If you are going to shoot deer past point blank range you need to practise. Lots of practise.
The issue isn't drop - which is pretty much a constant and can easily be accounted for by your ballistics program, but wind. A wind meter will tell you what the wind is doing where you are, but only experience will tell you what is happening between you and the target. Used primers are the best teacher, once you have an accurate and measured load. With this in mind any rifle that puts a bullet 130 grains or heavier, with a BC of .55 or better and a velocity of 2800 fps or faster will do the job nicely. Unless you have a direct line into a bank factory ammo is going to be hellaciously expensive in the volumes you should be shooting, so you'll be handloading I'd expect. If so, and the twist in your barrel supports it, you have a huge range of potential projectiles - but always remember that while big bullets may appeal, recoil always degrades your ability to shoot accurately. I personally found a .280 Rem shooting 162 gr Amax to be about the perfect blend of recoil, range and energy on target - although I'm now shooting a 6.5 SAUM and can't fault it.
An accurate .22 shot at 100-150m can teach you a lot about the wind, and do it cheaper than the centrefire will. For me, a couple of seasons shooting F class with my hunting rifle was a really useful process. As a 30 year old getting handed your arse by 70 year old guys with iron sighted .308's crushes the ego, and improvements quickly followed.
