What rifles for deer hunting this year?

Atavar said:

I believe in overkill. Took a two year old doe this morning at 25 feet with my BAR in .300 Win Mag. It was so close all I could see was brown fur in the scope.

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Well, at least I am not the only one!

1KPerDay said:

You can hunt deer with a .22 magnum where you are?

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Back in the day you could use .22wmr for deer here. I had great success with head shot giving me drt kills. You just have to dredge up your bow hunting skills.
I still think it is the perfect turkey cartridge, but they disallowed it for turkey also.

I've worked up some new loads and re-sighted in my Savage 110 in 30 06 (5 deer), Rem 788 in .243 (30 + deer), and Marlin 1895 in 45 70 (2 deer), recently. Depending on weather, I'm leaning towards the Marlin this coming Saturday morning.

700 Mountain Rifle in 7mm-08 is all I need for the season. Whitetail, Axis and hog control are on the menu this year. So far only 2 hogs eradicated as they ran the deer off on opening morning. New Mesa in 7mm-08 on order but has not shown up yet.

workhorse Rem 700 SPS 243 Win here.. always got the job done here in tiny whitetail lands.

Our opener for rifle is in a couple weeks, my .260 M7 won't make it back in time from being re-barreled

So depending on the terrain it's a combination of:

Nosler M48 in .270W with Leupold VX6HD 2.2-9X42 and Nosler 130 ABs
Rem M7 with Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36 with 200 grn Horn Interlocks
Rem M700 in .300WM with Leupold 4.5x14X42 with 165 Sierra Game Changers, I just developed this load for my neighbors lower cornfield which stretches' to 450yds.

As of now the Rem M7 will probably be the primary as the two locations I plan on hunting the most (blinds with over-watching food plots) are at best 150 yard shots.

I've got a Winchester 94 carbine in 32 Special that I'd like take while I can still use the open sights. It's a post war flat band version and they did not make them that way for long. The receiver isn't pre drilled for a peep sight, so I want to keep it "original".

PA10 in .308 this week. Put down an eight this morning.

I posted earlier about using my M18 Mauser. I guess that I should have stated that it would be used while the deer are in the woods on acorns. When they hit the fields I will pull out the Bergara B14. It also is a 6.5CM, but loaded for long range. I have shot it out to 500 yards using 129gr Accubond LR. 357yards is the longest shot taken at a deer. Ranged it and then nailed it behind the shoulder making a golf ball sized hole through both lungs.

7 Express Remington,



DM

I started the season during ML with my .54 cap and ball Lyman GPR,hoping to use my flintlock GPR but it rained pretty much every day. Now I am carrying my new this year Mauser m18 in .308. When weather allows I hope to get back to the flintlock.

My Ruger m77markii in 270wsm !!!

A Belgium/Portugal Browning BAR in .270 has been my choice for northeast whitetail deer for almost 20 years now.

I hunt for venison and usually kill the first shootable, legal buck that comes by. Last year was a nice 8pt.; this year, a small spike horn... I'm satisfied with either. A 140gr. Sierra Game King absolutely exploded his heart at about 25 yards as he trotted by, head down and in that rut zombie trance, pressuring two does.

He took about ten steps hunched up, then jumped sideways and fell dead.

Been hunting with my new-last-winter Rem 760 in .300 Sav. So far it has accounted for one very large bodied buck with a spindly rack and a doe, both under 50 yards...the doe much under! Missed an opportunity on another doe hunting a friends property for management deer (he's looking to thin his doe population) with a snowed in scope. It wears currently an '80s? vintage Bushnell Elite 2x7. It's a little big and clunky for this rifle, I'm casually shopping another more compact scope in the low magnification range to better suit this rifle who's role is deep cover hunting. Also procured a vintage Weaver pivot mount and rings to give me an option on future snowy/sleety hunts when I wish to see more than grey.

On the bright side, a 150 grain Interlock at ~2600 fps is still a deer hammer on a 217lb buck or a 95 lb doe.

I think I'll carry the old Nazi Death Ray this weekend, as we still have a couple of tags in camp to fill and I haven't sat in "The Bog" stand yet. Just built it last winter. Sided with sawmill slabs and overlooking a maze of deer trails crossing open bog and mixed cover. Looks a little like a frontier stockade casemate. Long shooting for my woods, up to 200 yards, maybe a fuzz longer. The Death Ray is a 1943 K98 action still wearing some very NON-PC receiver stampings and now wearing a .280 Rem heavy sporter barrel and glassed thumbhole stock. A Burris FF2 3x9 Bplex tops it off. Anything I've ever pointed it at died in short order, hence the name "death ray."

Original Browning BAR in .300wm.

Random 8 said:

Anything I've ever pointed it at died in short order, hence the name "death ray."

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That's what my buddy used to call my old 1980's Browning A-Bolt hunter .308. I really regret selling it. I was won over by the advantages of a semi-auto in the thick woods and let the A-Bolt go. I think it may be the only rifle I've ever sold. I regret it now. It was very light and handy.

If the weather is bad, my Savage 11 in .243 in the cheap factory plastic stock its always lived in (longest kill of my life with this one at 300 yards across a canyon), or my 6.8 AR (never killed anything yet). If the weather is good, M70 FWT in .270 that I fell in love with a couple of years ago and killed a little buck with last year.

Opening day last week I took the Ruger GSR .308 and the G40 10mm. Had to hunt from the ground in an area I had not been in several years to maintain family harmony, Had a little four point come from my blind side and almost walk over me, by the time I saw him, he saw me, so back over the hill he went. Tomorrow and Saturday it will be the Ruger American Ranch in 300BLK with the sig can and the G40 from a stand over an ag field, should put something in the freezer.

DM~ said:

7 Express Remington,

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DM

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Is that a lefty DM? Or a photo flip?

earlthegoat2 said:

Ruger American Ranch 450 BM.

Hunting in GA and MI

Already drew first blood on a GA doe.

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Let me guess you used Hornady 250gr FTX?

Such as great round.

WisBorn said:

Is that a lefty DM? Or a photo flip?

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The bolt IS on the proper side, which is the left side! lol

DM

DM~ said:

The bolt IS on the proper side, which is the left side! lol

DM

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How the heck do you hunt with your rifle backwards???

scallop said:

How the heck do you hunt with your rifle backwards???

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You just use the right-side of your mind

I have a pair of Henry single shot rifles. One 44 mag with a red dot and the other is a 308 with a 3 to 9. I hand load for both. Most of the time I carry the 44. The farthest I will shoot is well within the range of that rifle and it will do the job.