Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What did you use to kill your first deer?

I used a Stevens double 12 gauge. I still own it

Benelli 121 SL 12ga -Federal Premium 2 3/4" #4 Buck. November 7th, 1987

Weatherby Vanguard deluxe 338 win mag. In one eye out the other. Buddy looked at him and says “ you sucked the brains out of him.

Winchester Model 70 Short Action Carbine in 243. Took the shot off my father's shoulder. Shooting a 100g NPT That's been almost 20 years ago and I think this season is the first season since then I haven't carried that rifle at least once.

Mine was a Stevens double 20 ga. I took several deer with it.

kwg

NEF handi-rifle 243 win. Tasco world class 3-9x40. 95 gr ballistic tip Georgia Arms ammo.

Winchester M0d 94 in 30-30

Browning nomad bow. True flight arrow and a 125 zwicky.
I was in sixth grade and tossed one in the lungs at about 20 yards. Loved that bow. So simple. Wooden riser. Made a nice squeak when I came to full draw and everything lol. Cobra brass pins with painted heads. 3 pin sight. Stick on arrow flipper rest. 40 pounds if I remember right. Oh, can't forget the spinner bait skirt silencers. 😆

Daddy's 30/30 my momma bought for for
him in the 50's + - as a Sears employee back then.
( 60 some odd dollars if I'm remembering right)
IIRC the Federal ammo in the 10 round red
plastic belt carriers from Gibson's department
store cost a bit less than the Remington or
Winchester, so that's what I bought

That was back when the hunting magazines
all said that you couldn't kill a deer without
a magnum rifle and that the bullet needed
to expand greatly inside the animal and stay
just inside the carcass, or it had failed and
wasn't effective. I almost believed that for
a couple of times in my lifetime


( the one in the image gallery of Marlins I
had my nephew post for me some hours ago)

I started deer hunting late when I was in my early forties, until then upland birds was my thing.

Pinned a beautiful doe through the shoulders shooting a Browning 20 gauge Citori Superlight with a Foster slug @ 35 yards during shotgun season circa 2001.

I used a partially "sporterized" Italian 6.5 Carcano carbine to shoot my first mule deer. I only used it for a couple of years before I bought a 1903 Springfield, which I modified some and then used for some time.

This was all long ago and I've only gotten back to 6.5 cartridges relatively recently.

Weatherby Vanguard VGX in .243 Win. Both of my sons harvested their first deer with it as well.

It was December 28th 1963, I was 11 years 10 days old (my Dad kept great records) hunting with my grandfather near Turkey Creek, Louisiana. The firearm was an Over/Under Stevens 22/410, killed with a 410 slug @ 55 steps……I said that my Dad kept good records. 😉 It was a small racked (very small racked) buck. I hit him in the neck, not where I was aiming, and he eventually bled-out!

Possibly the first “legal” deer killed in Evangeline Parish! 😂

My Dad won the Stevens right after WWII, gave it to me when I was 8, I’ve since given it to my son. memtb

Savage Springfield 840 in 30-30 with a Springfield (?) 4x scope. I still have that rifle.

Dad was an independent shop automotive mechanic in the Park Cities region of Dallas, near SMU. The local auto parts store, Monarch Auto Parts, held a contest to award this rifle to the mechanic that purchased and installed the largest number of Monroe shocks. Dad won in a landslide.

The next year, they held another contest and awarded a Savage Springfield semi-automatic .22 with a scope. Again, Dad won in a landslide.

The following years, they changed the contest to award a string of imitation pearls for every 20 shocks sold - the other nearby mechanics were mad about Dad’s wins the previous two years.

The other guys didn’t have a chance. Dad had twice been recognized as the best independent shop automotive mechanic in Dallas. He never had a lack of work. In my avatar picture, Dad is the guy in the center wearing a red plaid shirt. Yes, I am proud of him. And I miss him.

'03-A3 Springfield (sporterized).

Rem 870 "Wingmaster" Deluxe 20 ga smoothbore slug gun... 14/15? yrs old in 77/78... shot a trotting fork buck at estimated 35 yds while sitting under a tree at sunrise on opening morning... Waupaca Cty Wi... (still have that 870)

Bear Archery Whitetail bow and 125 Wasp broadhead.

Model 94 30-30 with offset Bushnell 1.5-4

Remington Mohawk 600 in 243 in Dec 1975. I was 12. Still have the rifle.

Remington 600 Mohawk .308 with a 150 NBT. I was 10 or 11 years old.