I like the .308 and have had great luck with Fusion ammo. I have shot the 150 and 165 grain loads quite a bit at ranges to 600 yards and the Fusion has shown good consistent accuracy and killing ability. They cost around $23 for a box of twenty, so they wont put you in the poorhouse.

As someone who has hunted in areas that have a range of shots, there are several recommendations:

• 308 and 7mm-08 are good short to long range rounds; both rounds have the capability to reach way out and do not have heavy recoil.


• 25-06, 30-06, 270 Winchester and 280 Remington are good rounds but can be a bit heavy on recoil. If you end up with really close in shots, they can hit so hard that they will through the animal before expanding. On the flip side, they can be sited in at 200 yds and be good out to 400 without getting into issues with hold over.


• 7mm Mag, 270 WSM, 7mm WSM and the Remington equivalents are great at long ranges. The main issue being the heavy recoil.


• 300 Winchester Mag and up are overkill for deer.


• Anything under 25 caliber is starting to get into the marginal range in my opinion. Any caliber can kill a deer, but the smaller calibers start requiring better shot placement and are impacted by wind and brush more than the heavier calibers. Some states don't allow hunting with anything under 23 caliber


• 30-30 gets a special mention as it is extremely popular. It is very short on range in comparison to the above, but can get the job done when hunting under 100 yards.

When you add in ammo costs, you can't go wrong with 308, 30-06 or 270 Winchester. If you want one rifle for any game in North America, 30-06 can take any game. I would also recommend a bolt action gun as they tend to be lighter and are typically universally acceptable by all states for hunting. ARs and AKs have issues at time due to magazine capacity; which can be gotten around by using 5-round or less mags. DO NOT buy a precision or varmint rifle as they are heavy and will become annoying to carry around all day.

Thought about this.
To the OP,
Using your criteria, I would say either a 7.62x 39 or .308.

Both will take deer & allot of cheap ammo to burn at the range.

At least until 6.8 get's cheap ammo next year.