packs the punch to take down that bear and well it does kinda blow up a deer, my cousin last year purchased one and took his first deer with it and said it blew a nice hole in it but they also use noslar ballistic points and he said that they blow up nice, but if u load it right u will be fine shooting that deer, but the 30/06 will do both nicely but its always better to be safe then sorry.
The first answer was the best answer. I would definitely go with a 300 Weatherby Magnum. I've ';gut shot'; deer with a 300 Weatherby and had them fall straight down. It is an excellent choice for black bear (and possibly even grizzly).





As a hunter said in another forum, you can never kill something too dead. Why chance wounding a deer or bear by using ';just enough caliber';? That's like putting just enough fuel in your vehicle to make the trip...and arrive at your destination running on fumes. More is generally better. More clothes when it's cold (you can always take them off), more strategies in life, etc..



The tried, true, tested, and proven since 1906 to be the best the 30-06, because you have a greater variety of bullet weights to choose from with the 30-06.* It will harvest any Game in North America cleanly and efficiently from Varmints to Big Game.* Magnum is not needed or necessary.*
any of those would work for deer. For black bear, unless you're pretty close with great shot placement, probably only the 30-06, .270 with a heavy load, .308 and 300 mag. For grizzly, probably just the mag.
I would take the 30-06. Most including myself can't shoot a 300 magnum that well. The 300 magnum I would only consider if Grizzlie were on the agenda. Even then I am not sure if it is enough gun.
Out of all these guns the 300 win mag , or 300 wby mag. Ive owned both. good for any thing..not the best but real good.
If your trying to pick one to use on both - I'd pick the 300 mag. Bears are tough! All those cartridges will do fine on deer...
I would go with the 300 WINMAG lots of people are scared of them but they are a fine rifle.