Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Indiana Boys - What rifle will you use in 2015?

Really old debate that has never reached a conclusion concerning the .243 but just for the record, the .223 mentioned above is not up on deck for Indiana deer according to the proposal as written.

Just to keep the record straight.

God Bless

That is a comical way to state your argument. Funny how you think you "know" more than all those successful hunters. Just curious, beings you are an IN resident, how many deer have you killed with how many different rifle chamberings?

Gunswiz:

I'm going let this rest after this post since you seem fairly set in your belief that the 44 Mag is the "Goldilocks" cartridge for Indiana deer hunting and that any other cartridge is too much of something.

I am just not following your logic as to why other cartridges are wrong for deer hunting in Indiana. My understanding was that you were initially stating hunters would use cartridges that are overpowered for deer and have too much range. Now you seem to be suggesting that hunters will use cartridges that are too underpowered for deer but suggest using a 270 or 30-06. Aren't those examples of cartridges that you initial said were too powerful? Even reduced recoil loads are typically producing 2500 to 2800 fps at the muzzle. This seems to be contradictory to your intial argument.

Please, go to the Indiana DNR and give your opinion.

I hope the rule proposal passes so that I can use what ever rifle I like next year and you can too.

Sincerely,

Scott

I don't think my son will take kindly to your calling him a "girly man" for killing his first buck cleanly and humanely with a .243.

There isn't a whitetail on earth that I wouldn't vent with either of those chamberings.

Stunt shot with 243

Woooo what a stud buck. Damn............

I'll GLADLY hunt with my 243 anywhere, any day and all day.

Personally I am hoping that it goes through. I plan on using one of my 300 Savages or my 25/06.

This is a typical response from someone who cannot address the message but disparages the messenger.

Yet amazingly most of the rest of the country manages to use "high powered cartridges" without people routinely getting shot out of trees and spraying down the countryside attempting shots beyond their marksmanship capabilities. Oh, I forgot, Indiana has rolling farmland. It's certainly unique, there's none of that to be found in the rest of America

What we're left to conclude is that Indiana hunters must be a completely undisciplined bunch that are in danger of going on a rampage once they get their new rifles in their hands, the same rifles that hunters in the rest of the U.S. have managed to use for the last century or so without inducing mass carnage.

I have a weblog (see my signature) in which I reported fairly early that Indiana had changed its rules for 2015. As a result, Hoosiers have been hammering my weblog for months looking for info on the rule change as well as looking for help picking new deer rifles.

In the feedback I get, the response to the rule change has been about 3:1 in favor, but the opposition has some pretty far out objections.

1) It will ruin private land hunting, because no IN farmer wants centerfire rifle on his place. It will increase the number of No Trespassing signs.
2) The land is too flat. It will be a circular firing squad.
3) Shotguns are safer to operate.
4) It is destroying a tradition.
5) It will kill all the deer

etc.

The funny thing is that I'm a Buckeye that does 100% of his hunting in KY. I really don't have a huge stake in this, but I get a whole lot of flak.

In regards to this whole .223 vs. 243 vs. . . thing: I hunt KY, where .223 is legal-- so is .25 ACP for that matter. Truth is there is not enough interest in .223 to make it a big deal. The guys who shoot .223 REM at deer seem to know what they're doing. They guys who complain about it are all talking hypothetical armchair schoolmarmisms. They don't do it, so no one else should be allowed, blah, blah.

I started a .223 REM-for-deer project about 15 years ago, and frankly I enjoy my ought-sixes so much that I keep forgetting to finish it off. If I ever decide to do it for real, I'm certain from the writings of the folks on this august forum and elsewhere that it will work just fine.

Bottom line: Shotgun-only is wrong. Pistol-Caliber-only is wrong. Any proscription on centerfire chamberings is wrong, and the sooner we do away with them the better.

Yep Hoosier's are certainly unique and we can't responsibly handle our fire arms!

Thanks for the feed back from your blog. Interesting stuff.

Another benefit for me if the rule change goes through is that I can stop thinking about buying some land in KY so I can hunt deer with a rifle. I will start looking closer to home.

Scott

Yes, I did my decision like that back 15 years ago. I picked KY, partially because of the Sunday hunting proscriptions elsewhere and the shotgun-only goofiness. I'm happy with my choice, but if I was starting to look for property in the coming years, I'd be thinking IN as well.

When I want to hunt with my .257 Roberts or .35 Whelen I go to Kentucky. I have retired the rifled barrel slug gun that I hunted Indiana with for more than 25 years and now hunt with my Ruger 77/44 .44 Magnum.

gunwizard, If the 257 Roberts or 35 Whelen are too dangerous for Indiana, I would be careful with those severely lethal calibers in Kentucky as well.

But then again the 257 being close in dia. to the 243 probably should be lumped in with the 223 and 243 as well.

Really don't know if we should be doing this hunting thing guys, as it appears to be just too dangerous because of the guns.

gunwizard, just maybe the 44 mag is overkill as well.

Final decision is to be made in March of 2015, Interesting you can report the decision so early

To be honest, my understanding was that this was pretty much a done deal. I had not heard there was significant opposition to hold it up. If the outcome is in doubt, please forward me any information you have. I will do my best to report it fairly.

I have to apologize as well. I reported on the proposed rule change on my weblog, but did not take a huge interest in the matter until the deluge of readers hit. Hoosiers have been pounding my weblog for months now. I looked again yesterday: it would seem support among my readers is now closer to 10 to 1 in favor.

Hey jackwagon, I mean Mr. Chainsaw, you need to get your head out of your azz and wipe the chit out of your eyes. Read my replies before you respond, I never said that .257 Roberts or .35 Whelen were too dangerous for Indiana. I do hunt safely and responsibly with those calibers in Kentucky. The .257 Roberts is a deer cartridge, .223 and .243 are varmint cartridges. Never said guns/hunting were too dangerous, nor that .44 Magnum was overkill. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT, learn how to read and interpret what others are saying. I am no less entitled to my opinion than those who feel otherwise like yourself.

It will take a bit of time but using centerfire rifles will change the way Indiana hunters hunt. Generally they will become more precision shooters. I have hunted opening morning in many states over the years that use centerfire rifles. One shot here and there. The scariest morning of my life was my first hunt in Ohio ,at the time it was a slug only state. Sounded like a war. Guys taking multiple shots at every deer. Never seen anything like it. Lead flying everywhere. Some Guys were coming back to the trucks saying they had shot ten to fifteen times. Indiana will be just like every other state that uses centerfire. One shot kills will be the norm not the exception. The fewer follow up shots that are taken the safer the woods will be. We all know those second and third shots are generally on running deer and more likely to be wild than the first.
As to what caliber or rifle I would use ? I would select it depending on where I was hunting and how I was hunting just like i would in any other state. But you cant go wrong with any of the all around standard deer calibers in a bolt action rifle with a 20-24 inch barrel decent scope. But use what you got and enjoy it.