300 Blackout for deer

[omicron1792]

I always want to bring the small frame ARs but the deer I've hit with intermediate calibers always live a lot longer than I want even on good shots. These days I stick with an AR-10 in 308 even though it's heavy because I want them to drop and suffer as little as possible.

But I think the discussion really should require disclosure of the size of whitetail you're hunting. You can definitely get away with more on little southern whitetails or does/yearlings but some of the older deer by me in WI get huge and I've seen them survive some insane situations.

What bullet?

 

[StupidLightweight]

If you want quick kills, I'd bring the .308 or 6.5 Creed. Supersonic and suppressed, they will all sound the same. With subs, the .300 makes sense if you're going that route.

The .300 BLK is a unique round in that it straddles the fence between pistol and rifle caliber. It works great from short barrels and is one of the main options for subsonic hunting, but I was not enamored with the one supersonic whitetail kill I used it on.

It obviously does work, but I would much prefer a .223 for supersonic hunting or a .338 ARC or 8.6 BLK for subsonic hunting.