The Top Cartridges for Giant Bucks, According to B&C Statistics

Have you read the one about the “10 Best Deer Cartridges of All Time?” Actually, you’ve probably read several versions because there are about a jillion iterations of the same story out there. Maybe even a few on Realtree.com.

Those stories are fun to read and they’re easy to write because they don’t have to be backed up by much of anything other than opinion (and perhaps a wink and a nod from an ammo manufacturer who’s buying advertising).

What is the top cartridge for trophy deer? Or is it a cartridge at all? Image by Realtree

That’s why this list of “best deer cartridges” is a little different. We’ve taken our opinion out of it—mostly. Instead, using the Method Visualizer tool on Boone and Crockett’s Big Game Records Live, which is a subscription service offered by B&C, we’ve sorted out the list of cartridges that hunters have actually used to take the most record book whitetails, typical and non-typical, over the past several decades.

THE BEST WHITETAIL ROUNDS, ACCORDING TO THE RECORD BOOKS

B&C has been collecting the Methods data for more than 50 years, and the organization has been storing it digitally for the past 23 years. More than 6,000 typical and non-typical whitetail entries have been recorded in the books during that time, and they’ve been taken with a diverse list of rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, and archery equipment (you can see the full lineup on the graphic below, courtesy of B&C). But the five most popular cartridges for big whitetails were, in order:

These are the rounds, or methods, that have accounted for the most whitetail entries in the B&C records. Image by Boone and Crockett

1 .30-06 Springfield

This old warhorse has accounted for 531 record-book bucks, more than any other cartridge on the list. It’s trendy for modern rifle shooters to deride .30-06 users as the knuckle-dragging “Fudds” of the rifle range. We’ll take it. As a proud .30-06 shooter myself I say, “You show off your targets. We’ll show off our trophy walls, full freezers, and bruised shoulders too.”

Not surprising based on its popularity and solid performance, the 30-06 has accounted for more book bucks than any other cartridge. Image by Federal Ammunition

2. 12-Gauge

Speaking of bruised shoulders, although the data makes no distinction between shotgun slugs and buckshot, it’s a safe bet that most of the 518 bucks in the record books felled by 12-gauge shotguns were taken with the former. Many of the top big-buck producing states in the country including Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio have long been shotgun-slug only during gun season (though most have modified those laws more recently to include some straight-wall rifle cartridges as well).

Thanks to many big buck states that were shotgun only until recently, the 12-gauge is neck and neck with the .30-06 for big bucks. Image by Federal Ammunition

3. .270 Winchester

Yet another non-surprise, since gunwriters have long put the .270 in contention with the .30-06 as America’s favorite deer cartridge. The .270 utilizes a .30-06 parent case, and the result is a round that’s a bit flatter shooting, with a bit less recoil, and which has accounted for a bit fewer big whitetails, at 463.

4. 7mm Remington Mag

This one surprised me a bit, as I expected the .308 and perhaps even the .30-30 to have been more popular. Maybe they are, but 7 Mag shooters seem to be better at killing big whitetails. This belted magnum has accounted for 310 big whitetail bucks in the record books.

5. .308 Winchester

The only short-action cartridge on the list has accounted for 243 record book whitetails, a few more than the .300 Win Mag, which comes in at No. 6 and the .243 Winchester, which comes in at No. 7.

ROUNDS THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT

The Top 5 list of whitetail cartridges really isn’t all that surprising. But these three cartridges, which not only didn’t make the top 5 but didn’t get close, are a little eye opening.

1. 6.5 Creedmoor

Despite having been around for 17 of the 23 years that these records have been recorded online, and despite a great deal of fawning over from gunwriters, the Creed has only accounted for 59 whitetails in the B&C record book. I’m sure it’s hit many more steel plates than that, though. (For the record, I have a couple 6.5 Creedmoors; they shoot great and flatten bucks.)

2. .30-30 Winchester

It’s long been speculated that this classic round, one of the first smokeless hunting cartridges, has felled more whitetails than any other, mostly because of longevity. Personally, I’ve always doubted that. The .30-30 has only been around 12 years longer than the .30-06, and though it has seen some stand-in military use, it was never adopted as an official service cartridge. In contrast, the .30-06 helped us win both World Wars. As to the B&C record books, the .30-30 has only accounted for 63 whitetails, just 12% of the bucks that the ’06 has taken in the same timeframe.

3. .45-70 Government

This is one of the oldest centerfire rifle cartridges that’s still commonly used and available, and it’s popular with hunters in states that are restricted to shotgun slugs or straight-wall rifle cartridges—states that tend to be big-buck powerhouses. I’ve killed some bucks with the .45-70, and love it. Still, it’s only accounted for 21 whitetails in the record books. By comparison the straight-wall 350 Legend, which has only been around for five years, is responsible for 37 entries.

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WHAT ABOUT ARCHERY GEAR AND MUZZLELOADERS?

About 42% of the record-book whitetails have been killed with something other than a modern firearm. Vertical bowhunters—that includes a few traditional bow kills—accounted for most of that, with 1,407 entries. Crossbow hunters entered 750 animals, while muzzleloader hunters accounted for 546.

WESTERN PREFERENCES

There are far more whitetails in the B&C record books than any other animal because there are more whitetails and whitetail hunters than anything else. Still, going deer hunting has a definition other than whitetail hunting in some parts of the country, and cartridge preferences change when species and regions change. When you filter the B&C Methods Visualizer results to include only typical and non-typical mule deer, Coues whitetails, Sitka blacktails, and Columbia blacktails, the top five big-buck cartridges change to:

No. 1: 7mm Rem Mag

No. 2: .270 Winchester

No. 3: .300 Win Mag

No. 4: .30-06 Springfield

No. 5: .300 Remington Ultra Mag

When filtered for western hunters, the list trends toward flat shooting cartridges like the 7mm Rem Mag. Image by Boone and Crockett

So, what does all of this prove? Perhaps that Mark Twain was onto something when he said the three types of lies are “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Point being, it’s easy to present statistics in such a way to support a particular viewpoint.

Most really good deer hunters will tell you that hunting location, tactics, and persistence have way more to do with success on big bucks than cartridge selection. Personally, I’ve shot deer, or seen deer shot, with every cartridge on that top-five list. With good bullets and proper shot placement, it’s about impossible to distinguish the results of one from the next.

Except of course for the .30-06, which is very clearly the best.