What is the heaviest rifle you would carry to hunt deer?

[Hookeye]

 

[Hookeye]

I have run into people w quite a few deer kills under their belt that think 100 yards is far and that shooting offhand past 50 is a trick......that most people.cant do.

Smoothbore shotguns w flimsy side mounts and junk scopes might have something to do w their views

 

[Hookeye]

I like a gun to have some fwd balance.
The added weight might be a negative for some but it helps my shooting.

 

[Armored farmer]

I dont know what she weighs.
I wouldn't be a gentleman if i weighed her.
She's worth it. She's my Hawken.
She put my biggest buck on the wall, and many more as well.
.54 T/C Hawken kit circa 1983.

I am lucky/unlucky. I walk ⅜-½ mile to my stand. Sometimes I make a lap around the woods and maybe total 1.5-2 miles max.

 

[Armored farmer]

Smoothbore shotguns w flimsy side mounts and junk scopes might have something to do w their views

True enough.
However, that's all we had for a long time. Thats why I went to black powder rifles in 1983.

 

[marksman13]

I carry 8.5-10.5 lb rifles all the time on pig hunts where it is all spot and stalk. I’d had to say that lighter is generally better for any hunting that does not involve a short walk to a deer blind.

 

[marksman13]

I carry 8.5-10.5 lb rifles all the time on pig hunts where it is all spot and stalk. I’d have to say that lighter is generally better for any hunting that does not involve a short walk to a deer blind.

 

[Picher]

I try to my game shot distance to where I can reliably hit an 8" paper plate at whatever position I may need/be able to take for the shot. If over 300 yards, I'd better have a range finder and a trajectory chart, or won't take the shot. I keep a chart taped to my rifle stock, but have never killed a deer beyond 400 yards. We rarely see them where we hunt in Maine beyond 300 yards. I don't hunt powerline right of ways these days and rarely shot any deer on them, but have spent a lot of time watching for deer there over the years.

I've been shooting offhand for many of my game shots and killed running coyotes with one shot out to 200 yards, which isn't a worlds record, but highly satisfying! Closest I've shot a running deer was about 10 yards, through hardwoods. Lucky that it didn't hit a tree, but well-aimed and one-shot kill. Farthest was 200, across a field and just as it topped a hill, with woods behind it.

 

[illinoisburt]

Based on the multiple threads the OP started asking about rifle weights and types of optics, I get the impression he is new to the sport. Starting out without experienced mentors is tough. The best advice is join a rifle club and shoot different rifles to see what is comfortable.

We are blessed with guns and optics today. MOA accuracy with good ammo is not uncommon in budget priced combos. Pretty much all newer out-of-the-box hunting rifles these days are up to the task for most situations out to 300 to 400 yards in capable hands. Discounting the internet and video games, that is a fair poke in the real world.

Longer ranges are certainly possible however variables begin adding up as distance grows and additional equipment like range finders and wind meters become mandatory along with the practice using them.

Assuming the your budget fits information from the combined inquiries ($1000 for rifle and $1500 for optics), it may be better to get a complete package from Long Range Hunting or a similar group who make these types of specialized rigs. Piecing together various items based on our suggestions might be okay. However it really does take some prior experience to build, zero, and adjust under field conditions. They can work out which parts best suite the situation and you can focus on building shooting skills with a known good platform.

 

[PWC]

I would hunt with whatever I already had that would do the job. Not all can have a nitch rifle for different typed of game animal. Fortunately, I can go to the store and don't have to pay $60 a pound for venison, but if I did need to, my wooden warriors would bring home the bacon or venison or any other North American game.

 

[JFrank]

Sanitized

 

[eastbank]

i carried a 9 lbs cz 550 in .375 H&H mag on six hunting trips due to the size of some of the animals that i hunted, most could have been taken with a good 3006 loaded with the right bullets. but wounded animals not retrieved were counted(paid for) at taken animals.

 

[GBExpat]

What is the heaviest rifle you would carry to hunt deer?

When I was a youngster 10-12 lbs and now 2lb, maybe as much as 2½.

 

[Thomasss]

M1Garand with national match peep. Tried that as a back up gun for a few years. Worked out good for brother-in-law's son-in-law whose Remington 7400 30-06 scope fell off while hunting. Luckey he did retain all the screws, so the next morning I put it back together with nail polish and bore sighted it for him while he hunted with my Garand. Next day he got a buck with his own gun. We figured my bore sighting was off by 3 inches. Not bad for being in the boonies of Upper Michigan.

 

[aarondhgraham]

What does a K98 Mauser in full military stock weigh?

Eight to nine pounds according to Wikipedia.

That big old hunk of steel & wood was just about all I could carry,,,
But then again I was a skinny young teen at the time.

Aarond

.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

My Savage 110 weighs about 10 pounds scoped. I walk around hunting, and that rifle gets to be a pig by the end of the day. That's about my upper limit.

 

[Picher]

I carry my heavier rifles when I don't have to carry them as far and am likely to sit on a stand. The lighter-weight rifles come with me on longer jaunts, especially in hilly country.