Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting whats your ideal whitetail rifle

This used to be an easy answer.....an FN Mauser Custom chambered in .30-06. For many years is was my only "serious" whitetail rifle. I owned and hunted with other rifles, but this was the one I picked up when hunting a particular big deer and things were on the line.

Over the last 36 years that rifle has produced 94 one shot kills (never needed a second shot with this rifle) and only two misses (both my fault). After more than 5000 rounds through it, the accuracy has began to fall off a bit.....but I still use it when I need a confidence boost.

Today I own a lot more rifles and tend to choose them depending on where I am hunting that day.....however some get more use than others.

When hunting at close range and thick brush I most often choose a Ruger Carbine in .44 Magnum. Not my most accurate rifle but totally reliable, fast handling and deadly at 150 yards or less. More accurate and with just a bit more range is a Marlin 1895 in .45-70....but it's heavier and not quite as fast to get into action so the Ruger gets more stand time. Both are near perfect for close range action.

For day-to-day, do-it-all hunting I tend to choose a rifle with a bit more range(up to 350 yards or so....which is long range to me). I hunt a lot with a Savage 99EG in .358, but it's actually an "honest" 300 yard gun. However for a combination of power and range it's very good.

No, today my "best" whitetail rifle would "almost" be a Ruger Mannlicher Carbine in .308. Short, fast handling, accurate and able to reach out as far as I care to shoot.

This would be my choice if I didn't own a super-accurate Savage 99F (also in .308). Unusual for a 99....this rifle will keep 5 shots inside an inch at 100 yards and so it beats out the Ruger as my "perfect" whitetail rifle today.....except on those days when I need the confidence boost of the old Mauser.