What firearm (or bow) did you kill your first deer with?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Marlin 336 in 30-30.Saw deer beds in 3 inches of snow on opening morning.Sat behind a log 60 yards away.They came back at 8 o'clock.Took a 4 point whitetail.
 
Last edited:
NEF Handi Rifle in .280 Rem.

Love the caliber, hated that gun. It went down the gun trade trail. It's one that I've never regretted getting rid of. I would like another rifle in .280 though.
 
My first "Big Game" rifle was a .303 British Enfield Mk4 No1 that my brother-in-law had sporterized.I shot my first deer with it. I was going along a fence line, turned a corner and spotted several does. I stopped, and the nearest one just looked at me. We were maybe 70 yards apart. I took my time and put a bullet right between its' eyes.

I still have that rifle. These days it's my loaner whenever a good friend needs to borrow one so that we can go hunting together.
 
Winchester model 94. 30/30 it and 5 shells both borrowed from a uncle when 16. Shot a spike and doe that weekend some 41 yrs ago. First time my dad let me go with him and friends. Good memories.
 
First and only deer hunt was last November. Shot a 6 pt buck with a .308 Savage Axis from about 10 yards in the Kentucky woods. Bad shot, and he lived long enough that we gave up, but found him that afternoon.
 
Marlin 336 30-30 that was borrowed. It got me a 4 point buck, so far my only deer. I haven't hunted deer since that season, and hopefully I can get another one this year.
 
My first deer was a doe. I took her with a Bear "Alaskan" bow, 65# pull with a whopping 30% let off. My first buck was an eight point taken with a Thompson Center .50 cal Hawkens.
 
The guide's 270. I was 14 and never heard about not oiling the firing pin too heavy, but learned about it first hand. Never made that mistake again!
 
my first deer I was 13 and had my grand dads old stevens double barrel 10 gauge with a slug at 25 yds. small doe, just about cut it in half.
 
Dec. 27, 1976
South Calhoun Co. AL near Hillabee Creek on college buddy's family property adjacent to the Talladega National Forrest.
Party of three of us had hunted all morning and had met up on a ridge overlooking large field facing south towards the creek bottom along the forrest boundry, about 11am. Something spooked the deer out of the woods and it ran north west across field and circled towards and across in front of us. I was first to get rifle up and fired as it was going left to right. Deer stumbled and continued running, circling towards us and in front of us until another of our party fired. I saw his shot go behind the running deer and above it as it passed us running from right to left. However at the shot, the deer dropped !
I didn't challenge his belief he had killed the deer until we got it to his house and hung it to skin it, even though there was a blood trail back to where I had shot it. It then became obvious that my shot had entered the deer causing a large exit wound on the opposite side, same side of the deer, same side he had shot at.
He said; "you know what, I think YOU shot that deer. Exit wound is on wrong side of the deer!" I chuckled and said, "I wasn't going to argue the issue; because YOU GOT TO FIELD DRESS AND SKIN IT".
At my older brothers funeral in June '12, His older brother and I had a good laugh about it, again !!!
BTW; I shot it with an Interarms MkX .30/06 w/2x-7x Leupold scope in Leupold rings with Norma factory 150gr Semi-Pt BT Spt. I still have the rifle and the remainder of the box of ammo !!! It was/is profoundly accurate. I shot several, not just one 3-shot 1 hole groups with that box and theres 7rds left in the box...
I think I'm what you call a "hoarder"...!
 
Win Model 70 in .270 with 130 gr softpoints, nice 4 point muley. that was 10 years ago.

My brother just got his first deer this morning, a nice muley doe, 135 yds with his CVA Optima.
 
My first deer fell to a 12 ga. High Standard Flite King smoothbore pump with nothing more than the front bead for a sight, using Remington Slugger 2 & 3/4" foster style slugs. Haven't deer hunted with that gun in many years because my dedicated slug gun is now a fully rifled Remington 870 with a 2.5x Leupold scope using Winchester/BRI sabots. Unless I'm handgun hunting or when I'm in a rifle zone and I've got lots of choices in rifles. Still got that High Standard and even though it's a smoothbore it shoots the Remington Sluggers plenty accurate enough to reliably take deer in thick woods where you rarely get a shot longer than 50 yds. anyway. One of these days just for nostalgia I'm gonna take it out again when hunting in some of the thick stuff in a shotgun/handgun zone. Had it at the range last year and it still shoots sluggers as good as ever as long as you know what sight picture to look for with that bead. With all the advances in shotguns and muzzleloaders for deer it's getting so that smoothbore shotguns with bead sights ought to start being classified as "primitive weapons" (grin).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top