What's the worst legal caliber that people use for hunting deer

[Hunter007]

1 hour ago, Uncle Nicky said:

I was never one to push the envelope...I never was interested in experimenting to see what I could get away with or push the boundaries, especially on a live animal. 

I grew up hunting with buckshot, and didn't know any better...but as the years went by, I realized it cripples a LOT of deer, so I moved on to slugs. 

I think we tend to overthink some of this stuff...I'm more interested in finding a BETTER shell to kill an animal more quickly (such as HeviShot or TSS for turkeys). I curse the day they went to steel shot for waterfowl.

I know not everyone thinks like me, and that is OK. Maybe I'm getting soft as I age, but I hate seeing anything suffer.

I have not played around with pistol ammo on any  deer hunts and 

To me the only  good reason I can think  to use something like  pistol ammo  is you can make a lighter rifle/  carbine  designing a rifle around  hand gun ammo,  the  generally  lower pressures in hand gun ammo means less or lighter parts you can get away with and still have a safe and accurate rifle out of it . if you know your going to be only taking short shots at deer could be not a bad option for some guys I guess .Going to the extreme of hunting with a actual handgun for deer not my cup of tea tho .

But I wouldn't mind trying it out maybe in a light carbine  at close range with the right bullet .

 

 

[tommyc50]

well the worst  caliber is a .30 the infamous .30 cal. carbine and im not even sure its even legal in ny. Now the other calibers like the .44 ruger  is a great brush gun in its limits and all  those revolver calibers mentioned above will kill deer within their limits. The second worst is the 7.62x39 and why I mention that is for the same reason for the carbine is guys would buy a surplus gun a carbine dirt cheap also the piece of crap the sks. 40-50-60 yrs ago the m1 garand ,the a3/03[both 30-06] even the japanese arisaka and the mosin nagant were relatively cheap and guys on a limited budget would buy them to hunt with. Were they the good hunting guns not really. same said for the 30/30 .Or should I say not the best choice. Now the as for the,223 and the AR rifles chambered for are not the best choice to hunt with On the other end of the spectrum is guys the are over gunned ,I seen guys hunting with 7mm mag,300 win mag even a marlin 444 .Now please understand this is just my opinion they are not the best choice to hunt in NY with.

[Rattler]

The .30 carbine is legal in NY for deer and using soft point bullets within 50 yards, it is quite capable of bringing down a whitetail deer.  I've taken a few with one over the years.  

The 7.62x39 is about equal to the .30-30 and nobody questions it's ability to kill whitetail.  The rest you mentioned may not be made for deer hunting, but in the hands of a hunter skilled in using one, deer will be taken quite easily.

Not the best choice?  Depends on the choices available.  When you consider the only real difference between poor folk and rich folk, is that rich folk have more choices, maybe it was the guy's best choice.  Or maybe the old SKS just enhances the quality of the hunt for the guy.  Freedom of choice.

[NFA-ADK]

I use the 44 mag in Winchester model 94 rifle.  With the barrel being longer it gets more push, I have had some rounds pass through but on larger deer a pass through is not always present.  (This can make tracking much harder especially if you are inexperienced.)

I would stay away from any handgun round that is not a mag.  44 mag 357 mag and anything close to those, going any lower and you are asking for trouble, I would also recommend good ammo as not all ammo is created the same.  I have fired rounds that are as light as a BB gun(Low powder, not the bullet.) and rounds that have some good kick with a flame coming out the end of the barrel.  BIG difference in bullets and amount of powder with powder being the first major factor and bullet as second.  Federal makes a 300 grain cast core that I like to use along with american eagle that has a hot charge in 240 grain (Not sure of the exact round).  The 300 is great for close ranges and the high powder 240's are great past 50 yards, I would think, never took a shot past 50 with this gun. 

[mike103]

In my deer camp over 45 years I have seen deer shot with just about everything from 223 to 45-70.

The two with 223 one was with FMJ ammo many years ago and it was a long tracking job. The other was recent with Fed fusions and the lungs were jello. No tracking necessary.

Over the years the biggest problem I saw and still see is unfamiliarity with the gun. Over the years I saw many scopes mounted and sighed in the day before the season. They service their trucks, quads and get their clothes ready but wait until the last moment to check the gun. 

My brother and I have started sighting in days during the summer and things have gotten better.

[dbHunterNY]

if you're using a caliber that's legal but it makes you flinch then it's a bad caliber.  get over it or get something different.