7mm Mag good for Texas deer hunting?

Dead is dead. I really don't buy into the overkill theory.

Besides - if it keeps them from dying in a creek or at the bottom of the ravine, I'll take the extra loss of meat.

Texas deer are small bodied deer though and you're likely not going to find anything more than 200 pounds. So I think something like a 308 or 30-06 would be fine too.

If you hit them in the ribs with a 7mag the bullet hole is about the size of a quarter just like any other cartridge. You hit them in the shoulder you're about going to rip it right off it's torso --- same with a lot of centerfires though. It does a little more damage.

You can buy the 7mag and shoot the 150gr powerpoints. If it tears up too meat or you don't like the recoil, you can buy the managed recoil loads from Remington (a bit more in price at about 30 dollars but you can get the yearly rebates and they are a decent price) and have basically a 7mm-08.

I'd side on the 'overkill' angle.

Overkill isn't a bad thing. It sure is better than Underkill! It will destroy more of the meat, that is not ideal

The 7mm magnum is powerful, ON BOTH ENDS, overkill on the game isn't all that important, overkill on you when the gun slams into your shoulder like a freight train, that is important. It all depends on if YOU can handle the recoil on your end.

It is probably too much recoil for a starting shooter, but if oyu are an old hat at shooting 270 winchester and 30-06 then it would be a good choice for you.

If you are a new shooter in texas, I'd suggest looking at the 243 winchester or 25-06

If you are hunting in The Hill Country, a 7mm mag. is way overkill. If you are hunting mule deer in West Texas, it is still more than you need but will be okay because of the longer shots you may need to make. Even when hunting deer in South Texas, a 7mm mag is a lot of gun. There is no need for a 7mm mag if you are just going deer hunting anywhere in the U.S. If you want to hunt Elk or moose, it is an appropriate gun. It is also a pretty good choice if you are hunting antelope. You don't need the power of a 7mm mag to kill antelope but most of your shots will be at longer ranges and the 7mm mag is a pretty flat shooting caliber. For hunting Texas deer, a .308 is plenty of gun. In fact, if you are hunting where most of your shots will be no more than 150 yards, you would be hard pressed to find a more ideal rifle than the venerable .30-30

I've hunted with the 7 mag for years in Texas and it's a wonderful, long range cartridge. Up close it is a bit of an overkill on the smaller Texas whitetails in the hill country where I hunt (bloodshot, ruined meat, etc.) You can solve most of that with premium, controlled expansion bullets that will stand up to the velocity and energy of the round. Hope this helps and good hunting.

Magnum Calibers for Deer are not needed or necessary.* Better choices are the 30-06, 30-30, 25-06. 308, 270, 6mm, 32 Winchester Special, 30-40 Krag, 303 British, 243, 8mm Mauser, 6.5X55 Swedish..* Pick one.*

Yes, it's more than you need, but somebody once pointed out a similar situation to Elmer Kieth, who was known for his love of large calibers, and he retorted, "You mean you can kill 'em TOO dead?"

The one caution I'd give you is that if you choose an inexpensive lightweight bullet (139/140 grain), they come out of the end awfully fast, and you can get premature expansion, with the bullet blowing up on the surface on close-in shots. It's easy enough to avoid that by using premium bullets.

I think in the brush country 7mm is a great round. At the range sighting in it will bruise you a little if not in a sled. But one shot out of the blind? I don t think there s much difference than a 30.06. Plus I shoot a BAR 7mm which is a cream puff. Anyway I don t want to track them through the brush I want them down

i bit to powerful for white tails, but for much bigger game such as bear elf, moose, and other larger game is a great gun, for deer i would recommend the 30.06 that is a great "all game hunting gun"

its possible that it might reck the meat a little but its a great gun

Yes that would be a good gun to use