Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What % of your deer kills could have been made just as easily w/a 30-30?

This is a perfect way to frame the question, much more realistic than which cartridge is better than the other! It kinda clears my head of all those BLR-in-270wsm dreams

Only one deer for me would have been a no-shoot with a 30-30 with open sights...thank god I had my sav99 x 284 with a 3-9x for that 150 yd 3-pointer!

When I lived/hunted in New England, probably 95%, with the 5% exception being shots taken across dairy pastures, logging clear cuts, and powerline ROWs. When I started deer hunting in 1969/70, my Father, who wasn't a deer hunter, did some research and bought me 2 rifles; a Ruger 44 International for stilling hunting in the wood and a Remington 660 in 6mm Rem for stand hunting across open areas. Both were scoped, the Ruger with a Weaver K3 PCH and the Remington with a Weaver V7 Duplex. Although I have owned over 1K rifles since then, I could still do all of my deer with those 2 rifles and, probably, upgraded optics.

My Father was a rimmed cartridge hater, felt that they were obsolete after Mauser introduced the 0.473" 8x57 case design.

Jeff

80% have been under 100 yards. In my stand area I can see for 240 yards in some places. Even then sometimes I see them way out there and wait until they come closer. If they are coming in I let them.

95% of my deer could have been killed just as easily with a 30/30, even though I have never used one. My very first deer was a whitetail I shot in eastern Washington at about 240 yards almost straight down-I'm glad I had more than a 30/30 for that one. Shortly after that I moved near the Adirondack mountains in NY and my longest shot has been about 80 yards.

This topic reminds me of one from about a year ago "non bragging page,, what is the aveage shot you take(distance)."



Good question,

Brian

Iron sights and my old eyes present a much more significant constraint than the ballistics of the 30/30.

90% at 100 yds<

I've only killed two deer in my life beyond what I consider effective .30-30 range. Since I've killed roughly 200 total, 99% could have been taken with a .30-30. So much for needing modern, high velocity cartridges and high BC wonder "boolits" to get the job done.

You said it brother :^)

I own 3 and even then I train on the long shots.
I have even shot 1 with my 41 mag rifle at 125 yards,but I was carrying 2 rifles just in case one came out past the self imposed limits for the 41.

I'll let y'all in on a little secret..shhhh.

A rifle scope will make all the difference and even add some. Now y'all don't tell anyone, O K?

100% to date could have been done with my 30-30. My 336BL loaded with Hornady LE's is 2" high at 100 yards and only 3" low at 200 yards. Makes for a very nice deer rifle most places.

100%. Killed my first handful with the 30-30, then moved up to the 308. Last 5 deer I've shot, the range would add up to 100 yards total. I like slipping up on em.

Gee, that must be why I tend to use one of my bolt action rifles instead of the old pre64 M94.

All but 2 deer could have been killed with 30/30. Shot one at 314 yds and one at 304 yds. Funny thing was when I was younger I hunted with a 30/30 and never got a shot at anything.

I lost count long ago how many white tail deer I killed since starting out in 1967. I'll say that 70% were shot with .30/30-class cartridges and/or patched round balls out of muzzle loaders. The rest were gotten with nothing bigger than a .30/06. I can't honestly remember any that were more than 100-and-change yards away. Heck, even the handful of antelope and mule deer were all well under 100 yards.

100%

Meat deer, no problem with a 30/30 or even a 357 Marlin carbine, that said my three 2011 Kansas deer were: Doe 40 yards, Doe 285 yards Buck 200 yards. Kansas gun is zeroed @ 300 yards 30'06 150X @ 2950fps. My longest Michigan deer kill was with archery tackle, if that is a clue.

All of 'em.

The majority of deer I have killed have been with the .30-30, a smaller additional percentage with things like .444s, .45-70s, and .348s. The rest with modern bolt actions chambered in .243 through .300 WinMag.

The longest two shots at deer have been at 236 and 250 yards, taken with a .30-30 and a .243, respectively.

Don't tell those dead deer that both of those rounds are inadequate...or that both will be used again next year, Lord willing.

Given a scope on the 30-30 probably 75% of the deer I have shot could have been easily taken with a 30-30.