Anybody who's been in the deer woods for long enough and has any sense knows that anything what can be done in the thick stuff around here is best done with a .35 Remington lever gun.
Mostly you see people with 30-30 leverguns, or with the standard 30-06/.270/.308 fare. The guys who are the real deal like the .35. Only real greenhorns or real stupida$$es walk around with 7mm mag, .300 mag, .338 mag, etc. (are we seeing a pattern with the magnum stuff here?)
I heard a story about a fellow who was at the public range a while back shooting his Hawken before rifle season when all the slob hunters were dusting off their rifles for the first time in 9 months, and he was BS-ing around with some guys and someone asked him if he was getting ready for muzzleloader season early, and when he said he was gonna carry the caplock for rifle season this year, one of these guys gave a chuckle and said something to the effect of "Why, you don't even have a scope on that thing! Something shows up past 100 yards and you'll be SOL. My .300 winmag can kill a deer at 500 yards!"
Well, one of the other guys in the group was sly enough to ask this chucklehead how far was the furthest he had ever shot a deer, and the answer was 75 yards. Everyone had a good laugh at his expense over that one. I seem to remember that the guy with the Hawken took several deer that year including a nice mature 8 point.