Originally Posted by FSJeeper
For a do it all rifle, one man rifle, what action type, cartridge, stock style, and accessories would you have on it?

Ten years ago, I decided to buy myself the last 30-06 I was ever going to buy. My youngest was going to be hunting on his own, and I gave him my Win 670, and put in an order for a Ruger Hawkeye Stainless in '06. I had been planning this move for some time and had already acquired a walnut stock. When the Hawkeye arrived, I mated the two and that was that. It carries a 3-9X40 Bushnell Elite.

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About the only reason I have not had it out the past couple of years is that I had other projects impinging. For several years, it has been the backup rifle that comes to deer camp and never gets used. I pulled it out in '22 after chemo and managed to nail a nice buck at 200 yards, breaking my own distance record.

I went 20 years with a load of 165-grain Hornady SPs over H4895. I'm fairly confident I could nail anything I wanted to hunt with this load. I've recently switched to 150-grain Hornady SP for whitetail just because I got a lifetime supply of those bullets handed to me for free.

Why was this my last 30-06? When I made the decision, I had just retired my 35 Whelen from regular use. It had done well, but I realized it was too much rifle for whitetails. 30-06 did the job faster, better, and cheaper. Given that, I decided to strike a line, and spend the rest of my hunting career investigating chamberings of smaller caliber, roads less traveled, and black powder.

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