Have you ever downsized your deer rifle choice?

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Armored farmer,

My dad was a vet and hunted on Ft. Knox for years. All he was allowed to use was a Shotgun ans Slugs. He was able to most years bring home a deer. He was into the meat (like I) and some were small and some were large, and mixed buck or doe. I though about using my shotgun this year, but opted for the carbine, it's lighter.


Oh yeah, I haven't suffered too much by only being able to use short range weapons.
It would be nice to be able to use my '06 or .243 on my own property.
 
I've killed deer with big bullets/cartridges, small bullets/cartridges and everything in between... SO, I'm all over the board on this one.

Why? Because ANY decent expanding bullet, of any decent diameter, at any decent velocity, put in the kill zone of any deer, kills deer just fine...

IF the above combo isn't working for YOU, then "that's" on YOU, NOT the cartridge! Just pick one you like and have at it!

Lately I've been stocking my freezer using my 700 Remington chambered in .240 Wby., loaded with 100NP's and of course, it works just fine,

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Who knows what I'll be using this season??

DM
 
I've killed deer with big bullets/cartridges, small bullets/cartridges and everything in between... SO, I'm all over the board on this one.

Why? Because ANY decent expanding bullet, of any decent diameter, at any decent velocity, put in the kill zone of any deer, kills deer just fine...
,

View attachment 765642

Who knows what I'll be using this season??

DM
Gotta go with this. Currently I have a 243, a 6.5 Creedmoor, and a 300WSM. I shot bunches of deer with all three, but each gun has a special purpose. Open country gets the 243 with a 4.5X14 scope. My reach out and touch something goes to the CM. It has a 6X18 Vortex. I took it to the woods the other day and had a doe at about 50 yards in the brush. On 6 power my scope was full of deer. My little 6 1/4 lb. Savage 300 WSM has 2x7 Vari-XII. That is going with me the next time I get the urge to sneaky snake in the thickets.
 
Lots of old timers I have talked to still use their trusty Winchester 30-30 with no scope, "brush guns" they call them, and always have venison in the freezer. They also tell me shooting deer further than 50 yds "ain't necessary".
 
I went from a 6mm Rem to a .270 Win, to a .300 Wea Mag, back to .300 Win Mag, to a .270 Win, to .308 Win and a .243 Win.

Now, after giving the majority of my extremely nice firearms to my 7 nieces and nephews, I have a Winchester M70 .22-250 Rem, a Winchester M70 .243 Win and a Savage M10 in .308 Win.

For what and where I hunt, they are perfect. I admit I would like to add a Henry in .45 Long Colt. But I can’t really justify it as “need”.

Geno
 
My goal is to try'n' draw some blood with every rifle I own. Lately the Garand has been keeping me up at night calling for the blood of my enemies but I don't have a tag for that, so deer will have to suffice. I just kinda rotate the arsenal based on "oh, haven't killed something with that in a while."
 
My goal is to try'n' draw some blood with every rifle I own. Lately the Garand has been keeping me up at night calling for the blood of my enemies but I don't have a tag for that, so deer will have to suffice. I just kinda rotate the arsenal based on "oh, haven't killed something with that in a while."
Been going through the same thing. My last 5 deer were with a bow, 243, 9mm (Mercy killing), 6.5 Creedmoor and 300 WSM. Nearly got one with my F150.
 
I've gotten a couple deer in my lifetime using two different F-150's, ( my buddies accused me of "road hunting"). Then always downsized to a slug gun or a rifle depending on where I'm hunting. This year for rifle zones I plan to downsize weight wise because it involves some steep terrain and I'm not getting any younger. The Marlin 30-30 will probably get the call where the biggest hills are. It's light & not overly long. The only exception might be if I take out that heavy old M-1 Garand with a 5 round clip and a handload with 150 gr. Accubonds in honor of one of my late Uncles who carried one in WWII as a young marine in the latter part of the Pacific Theater. A few years before he passed I showed it to him. He hadn't seen one in person since 1945. But he remembered those rifles well and recalled many things about them that proved it to me. We got to talking and he thought it would be great if someday I could fill a deer tag with it. Might just give it a try this year in the rifle zone. That would actually be "upsizing" to a longer, heavier, rifle but it would be rewarding if I'm successful.
 
I've gone from a bolt action 30-06 to a single shot 300 Win Mag, to a single shot 7mm 08. Then I drank the black rifle Kool Aidand have been hunting with my ARs in 300blk and 6.8spc. I've had success with both calibers, but we're talking SC whitetails which aren't all that big in the first place.
 
My goal is to try'n' draw some blood with every rifle I own. Lately the Garand has been keeping me up at night calling for the blood of my enemies but I don't have a tag for that, so deer will have to suffice. I just kinda rotate the arsenal based on "oh, haven't killed something with that in a while."

I’m exactly the same way
 
Now that you mention it, I have Blackout that needs testing.
I've gone from a bolt action 30-06 to a single shot 300 Win Mag, to a single shot 7mm 08. Then I drank the black rifle Kool Aidand have been hunting with my ARs in 300blk and 6.8spc. I've had success with both calibers, but we're talking SC whitetails which aren't all that big in the first place.
 
Got a .30-30 & .30-06, both pre-64 Winchesters. Anything else, for me, is superfluous..
Except now, being in CA, I have to shoot copper and the twist on those old barrels isn't right for light bullets.
I guess Gov Brown and the Dems want me to buy a new rifle!
 
I have gone to hunting with my 223 rifles. They are fun (less recoil) and cheaper to shoot in the off season. Started with .30 calibers like everyone else in the nation. I'm not going back.
 
We have that guy. Puts his blinds and feededers right on the fence line.

We have a word for him but I can’t say it here because this is, after all, The High Road
'Our guy' gets permission to hunt from my neighbor who has a crappy cornfield next to our hunting property, and puts up a pop-up blind 50 yds off the line facing our food plots and woods. There's not a tree on their property.
Grrrr.
I hate firearm season.
 
I started out with a downsized rifle, Sako in 6.5x55. So far has worked fine on wild boar, pronghorn, Barbary Sheep, and cow elk, all DRT with factory ammo.
 
Many times when it came to the last day of the season or my hunt. Oh I get it you were talking about firearms, nothing ever under .243 for humane kills using 100 grain projectiles.
 
I started with a .308. Then when I returned to my home state, I was forced to go either 12 gauge slug or muzzle loader or travel several hours to hunt. Went from the slug to a traditional ML rifle with a patched round ball since the slugs were good to 50 yards but not so much out to 100, and I didn't have the cash back then to go to a fully rifled shotgun barrel and sabot slugs. Well my 225 grain ball at 1400 fps has gotten the job done out to 110 yards in the past, that .45 Colt slug from that carbine at 50 yards should hammer you a buck. ;)

LD
 
50 some odd years ago I borrowed my cousin Art's 94 carbine in 32 Special to go deer hunting. It was the first time I'd hunted alone and, to start a long running tradition in my deer hunting seasons, I got "skunked"... :(
A few years ago I found an old 94 flat band carbine in 32 Special. I haven't gotten a deer with it either/still, but maybe this year I'll break the jinx..? o_O
 
Yes - sort of. I hunted deer with my trusty Win94 30-30 for decades, then stumbled across my bolt-action Savage 7.62x39 and have taken several deer and a bunch of pigs with it since. Meanwhile my beloved old levergun sits in the safe.

But this year I have a place where longer (300 yd) shots are possible, so the .308 is going with me - but only because of that last 100 yards. Inside 200, the 7.62x39 is plenty for our little Texas deer.
 
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