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

100%- altough 2or 3 would have been pretty long shots for the old model 94

In terms of range 100%, but if considering that none of my .30-30 or similar rifles have scopes let's knock that back to 80%.

well over 90% for me.

About 25% of my deer kills have been within what I consider 30-30 range or less than 150 yds.

But I know another hunter who considers his Marlin 30-30 quite capable to 400 yds. He has taken several deer and a couple of elk well beyond 300 yds which proves his point.

Never mind that the hide could be tanned and used as a sieve by the time the critter actually noses into the dirt.

80% of the deer I have shot could have been taken with a .30-30 win., although I've never used one for deer.

My longest kill with a scoped .30-30 was a bobcat at 177 yards.

100%

Never killed a deer over 100 yards.

All of em.

Interesting question. Checked my records and in over 25 years of deer hunting, 93% of my kills have come under 150 yards. However, one of the 7% was my second largest buck taken at about 230 yards. I'm sure glad I had more than a 30/30 that day.

There are to many to remember and I did/not log deer as I do elk. With some careful thought I would also say about 80%. That could be a little high but in the ball park. My last one could have been killed with a spear. Its funny I am so focused on elk I had never given it much thought.

95% could've been killed with a 30-30.

Southern Tier of NY with only a Ruger Mini 30 7.62x39 = 30-30 power. 30+ deer from a NY apple orchard. Only rifle I ever used in NY. Last hunt with the Mini was 2004. I need to take it out of mothballs.

358 Win is my go to caliber.

Ken

Literally 100%. However; I once saw a deer at about 300 yards away while carrying my 336. Way out of my comfort zone, so I never took the shot. I was 20 at the time, that missed opportunity convinced my that I needed a flatter rifle so I sold the 336 and bought a 30/06.

22 years later and I've never shot, nor had an opportunity to shoot a deer at that distance again. A few years ago I bought another 336. All those years, I always missed carrying a 336 it was just,,, more comfortable.

I suppose about 405, but that's accounting for a couple other wounded deer I tracked down and killed with it. I pass on so many deer that it's not really an accurate assessment though. If I count the deer I set up on but decided not to pull the trigger, the number comes down to <10% which is kinda surprising to me since I hunt Minnesota.

I limit what I will shoot at with the 30-30 to within 100 Yards. I tend to put up stands that allow me much longer shots than 100 yards an for some reason I can't explain, I seem to choose more shots between 100 and 200 yards than close shots. Odd too is the fact that I think all of the deer I have ever shot with a 30-30 have been head shots. I have never killed a deer with a 30-30 past fifty yards.

I would say at least 90% could have been killed with a 30-30, but that would be boring.

Not very many where I hunt in western oklahoma. I mostly hunt creek bottoms with wide open wheat and alfalfa fields. I have shot a couple at 75-100 yards with my muzzleloader, but most of my rifle deer were shot in the 200-300 yard range.

I think it all depends on what you are after.
ny dad who is just under 60 has had exactly one big game rifle as lone as i can remember and he says its the only one he ever had.a hand me down savage 1899 in 303 savage with some type of peep sight on the tang. belonged to my great grandfather. It has killed 2-3 deer a year and 9 elk in the last 12 years. dont think he ever shoots over 50 to 60 yards

100% could have been killed with a 30-30 for me.

100%... My longest kill was about 210 yards. Luckily I had my only 30-30 that wears a 4x scope that morning. (all my other 30-30's wear peep sights)

I've taken most of my deer with a 30-30 but have used a 30-06, 375 win, 444 Marlin, 7x57, and have been witness to deer killed with many others. In my limited experience I've not seen any caliber that seems to put them down (on average) quicker than a 30-30.

Probably about 70%

My 1st deer rifle was a Marlin 336 in 30/30.I killed alot of deer with that gun.After years of razzings by my hunting camp buddys i gave in and bought a "real gun". It was a Remington 78 in 30 06,killed alot of deer with that gun also,but none seem to be any deader than the ones i killed with the Marlin.I hunt in NY state and my longest shot was {and still is} 125yds. and i made that kill with the 30/30.

100%

Almost half of mine have been with a muzzle-loader in MN. No scopes allowed in smoke-pole season here.

About a quarter have been with a 30-30, and the ones taken with my .270 have been from under 150 yards.