Bought a new house with 9 acres, mostly wooded, with a stream running thru the middle, and neighbors. I've never hunted in what I'd call "close quarters", but it would be legal, and the area has a lot of whitetail deer. Some of the neighbors hunt, some don't. Several cornfields nearby, and I've already found some old cobs around my lot. No intent to hunt behind my house a lot, I have areas for hunting.
Acknowledging the safety concerns, and state requirement of at least 500 ft from occupied building, my question revolves around rifle/caliber choice. No long-distance shooting here, think more like 20 to 60 yds. There are also some old stone fence rows that might be a ricochet hazard if I screw up.
Is it best to pick something that sound of shot doesn’t carry as much as others, or go for making sure the deer goes down fast and close? Or worry more about ricochet? On-hand choices include 250SAV, 300SAV, 30-30, .308, and could throw in 16 or 12 ga slugs if called for. I've already ruled out some others like my .223, .280 and .350 RemMag. The .350 will anchor a deer fast, but a little noisy!
My thinking so far:
Among the 30 calibers, I'm leaning towards the 30-30 SAV 99. The terrain (and neighbors ) dictate short ranges, I trust the rifle (had it for 45 yrs), and to my ears the sound of a 30-30 doesn't carry as far as the others. 2nd choice 300SAV in Rem 700 Classic. The .308 is a great deer rifle, but just no need for it under these conditions, and it's the loudest.
The 250SAV is a nice, accurate Rem 700 Classic, with a 2-7x33 scope, and should do the job, but don't see much of an advantage over the 30-30 at the ranges I'm looking at. I don't reload, so limited to the 100gr Rem or Hornady factory loads. However, there is a strong chance that it could feel like a .250 day and use it anyway.
Slugs. I've never hunted deer with slugs. Main advantage might be reduced chance of ricochets, but no experience with that. I do have an old 12 ga Ithaca Deerslayer that I picked up on a whim, but haven't even tried any slugs thru it yet. Confidence with it lower than the rifles right now, would have to spend some shooting time with it. Also have a 20 in smooth bore barrel with rifle sights for my 870 that I could work with. If I step down to 16 GA it would be an Ithaca 37 with a 26 in IC barrel, no idea how that will handle slugs, never tried it.
So anyone still with me? Opinions/thoughts? Any strong feeling about getting up to speed with slugs?
