Don’t think I have anything to add that others have not already mentioned, but I will weigh-in.
My first rifle was a single shot .270. At 16 and only weighing 120 lbs, and a short stature, boy was that a lot of rifle to hang onto. But boy has it killed a lot of whitetail, efficiently! Great round and great for any bigger species you may ever want to hunt (elk, moose, etc).
One of my second rifles was a 6.5 Creedmoor. I bought it for friends that wanted to hunt that weren’t so serious, my girlfriend or my sister. Something that was very manageable to shoot, reliable and I could loan out. It has killed 5+ deer at various ranges, and they were all very dead. My girlfriend just killed her first buck last weekend with it. I load my own ammo, so I had an accubond bullet, going at a moderate speed. Nothing crazy. Hit him at 125 yards, impacted a rib dead center, opened up a quarter size hole obliterated his lungs and exited the opposite side. He went 50 yards and piled up. For her it is the perfect gun, weighs about 8-9 lbs fully loaded and has very minimal recoil. I highly recommend a 6.5 Creedmoor to anyone who is solely a whitetail hunter that shoots their gun a handful of times a year.
I also have a 6.5 PRC. Boy, do I love that gun. Have yet to take an animal with it, but boy is it a shooter. I think I ran 5 shots through it to zero it in at 200 yards, and I was consistently hitting steel targets at 400+. Recoil is very manageable, only slightly more than the 6.5 CM. I do reload these as well. Recent loads are a hot load, hopefully hitting 3,000 fps with an accubond bullet. Haven’t had a chance to shoot through a chronograph yet. Or spend a lot of time getting it perfect, but it is a great round/ rifle.
Then for my big cartridge, I have a 300 Winchester magnum. Which is way overkill for whitetail.
I my mind, any cartridge you’re looking at will do the job. I would suggest researching the action and barrel you’re looking for. I do not own a Tikka, but they are like a Jeep Wrangler, there is more aftermarket options out there for them than you can imagine. And even in factory form, they are beautiful cycling rifles. I would highly suggest looking into a Tikka and a good scope. Get something with a stainless steel barrel. They still take care and attention. But they are more resilient than a blued iron cerecokted barrel.
I would also suggest getting a scope that does not have rotating external turrets. Just too much to add into the heat of the moment when hunting. Zero that baby in for 200 yards and you will be able to effectively, and ethically shoot any whitetail out to 300-400 yards. 400-500 yards is a LONG way. I shoot more than most, I target shoot out to 400-450 yards. I would not take a shot over 300 yards. And honestly, I don’t have an opportunity to shoot more than 150 yards any way, 200 yards is a long shot where I am at.
Good luck!
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