Dad used a Savage M99-T, 250-3000 to hunt Whitetail deer, Mule deer, Antelope and Black bear. When he started hunting Elk he bought a pre-64 M70 30-06.

I don't own either one of his rifles. Wish I did.

Winchester model '94 in .30-30.

He hunted deer with a sporterized 03-A3 for most of his live, but killed his last buck with a Remington Model 7 in 7mm-08. He doesn't hunt any more.

dad used a winchester 94 rifle in 25/35 and a ruger 44 mag carbine, grandpa used a 03 springfield 30/06

Grew up in WNY (glad I'm out of that commie state!) and shot gunning or pistol hunting was our only options.
My dad also hunted PA rifle once or twice.
When in NY he used a 16 gauge Stevens bolt action shotgun - killed his fair share of deer with that, then he got into handgunning as well as me, he got a TC Contender super 14 in .357 Max and that is when I was impressed with the max (which made my choice cartridge for my sons first rifle) and I bought a Dan Wesson .44 mag.
A few yrs later I bought a TC Contender in .44 mag and my dad and I traded barrels so now he owns his .44 mag TC.
When he hunted PA he used a .308

Dad used a JC Higgins M50 30-06. Only big-game rifle he ever owned.

M 1 carbine, dumbest choice for a white tail rifle ever! Uncles all told him it was inadequate, but he was too cheap to buy a real deer rile. He has long since quit hunting, but I still can't fathom hunting with that old gun....

Savage 99EG in .300 Savage when I started hunting.

Remmy 742 Woodsmaster 30-06

to the best of my knowledge, my Dad never hunted big game or owned a centerfire rifle....don't know where in the hell I got the hunting "disease"......

my dad, like me, lives in ohio so muzzleloader or shotgun. but a few years ago he started going out of state to hunt and uses a winchester model 70 in .270WSM

Dad used a Remington 760 30-06 as his everything rifle- deer, bears, elk all fell to it. To see him shoot that rifle with iron buckhorn sights was a thing to behold. He could shoot better than most guys can shoot scoped rifles and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't talk him into a scope.
He passed several years ago and now my nephew's son just inherited the rifle to start hunting with next year. It will get a scope for his use, however.

Bob

I'm not sure what he hunted with before I was born. He bought a new Ruger 77 the first or second year they came out right around the time I was born and still uses it 40+ years later.

My dad has always used his Remington 700 30-06 for deer and elk. With his health declining I don't know how much longer he'll be able to go out and hunt.

He's been quite deadly with the rifle as I've watched him take a number of animals with it.

M77 Hawkeye 30/06 with a fixed 4x Bushnell for some... But mainly my Grandpa's 1952 M70 300 H&H Improved. I have no idea how many heads of game those two rigs are responsible for, but it's likely more than I'll ever come close to taking.

1958 Super Grade 30.06 Winchester Model 70 with a Leopold VX III

+1

My dad killed his first deer just a few years ago, after I killed my first. He uses one of my rifles since I always seem to have plenty on hand

He did rabbit and squirrel hunt and one day I will get the 12ga Wingmaster he used that my grandfather bought new in the mid 1950's.

Here is a surprise for a Canadian hunting family. Dad used a 35 Winchester until he bought a #1mkIII SMLE in 303 post 1950. He changed to a Savage 99 in about 1973 and used the teo of them interchangeably. I have the SMLE and my daughter the savage.

1954 Marlin 336RC in 30-30.. took it out this last season, though I didn't get anything with it. It'll keep going out every couple of years.

My dad's only rifle was an 98 Mauser, 8mm, WWII with nazi swastika marked on receiver - it was bought for $12.00 at a farm auction. The stock was a home-made custom with a hunk of 2x4 glued and screwed to the butt, then sawn and sanded to conform to the shape of the stock. It added 4 inches to the length of pull, far too long for others but he liked it just fine. He was a lefty (Pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates during WWII because he couldn't get into the armed forces due to a childhood accident which damaged his lungs.) but taught himseelf to shoot from his right shoulder and even shot his recurve bow right-handed. It was passed down to me when he died and it is now a .416 Taylor that was glass bedded in an ancient Bishop stock. It has double set triggers and an ancient Weaver 1.5 to 4 scope. It works just great on cape buffalo and white tails. Every time I pick it up I can see my dad smiling.

my dad did not hunt or shoot

Dad used a 1963 vintage Marlin 336 in .30-30 that he bought at K-mart for $62.00. In fact, he died holding it in 2003. I still hunt with it periodically.

Though there were many, these are what I remember most.

Schultz & Larsen 7X61 S&H
700 Classic 7X57
700 BDL .25-06

When he was younger, a pre-64 Winchester model 94 .30-30. I'm not sure when he switched, but I always remember him using my Grandfather's sporterized Springfield 1903 .30-06 with a fixed 4x Weaver scope.

He still has both rifles.

This. And I still take it out at least once a year.

He also had that JC Higgins 30-06 for a few years as well. That's the one I shot my first moose with, remember? He shot a nice 10 point with the same rifle. Wish I knew where that one went to.

And do you know what I think?

IIRC, The only deer rifles my Dad ever used was a .30-40 Krag. I believe he owned three all total. Still had two when he passed.

The one minor exception was a 'Pre-64 Win. M-94 in .30-30. He only used it one year. He pinched his finger between the trigger and the lever, and hated it ever since. In 1968, he gave it to me with the statement: "This is yours to use as long as you want... And when I'm gone, it's yours..." He took it back in 1973, and I later found out he traded it for a CB radio... He passed in 1994. I never inherited any of his guns... Always been a sore spot with me... And, sadly,, I don't miss him in the least.

GH

Addendum: Today I own many times as many firearms as he ever did. And much nicer ones as well. But for senimental reasons known only to me... I keep a sporterized .30-40 Krag, and I have a Pre-War M-94 in .30-30 that is much nicer than my 1st, but somehow, it just isn't the same... So goes life... I wonder if he will be one of the "Five people I meet in Heaven"... But somehow, I doubt it!

Un-altered Eddystone Arsenal P-17. And he'd still be using it if he could see the irons

His favorite was a Marlin 336 in 35 rem. Wish I could scan photos as I have one from the late 50's-early 60's showing him with the rifle and a nice deer.

Big game was limited to Whitetails, but mine used a Marlin 36 in .30-.30 and later a Savage 99 in .308 with a weaver 4x.

Mine used a sporterized Springfield 03 in 06 until the 60's when he had it opened up to 30-338. He is 82 now and shooting a Browning low-wall in 260 that I picked up for him.

My dad did not kill a big game animal with a rifle, until very late in life. It was a Marlin MR-7 in 30-06.

Growing up in IN he did all of his gun hunting with one of two Mossberg 500s. The reason it's one of two, is that I lost the first one! Left it on the trunk of the car and then drove off...DOH!

Likewise here.
Dad hunted damn near everything with the old Krag. Between it, a Marlin 39 and a Greener ten guage gamekeepers gun he had all the bases covered.
Sadly, he loaned the Greener to an uncle and the Krag to my brother. Neither of them will ever be seen again by family. I got the Marlin though.

Remington 1100 loaded w/ 00

David

My father used a Marlin 94 in 38-40 his entire life about a 1936 vintage, for whitetail. He probbaly killed a lot more deer than most,but this was before those whitetail evolved with kevlar hides. We talked him into taking a .308 ,Model 88,scoped, one year and he complained that he didn't get a shot at a nice buck because he could not see thru the scope clearly.
In the 40's, 50's, and early 60's a Marlin or Winchester chambered in 30-30, 32, Special or 35 Reminton was the firearm of choice when I was a youngster in. PA

My Dad hunted everything with a 16ga. Remington 11-48.

He didn't. Until I got him set up with a Marlin XS7 in 7-08 a few years ago, that is

The first I know of, was a sporterized 303 British Enfield. I still remember how good that gun looked.

Around 1960 (?) dad bought a new Rem 760, 30-06.

In the '80s he bought a new Rem M 6, 270. I have it today.

A sporterized model 98 with a Douglass barrell a j�ger trigger nice walnut stock in the California pattern with a diamond inlay right below the action. The caliber 264 Win. Scope a Redfield with an accutrack.

1960 Chevrolet station wagon with 283. Only got 1 doe with it!

Pre 64 Model 70 in .300 H&H Mag. Monashee

Dad used a model 94 .30-30 all his life. Gramps had the same in .32 special.

My Dad still uses one of the guns my great grandfather owned . Its a modle 54 winchester bolt action 30-30 circa 1942. It has the smoothest action of anything we own, but I can't stand that over the top safety lever on it.I still have Great granddads lever action 94 in 30-30 as well from 1940 something sitting in the safe with the leather horse scabbard.

He started out with a Jap 7.7 grandpa brought home from the war, later a chilian in 7.65 Argentine, 308 Norma in an 03a3, finally a VZ24 in 6mm-06 killed on last year with it, he just turned 73 slow but still going!

My dad hunted with a M70 .300 WM with a 6x scope of unknow make. By the time I was old enough to pay attention to those things he put a Simmons 6x scope on it. Not a good piece of glass. He died 7 years ago and I have the rifle now, but don't hunt with it. He bought me a S&W 1500 .300 WM as my first rifle and I use that when I need that much power. He used the .300 WM for everything in Montana...Elk, Mule Deer and Whitetail. Thought it was the best caliber for out west.

M1 Garand hunting deer in Europe after WWII. To the best of my knowledge he never hunted big game in the US. He hunted a lot of quail and squirrels and rabbits as a boy growing up in North Carolina.

Model 94 3-30 when I was growing up, but now he only hunts with flintlocks, .50 and .45 cal.

My Dad bought this in '56, Win 70.270FW,then a .30/06 later '60 or so.... No scope had ever been mounted until 1973,then a 4X Redfield,that I still have on something...

In his early 40's, Dad's father-in-law offered to let him take his place on a sheep hunt. With it came the loan of a rifle, since Dad didn't have one. I didn't know what 7m/m meant (7mm Mauser, it turns out), nor had I ever heard of the name on the barrel: Griffin & Howe. If they didn't advertise in Outdoor Life, I was sure it must be some rinky-dink outfit. It sported a Lyman Alaskan 2.5x scope.

As it turns out, my Great Grandfather walked into Abercrombie & Fitch (apparently they used to be outfitters, before they decided to sell gay sex in shopping malls...) in NYC & got that rifle way back when.

Over the years, Dad took whitetail, mule deer, antelope, elk, moose, bighorn, & stone sheep with it. For three generations, it was treated like a tool - well maintained, but never babied. Plenty of scratches in a beautiful stock, worn bluing, scratches in the metal, etc. but it handles like a dream, & kills like lightning.

2 Springs ago, I tried to hook Dad up with a boar, but the pigs wouldn't cooperate. I did, however, get his bolt disassembled & cleaned, and the barrel pitting polished out, and the scope refurbished.

This is where I returned it to him at his 80th birthday. How I'd love for him to take at least one more trophy with it.






FC

Model94 30/30 and Rem.700 .308

Browning A5

^this^

Still got it.

As far as I know dad only went deer hunting one time in his life. Borrowed a slug gun from his brother. To this day he only owns a 12ga pump, a single barrel 12ga, and a single shot 22lr he bought before enlisting in the army. Never has ever fired the two 12s and only killed a snake or two with the old single shot .22. But I'll tell you what, he is hell on wheels with a baseball bat when it comes to knocking a possum outta the park when they are sitting on the banister trying to figure out how to get in the garbage can. I have witnessed this more than once.

Not sure where I get the passion for hunting...I can only remember him taking me rabbit hunting a few times growing up...he turned me loose when I was 11 and I don't think he's been hunting since.

Wow. What a great day there. I hope he gets 1 more also.
Thanks for posting.

My Dad started out with a 94 in 32 Special, then moved on to a Savage 110E LH in 243 the year I was born, 1976. He recently moved on to a 30-06 in a weather warrior Savage, now that he is out of CA and in NM where he can Elk hunt.

Savage 99 in 303 savage...He still has it, but doesn't hunt anymore.

My dad used a Savage 99EG in .300 Sav. with Weaver K4 that my grandfather (mom's dad) gave him as a wedding gift. Took my first moose with it and still hunt with it at least a few times a year.

Cheers,

R

Win model 94 in 30-30

Somewhere in the mid-50's my Dad bought a Winchester 94 in .32 Winchester Special from one of his older brothers and to my knowledge it's the only gun he's hunted deer with since. 60+ years with the same rifle. I almost can't fathom that.

A couple years ago Dad told me that when he's ready to give up hunting completely it'll be mine. I'm anxious to own it, but I can wait..

my dad was a quail/dove hunter, and used a browning a-5 for at least 30 years.

when he gave the a-5 to me, i sent it back to browning to have any worn parts replaced, new wood, and re-blued, then i gave it to my son.

my dad did own a couple model 94's in 30-30, but never used them to my knowledge.

My dad didn't hunt, he fished. My Uncle took me hunting. He used an old Remington 760 Gamemaster in 30-06, with the 180 grain Corelokt or Federal round nose ammo---whatever was on sale. He was positively lethal with that rifle, the whitetail deer had no chance, sounded like machine gun fire.

My Dad used a Sears&Robuck version of the FN 98 in 30-06. I only saw him use handloads of surplus 4831 and 180 gr. Herter's semi- spitzers. It worked! He got Mom a 94 in 30-30 and used handloads for it.

Winchester M-70 30-06 vintage 1965. He has shot a ton of deer including this year.

-Z

His first rifle that I know of was a Remington 700 in 6mm Remington. It was also my first rifle after he bought it back from the coworker he sold it to.

The one he hunted the most with was a 700 Varmint Special in 6 mm. During the last 5-6 years of his life he bought several different rifles, including a 700 Classic in 300 H & H which he used to take his two cow elk in '01 and '03. He passed in 2006 and I miss him terribly.

I have the 6mm and my son has a Ruger #1 in .270 that was his. I also have two rifles from each of my Grandfather's. These 3 are my prized possessions.

KC

My dad shot his first deer with a Savage 99 in .303 Savage. Later on he bought a M88 Winchester in .308 and killed a lot of deer and a few elk with that. Then he carried a pre-64 M70 in .264 mag for many years and shot a bunch of deer and elk with that until Winchester quit making the 2 diameter bullets that he liked. Then he carried an Interarms Mauser .270 win. for quite a while, followed by a M700 classic in .338 Win Mag. Over the last decade he's carried a Wby ultralightweight in 7mm Rem Mag. He used a Sako 75 in .375 H&H when we went to Africa. Still has all the rifles mentioned above except for the Savage which was his dad's and his brother ended up with that.

My dad hunted with a 94 .32 spl..my grandfather a model 54 .30-06..I still have both, and occasionally hunt with both..for a period of 10 years from the time I was 15-25, I used the old 06 for everthing..Just shot deer, antelope, and mt. lion with the .32..

Considering only centerfires, Dad always hunted with a 336 in .35 Rem from the time I was a little kid until about 9 or 10 years ago when my brother, sister, and I purchased a 30-06 for him. I finished a Rimrock stock and bedded it to the rifle. It's the only centerfire he's hunted with since he's owned it. He decided to sell the .35 Rem....and I purchased it from him.

Dad hunted squirrels with a bolt action Western Field .22 when he was a young kid. By the time he was married and had kids he'd decided that guns and hunting were a waste of time and money. Hunting was discouraged at every turn while I was growing up. May be why I have several guns now.

Mostly Dad hunted big game - with me. He recognized a designated dragger when he saw one. He shot critters with a variety of firearms; shotguns, rifles, revolvers, muzzle loaders, and even killed a deer, with a Deere (John Deere that is).

He was picking corn using the two-cylinder "marvel" (630, gas) when a buck that was running out of rows to hide in, bolted for the nearby cover of a creek bed. In so doing, the deer hit the Deere, right where that big ol' flywheel is on those old tractors. "Konk" went the tin cover on the flywheel, just a moment before the rear wheel of tractor squished the life out of the downed buck.

Savage 99F in 300 Sav. that he bought from a coworker along about 1960BD. (BD=Before Dale) Before that, a Win 94 in 32 Spl. He'll be 81 this year and is still using the Savage. I started hunting with the Winchester back in the 70's and hunted with it again this year.

Dale

Pops has had a Belgium made BAR in '06 since the mid-70's. He has only used 150gr Winchester Silvertips since he picked it up. He's shot a bunch of deer with that rifle. Before that he used a 336RC 30-30. Before that, his uncle Kermit loaned him a similar 336.

Sporterized Springfield 3006. I am sure he had other hunting rifles before I was old enough to know the difference but the 06 was on all of the hunts we had together.

A Nine Iron.

DMc

When I was a kid he used a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem. He pretty much stopped hunting by the time I got really into it, but thankfully, he has picked it back up later in life. Now, he mostly shoots a Ruger Hawkeye in .270 and is having a ball!

My Dad never really hunted big game. He had a Ithaca 16ga & a High Standard HD target pistol and later I gave him a K38 S&W both pistols were lost in a break in. I later gave him a model 10 m&p 39 spl to have around the house. I don't know where I got the hunting bug so bad but I do remember him letting me pull the trigger on the high standard wholenhe held it when I was too small to hold its weight. I also can remember sering him knock a squirrel put of the top of a big hickory with that pistol when I was about. 5

Remington 721 re-barreled to .22 Varminter in early 1960s before the 22-250 was a factory round. Shot everything with it.

He restocked it with a Fajan stock which he finished.

My dad had a pair of 99EGs, a 300 and a 250.

My dad used a Winchester M1917 30-06 he got from the NRA. He lightly sporterized it by putting it in fajen stock. I have it and shoot it once in a while. The windage is way off, which makes me wonder how anyone was successful using it....

Started with a No.1 SMLE .303 british for the first 10 years or so.

Upgraded to a Remington 760 30-06 and weaver K4 that he used for 30 years for moose and deer.

After his retirement, he went to Germany, visited the Sauer factory and got them to make him a custom engraved M200 in .270 with a Zeiss 4X scope. He used that for his last ten years or so and shot a few deer and 3 elk and two caribou with it.

my dad used a Savage Model 1920 in .300 Savage. He kept the famly fed with venison during the last part of the depression years. He also had a FN A-5 for birds. Because ammo was relatively expensive in those days - he almost never missed! My sister has his Savage but I got his A-5! Mel Chung

My Dad hunted whitetails here in Maine up until two years ago.
He mostly used a Remington Model 81 in .300 Sav. In 1970, he bought a new Browning BAR in .308 and hunted with it quite a bit.
Toward the end, wanting a lighter rifle, he hunted with a Browning Model 81 (a bit ironic) Lever action in .308. I have the BAR.

My father had one of the most accurate 336's in 30-30 I have ever shot and it had beautiful tiger striping in the wood. Wish I still had that rifle.

There was no big game to hunt here while he was alive. He died in 1965. The only gun he owned was a single shot Remington .22. He had given up any form of hunting by the time I was old enough to hunt. He taught me gun safety and taught me how to shoot, but it was my uncles (mom's brothers) took me hunting with them.

My father used a Marlin 336 in 35 Remington most of his life. Later when he sat more, he used a Sako built on a Mauser action in 270 Win.

My dad was an 870 man, but it was because he was a bird hunter, not a big game hunter. I picked up big game hunting through some co-workers in high school.

He didnt, he used an A-5 full choked Browning 12 gauge loaded with #4 Buck, he shot deer outta there beds and in the creek bottom thickets.

That dude could hunt, not just shoot.

Gunner

Pre-64 Model 70 .264 Win. Mag.

Model 700 264 win mag 140 sierra game kings .. poor PA deer didnt stand a chance

oh and 2 custom made .50 flintlock rifles including an original Hawken's copy and a Kentucky Long rifle with curly maple wood

My Dad used a Winchester M 70 .270 Win with a Weaver 3x-9x scope,that he bought in 1971-72,my brother has it now.

My dad use a Savage 99, .300 with a Lyman Alakan 2 1/2 power scope. We lived in Northern Vt. near the Canadian border. Almost every year he hunted moose in Queebec, Ontario, or Newfoundland. The area he hunted in Ontario is now Alogonguin Park (sp?) Sometime deer in maine or New Brunswick. He later bought a M70 Winchester in ..300H&H but never seemed to use it much. It was later stolen when our house was broken into. By luck the 99 was in his truck and wasn't lost. I still have it today.

He shot a lot of deer and moose with the Savage using 180 corlockts or 180 silvertips.

lefty C

760 Gamemaster in .308, with Williams peep sight.

Winchester 1886 LW takedown, .33WCF bought new in 1936
Remington 141 Gamemaster .32 Rem bought new in 1938
Sako L61 Finnbear .270 WCF bought new in 1963
Browning BAR 30-06 bought new in 1969 or so

My old man had a Rem 700 in 25-06 that gave him nothing but problems. He had a lot of issues with it. He also used a Remington 721 .270 that my grandfather used all across the US. I have also used the rifle. Very important family heirloom.

Dad also hunted a lot of quail with an AH Fox 20.

My dad hunted for a few short years but when he did it was a Remington 1148 12 guage.

Nothing, 1st generation hunter.

Grandpa married Grandma back in the 1920's. For their first wedding anniversary, Grandma had saved up a boat load of "green stamps" and redeemed a Savage 99 Take Down in 300sav and 5 bullets.

As the story goes, grandpa sighed it in and they still dined on 3 deer that season even though he didn't buy any more bullets then. He hunted with that rifle pretty much his entire adult life then passed it on to my older brother (358WSM on here). I don't recall ever seeing a scope on it while in Grandpa's hands...

Dad's first dedicated deer rifle, I believe, was an old Winchester Lever gun in 32 special. Although, the first deer he ever took was with his 22LR. The deer walked up on him and stuck it's head through some thick brush only about 10 yards from Dad. He hit him in the white spot on the front of its neck...

he didn't

Never knew either one to be a liar, but you could be right as I could have the details off...

But for the sake of argument... who didn't what?

Sporterized US mod 1917 Enfield, 30-06. Still have it and I killed my first big game animal with it.

His 'He didn't' is in response to 'What rifle did your dad hunt bag game with'

DOH!

My brain is fried as of late...

My apologies Whelenman

Thanks Scott.

Dad started hunting with a sporterized M98 that my Grandpa bought him when he was a kid, he still has it(although it has been rebarreled in 8mm Gibbs and had a scope added), although usually he carries his Grandfather's 1966 M94 30-30 these days(he'll probably switch back to the 98 one of these years, he keeps saying he's gonna give the old 94 to my nephew, ya know, he was the first grandson).

Pop was a bird hunter. Quail, Dove, Ducks. He did not do much big game hunting, but when he did, he used a Winchester 94, iron sights, in .30-30

No1 MK3 SMLE as original military shape, still have it

Remington Model 700 in 270 Win is what I remember the most - scoped to with a 6x Leupold with dot - he sold it after a hot Norma load locked the action up. Wish I had it and it explains my unrelenting love of the 270 Win. A man can never have to many.

He moved on to a Browning BAR in 7mm Rem Mag after that - that gun accounted for a pile of elk and deer.

My Dad never hunted anything more than rabbits and squirrels.

Savage 99eg, 250-000. I think he got it in 53? He still hunts with it at 80 years old.

Dad's first was a 760 Carbine in 30-06. He used that from the late '50's till around '73 or '74 when he got an Interarms mark X in 7mm Rem Mag. Used that until his death in '98.

Mom ended up selling alot of his guns after he died, but I have the 760 Carbine. It still wears a Winfield 3x9 scope that's probably nearly as old as the rifle.

Dad only went deer hunting one time to the best of my knowledge. Guns were tools to him, nothing more. He had an open sighted Marlin 336 .30-30 for his heavy, a beat up 16 ga pump for quail and duck, and a SS .22 Win., usually loaded with shorts and a single shot .410 for vermin around the house. I think he was about 85 the last time I saw him send a coyote to the happy rabbit hunt. He shot him at a little over 100 yards with the open sights on the .30-30. I mounted a scope on the 336 for him when he was about 80. He promptly returned it to me. Jack

Dad never hunted big game when I was a kid, nor did Granddad, who spent more time teaching us kids to shoot than Dad did.

Granddad took three deer that I know of, the first when he was 84 years old. He used Uncle's .270 Rem. Dad never did take a deer but I know he missed at least one. Granddad gave up deer hunting as 'too much work' after his third one. He must have been 88 or 89 at the time.

Same here for years, then a Lee-Enfield he sporterized himself. He loved to tinker.

My pop is a city boy from NY and doesn't hunt. My first hunts and mentor was my maternal grandfather who hunted mostly with a Model 12 and a 700 in 243 in upstate NY. He used the shotty for birds and deer and the 243 for chucks.

Being a Texan, my hunts with Grandpa were limited. My godfather is the one who introduced me to deer hunting. He uses a Sako 22-250. He has always taken head and neck shots. He's pretty good at it too.

Dad used a Remington 721 bought in 1946 I think. Had a 4X
Unertl scope on it. Tool over a hundred dear and 2 cow Elk.
He,s almost 97 now. Quit hunting at 89 or 90. The rifle is in
my safe, it,s a real tack driver.

Pre-64 in 270win

While i was growing up he always said he wanted a 300 weatherby, I bought him one about 10 years ago..He hasnt hunted with it yet, always shows up with the 270.

Early 70's my dad, grandfather and uncle all bought Winchester 100's in .308. They each took plenty of critters with theirs, my grandfathers now sits in my safe.

Remington 740 in '06, plus a Mauser in '06 bought for a Canadian moose hunt in the mid '60s.

721 Rem. in 30-06, bought for his graduation from H.S. in 1952. He bought me a 700 BDL 06 in 75 for my grad. and i bought my son a 700 SS DBM 06 for his grad. in ( i think) 02. Dad passed in June 09, he took a deer with that rifle in Nov. 08. Would trade every gun i own for one more day in deer camp with him.

Dad hunted with a Remington 721 in 30/06. I killed my first deer with that same rifle.

John

I shot my first deer with my Dad's 721 in 30-06. His first rifle was a Winchester 94 carbine in 25/35, the Next was a Winchester 54 in .270. Before purchasing the 721, he had a sporterized Springfield 30-06.

I have some interesting stories.

My dad started hunting with a 22 single shot that he found in the hay loft with a rotted buttstock. He carved a new one and went to putting small game on the kitchen table in the 40's.
His Mom and Dad supplied the 22 shorts, and there was no wasting ammunition back then. Head shots were emphasized, so as not to waste any meat. Squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, pigeons all went into the larder.

In the 60's when he started big game hunting he bought a surplus Argentine in 7mm mauser. Shortly after I was born in 67 he bought a 760 Gamemaster in 270 Winchester and has killed a pile of deer/antelope and some elk. He used it last fall to fill his deer and antelope tags. He has used Hornady 130gr Interlocks in it for most of that time. I have loaded some other stuff for him, but he always wants those 130gr.

I have seen/heard him shoot that rifle when it almost sounds like a auto going off. Someday it will reside in my safe, but I prefer that it will be in many more years.

The only rifle that Dad ever used to hunt deer since I've been around was a Remington 740 in '06. My Uncle and Grandpa always used identical 742s in '06.

Somewhere in my early adult life I was bit by the rifle bug or I'd likely have limited myself early on to a 7600 in either '06 or .308.

George

mostly a pre-64 FWT M70 '06, which I still hunt with.

sometimes a .30-30 Marlin, and after he started having shoulder problems a ported Ruger 7 mag.

A Ruger 77 in 270 WIN. He used it exclusively for the last 30 years of his life.

My father only ever owned one deer rifle, an early 336 30-30. He was uncanny good with it. I did see him shoot a fair number number of deer with other rifles and the occasional shotgun though.

My dad always used a Spanish Mauser in 7x57. Old school Fajen stock, Bishop barrel, with a Weaver K4 on it. We ate well.

Certainly the one I heard the most about was a std pre 64 model 70 in 270 winchester, with a K6 on it. We pretty much lived on mule deer in my early years.
For birds (mostly ducks and geese) a model 12 in 12 gauge. Both were sold when we moved to the coast, unfortunately.

Before I started hunting he used a 760 Remington .30-06. After that he used a Remington 7600 carbine .30-06 which he may still hunt with to this day? I'm not sure as we haven't spoken in a long time.

My dad hunted the most dangerous game with an M1 Garand, and a Thompson Submachine gun. He lost his taste for killing anything after that...

Winchester pre 64 M70 .264
Rem. 760 .257 Roberts
Vanguard 7 mm mag
Mark V .257 Mag

Actually more of a bird hunter.

stumpy

Dad never hunted after I came along, but we fished and camped all the time and still do. My maternal grandfather used to take me coon and squirrel hunting with his Walker hounds all the time though. He owned two beat up old shotguns. One was a Wards Western Field pump 16 gauge and a Steven single shot 16 gauge as well. He always kept a couple of slugs in his pocket in case we got close enough to a deer to shoot. It never happened. We jumped enough deer to peak my interest though, and I taught myself to deer hunt on his farm with a Spanish 8mm Mauser surplus rifle I managed to scrape enough money up to buy. I moved up to a slick Marlin 335 35 a couple of years later.

When my Dad was growing up in the Depression, there WASN'T any big game (deer) to speak of in Mississippi. Their game was any shotgun or .22 available for quail, rabbits, squirrels and such. That was what got me started too. My uncle belonged to a deer club north of Vicksburg. He invited me to go along several times in the mid-'60's and that was what lit the fire of deer hunting in me along with reading "Field and Stream", "Outdoor Life", etc.

I was around 15 before I even saw my first deer (does) while specifically hunting them and about a year later, MISSED the first buck I ever shot at . (shooting does was illegal at that time)

Bought an A5 from a vet who'd bought it new, fired it twice - and stuffed in the corner of a closet for twenty-some years. Said he'd seen enough killing.

My yen for a k98 Mauser was put on hold for many years, when after hearing of my desire to own one, Dad's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened, as he hissed, "you bring one of those around - I'll melt it."

He meant it.

My dad started with an 03-a3 that my grandpa got from the hardware store and sport prized. Next he got a beautiful Sako Finnbear '06. Story is an navy admiral ordered it when he was stationed in Greece then retired before it came in. PX sat on it over a year at full retail then started marking it down $10.00 a week. When it hit $375 my pops bought it. Classic smooth action sako with great accuracy but heavy. For the last 20 years its been a 77 MKII in '06.

He has lots of deer capable rifles but that old worn M77 is the only ove he ever grabs, it's beat and ugly but shoots super.

P14 sporter in .303,
Brazilian mauser, shilen barreled .270 win,
Beautiful custom VZ33 in 6mm rem,
Browning BAR .270 win
Ruger mini 14,

My brothers and I bought him a Sako Finnlight .270 topped with a Zeiss conquest which does most of his hunting these days which isn't much. He's still capable but its not high on priority list which is a shame.

He used a Winchester model 94 30-30 he bought used for $30 in high school, since his eyesight got to bad for open sights in the 90's he bought a scoped Ruger M77 in .308Win.

My dad started out on a Winchester model 1894 .30-30 made in 1912.
He graduated to a Winchester model 70 FWT in .30-06. When he got out of the Army in '64 or '65 he brought home a .300 WBY Mag be bought while stationed in West Germany.

He still has the .30-30 and the .300 WBY mag. The model 7 got sold to pay bills for his family (wife and 3 kids, all before the age of 25). I used the WBY in 1995 to take a nice 5x5 bull.

When the Weatherby got too heavy he bought a Browning Stainless Stalker in .30-06. That's his go-to now.


P

Dad was a dairy farmer, and aside from the duck pond at the back of the place, probably didn't get much time to hunt. After he retired, he started deer/elk hunting some with his brothers. Borrowed a Win. 1895 30.06 (a brute of a rifle as I remember it) first time out from my Grandfather. Then fixed himself up a Lee Enfield .303. When Savage introduced the first commercial left handed bolt action, well Dad was all over that one! Got himself a Model 110 in 30.06, and was so excited about it you'd have thought he'd died and gone to heaven! Put a Weaver 2.5x on it. Couple seasons later I remember going out to the range to make sure it was on...first shot took out the "X" at 100 yds. Said, "Close enough!", packed it up and we went home.

Damn, that was a long time ago...and yet seems like yesterday.

Take your dad hunting, you probably owe him.

What he said exactly! My Dad had a shotgun, but I never knew him to shoot it. He took my brother and I deer hunting, but looking back, I doubt that he even had any shells for his gun. Knowing that he wasn't a hunter but that he took us anyway probably means more to me now than if he had been a big hunter and actually enjoyed what we were doing.

He basicaly used 3 rifles while I was growing up. A Browning FN Safari in 30-06, a Browning BAR in 30-06 and a Marlin 336C in .35 Rem.

His favorite rifle for the last 16 years has been a Browning A-Bolt Micro Medallion in 7-08.

He hunted whitetails with a Winchester model 94 32 special

My Dad never hunted big game and only took me duck hunting a couple of times before he quite hunting. My big game hunting mentor (who eventually became my father-in-law) used a Remington 721 in .270 Winchester with a Weaver 4X scope for everything. He was deadly with it.

My dad started hunting deer with a Model 94 in 32 Spl and then went to an early Remington 760 in 30-06, which he still uses to this day (over 45 years)

I do not remember what his first big game rifle was but growing up I all my Dad ever used was his remington 700 8mm Mag. It was the only big game rifle he owned and while it may have been a little overkill it worked very well on PA whitetails. He now does almost all of his rifle hunting with a model 7 in a 7mm-08. My brother and I have also used both guns to shoot deer.
I only got to hunt with my grandfather for one year and his go to rifle was a remington 760 in 300 savage with a 4x unertl. He used 150 gr for deer and 180 gr for bear. My Dad now owns that gun and I have also used it to shoot a doe a few years ago.

started out with a double barrell lafever 12guage with punkin balls. then he bought a model 94 30-30 when i was a kid.

Aside from a daisy pump action BB gun, my dad only purchased one firearm in his life......a winchester model 37, 16 ga. shotgun, for me to use when I was 13 yrs old. It just came out of the blue one day, when he said, "come on lets go to the hardware store". Next thing I know, we got us a shotgun at the house. He'd hook me up with a squirrel hunter,or a deer hunter (dog drive). He had served in the North Carolina Guard during college and he spoke of becoming a decent marksman once he switched to shooting left handed. Even though he didn't own a firearm, he had a passion for turkey shoots (he could not drive past one without stopping). He took a casual interest in any long gun I purchased but he had no interest in hunting at all. We lived in a neighborhood and couldn't do any shooting on our property, nor did he ever pursue any recreational shooting elsewhere. He used to say, "nothing can kill you quicker than electricity and natural gas". Those were two subjects he had absolutely no desire to learn about. I think he regarded firearms as a close third and left it at that.

Dad used an open sight Rem .270 pump exclusively. He could let 'em fly with that rig.

Winchester model 94 in .32 Winchester Special.

Ithaca 37 in 16 bore. For everything.

My dad's deer shotgun was a Ithaca auto 10, rifle was mannlicher stocked carl gustav 7mm Wtby, rifle for bear the same but in 340.

Although my Father hunted and had guns as a kid, After he came home from Korea, he wasn't into guns.

He took me and a friend hunting for our first time out and didn't bring a gun. He just wanted to ensure we were using safe gun handling techniques.

Eddystone 300 win mag and .444 Marlin.

My dad hunted with a 1950s winchester model 70 300 H&H magnum. I still have the rifle but can't afford to shoot it too much.

Dad started with a surplus Swede when he was a pup, along with his dad and older bro. Then a Savage 340 in 222 Rem for a few years and sold it while in a bind. Always kept the Swede hot,with the exception of the occasion to use his Hornet.

A couple years ago I refurb end his old Swede with some new stuff, barrel, trigger, swing safety and such. Last Feb I found another Savage 340 222 like he had after high school. I bought it for this birthday. He passed last August without ever using his refurbed Swede or new/ old 222. I have them both now.

Dad used an Enfield in 303 British up until about 1976 and then he bought a Remington 760 in 30-06.

My dad had two beautifully finished, sporterized 98 Mausers - one in 7x57 and the other in 8x57 - both with aperture sights. This is way back in the 40's and 50's before scopes were popular. He did 95% of his huting with these two. He taught marksmanship in the army and he could really shoot some. His favorite of the two was the 7x57.

Another gun that he had and loved was a Win71 in, of course, .348. He didn't hunt with it much. I sure did admire that gun.

He hunted with a Shilen barreled Winchester 70 chambered in 280 Rem.

As a three year old kid, I accompanied my dad to buy his first deer rifle in 1956. (I don't remember the day, but he told me the story many times.) The local gun shop had a flood sale, and on the rack were a bunch of new rifles, all with water damaged stocks to one degree or another. He walked in with his tax refund money burning a hole in his pocket- a whopping $60. (How he talked Mom into letting him splurge it on a gun, I'll never know.) Sitting there side by side was a new Savage Model 340 .30/30 for $45, and a Model 70 .30/06 for $60. Since the M70 would've taken all of his money leaving him with nothing to buy shells with, he opted for the 340, and used the change to buy two boxes of shells and a cheap hunting knife. He used that rifle for many years and shot a bunch of deer with it, but he always regretted not having been able to swing for the M70. Later he 'graduated' to a Springfield sporter and a bunch of Savage lever guns.

As a little kid I thought that rifle was the epitome of high power rifles, and couldn't conceive of a better one. (I especially liked how my ears would ring after he would fire it! Yikes!)

He passed away young (59) in 1990, and I gave his old 340 to my nephew a couple of years ago, who has carried it a few times deer hunting in honor of his grandfather.

First was a Win 92 in .25-20. The action went through a fire. A new barrel was screwed in with a pipe wrench, tracks are still on the barrel. Headspace is horrendously excessive. He still shoots it about as much as anything else. I've never killed a deer with it but I've killed a black bear or two with it.

Second was a Winchester 95 in .30-40 he bought when he was in grade school or high school. It's Mexican Army surplus, missing about 8 inches of rifling. It still shoots.

Third is a sporterized 03-A3 given to him by my mom's dad right after he and mom got married. The trigger is crap, some kind of aluminum alloy I think, and he has to re-cut the sear every few years. It has a Palma Match barrel on it but he he let that rust so it's nothing special. The gunsmith who drilled and tapped it did so off center so the rear bridge is swiss-cheesed and the scope mount is shimmed ... now with layers of soda can, used to be match book paper.

He's got a handful of other rifles ... a '92 in .38-40 that was mom's before she died.

Truth is, other than the .25-20, the rifle he uses most is one I picked up, 50/50 with him, for mom as a birthday or christmas present. It's one of the "green meanie" Ruger 77s in '06 ... one of 200 or so Ruger made to market test green laminate vs brown laminate stocks. Unfortunately, he cut the stock down for her and added a recoil pad ... did an ugly job of it, too ... so it's just a rifle. He cusses it up one side and down the other, but he keeps on shooting it.

Tom

Pre-64 model 70 featherweight in 270. His rainy weather gun was a Savage 99 in 250-3000. The Savage is mine now, the Winchester will be one day

A M721 in 30-06, a very short-lived affair with a M742 in 30-06, and for the past 43 years, a M77 in 30-06--all them using 180 gr Corelockts.........


Casey

Sort of shows we are living in the golden age of hunting as it is obvious that we are enjoying a much higher level of disposable income than our fathers had

bangeye, you are right..also, ever look at the guns available for the general public in say 1950???? Not much by today's standard..no wonder wildcats were so popular then..

Foremost 6400 (Savage 340) .222 Rem. He shot one antelope with it, otherwise mostly jacks and fox.
For BG he recieved a Remington 700 .30-06 from my Mom. It was also my first BG rifle.

Some of my most memorable times with dad were those times when stories of Hill Country deer and his Savage 340 or Swede. Seems Brady TX was full of deer in the 50's and 60's.

The bulk of the hunting we did was in the late 90's down in Refugio Co. with his Hornet. I can still hear the faint pop of that old H and R followed by the slap of those little bullets.

I'll add, in ten plus years of hunting with dad, I never tracked an animal. He "killed em where they stood."

Enfield 30-06. I have it now.

My grandpa baught himself and his three sons Winchester model 70's in 30-06. I still remember watching those old home movies with each of them holding their rifles and standing by their mule deer. each making hand motions (no audio back in the 50's and 60's)indicating that THEIR buck was the biggest. My older brother inherited my dad's but i got my grandfathers. I killed a couple bull elk with it when i first got it. It sure brigs back lots of good memories!

To those of you that have answered this thread thanks for sharing!
This year my father has said that this past deer season was to be his last. I hope this is not the case. He did although get to hunt with his two gran-daughters this past deer season. He still has one grandson to go I hope who could share at least one deer season with him as well! But anyhow back to the subject at hand my grandfather was not a hunter and my dad started hunting with his grandfather in northern MN near the town of Grand Rapids what that firearm was I have no idea was. I do know that the first year after my parents were married my mother for a Christmas present purchase my dad a Remington 700 BDL 30-06 of witch he took numerous deer with. I also took my first whitetail buck with with that same rifle. He also took a spike bull elk in Wyoming that rifle and around 1979 he purchased his beloved Remington 700 Classic 7mm Rem. Mag. that he has hunted with ever sense. I'm Glad he's still around and in good health! Deer season without him will never be the same!

To all Thanks!

My Dad used a Savage M20 bolt gun in .300 Savage. My grandfather used a .30 Army (a civilianized Krag carbine).

jim

My dad didn't hunt.
My uncle got me into it.
Previously they tried to get my dad into hunting but he shot a hole in the floorboard of my uncles car. Obviously the uncle was from moms side of the family!

My dad started with a 12 gauge. The first rifle I remember was a win model 70 30-06. Then he bought a 270 ruger m77. He then traded it for a rem 742 in 30-06. I have since put it in the back of the safe as it kicks like a mule and he's not able to handle the recoil anymore. Now he hunts with his pick of the day from my rifles. I really miss him being able to get out and hunt with me like he used to. Now he's only able to go to a shoot house I built for him

Dad used a first year produced Rem 740 in 308. Grandfather used a Winchester Mod. 64 in 30-30 and great uncle used a
30-40 Krag. I have all three in the safe.

My dad got a P14 when he was about 12 years old, and used that until he bought a new M94 .32 Spl in 1957 when he was 19. That's all he used for years, although he did borrow a M88 308 for a moose hunt.

I came along and got him more interested in rifles. I bought him a '57 Standard Rifle in 270 in 1986, and a 308 fwt a few years after that.

About three years ago I put the barreled action from the fwt 308 in a Hunter's Edge stock, and that's his everyday rifle now. The old 270 std still gets used for tree stand stuff.

Interesting story on the 1957 purchase of the 94. His brother (who was not a hunter) worked at a store which sold rifles, I have long forgotten what. $64 wholesale, retail was $84. He followed my father's instructions on the 94 in .32, but almost followed a coworkers advice and brough home a M88 in 308 Win instead. It was an extra few dollars, and he decided against it. Years later when my father learned more about rifles, he often talked about the shots he passed up with the 32 that he could have made with a 308.

The "ultimate" Penna. whitetail rifle. Dad used a Remington 760 Gamemaster in 30-06. He bought it new in the 40s and it was the only rifle he ever owned.

Thank goodness I did not take after him in that respect!

donsm70

PS. Dad's gone, but I still have the rifle.

I think the only rifes my Dad ever mentioned were a twin 20mm and 50mm for wingshooting--must have been quite a shot...:)

My dad always had a weakness for Winchester 94's in .32 WS, but was known to pack an '86 in .45/70 on occasion. Wish I knew where or who he sold 'em to.

Wish I could he passed in 01.

A Remington 721 with a Fajen stock in 30-06 for open plains.
A Winchester 71 in 348 Win for woods.

I have both. I wish he'd been a Model 70 fan. Can't complain about the 71.

Springfield 03 (Pedersen Device Receiver) sporterized by my Grandfather at the Junior College gunsmith class, hand-built Walnut stock chambered in .270 Win. Now dressed in an MPI fiberglass stock and sporting a Jarrett .270 Win barrel. On his 4th or 5th barrel.

A first year of production Browning BAR in 30-06, At first with iron sights and then later with a 1.75-5 Redfield.

Before that he hunted sambar stag in the south Pacific with a Garand while in the service during WWII,but I wasn't sure if that counted.

A Remington 742 ADL in 30-06, like 90% of the hunters in MN did at the time.

Marlin 30-30 or one of my 700's in 270. Dad didn't hunt big game that much , he was a small game hunter at heart and used a single barrel 12 ga all his life

Remington 700 bdl in 270 win

That's Dad on the right somewhere around Saratoga, Wyoming
I don't have that rifle because he traded it for an 870 but I do have a 61' mod 70 fwt in 270 that belonged to the guy on the left which is my cousin.

I must've been out with the other 10%, 'cause I'd never actually seen one until about 5 years ago. One of my uncles had a Winchester 100 though, I thought that was pretty sporty.