How many of you rifle owners have never killed anything with it?

Have you killed anything living with your rifle?

  • Yes, every one of my rifles has at least a kill to it's credit.

    Votes: 71 12.3%
  • Some of my rifles have killed game, others not.

    Votes: 323 56.1%
  • None of my rifles have killed anything.

    Votes: 163 28.3%
  • I don't believe in killing things.

    Votes: 19 3.3%

  • Total voters
    576
  • Poll closed .
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I have to say two yes and four no. I only use the 30-06 when I feel like it, but the .22 WMR goes everywhere with me. I have bought and sold rifles occassionally but with what I own now that is pretty much gonna be the standard. I only hunt when I have to, not for sport, not anymore.
 
Need another answer 'not yet'.

I doubt I'll use my AR for any sort of hunting. It's accurate enough it's just not legal for any sort of big game where I live and I haven't varminted in years.
 
Most of my rifles have not killed anything, some have. Other than some coyotes and couple deer per year, most of my time is at the range. I prefer experimenting with reloads/ballistics, etc...in a controlled environment like the gun club.
 
I've never been hunting. Just doesn't appeal to me. Much prefer knocking down steel plates.

I took a hunter's safety course a while back just to learn a few things. I mentioned I'd probably not be interested in hunting, and a guy in the group looked at me and said, "then what the **** are you doing in this class?".

Really soured me to the whole concept.
 
I didn't have a chance to take a deer with my Ruger African this year, just got it too late in the season for me to have time to work up and thoroughly test a load. Its ok though, both of my Tikkas picked up the slack to help fill the freezer, as did my shotguns. My G19 has also helped fight the battle against the armadillo scourge on three different occasions.

Neither my AR or my G20 have been used for hunting, but the plan is to rectify that this next year.
 
SGW42,

You sound interested in hunting, I don't think I'd let the fact that my dad didn't take me hunting keep me from going if I was interested in giving it a try. I bet you have friends that hunt and would be willing to show you the ropes... that's how I got into hunting.
 
My two semi auto rifles a mini-14 and ar-15 or more for home protection and plinking,but they have dusted thier share of yotes and a couple of deer. All my bolt guns must earn thier place in my safe. They must shoot 1 MOA at 100 yards and they must get blood on them in a hunting enviroment. I give them plenty of range time and plenty of opertunities afield. But if they can't get it done, they get traded.
 
use

Do shotguns count? That is what I use for 99% of my hunting.

Pete
 
me. if I kill it then I have to clean and eat it. a burrito is less work.

Yep. I'm the same way. I only predator hunt. Grab a taco on the way home.

Used to be a deer/wild hog hunter but honestly didn't like the taste and I've had "experts" cooking it.

Certainly would hunt game animals if I needed to eat but otherwise I have no interest in it at all.
 
Never killed anything with a centerfire rifle. Mostly because I'm not a huge fan of hunting Northeastern Whitetail. Unless you have a wide open, remote area to still hunt or track, it's all sitting still for hours on end. I can last maybe three hours doing that and as a consequence, I never see legal deer.

My .22s and shotguns, however, have killed more small game and pests than I can keep track of.
 
Have one that took many rabbits, rodents, and sparrow/starlings in my youth (and the occasional song bird off the feeder when mom wan't looking). I'd rather not know what my Arisaka or M1 might have done.

Anymore, I don't go out to shoot anything that breathes. But I would if I had to.
 
I have a problem with long guns, I can't get enough of them. Every time I see something I like I say that would be a great (what ever) gun and buy it, shoot it at the range, play with it and put it in the safe. Then when it is time to go hunting I always use one of two shotguns, one of three rifles, and the same .22 depending on what I am going after. So in the end I have an accumilation of many fine hunting arms, and still use the same six I have since I started. If finances ever require that I sell some of my guns atleast I know which six will be sticking around.
 
Some have. Some haven't. Some, there's no way for me to know.

I haven't hunting in 6-7 years. Most of my shooting is competition and practice. I own lots more rifles that are not especially suited to hunting than those that are set up with that intent.
 
Out of the 20 rifles I currently own, 9 are hunting/varmint rifles that I have killed game/varmints with. Most of my hunting rifles have killed multiple “things”.

Chuck
 
I have a lot of both centerfire and rimfire rifles. It's impossible to know about the used ones, of course but I know that I personally haven't killed something with each one. I stopped hunting squirrels after my Grandmother died (nobody could cook a squirrel like she could!) so now the only animal I hunt is deer. I shoot the occasional varmint or garden pest with a .22 or .17 but mostly I hunt with high powered rifles. This past season I took to the woods with four different guns depending on the season and which part of the farm I was hunting.

My guns were a Tikka T3 lefty in .308 for the deep woods, a home built Interarms Mauser 98 in .257 Wby for open ground and a Savage 110 lefty in .270 just for nostalgia because its been my go-to rifle for the last dozen years or so.

For the muzzle loading season I hunted with a Savage smokeless 10ML II. It took two of this year's three deer, plus one coyote that was chasing a small group of yearlings on the last weekend of the season. The third deer was taken with the .257, and the .308 was used on a second coyote earlier in the season. Now that I think about it, I'll bet the Savage muzzle loader has killed more deer (in my hands anyway) than any other rifle in my safe. During the modern rifle season I have alternated between several rifles for years, but the Savage is the only ML rifle I have hunted with since I bought it over 10 years ago.
 
I honestly can't remember which ones I've killed things with and which ones I haven't. I don't ever do any actual hunting, but I do a lot of critter killin'.

As for the M1 and the Nagant (a 1943 and a 1955 respectively), they may have been used to kill things in the past such as Nazis or Communists, but I really have no way of knowing!
 
I love to shoot, but have never been hunting (not for lack of interest, I just don't know how).

R
 
I've had a couple rifles that I sold or traded before they could kill animals. I've got a long range rifle that I just use for target shooting and have no intention of using it for hunting.
 
All of the rifles I own have been "blooded", have a few that have been used for big game hunting. I've got 2 that I use for varmints, they do a good job on P-dogs and coyotes. I've got a .22 that has taken many grouse and rabbits, and a stray cat or two. Love to hunt, no matter the species, was raised on deer and elk meat, can't get enough of it.
 
It's an interesting question and I had to pull up my spreadsheet and go through them. I do believe that nearly all of my rifles have been blooded in some fashion. Some have been used a few times, others are deadlier than the plague. I counted only two of 25 rifles that have not taken game or varmints. Which is because they have not been given the chance by their owner. ;)
 
Since not all rifles are hunting rifles, I would expect most will have shot something with at least one of their rifles, but not all of them.
 
Mainly coyote as the sly varmints seem to enjoy the pecan dropping ritual every early winter and then make regular visits to forage. In this neck of Texas you just can't shoot enough of em, IMHO. I had to vote "some" as there are collector grade long guns that have never been fired.
 
My target and range guns don't kill things under my stewardship. What was done with that gun before I owned it (almost all are used) is mostly unknown to me. The Mil-Surps are a big question. Maybe they were base-only training rifles (?), or maybe they saw action (?), how would you know :confused:

Some of my better rifles were obviously custom built to kill things (hunting rifles or dog town shooters), but I may not have bloodied them. OTOH, some of my rifles were specifically bought to take care of one pest or another (including deer in Ma's veggie garden) and sat in the truck (on the ranch) or next to the door. They have seen plenty of feathers, fur, scales, and beady eyes :evil:
 
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