Have killed a pile of deer in my life with a 30-30. My nephew shot a buck on our place a while back at over 200 yds with his 30-30 & dropped him where he stood with a clean pass thru. Kinda shocked me he hit him at that range & was shooting without a rest. Also he was only 13. Doubt I could have made that shot. Most folks that miss or lose a deer want to b?ame something other than self. Any high power rifle, 30-30 included with the right bullet put where it counts will put a deer down in a hurry.