Are you stuck in "no-rifle" deer country?

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In that case, what could be even better than a Savage 220 slug gun for American gun seasons (given its price points)? I live in Oklahoma and rifles are off limits for public-accessible lands for the most part. I don't own a 220. I have not yet fired one. I've heard so much about them though. They aren't too cheap going from between $600 and $700. I've been told that a pump shotgun set up for deer hunting can be downright punishing to fire. I've been told a Savage 220 has the comfort and esthetic of firing a good center-fire bolt-action rifle with decent range and accuracy to boot. As a Savage Model 99 with iron sights was always a great rifle for American woods, a Savage 220 should also be a good woods gun for wherever the hunting property manager says a traditional rifle is a no-no. All my hunting has been with a Leupold-scoped Browning A-Bolt II BOSS in .25-06 so far.

96 deer hunt.jpg
 
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Yes, I am in no rifle deer country - the commie state of Illinois. I think there is a current bill in the legislature to allow pistol caliber rifles in some counties for deer hunting, but probably a long shot for passage.

Several years ago, I purchased a Mossberg rifled slug barrel for my Remington 870. It has a ported barrel and scope mount. Has worked very well for me but I would really like to use my Henry .44 magnum rifle.
 
I use a T/C Encore with a 12 gauge rifled slug barrel. I can take the barrel off and swap it for my .270 barrel for when I hunt on private land.
 
Yes, I am in no rifle deer country - the commie state of Illinois. I think there is a current bill in the legislature to allow pistol caliber rifles in some counties for deer hunting, but probably a long shot for passage.

Several years ago, I purchased a Mossberg rifled slug barrel for my Remington 870. It has a ported barrel and scope mount. Has worked very well for me but I would really like to use my Henry .44 magnum rifle.

In some cases, no-rifle hunting zones/seasons force hunters to spend money on guns and/or gun parts they don't already own. Since you own that Henry already, it would be nice to be able to use it for deer. The Savage 220 seems more appealing to me than to get into muzzle-loading or archery simple because your .308 rifle is not allowed. I don't own a rifle in a handgun chambering and would rather purchase the 220 if I felt I wanted to hunt with a modern BANG! (powder-burning) weapon and it was required to have a "non-rifle" to go gun-season deer hunting in my area. In Oklahoma, shotguns with slugs are required in many open gun seasons on public lands to include antlerless holiday gun seasons. I can't think of anything better than a 220 to fill that requirement.
 
I didn't know hunting laws in OK were so restrictive. In AL, hunting season with a rifle is roughly a month long on public land, 3ish months on private land. The length varies year to year and by which zone of the state you hunt in. Rifles have to be .30 or bigger and 10ga or smaller with shotguns. Can even use bows, air rifles, and muzzleloaders with limitations.

I have no reason to pick up a shotgun for deer hunting. Have a few rifles that will already fit the bill easily. But if I did have to switch to a shotgun, I would want to come as close to my deer rifles as possible in terms of range I can ethically take game. Because of that I would not waste time with a smoothbore shotgun shooting Foster slugs. In that setup, even with good sights you top out at 75 to 100 yards if you are lucky. A rifled barrel shooting sabot slugs makes hitting the same distance a little more reliable. If you already have a standard smoothbore shotgun, a barrel swap on most of them is pretty easy and affordable compared to buying something new.

Though if you have your heart set on getting something new, Browning did at one time make a rifled shotgun based on the A-bolt. Just good luck finding one.
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/shotguns/a-bolt/discontinued/a-bolt-shotgun-hunter.html
 
I love my Savage 220. I refer to it as my deer rifle. It is, after all, A 110 Savage with a rifled barrel. I'd really welcome a chance to hunt with dad's old 94 44 mag, however.
 
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I didn't know hunting laws in OK were so restrictive. In AL, hunting season with a rifle is roughly a month long on public land, 3ish months on private land. The length varies year to year and by which zone of the state you hunt in. Rifles have to be .30 or bigger and 10ga or smaller with shotguns. Can even use bows, air rifles, and muzzleloaders with limitations.

I have no reason to pick up a shotgun for deer hunting. Have a few rifles that will already fit the bill easily. But if I did have to switch to a shotgun, I would want to come as close to my deer rifles as possible in terms of range I can ethically take game. Because of that I would not waste time with a smoothbore shotgun shooting Foster slugs. In that setup, even with good sights you top out at 75 to 100 yards if you are lucky. A rifled barrel shooting sabot slugs makes hitting the same distance a little more reliable. If you already have a standard smoothbore shotgun, a barrel swap on most of them is pretty easy and affordable compared to buying something new.

Though if you have your heart set on getting something new, Browning did at one time make a rifled shotgun based on the A-bolt. Just good luck finding one.
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/shotguns/a-bolt/discontinued/a-bolt-shotgun-hunter.html

The rifle restrictions are for safety. What is the maximum fallout range of a .270, .308 or .30-06 rifle? Three, four or five miles? For a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun firing slugs? 1/2 mile? Imagine a few drunken damn fools out there on public lands with rifles. Damn fools with slug guns still might worry me.

This man makes putting a cantilever scoped barrel on a pump shotgun out to be a horrible affair to shoot:



Here is a Savage 220 range test:

 
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I challenge the notion that shotguns, or muzzle loading rifles are any safer than modern bottleneck cartridges. The range of a projectile fired into the air is farther; but is still well over a mile with a slug or muzzle loaded rifle.

This girl was killed when a hunter "unloaded" his muzzle loading rifle. Shot came from 1 1/2 miles away. In urban areas being hit from celebratory fire into the air isn't uncommon. Bullets usually do little damage if they even penetrate clothing. The heavier weight of a slug or large caliber muzzle loading rifle is going to do a lot more damage when it comes down than a much lighter modern centerfire bullet.

Amish girl's killing likely an accident, Ohio sheriff says | Reuters

There are some urban areas where archery gear only is allowed. And there are other areas where hunting is restricted to shooting from elevated stands so that all shots are downward, and any missed shots go into the ground. In parts of the south deer are driven using other hunters and sometimes dogs. The hunters on stand are usually required to use shotguns with buckshot and fired from elevated stands to lessen the danger. Those are solutions that work.
 
I challenge the notion that shotguns, or muzzle loading rifles are any safer than modern bottleneck cartridges. The range of a projectile fired into the air is farther; but is still well over a mile with a slug or muzzle loaded rifle.

This girl was killed when a hunter "unloaded" his muzzle loading rifle. Shot came from 1 1/2 miles away. In urban areas being hit from celebratory fire into the air isn't uncommon. Bullets usually do little damage if they even penetrate clothing. The heavier weight of a slug or large caliber muzzle loading rifle is going to do a lot more damage when it comes down than a much lighter modern centerfire bullet.

Amish girl's killing likely an accident, Ohio sheriff says | Reuters

There are some urban areas where archery gear only is allowed. And there are other areas where hunting is restricted to shooting from elevated stands so that all shots are downward, and any missed shots go into the ground. In parts of the south deer are driven using other hunters and sometimes dogs. The hunters on stand are usually required to use shotguns with buckshot and fired from elevated stands to lessen the danger. Those are solutions that work.

Pointing the gun up into the air to clear it by shooting was rather stupid. Point it level toward a tree or a mound of dirt as a backstop, for goodness sake!

Here is an interesting article:

According to https://www.americanhunter.org/content/are-shotguns-safer-than-rifles/

"I called the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and asked for verification—after all, few people dispute that modern rifles are more accurate and have a greater maximum range on game than shotguns, so it could be that state departments are simply afraid that legalizing a more efficient arm will result in too many deer being killed. But I was promptly told by a customer service representative that “There are too many [human] populated areas [to use rifles]” and that "It's absolutely a safety issue.”

Game laws might be made to discourage efficient killing of game so certain weapons are banned in the name of "public safety".

In Oklahoma, the state game agency doesn't actually ban rifles for public lands: the property managers of their respective public hunting grounds themselves do and most WMA's and virtually all OLAP's ban rifles during gun seasons. They apparently perceive the rifle as "more dangerous".

As far as too many deer killed with efficient weapons, that's why deer tags are issued so harvest quotas aren't exceeded. If somebody is unlawfully taking a deer, regardless with shotgun, rifle or bow, they are poaching anyway. Maybe some regulators think poachers would favor efficient rifles for unlawful deer stealing. In Oklahoma, I think the public lands managers are afraid of rifles out of fear of tort lawsuits.
 
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I've got 2 of the Savage 220's in 20ga. GREAT rifles! I originally had one in 12ga, kicked like an angry wife! Saw a 20 ga model at the LGS & bought it to try. After the 1st range session, I was impressed with the accuracy & LOW RECOIL compared to the 12ga out to 200yds that I ran home, boxed up the 12ga I'd had for a few years & went straight back to the LGS to trade it in towards another 20ga! Taken more than a few bucks using the Hornaday SST's. Don't use them much because I mostly hunt in rifle territory.
20220218_174549.jpg
 
I've got 2 of the Savage 220's in 20ga. GREAT rifles! I originally had one in 12ga, kicked like an angry wife! Saw a 20 ga model at the LGS & bought it to try. After the 1st range session, I was impressed with the accuracy & LOW RECOIL compared to the 12ga out to 200yds that I ran home, boxed up the 12ga I'd had for a few years & went straight back to the LGS to trade it in towards another 20ga! Taken more than a few bucks using the Hornaday SST's. Don't use them much because I mostly hunt in rifle territory.
View attachment 1060581

In the picture, I see both those Savages in two flavors of camo: one in "spearmint" and the other in "cinnamon" like Wrigley's chewing gum. Now, ain't that ducky for "shotguns" that don't actually go duck hunting at all! That cinnamon one looks like it has a thicker barrel than the spearmint one. Are you sure the one with reddish-brown camo isn't a 12 ga.?
 
In the picture, I see both those Savages in two flavors of camo: one in "spearmint" and the other in "cinnamon" like Wrigley's chewing gum. Now, ain't that ducky for "shotguns" that don't actually go duck hunting at all! That cinnamon one looks like it has a thicker barrel than the spearmint one. Are you sure the one with reddish-brown camo isn't a 12 ga.?

My awful picture taking skills are the reason one barrel looks thicker lol. The back barrel is shaded from the lack of decent lighting making it appear thinner. Both slug guns are identical except for the camo patterns & optics. Heck of a gun for the price, think I paid $400- $450 each new about 12 to 15 years ago. They were more accurate than dad's Browning slug gun that cost a ton more.
 
My awful picture taking skills are the reason one barrel looks thicker lol. The back barrel is shaded from the lack of decent lighting making it appear thinner. Both slug guns are identical except for the camo patterns & optics. Heck of a gun for the price, think I paid $400- $450 each new about 12 to 15 years ago. They were more accurate than dad's Browning slug gun that cost a ton more.

Two guns of the same model and gauges but different color. Each one must be for hunting in a special kind of cover or for a special kind of game.
 
Two guns of the same model and gauges but different color. Each one must be for hunting in a special kind of cover or for a special kind of game.

One was for me, I got the second one for my son to use. The different camo patterns so I know who's is who's at a glance. My son hit the age of prefering to persue 2 legged deer over 4 legged deer , his didn't get much use.....
 
The mods must have canned my "two-legged deer" reply. Well, so much for that. Anyway, hope your son still has a hankering for 4-legged deer once in a while. Is your son's the 'cinnamon' one? I really like that reddish-brown camo. Something "warm" about it.
 
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In the picture, I see both those Savages in two flavors of camo: one in "spearmint" and the other in "cinnamon" like Wrigley's chewing gum. Now, ain't that ducky for "shotguns" that don't actually go duck hunting at all! That cinnamon one looks like it has a thicker barrel than the spearmint one. Are you sure the one with reddish-brown camo isn't a 12 ga.?

At the Savage site, I no longer see that brown camo offering listed. There are even stainless 220 versions, but they won't match my matte black Leupold Freedom scope I have already in a storage cabinet unused.

The Savage 220 is the new American woods gun for the 21st century. The 20th century American woods gun was the Model 99 lever-action rifle of Arthur Savage and .300 Savage fame. My grandfather owned a Model 99 in .300 Savage with uncheckered straight stock, chambered round indicator and brass round counter.
 
Grew up in Ohio so I did all my early deer hunting with a 12 gauge pump shotgun. 3-in slugs where hard on the shoulder but I was young. I eventually got the itch to hunt deer with a lever gun and started using a Winchester 9410 (2.5-in 410) and had good luck with it. If I was going to go back to 12 gauge I would just use a managed recoil 12 slugs. Recoil is mild and in my experience they are more forgiving to chokes with respect to accuracy. But I was never hunting where I could have really used the range of a good rifled slug gun like a 220.
 
Mossberg 12 GA combo covers turkey, deer and home protection for me, in this no rifle zone. Rifled, ported slug barrel. The short turkey barrel has screw in chokes. Fun skeet gun too.

20220217_094859.jpg 20220219_133847.jpg

Wife bought bed sheets for my 75th birthday. :cool:
 
In that case, what could be even better than a Savage 220 slug gun for American gun seasons (given its price points)? I live in Oklahoma and rifles are off limits for public-accessible lands for the most part. I don't own a 220. I have not yet fired one. I've heard so much about them though. They aren't too cheap going from between $600 and $700. I've been told that a pump shotgun set up for deer hunting can be downright punishing to fire. I've been told a Savage 220 has the comfort and esthetic of firing a good center-fire bolt-action rifle with decent range and accuracy to boot. As a Savage Model 99 with iron sights was always a great rifle for American woods, a Savage 220 should also be a good woods gun for wherever the hunting property manager says a traditional rifle is a no-no. All my hunting has been with a Leupold-scoped Browning A-Bolt II BOSS in .25-06 so far.

View attachment 1060378

How much public land do y'all have? I assume not a lot??
 
I didn't know hunting laws in OK were so restrictive. In AL, hunting season with a rifle is roughly a month long on public land, 3ish months on private land. The length varies year to year and by which zone of the state you hunt in. Rifles have to be .30 or bigger and 10ga or smaller with shotguns. Can even use bows, air rifles, and muzzleloaders with limitations.

I have no reason to pick up a shotgun for deer hunting. Have a few rifles that will already fit the bill easily. But if I did have to switch to a shotgun, I would want to come as close to my deer rifles as possible in terms of range I can ethically take game. Because of that I would not waste time with a smoothbore shotgun shooting Foster slugs. In that setup, even with good sights you top out at 75 to 100 yards if you are lucky. A rifled barrel shooting sabot slugs makes hitting the same distance a little more reliable. If you already have a standard smoothbore shotgun, a barrel swap on most of them is pretty easy and affordable compared to buying something new.

Though if you have your heart set on getting something new, Browning did at one time make a rifled shotgun based on the A-bolt. Just good luck finding one.
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/shotguns/a-bolt/discontinued/a-bolt-shotgun-hunter.html

Differences in state gun regs always interest me. You have to use a 30 cal or bigger on your deer. We have Oryx and Elk and we can use any centerfire 22 cal and up. Colorado used to require 24 caliber and up, but I don't know if that is still the law. This stuff makes no sense really.
 
Yes, topped with a Leupold designed for a slug gun. Mine Has the Nikon slug scope with bdc reticle, good out to 225-250yds. No real advantage using the 12ga over the 20ga unless one just desires pain & shoulder dislocation!

The Leupold VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm scope I have is a RIFLE scope. It should work well on the Savage 220 since that is a bolt-action rifle platform. The recoil should be no more stout than a .30-06 rifle and a name like Leupold is nothing cheesy.
 
Differences in state gun regs always interest me. You have to use a 30 cal or bigger on your deer. We have Oryx and Elk and we can use any centerfire 22 cal and up. Colorado used to require 24 caliber and up, but I don't know if that is still the law. This stuff makes no sense really.

It sounds like some .243 Winchesters, .25-06's, .257 Roberts', .250-3000 Savages, .270 Winchesters, 7mm Rem Mag's, 6.5 Creedmoors and .257 Weatherby Mag's have become safe queens all over this. Arthur Savage must have seen this coming when he invented the .300 Savage.

Except for muzzle-loaders, Oklahoma has no CALIBER restrictions for deer/big game. Rimfire rifles, that means 22's, are out for deer, however. No buckshot or birdshot for sending Sooner deer to the freezer and no air guns to boot.


ODWC Weapons Requirements for Big Game


Legal Means of Taking

Archery
This includes Deer Archery, Elk Archery, Antelope Archery & Bear Archery seasons.

Bow: Any compound bow of 30 pounds or more draw weight; any recurve, longbow or self-bow of 40 pounds or more draw weight. Hand-held releases are legal. Devices that permit a bow to be held mechanically at full or partial draw are allowed.
Broadheads: Arrows and/or bolts must be fitted with hunting type points not less than 7/8 inches wide, including mechanical broad- heads meeting this width requirement when fully open.
Crossbows: Minimum of 100 pounds draw weight and equipped with safety devices. Bolts must be a minimum of 14 inches in length. Leverage gaining devices are legal.
Firearms Restrictions: Unless otherwise provided by state law, no person may carry or use any firearm in conjunction with archery equipment during any archery season. Hunters are allowed to carry both archery equipment and a muzzleloader during the muzzleloader season provided they have the appropriate licenses and follow other muzzleloader season regulations. Hunters also are allowed to carry both archery equipment and legal firearms during any modern gun season, again provided they have the appropriate licenses and follow other regulations to participate in those seasons.
Illegal Devices: Laser sights (unless certified 100% disabled or legally blind), thermal tracking devices, and light enhancement devices (including nightscopes) from sunset to sunrise.

Gun
This includes Youth Deer Gun, Deer Gun, Youth Elk Gun, Holiday Antlerless Deer Gun, Elk Gun & Antelope Gun seasons.

Rifles: Centerfire rifles firing at least a 55-grain weight soft-nosed or hollow-point bullet. There is no restriction on magazine capacity regardless of caliber.
Shotguns: Any centerfire shotgun firing a single slug, are legal.
Handguns: Any centerfire handgun firing a single bullet with at least a 55-grain weight. Minimum barrel length is four inches.
Archery: Equipment described as legal in the archery section.
Muzzleloaders: Equipment as described as legal in the muzzleloader section.
Suppressors (Silencers): Hunters are allowed to use legally acquired and possessed suppressors on both private and public lands.
Illegal devices: Fully automatic firearms, laser sights (unless certified 100% disabled or legally blind) thermal tracking devices, and light enhancement devices (including nightscopes) from sunset to sunrise.

Muzzleloader
This includes Deer Muzzleloader, Elk Muzzleloader & Bear Muzzleloader seasons.

Muzzleloading Rifles/Pistols: .40 caliber or larger, firing a single ball/bullet.

Muzzleloading Shotgun: 20 Gauge or larger, firing a single slug.

Unless otherwise provided by state law, no person shall carry or use any modern firearm in conjunction with any legal muzzleloading firearm during any muzzleloader season.

Archery: Equipment described as legal in the archery section.
Illegal devices: Blackpowder firearms loaded from the breech, laser sights (unless certified 100% disabled or legally blind), thermal tracking devices, and all light enhancement devices (including nightscopes) from sunset to sunrise.
 
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