I'm thinking I want to leave the scoped bolt guns in the safe and hunt with something a little challenging next year. Lever action, open sights and a hot pistol round for no more than 100 yard shots.

I love old lever guns and have a bunch of old 99's, 30-30's and .35's but none of those present much of a challenge either.

I hunt a private ranch and can be selective with shots because we have a real long season here. I'm kicking around a longer barreled Marlin levergun in .45 Colt. Anyone here hunted Blacktail (or small Whitetail) with one? If so what are your thoughts and what is your experience? Our deer rarely go over 125#'s field dressed.

Thanks,
Mike

Go forth and slay.You'll see dead critters if ya point it right.

The 45 Colt will take them out. I just fitted my Ruger Hunter with a Burris Fast Fire & can't wait to try it out.

I'm beginning to really like that sight. I just bought one for my Guide gun.

I'm gonna see if I can find a .45 for a decent price. I like the longer barreled "Cowboy" actions.

I have a 1894 .44 Mag, but I always feel a little funny packing it around when I'm packing my .45 Vaquero for snakes. Shells look so much alike I'd hate for someone to get them mixed up.

Mine is AS accurate as my previous scope on said gun. 3 shot one hole group with 250 XTP's at 50 yards off the bench. I was proud.

I was stationed at Travis USAF Base about 20 years ago. My hunts were focused within Napa, Sonoma, and Colusa counties for coastal blacktails. I carried my Marlin in 44 MAG with 4X scope and it never failed me. Becuase of 100 yard maximum range, I often stalked and crawled to within good shooting range. This added much to the hunting excitement in my opinion. I suggest select a good hollow tip such as Hornady and wait until you can shoot directly into the chest organs from broadside angle. Your 45 will perform well.

Coastal bucks rarely exceed 130 lbs live weight. It doesn't take a big rifle to topple 'em but you'll have to watch your distance closely. I killed most of my bucks at approx 80 yards or so and my 44 MAG really shines at this range.

One year, my brother came out to hunt with me and brought his 30-30. The buck never knew what hit him.

Sherwood

Hey Sherwood..
Thanks. In my book those pictures are awesome. Nice bucks! I'm 42 and have been hunting blacktail since I was 12. I've shot a deer or two every year and as I've been hunting em for a few years I'm just looking for something that will make it a little more challenging. The last couple years I passed every buck I saw.
I hunt about 40 days during the season and now days I really don't even care if I get one. I just love the hunt. I've never hunted with a pistol round. I think that the challenge of an old school gun and an old school caliber will make it even that much more fun. I've hunted a lot of different big game animals, but blacktail hunting is where my heart is.
Mike

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Hunting with a 45 colt is no challenge, use a 38 spec. handgun or something. Elmer Keith killed a mule deer at about 700 yards with a 44 mag pistol. Let's see you top that.

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.45 Colt wouldn't be my first choice for deer, but it should work. I have a 26" Marlin Cowboy in .45 Colt. It's been slicked up for CAS and I had shot it with reduced loads. The heavy walled brass won't seal against the chamber walls with a low powered load, causing blow back. I got tired of that and got something else for CAS. I loaded 300 gr. lead and jacketed bullets with max charges of 4227 and there is absolutely no blowback with those loads. I think the MV is around 1,500 fps., although I've never clocked them.

There have been a bunch of deer killed over the years with .38-40 and .44-40 rifles, neither of which churns out the power of this load. I would think the .45 Colt would be a potent deer caliber out to around 150 yds. I'd want something else for longer range shooting.

IMHO,

DF