Calibers I and my children have takes deer with over the past 42years:
12 gauge slugs
.44 magnum(Ruger revolver)
.45 colt (Ruger revolver)
.35 Remington
.45-70 (overkill but if you place your round right no meat damaged )
.30-06
.30-30
.357 (S&W revolver)
At close range eastern brush country, where I hunt, most anything will take down a whitetail.
44 mag rifle with Barnes vortex takes deer clean with very little recoil and noticably a lot less sound blast to the ears than a revolver, high powered rifle or shotgun. Save your ears and Bullet speed is typically about 500fps more than the revolver. This round gives me outstanding accuracy in a Ruger 77/44 and CVA Hunter.
Where I live, we can only use slugs or muzzle loaders.
I’m still a complete newby. Started hunting in my mid-40’s. I truly have no idea what I’m doing so for the most part, it’s a day spent sitting in a tree stand with a shotgun in my hand. Not a wasted day at all.
A friend gave me a muzzleloader last year. Looking forward to trying that out.
I have been successful once. I scared a young buck on the way to my stand and managed to get off a quick shot and got him.
My Weatherby 25/06 with iron sights has never let me down—my cowboy Winchester 30/30, not so much.