texas deer hunting

let me know

  • Total voters
    48
Status
Not open for further replies.
.308, 7x57 (7-08), 6.5x55 (.260), .25-06 or .257 Roberts, .270, .280 .... just a few calibers that work great on 120 lb deer here and can still do a number on a 350 lb hog. Don't forget the hogs. Ain't enough space to list everything. You definitely DON'T need a belted magnum, but you can use it just fine if you want to. And, of course, the .30-06.

My poll pick was the .308 Remington VTR. Excellent and very accurate rifle. Most Texas deer hunting is stand hunting, at least the eastern half to two thirds of the state. Out west, I'd like a lighter gun. My M7 Remington does it all with 3/4 MOA accuracy in a light, quick pointing, easy totin', compact rifle. Mines in .308. I've found THE rifle for me. :D It's in stainless and MSRP is close to a grand anymore, but I bet ya can find one a lot cheaper, probably by a few hundred bucks. I love that thing.
 
I am with Hank 327. There isn't typical huntiong here. The terrians are pretty diverse. Where I live I can >50 miles east and be in some pretty thick stuff. Or go 50 miles west and be fairly open. So I would get as many different calibers and combos as possible. Thats what I am doing...just don't tell the wife.
 
i don't typically stand hunt unless i am using my bow. I prefer to still hunt or drive around with the heater on when its extremely cold yall are right 7mm rem mag too big should go with 243, 308, 30-06, 7mm-08 or something along those lines. My local dealer has got me about talked into something.
 
I've killed more deer with an SKS And Wolf HP ammo than any other rifle. I've never taken a shot over 150 yards with any of my rifles.

My main rifle is a FN FAL. Second is either my AR, Saiga, M28, M39, or M44 Mosins.
 
fair enough my friend shot his first deer with my old sks and he put the bullet in a weird enough spot to barely hit the lungs and nick the heart and blamed the caliber for the deer running off only to be found 30 minutes later. I know better its not the guns fault only the shot placement, which is the biggest factor in killing anything with anything that doesn't explode.
 
Agree with the earlier about Texas being so varied--heck, I used to hunt on a ranch that went from brush to ridge to ridge with canyons and all. Down near Mason, thick with Deer and Turkey...ahhh, the good life.
I generally take meat near the feeder though, as I've gotten older I worry more about a clean humane kill than taking those longer 30.06 shots, but I still often end up with the Rem 700 in that caliber. I use the G3 a bit and will often take out one the AK types that I've assembed, but all of those are open sights so I'll pass unless its a real close shot.

Hunted with everything from 243 up to 06, open sights and glass, it all seems to work. So long as your comfortable with the rig and can put that bullet in the right place, that's all that really matters.

I've spent this season overseas, only had one single weekend back in Texas and you bet your bum I was in the blind. Me and my brother listening to the coyotes and hoot owls, put the crosshairs on a couple of little ones but didn't take anything after all. Still the best day I'd had in a long while.
 
I remember the first Texas deer hunt I ever went on. My boss invited me onto his lease, and I had just transferred in so didnt have my rifles with me as yet. I borrow his Remington 700 in 270 Win, a very old Simmons scope which had a view similar to old pictures you might see on the wall-verrry fuzzy around the edges, but I figure its clear enough at the cross hairs. Took it to the range and did okay with it and a box of Winchester factory stuff.

We get down to the lease and he hands me a box of his brother in laws handloads, saying "these shoot flatter". I hadnt tried them out, but he said the gun was zeroed for the load, so not wanting to make waves, being a guest and all, took them with me.

We're hunting in the hill country around Llano, and I'm relieved to see the stand they put me in was at max a 200 yard proposition. I say a few hail mary's over this suspect scope and hope for something decent.

Viola, a nice doe, about 150 pounds shows her face at the fence and she is posing for me. I put the crosshairs at the base of her neck and press the trigger.......BLAAMMMMM! I thought the rifle had exploded and it felt a lot more like the brother in law had used dynamite than IMR4064, and the recoil took me completely off target. Due to the ringing in my ears, I didnt hear the bullet thump, but boss comes over the hill and said he did, so we begin walking to the scene of the crime.

Thinking I might be faced with a finishing shot, I began to hand my boss his rifle and draw my 45 when Ms Deer gets up on her front legs-boss is yelling "SHOOT IT!" and here I am with a rifle in one hand and pistol in the other. So I holstered the pistol and made what I thought was a good heart/lung hit. She falls on the other side of the fence.....

The boss is talking about how that ole girl was slapped down by the shot, and I'm making a mental note to talk to bosses bro in law-did you cram the case full or did you actually measure the powder charge?

We get to the fence and boss is pushing while I'm pulling her under the fence-and yes, we had a prior agreement with the neighbor...and Ms Deer starts kicking the fool out of the boss and wants to use me for a welcome mat. I had set the artillery down to move her, so drew my pistol and put a 200 grain +P into her noggin and down she goes.

Or so I thought.

After reholstering my pistola, I get my knife out and sure enough, she begins to move on me. I ended up slitting her throat to make her cooperate.

As it turned out, every shot was a kill shot, but she didnt know it??????

I was quite relieved to get my 308 down here, and in the 20 odd years Ive been hunting in Texas, I've found a need just once for pulling the trigger twice on the same animal. Weird thing-I had a quartering shot and for some reason, the 150 grain ballistic tip glanced off a rib, but it put him down long enough to allow me to chamber another round and finish the job.

Thats not to say that the 270 isnt enough cartridge because it most certainly is. I've since bought a Remmy in 270 Win because I like the caliber and with "sensible" handloads, it does everything I ever expected it to for deer, antelope and hog.
 
Very nice to get to read a good story and you have had a similar experience with a 270 its a great round just something about it just quite work for me. I prefer 308 or something very similar to that.
 
Decided we needed some pics. My 9 yr old son took his first deer this year. He made a great shot on the doe at about 110 yards with a .223, she ran about 20 yards. These are central Texas deer by the way; that is a 3-4 year old doe.
 

Attachments

  • TreysDeer.JPG
    TreysDeer.JPG
    135.7 KB · Views: 11
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top