When he posted it up as a d-e-a-r rifle at first I thought it would be a joke about shooting your spouse. In Michigan we only use them to shoot d-e-e-r. We only used a 12 gauge with slugs. It took down a 300# (dressed out) 12 point at 20 yards once. There was a huge hole in his neck right through his juglar.
Naw! He just meant a rifle very dear to his heart, I hope?
My neck of the woods is now shotgun only, but I used to use a .308 Savage 99 when I hunted. Not that it made any difference, I never got a shot with it anyway.
The opening day of buck season in '78 there was snow [couldn't get the car out of the drive] so I set out on foot with only a .357 S&W 27-2. That day just before dark I did get a shot, about 75 yards away. I hit but never got that deer, after chasing it 'till dark and picking up the now hard to track trail the next morning. The deer was no longer bleeding or limping, I finally lost the trail. I should have had my rifle.
Hello Matt, enjoy the thoughts that your topic brings to mind. I believe for many that preferrence will be determined by folk's dads/moms, what was good for them might be considered good enough for me. For others they may take a bit more of a scientific approach and consider trajectories, knock down power, ballistics, or any number of additional statistics. Geographical areas and species of animals being hunted could have a lot to do with a choice. Hunting styles and preferences could also be a consideration. If long-shots are a consideration and challenge for you, you might opt for a particular calibre or rifle type to accomodate that type of hunting. For others, maybe they are hunting in heavy brush with the majority of shots being taken in-close and will opt for a larger calibre, but not necessarily magnum capability due to the shorter ranges. Animal sizes and constitutions might be a consideration, you probably won't be making a sound choice by hunting elk at extended ranges with a .243 or 6mm, likely a 7mm mag. or 300 win. mag. would be a better choice, yet I'm sure that there are some who would disagree or even have evidence to support otherwise. One of the guys talked of hunting with a 12ga. and slugs, if distance isn't an issue and you are concerned about missed shots going somewhere that they shouldn't that might be a great choice.
Myself personally, when I did do a lot of hunting I used a .270 win. calibre, using a different weight and type of slug and altering the powder load and possibly the primer, I could tailor a load to match the particular game I was hunting. Much of this sort of thing is a very personal choice and something that might develop over considerable time and due too much experience, experimentation, and observation of others. Gotta run for now will enjoy following the various responses from others. Thanks for the subject and best regards, Allan
I hunt with 30-06 168 grain ballistic tip. also have the old trusty 30/30 lever with iron sights. 308 nice deer rifle also, 7mag is fun but a bit much around here the longest ethical shot your going to take is about 400 yards after that your going to be shooting across a county road most of the time. Any more I prefer to bow hunt with my dxt after bow hunting for a few years it seem almost to easy to kill them with a rifle to me a 30 yard shot with a bow is more fun than a 400 yard shot. But I still carry the rifle in the truck "just in case" lol !!
25-06 is what I have been using for a while now and it does a damn fine job.
Every caliber listed is excellent, nothing wrong with any of them. Depending on the situation and area I am hunting my rifle choice will vary. My all time favorite is my model 700 BDL in 7mm Remington Mag. I use it for Elk most of the time also. Very versatile and accurate rifle and it was the first rifle that I ever bought for myself. I have taken Mulies with rifles ranging from 22mag, .223, 243, 6mm, 30-30, .270 and my 7mm. I treated myself to a new 300 Weatherby Mag last Christmas and I would not hesitate shooting Whitetail or Mulies with it either. I will only hunt with a gun that I am very familiar with and have had a bunch or range time with to test my loads and the rifle
As an avid shooter I've tried many different calibres and loads. For me I chose the weapon that most suits my needs and eviroment. The 30/30 marlin lever action with iron sights gives me the most satisfaction when I make that perfect shot at the distances that my soroundings provide. 130 yrd. shots are about the longest shots that I need to make and open sights give me a very fine sight picture. I favor 170 grain ammo with rubber tips that hornady makes now for tube magazine rifles. They are ballistic tipped instead of the flat nose type ammo that was the only option for that weapon before. Very consistant loads give a grouping of about the size of a silver dollar at 100 yrds. Plenty accurate for dear hunting and plenty of knockdown too. Oh, I also compete in old west shooting compatitions when I can, so the lever action rifle comes into play there too.
I hunt with 308 (7.62x51). It's a good deer cartridge. However; there are many other good cartridges. I use 308 for the general principle of it. I use an FN FAL with a magazine that has a spot weld limiting it to 4 rounds to be complaint with the local laws. Other than that, it's the standard mil spec
Browning BBR 25-06, she can really fly. 120gr partition
I'm shooting a 358 Norma magnum little over kill for a deer rifle but it will go through nine feet of moose meet and still hite'em in the eye. It is defineatly a one shot weapon.
Depends where and what I'm hunting in. I use a 300 WSM or 30-06 for long range shots across fields and a 30-30 or .450 Marlin when hunting in thick woods. Some might say the .450 is over kill but bear season runs the same time as deer so might as well have one to take care of both just in case!
I like to stick to common calibers for ease of finding rounds. 243 or 270 always fits the bill. I do own a 308 that is a little better in the brush when loaded with 220 gr but the kick it ugly on a mountain type rifle. 30-30 never was much good over 125 yards, the new black powders kick butt if you can get it done with one shot.
Back home we could only use shotguns with slugs. Grandpa had a nice 12 gauge 870 he used and would let me use his 20 gauge. Shot a deer off the top of a hill at 150-200 yards with that 20 gauge slug, yes I hit it and yes I killed it. Fresh out of boot camp though tossing 5.56mm rounds down range at 500yds so was feeling pretty confident! We went deer/bear hunting up in the Adirondack mountains one year and I used Grandpa's ol' 30-06, actually think it was one of his Mauser's he brought back from the war and had it converted to 30-06, liked the Mauser action. At least I think that's what he did, been years since I've used it or talked about it but seem to recall him saying he brought two or three back from Germany and had them converted?
Don't do much deer hunting now, not many places around here that I know of like back home. Back home I could just walk off into a place and be alright, don't know folks around here like I did back there. Figured if I do go I'll use what I got, 7.62mmx39, yep, you guessed it, SKS. I'm kinda fond of that riflle actually. Got a scope for it but the darn thing is so short due to the top shot feature, you know the expend the casing out the top. Found a guy who made a scope mount though that would deflect the casing to the right allowing him to put on a full size scope. With what it has it's accurate out to 200yds but start loosing the target with that dinky scope, plus that's the longest point on that particular rifle range. Would like to see how far out that SKS will reach accurately though. That's about all I do with my rifles now, shoot paper, the farther the better. One day would not mind having a pre war Winchester model 70 in 30-06, heavy barrel, glass bed and the works to go play on the 400yd range several counties over, or maybe a Sharps, don't have that kind of money though. Saw something on tv where they were shooting the Sharps at 1000yds with open sites!! Had cardboard tubes over the top of the barrel to block the sunlight glare.
Not for deer hunting, well suppose it could be and not a rifle but I love my springfield armory XD45. That SOB is a tack driver for sure and for the price I'd say it can't be beat. Take down a deer or a crazed crack junky wanting to do bodily harm in one shot.
I have a friend that has a very nice 45/70 sharps that we were shooting targets at 390 yards off of shooting sticks. That day my sister inlaw actually took down a buffalo with it. want to talk about getting your heart pumping.
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