go ahead and pick up your 30-06 like you said....ya cant go wrong with the good ol 30-06 good luck

Not sure what you are doing wrong, or that you are even doing anything wrong. I've seen deer run even when being shot right throught the heart with a 7mm mag. Sound to me that for deer under 150 yards, you have plenty of gun with that 30-30. I'm curious as to why you want to cause more damage to the deer. You want to eat them, don't you?

Looking to get a .30-06? No reason not to get one. It's a great choice for most biggame, though I personally think it's a bit much for deer (just my opinion). Although I think more deer have been taken with a .30-06 than most people will admit.

Welcome to BGH Fireman.

+1 on Western Hunter. I might add that it sounds like bullet placement in which case you might get the same results with a 30-06. But is is a good cartridge and I'd rather it than a 30-30 anymore.

You might want to try the leverevolution 160 grainers that are made by hornady. They are pretty hot for a 30/30.

Ahh the 30-06 yea my dad uses that gun, used it a few times, i like it alot. i would recomend getting that if you have any second guesses about guns.

Best of Luck
Mudan

Fireman
Both (30-30 &-06) are good time tested guns that have been around a long time. Buy an -06? You betch-ya my Dad always use to say "everyone should own a 30-06.
Keep the 30-30? I would. Once you get the -06 I would recommend that you sight it in for a preimum big game bullet in 180 gr's. It is a good all around bullet that will take anything from whitetail to moose. Then I would scale down the 30-30 to 150 gr bullets. This will give the gun a little less jump and will try to flatten out the bullet drop a little.
Like Don says it is all about bullet placement. My biggest bear a 400 lb blackie from NY I killed with a winchester model 94 in 30-30 using 150 gr remington core-locks. One shot at 70+ yds and he droped in his tracks and died.

It's definitely shot placement, and it certainly doesn't sound like your doing anything wrong, or under gunned.

My last deer was shot with a .308 at 25yds and ran off like I never touched a hair. In fact at 50yds he was still showing no sign of being hit and I was just mounting the rifle (although like you mentioned I just couldn't imagine that I missed at that range) when his legs gave out and he collapsed 75yds from where I hit him.

There was also no real blood trail (there was a very faint one but if the ground hadn't been snow covered I doubt you'd have seen it). Turns out the bullet went through the chest taking both lungs and clipping top of the heart and then into the opposite front leg, where the butcher found it.

I've been lucky that all, except the above buck and the first deer I ever shot (which was poorly hit and entirely my fault), have dropped in their tracks so I don't have much experience with blood trailing.

My brother has not been so lucky, and as he will tell you they often run off after being fatally hit; even if it's by a .300Mag and they're dragging a lung behind them through a basketball sized exit wound.

He also claims (and perhaps others can shed light on this) that unless the bullet's trajectory is down (like it was shot from a tree stand, in the extreme) that there won't be much of a blood trail for quite a ways as all the blood is draining into the chest cavity and has nowhere to go until it "spills over" via the exit or entrance wound, whichever is lower on the body.

That being said...if you need a reason to buy a 30-06 in order to convince someone to release the funds (spouse, parents etc) just tell them that the expert on BGH (named ChesterGolf) said you need one. Absolutely, definitely need a new rifle. Yep, without question a 30-06 is definitely a basic, fundamental requirement or your situation. :;):

I have a Remington 742 ADL in 30-06 that I use a few times during deer season here in South Georgia and to be honest I do not think I ever lost a deer or had one run far. Most just dropped in their tracks. I have always used the 150 grain bullets, mainly the Remington Core Lock. The gun loves them, the deer do not.
So go out and get that 30-06, you have so many loads to choose from and it will take anything walking in North America that I know of anyway.