What is the smallest caliber generally acceptable for white tail deer hunting?

I know that people hunt with .357, are their people that hunt successfully with even smaller calibers?What is the smallest caliber generally acceptable for white tail deer hunting?
Assuming you mean hunting with handguns:





For handgun hunting, I'd never use anything less powerful than the .357 Magnum cartridge. Anything less may not provide a quick, humane kill.





For rifles, the .243 Winchester is generally your entry-level round.What is the smallest caliber generally acceptable for white tail deer hunting?
Link below is something I found specifically for Indiana,but it certainly makes sense, and many other states use similar criteria for pistol hunting. No semi-auto round has enough energy at range for effective and humane hunting, and at one point Washington State had the minimum set at 41Mag,so even 357 wasn't enough-think they have changed that. I certainly wouldn't contemplate going below 357Mag.


In rifles,many states use 243/6mm as the minimum caliber, and I would suggest bumping up to 260 or 7mm-08,25-06 because even with the 243 using 100 grain premium bullets you don't get a lot of penetration on quartering shots. There are some states that allow 223 or other .224 centerfire cartridges-I'm certainly opposed to that use; even if a 22-250 or 220 Swift can put energy via velocity on target the mass of the bullet / bullet construction just aren't designed for deer.


Obviously you can ';harvest';deer with a 22LR or 17HMR, someone from S.E. Idaho is sitting in prison for a few year for doing that.
Man oh man will this ever stir debate and controversy!!





Some states forbid the use of calibers smaller than .243 Winchester. Some state used to ban calibers smaller than .30, I don't know if any still do but it would not hurt my feelings if they did. Some states don't permit rifles. Some states still ban handgun hunting. And even states that permit handgun hunting can have screwy regulations.





A friend told me that the first year Iowa permitted handgun hunting he had planned to use a T/C Contender in .308 Winchester. The Game Warden told him he couldn't use it because the law said ';handguns with a caliber of ,357'; or larger.'; So though his .308 Contender was way more powerful than a .357 Magnum the bore was not large enough to qualify for handgun hunting. I think that regulation has been amended since.





Some states permit any centerfire rifle and i think this is a mistake. Some people even hunt deer with .17 Remington rifles, and that 25 grain slug just doesn't have the weight to be a reliable deer killer. The same goes for the .223 Rem. Don't start in about how many men the .223 has killed. The thing is when a soldier shoots a man in combat he'd just as soon wound him as kill him since wounded men require two or three others to tend them taking more enemies out of the fight. Hunting has a different objective, a quick humane kill with the least possible trauma to the game animal.





Personally I'd like to see every state adopt a .243 Winchester minimum caliber. I personally use a .358 Winchester Browning BLR or a .357 Magnum Rossi M-92 SRC.





Doc Hudson
I would go with a 243 Winchester. Although I have seen a few deer that were cleanly taken with calibers like the 22-250 and 224 Wby Mag.





In my native Pennsylvania, the law used to read that a rifle had to be of 25 caliber or larger. In recent years I can not find the law in the game laws, so they must have changed it at some point...as the 243 Win is certainly adequate for taking white tailed deer.
In Colorado it must be .24 or larger. (bullet must be expanding type of at least 70 grains%26lt;85 grains for elk and moose%26gt;with an impact energy of 1000 ft/lbs at 100 yards for rifle, 550 ft/lbs at 50 yards for handgun w/ min 4 inch barrel) Shotguns must fire a single slug and be 20ga or larger.





A M1 carbine is not powerful enough, a 30/30 or a SKS round barely meets minimum.





BP must be 45 cal. (50 cal for elk and moose)
I know for Virginia it has to be a .23 caliber or larger. I would look up the department of game and Inland fisheries website for your state and the rules and regulations will inform you the legal calibers as it is different from state to state.
In the state that I live in, rifles and hand guns must be at least .23';. Handguns must have a case at least 1.28'; long. That makes a .357 magnum the least powerful hand gun and probably rifle. The smallest diameter rifle bullet would be .243. I have used both. Oklahoma does allow .45 ACP for deer from what I remember.
* Rifle is 243 Winchester.* Handgun is the 357 Magnum.* However I have harvested Deer humanely without any problem with a 218 Bee, and 222 Caliber Rifle.*
Depends on what your state game and wildlife agency specifies is the minimum legal round. But what the others said is the general rule of thumb.
.243 Winchester
either the .357 magnum for handguns and the .243 winchester for rifles.
I along with many other hunters have had success with the 243 win.
24 cal. 243 win, 6mm Rem and 240 Wtby Mag.
here in tn the lowest we can legally use is a 223
i believe that legaly it is .243