I must be odd, I don't have a favorite. Hit them right, and caliber doesn't matter much. I've taken whitetails with everything from a .223 to a 577/.450 Martini Henry. If pushed, I guess my favorite is whatever I'm shooting currently.
For Texas deer, my NEF Handi Rifle in .243 is my favorite...
...but close behind is the old Savage 840 in .30/30 that I inherited from my Father in Law... using hand-loads, that little box-magazine bolt action has accounted for a fair number of critters.
I use my Remington .222 if I need a scope and my Marlin 30-30 with open sites if I don't. I have downed about 10 deer with the Marlin, only had it about 10 years and I lost count how many with the .222. I have used it since I was 12.
I'll be the first to admit, that I haven't hunted deer yet. If I do, though, I'll use either 6.5mm Japanese or 7.7mm Japanese. I have sporterized Arisaka rifles in both calibers. Ammo will be from MrNambu.com.
Glad to see that nobody is bad mouthing the .243. I have taken plenty of deer with my model 700 .243 and never lost one. Use good ammo, put the bullet in the vitals, and they will drop.
.308 Win when standing watch and 30-30 when dogging in the bush. The .308 has such a wide selection of bullet weights that makes it hard to beat for large varmints to moose. The 30-30's probably killed more deer than mother nature.
Glad to see that nobody is bad mouthing the .243. I have taken plenty of deer with my model 700 .243 and never lost one. Use good ammo, put the bullet in the vitals, and they will drop.
.243? Come on now, why use a varmint cartridge meant for small field mice? Now I know you know that .30-378 Weatherby is about the minimum sufficient caliber for taking down those pesky deer. j/k What's funny is you just know there are still people out there that believe things like that.
I'm patiently waiting for deer season to start back up. I've been looking at my Tikka T3 in my cabinet and it's eager for me to take it somewhere other than a bench.
I perfer a 308 for hill county deer and a 300 win mag for south texas and west texas deer, elk and exotic's . for hogs I use a 223 or 243 . when I get to go back to Africa I plan on a 375 H&H mag
I've got a Stevens 200 in .308. I put camo on the stock, topped it with a Shooters Edge 4x16x40 scope [McBrides] for 69.00. Real pleased with the setup. I took a seven point with it
I've got 400.00 in it.