Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting how many deer rifles

I have acquired a bunch of rifles over the years, but every time I walk into the woods I've got my Tikke T3 Stainless Lite in .308 with me. My Copper, Kimber, Win M70 CRF, M700 BDL Deluxe .300 Sav all safe at home in the safe.

Something different goes with me everytime. 257 x2 30-06 x3 270 x1 300 H&H x3 9.3x62 x2 308 x1 ,405 win x2 308 Norma mag x2 , 7mm RM x2 on and on.

Not me

one rifle that I know inside and out.....I know the load and its drop out to 400 by heart

The correct answer is always "Just one more!!! "ScottyO.

Killindeer: I, conservatively, have killed Deer with at least 25 Rifles most of which I still own.
I am an eccentric though (gun nut!) and my policy is probably not the norm.
I do though believe a serious Deer Hunter needs AT LEAST two Deer Rifles!
One for close range (woodsy type) Hunting and one for long range (high plains or open country type) Hunting.
If (Heaven forbid!) I was held to my theoretical contention then I would choose to keep my Winchester pre-64 Model 88 in 308 Winchester with Leupold 3x9 compact scope for woodsy Hunting and my Remington 700 Sendero in 270 Winchester with Leupold 6.5x20 for the longer range Hunting.
Again Heaven forbid I be limited to just two Deer Rifles.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: Indeed, you need to have a talk with that "voice" you are hearing from time to time!

This.

I decided this at the first of the year. I have sold a few guns this year but have not bought one all year. I really thought I would miss buying, selling and trading. So far I haven't.

Dink

.....

I used to buy rifles and gear. No more.

I decided this at the first of the year. I have sold a few guns this year but have not bought one all year. I really thought I would miss buying, selling and trading. So far I haven't.

Dink [/quote]

Is this "drug" available over the counter, or does it only come in prescription form?

donsm70

Its willpower......choice

buy more toys or hunt more

I chose hunt more

I see guys with 20 guns who don't want to buy quality packs, quality bags, or boots. So they take one gun along and get by with cheap everything else. Always struck me as odd, but to each their own I reckon.

I sold off a few rifles about 5 years ago and bought a zeiss spotter. Never missed the rifles and use the spotter a ton.

Seven:

(1) Light weight. Kimber 84M montana in 7mm-08 or .308.
(2) Iron sights: single shot or lever action.
(3) Muzzleloader: hard to hunt ML-only seasons without one.
(4) Long range: something like a Sendero.
(5) Backup rifle: something like a Rem 700 in 7mm mag.

Plus two hunting handguns. A scoped single shot like a Contender (.30-30?) and a single action .44 with iron sights.

I could probably drop down to just two which would probably be a Kimber in .270 and a single action .44 but ... ouch.

Order your life so you can do both!

best,

GWB

I'm with you on that.

Mule deer
Black tail
White tail
Coues
Sitka and if in Texas
Fallow
and
Axis

So 7 would be about right.

The Shamanic Deer Battery

How many deer rifles do you need? Everyone is going to look at this differently. When I'm trying to be rational, here's how I look at it:

1) I need a rifle for every season I hunt. I have a muzzleloader. I have centerfire rifles. I have shotguns. Somewhere in all that is a firearm I can take and hunt every season in every state I plan on going. I have them. My sons have them.
2) I need a rifle for each different type of venue I hunt. I have rifles for treestand hunting at close range. I have rifles for 200 yard + shot across pastures. I have a few that work best for still-hunting.
3) I have firearms for different types of weather. I have rifles that I never deliberately take out in rain. I have rifles that have short stocks for very cold weather. I have a couple rain guns that I use mostly in inclement weather.
4) I have overlap. On any given trip to deer camp, I will take 3 rifles-- one for close-in work, one for longer shots, and one wild card. If something happens, a scope gets knocked loose or some such, I try and have a back-up with me. If I'm hunting away from deer camp, I'll only take 2, but they will overlap somewhat.

A typical trip may be:

The Savage 99 in 308 WIN for the treestands
The Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06 for reaching out from the ground blind
The Remington 7600 in 35 Whelen for rain, or for pounding the ground.


Usually I put away a rifle for the year after I take a deer with it, and bring out something else.

I'm beginning to feel my limits on deer rifles. It is not just the rifle, but there is also a lot that goes along with it. Between accessorizing the rifle, load development, etc. There is a lot of cost and (most importantly) time. Too many rifles? Never, but each deer rifle I acquire increases my wariness of acquiring another.

Its nice to see you can contain your crazy. 2 to 3 is a good number.

I'm trying to whittle down from 10 to 3 and 2 of the 3 are staying for sentimental reasons.

Having one in SS isn't a bad strategy. Our MN deer seasons are getting more rainy each year and I would rather take my SS xbolt or SS rem 700 out in the rain instead of my sentimental old savage 99 in 300 or the one in 308 my dad gave me for Christmas.

Its hard to whittle the collection down so don't let it grow. Buy trips, good gear, optics, and good clothes keep you out hunting.

I've got 6 or so dedicated deer guns and a couple others that could be if needed

IMO, two deer rifles are required. If anything goes wrong with your main rifle, you can't put the season on pause while it gets fixed, you re-zeroed, etc.

Having said that, I prefer to rifles setup in different calibers and configurations to tailor to the area I am hunting. Light weight, brush guns, long range magnum, etc. I have about six rifles dedicated to hunting deer/bear/elk/moose.

Having written all that I did yesterday, I realize I may not have answered your original question. About 20 years ago I was faced with a similar situation.

Ask yourself what the new rifle does for you that isn't done by the other two. Does it work better in a given set of conditions? Does it allow you to hunt in a particular season?

20 years ago I had 2 rifles and a shotgun. I really could not complain about any of them. I'd taken deer with all 3.

Then a 30-30 followed me home one day. I justified it by telling myself that a 30-30 lever was better suited for treestands. The 30-30 disappointed me, so I got a 308 lever. That was a good match, and it's still my favorite rifle. About that time my sons were getting of an age to hunt, so I started them both on the 30-30. It has been the designated Yute Rifle since.

The next year my first deer rifle acquired problems that could not be fixed, so I retired it and got a pump in 35 Whelen. I really liked that rifle but it had a dinged up stock, so I never minded taking it out in the rain.

Since then I have acquired a bunch of different rifles. Some were purchased for my sons to use. Some were just because I was curious. What I can tell you is though I do not regret any of them, I could probably be happy with 3-5 deer rifles if I had to start over again. It just took acquiring 20 to find out what I really wanted.