Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles If you were only going to hunt deer.................?

Remington model 700 titanium in 30-06 with Nosler Partitions.

well let see i would take a savage 110 in 270 the first day,then a ruger american in 270 the 2nd day,then a smith and wesson ibolt in 270 the 3rd day,then a mossebrg in 270 on the 4th day,then a 243 rem 700 on the fifth day,then on the sixth day i would start over with day one and continue the cycle until the season ended.

I'd still use what I already hunt with, despite it being capable of taking larger game. Remington 700 chambered in 338-06 throwing a 225 grain TTSX at 2600 fps.

I'm with gay crowd on this one. That situation a 270 would be my choice. In fact it is in a Featherweight Classic.

Backed by a 300 Savage 99F. Hey can't help it, addicted. GW

I'd have to use either my custom 700 in 280AI or my '62 M70 Fwt in 270. The 700 most days, the M70 for sunny days.

Tikka T3 superlight (stainless fluted barrel) in 308 shooting 155 secnars.

If I was going to only deer I would build a rifle around a .220 Swift case with the rim turned off, body blown out and necked up to 6mm. The barrel would be a 26" carbon wrapped ending with a brake. Then I would have an action built for it that would be no larger than about 1" diameter. It would be about six pound ready to roll.

That's pretty much why I started this thread. I wanted to see how many would still prefer a large rifle if there were no good reason to put up with the recoil and muzzle blast. Turns out there wasnt many of you.

Most of the "help me choose a rifle/cartridge" or "X vs Y" threads are generally "for deer sized game and maybe one day an elk". The "maybe" side of the question is what goofs up the equation.

Simply get one you feel is suitable for "deer" and one for a "maybe elk" and roll on. Seems there is something to being (perceiving) "overpowered" for one and "underpowered" for the other.

Go with your gut and wallet. 270's and 30/06's have been taking care of business for eons, but they are "gay" and "boring".

The rifle itself is only 10% of the equation if you ask me. I don't see a fella with a "maybe elk" at 300 yards wishing he'd brought something else to shoot. I don't have a "maybe elk" yet, so maybe I'm wrong. I do have a maybe elk rifle (7RM) and don't see it getting used for whitetail anytime soon with a 260 in the rack.

But maybe for schits and giggles it will one day.....

As i wrote earlier, if I was only going to hunt deer I would go fishing instead - don't care for deer meat much.

That said, if I WAS in a deer only situation, the rifle would depend on WHERE and HOW I was hunting the deer. My custom Interarms Mark X 6.5-06AI with fluted barrel would be an excellent choice for all but long carries. My Ruger Hawkeye All Weather .280 Rem would be another great choice. So would my Ruger Scout in .308 Win. If I was in big bear country I would arm myself appropriately for defense and not worry about what might be more appropriate for "deer only". In swamp country or dense hardwood forests I might choose my AR in .300 Blackout or Marlin .30-30. Nothing "wrong" with using one of my rifles with more recoil, there would be no good reason to do so, either other than the most important one - because I felt like it.

The winner for here in Colorado, though, would probably be my favorite rifle, a Ruger M77 built in 1989 that I picked up used in January of 2004. At that time it didn't even have scratch marks under the tang safety, something I "fixed" the first couple of trips to the range. It is a long-action .257 Roberts with a leade so long the bullets couldn't touch the lands with a stick. Seating bullets to the base of the neck it will push a 100g TTSX to 3233fps and 110g AccuBond to 3163fps. Both loads are very accurate.

Have to say that if elk were never to be on the menu again, I'd go after antelope long before I would go after deer. Or I'd start helping the Texas folk with their hog problems.

It use to be a custom 25-06 but now I have to shoot left handed so it a Ruger Hawkeye in 7mm-08 and I love it.

That's probably how I'd roll... Or maybe even a 243....

Anything short and well balanced works good in close cover. Two of my hunting partners who have recently passed on both used the Ruger 77/.44 stainless synthetic with the Leupold 2-7 Shotgun scope... I also had one (which is why they ended up with them)and a standard .44 Semi-auto carbine.

The reason I like a gun with a little more reach is clearcuts. You come through the woods and there standing on the other side of a big clearcut is a nice buck...200 yards away... And at 7# loaded to go the 7KS is just a wonder...

Bob

Got a Montana in 7-08 that would work.

Basically anything based off the Montana would work.

Montana twisted quick to burp 105's either regular or AI
Montana in 6.5 Creed
Montana in 257 Bob etc...

Keep in mind that recoil is subjective. I don't view the rifle I mentioned as a big kicker by any means. Regardless, I like the piece of mind that I can shoot a deer that is almost squarely facing me and the bullet will still exit the back side, that there is no problm blowing though both shoulders, and hitting a twig or something in route won't push the bullet too far off course. I just like the confidence the a big, heavy bullet gives me. Your mileage may vary.

Ruger Hawkeye.
308 150/165 Accubond.
257R 110 Accubond.

Remington 700 SPS
257 WM 110 Accubond or 115 BT.

I could live with just the 308.

These threads about..."if you could only have one" are about the silliest exercises I know of.

I WORK for a living so I don't have to make those kind of choices. In my earliest days as a hunter, when I began to buy my own firearms, as opposed to using "family" guns.....I didn't have just "one" rifle. I "owned" just a single rifle for a short time, but had access to a number of guns used by family members.

This situation only lasted about 6 weeks before I could save enough money from a part-time sawmill job and begin adding to my small collection of firearms. I was only 13 years old at the time.....so I can see no reason whatsoever for a grown man to restrict himself to one rifle (unless it is by personal choice....not a lack of funds).

Deer hunting covers so much ground and conditions are so diverse that it is virtually impossible to cover all situations with a single rifle. True, you CAN make a single rifle do many jobs, but it will NOT be "perfect" for all of them.

There is a world of difference between hunting in thickets where a 50 yard shot is a long one and sitting in a blind overlooking hundreds of acres and shots may be 500 yards or more. I prefer to choose a weapon that fits the needs and conditions for each type of hunting.....not try to force a single rifle to be all things.

If I had to limit myself to a handful of rifles (and I see no reason to do so) I would likely start with a versatile chambering that could perform at close range as well as reach out for longer shots. This rifle would be light enough to carry all day when walking the hills and fast handling for those surprise in-your-face encounters. Any chambering from .6.5mm to .30-06 (I don't prefer small bore guns for close range and thick brush) would work well in the right rifle. The "right" rifle is the key.

For a rifle to be fast handling as well as have the ability to reach out to longer ranges, there are few that are better than the .308 Win. This is not because the .308 is any "better" than other chamberings, but because it is short enough to be chambered in every type rifle you can imagine. This can't be said of the longer rounds. I would start with the Savage 99 or Ruger Mannlicher carbine chambered in the .308. They are short, light and effective over a wide range of conditions.

True close range work requires a totally different rifle. I prefer a big bore rifle that hits hard and leaves a tremendous blood trail....a big hole in and a big hole out. Long range shooting is unimportant as shots will be under 100 yards, but a fast handling rifle can be critical. Your "versatile" rifle COULD fill this need (and the .308 is certainly no slouch in thick brush), but for me there are better choices.

For thick brush where a longer shot is impossible (more on this in a bit) I have several rifles that fit the bill. The hardest hitting rifle at close range I own is a Marlin 1895 in .45-70. It's performance on game leaves nothing to be desired, but it is just a bit heavy. If lever guns are your choice a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington is pretty close to perfect for this shooting. It is fast handling and hits with authority. Even better, to me, is the Remington Model 14 (also in .35 Remington) that is just a touch faster.

Good as these rifles are, my first choice for close range is a Ruger 44 Carbine. It is light, short, fast and hits as hard as any gun I have ever used at close range. I know ballistics say the .44 magnum is not as "powerful" as some other rounds, but in the real world, I have never found anything to be as effective at ranges of 50-75 yards.

It's that limited range that is the downfall of all "true" brush chamberings. They are devastating at close range, but almost useless at ranges over 150-200 yards. In years past there were many places where you could cover thousands of acres and never have the possibility of a shot over 100 yards. As land practices changed, this became less and less true. With modern timber harvest practices a hunter is more likely than not to encounter a situation where a clear-cut or firebreak opens up even the thickest brush areas and presents a shot longer than the true brush gun is suited for.

This is not true long-range shooting, but a situation requiring a 250-300 yard shot is not out of the question. If I "know" I will be hunting in these areas where the ranges tend to be a bit longer....but there is the possibility of a short range encounter.....my "versatile" rifle in .308 serves me well. However for those time when I am deliberately hunting thick brush...with the "possibility" of a longer shot....I have found something even better. A Savage 99 in .358 Win. This chambering hits as hard as most true brush guns and can easily reach out to 300 yards or so.....and the Savage is fast handling as any I've used.

My final "must have" rifle is a true long range gun. By long range I DO NOT mean 1000 yards. For me, long range is more like 400 or so. This would include pronghorn as well as open range der hunting. The weight of the rifle is less important as most hunting will be done from a stand or stationary position. Fast handling is not so critical, but accuracy is very important. This typically means a bolt-action rifle with a bit more weight than my "versatile" rifle. I can see no reason for a short-action chambering in a bolt action rifle for this use. Nothing "wrong" with rounds like the .260, 7mm-08 or .308 if you like them, but I prefer to let the rifle "be all it can be" and choose a longer chambering for the little extra velocity. My choice is the .30-06, but could have just as easily gone with the .270, .280, or 7mm Mag. and never suffered. I don't personally like the small bores as well, but in this type of open country hunting the .25-06 fits the bill as well (even the shorter .243 or .257 would likely do just as well).

These four. a .308 in Savage 99 or Ruger carbine for walk-about, versatile hunting, a Ruger 44 carbine for true close range work, a savage 99 in .358 for "in between" ranges and a long range .30-06 cover my needs quite well. I own many more rifles than these because....I work for a living so I can......and I refuse to even consider a single rifle for all hunting....because I don't have to.

And then writes a book about it.....

Uber....