Whitetail Deer Hunting
 

I am new to deer hunting and want to get a rifle, I have been researching rifles, just curious if the 375 H&H or the 458 Win mag would be a good choice for an ethical kill, would this gun also be effective on wild hogs?

Does anyone have any experience with either of these calibers?

Thanks in advance!

IMHO, you're overgun and the recoil will beat you up. Now, if you want to hunt a water buffalo or grisly bear, they're fine.

Most Deer hunters use smaller rifles. Something between a .243 and .30 cal. are commonly used. The mag cal. rifles are not needed to kill a whitetail deer.

I shoot a .243 cal bolt action rifle. Hunting is all about taking good shots and hitting your mark.

Yes, I agree......

You can drop a rhino with those rifles! .308, 270, 30-06, 30-30 would be more than enough.

if you like your pork well done yes. cant go wrong with 270 or 30-06.

I love my ruger 270 bolt action. Never let me down. I agree with less gun and precise shot. Just cause they don't drop don't mean there not dead. Now I will say to make a great shot you need a great scope but that's another story.

Those are way to big for whitetails. I shoot a 270 and have dropped some large hogs and deer no prob. Just need to put the round in the right spot.

This! But if you want a just about do all rifle, go with 30-06. Many different bullet weights for this gun and you can kill anything in North America with it.

I really appreciate the info, I do not have any knowledge of shooting a deer, but many have mentioned a very strong rifle is needed.

It seems a 7 mm or a 30-06 may be the firearm of choice.

Thanks to everyone for the information

I highly recommend you shoot the rifles in the calibers in which you're interested. Don't dismiss my comment about recoil. If you're confortable with the rifle caliber you will practice more and become a betters shot. Even a milder recoiler like the .38-55, .243, .270, etc. can readily take down a deer. There aren't too many shots you'll take in LA beyond 200-300yds. A .270 can take most game in North America except for moose, elk, brown bear. I met a man at the range shooting a .30-30 Winchester lever-action; with iron sights at 100yds he put most of us to shame! I also met a man at Sherbourne WMR with a 7mm Magnum that handed the rifle off to one of us other shooters asking us to sight it in because the recoil was beating him up.

You can take Elk wit a .270 and you can take moose and brown bear wit a 30-06.

check into a 7mm ultra mag, ballistics on this round are awesome, i shoot a 270wsm wish i would have known about the 7mm ultra mag before i bought my gun

This is a ford vs chevy debate. In most of Louisiana, your shots will be less than 100 yards. Any gun from a .243 up to a .308 is perfect here. Not much since getting an 'ultra magnum' to shoot an animal at less than 100 yards and weighs less than 200 lbs. One thing is you want to be comfortable with the gun, too many people buy these large calibers and don't like shooting them because they kick too much. The only way to get comfortable is to shoot it often, my wife and I both shoot 7mm-08 and love the caliber. Flat shooting, knocks em down, and very little recoil. I would suggest a popular caliber just in case you run out of bullets and have to run to the store. The chances are much better that the local store has 30-06 bullets than 7mm Ultra Mag or .270 super heavy magnum weatherby blahblah:)

I am beginin to gather that a 400-500 grain bullet may be to much for whitetail deer. Seems a 243 270 308 and 30-06 are popular.

4x4
 

lol i drive a chevy cause i want to make it where i need to go and get back home, yeah it has 4wd, not cause i need it but just in case it is there when i do, same thing with a gun, there is going to be a day(been there) that you will need to reach past 100yards, even when you are hunting in the swamp, if you only hunt one area sure get that particular gun, but not to many people only hunt one area, there are many places to hunt in la that you can make longer shots, and one day when you are ready to go somewhere else, it is better to have a more versitile gun, and as far as the round being to big, whats the difference between a 150grain 30-30, and a 150grain 7mag, but in the end you get one is best suited for you:)

Any rifle above .223 has plenty of knockdown power up to and beyond 300 yards. Military snipers use a .308 and shoot 1000 yards accurately. The M-16 is only a .223, and has knocked down its share of things around 200 lbs out to 500 yards;)

i've been shooting a .270 WSM for the last year... 2 for 2 and they dropped right where they were standing. i'm not even thinking about another gun!

270 wsm here too. Have shot plenty hogs and deer and they either drop or don't run but ten yards. Whatever caliber u chose shoot a few diff brand bullets till u find the one that shoots the best.