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My arsenal as currently configured include a 99 EG in .300 Savage that's killed one h3ll of a bunch of deer. For long range work, which I seldom do these days, I've got a Mauser in 30-06. The gun is way more accurate than I'll ever be able to shoot it. There's also a well worn Model 70 chambered for .270 that's killed a few deer too, as well as a 20 gauge Mossy 500 for the slug gun areas, and a C.V.A. .54 cal. Hawkins when we go old school. I'm getting the itch to try the AR too. Nothing fancy, but it definitely shoots minute of deer accurate.

My first deer rifle was a Remington model 688 in 6mm.
Next was a Savage model 110 in .270. Still shoots great.
I also have a RAR in .270. Probably will carry it this fall.
I have a .375 Ruger African Hawkeye, but it's more for elk, too big for deer.
Wife has a nice Winchester model 70 compact in 7mm-08.
With me being a lefty and financially challenged, that's about all I will manage I think. 😬

Savage 110 243
Ruger M77 MKII stainless 243
Ruger M77 MKII RSI 243
Ruger Hawkeye Ultralight stainless 7mm-08
Rem 7600 7mm-08
Savage 99 300 sav
Ruger 77 tanger 308
Rem 760 30-06
Win M70 stainless FW 30-06
Rem 660 350 mag

Dang............that's going to be a challenge.

This list would cover guns used since I was in grade school, and covers over 1/2 a century, and deer seasons in Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Oklahoma , Nebraska, Virginia and Indiana. These are the ones I have actually killed deer with. There are a few others I hunted with, but didn't get to shoot.

300 Savage. M99
270 Winchesters, M-70, 3 Mausers, Winchester M95,
270 Short Mag. Benelli R1
45 colt. Colt SAA and S&W M25
44 magnums. Super Blackhawk, 4 S&W M29s, Ruger Redhawk
30-30. marlin 336
35 Rem. Marlin 336
50 cal flintlocks
62 cal flintlock
58 Cal Caplock Hawken.
357 magnums. S&W M28 and M27
454 Casull. Freedom Arms
22-250. Ruger M77
243 Winchester. Ruger M77
257 Roberts. Mauser
25-06. Mauser
6.5X55. M96 Mauser
7X57. Custom Mauser
280. Remington M700
7MM. Rem mags. Ruger 77 Remington M700
303 Brit. Lithgow SMLE
30-40 Krag. 1896 US Krag
308s. FALs, M-14, Mossberg MVP
30-06s. M1 Garand, 3 Mausers, Browning BLR, Browning M95, Enfield 1917,
308 Norma. Custom 1903 Springfield.
300 H&Hs. Win M-70 and Mauser
300 Weatherby. Weatherby Mk5
300 Winchester. Ruger M77, Win M-70, Browning Mauser,
30-378 Weatherby. Ruger #1
7.62X39. AK47.
8X57s. 2 Mausers
338-06s. Custom Springfield and custom Mauser
338 Win Mag. Mauser
348 Winchester. Browning M71
9.3X74R. Ruger #1
375H&H. Mauser
458 Winchester. Ruger M77
45-70s. Winchester and Browning M1886s, Marlin M95s, Remington Rolling block
50-140. Sharps. Shiloh 1873
20 gauge slug. Winchester M12
Wood arrows. 1 Custom Longbow, 1 Ben Person Recurve.
Aluminum Arrow. Bear recurve

And I may have forgotten a few at the time of this writing.

No, it is one of the Classics. It just seems I've had it a lot longer than 15 years. I had a couple of 722s in 300 Savage before I bought the 700. I started with 81s long before that.

I just made a list of all the rifles, shotguns, bows, muzzleloaders and handguns I could remember that I've killed deer with. The list is almost as long as zihns and I ain't taking the time to type it all out.

22 Magnum, Marlin 783,

243 Winchester, Mossberg 800A,
243 Winchester, Remington 660,
300 Savage, Savage 99R
308 Winchester, Savage 99E
308 Winchester, Winchester 88
30-06 Springfield, Ruger M77RS,
30-06 Springfield, Win 70, Pre-war,
30-06 Springfield, Pre-64 Win 70 FW,
30-06 Springfield, Win 70 FW, SS, All Terrain,
30-06 Springfield, Kimber Montana 84L,
338 Winchester Mag, Win 70 SS Classic,
35 Whelen, Mauser 98,

20 gauge slug, Coast to Coast 267 Pump,
20 gauge Slug, Ithaca 37 Pump, FLT,
20 gauge Slug, Ithaca 37 Pump UFL
12 gauge slug, Ithaca 87 Pump FLT,
12 gauge slug, Remington 870, Express,

I have drug several others around at least once but don't recall getting any deer with them.

An interesting thread with me being a cornfield county Hoosier.

Legit centerfires taking deer for me in the past were in a TC Contender years back in both 44mag and 35 Rem plus a few with a S&W 29 and one with a 357 Python Hunter and one of my better bucks with a Remington XP-100 in 35 Rem. I've taken more with a handgun than with a slug gun. LOL

My "go to" firearm deer killer was my 54 caliber Renegade FFg powder and TC Maxi Hunter bullets. More than 40 got turned into steaks from shots from that old smokepole. About the same fell to my wood arrows.

Indiana is finally getting away from their ONLY centerfires that were "35 caliber minimum, 1.8" case length maximum" from years back where I took a 350 Mag and set the barrel back and chambered for a shortened case to meet those regs that I used for four deer. (Handguns had more liberal regulations.)

"243 caliber and up" now but still has a ridiculously short/ long case length maximums for legal rounds.......only on PRIVATE property, not state owned though. The old 357" min/1.8" max is still legal on all property.

For "High-Powered Rifles " it reads:

"The cartridge must have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches and a maximum case length of 3 inches" ("DUDE I can use my 500 Nitro" j/k )
"The cartridge must fire a bullet with a minimum diameter of .243 inches (same as 6 mm)"
"A hunter must not possess more than 10 of these cartridges while hunting deer"

For some time us hunters were not sure who was more confused.......us......or them. LOL

Such has been legal now a couple years but I was unable to hunt for a few years.

2018 is going to be my first official "real live, factory issue, centerfire rifle season". All my out of state hunting was with a longbow or recurve.

Still tossing together a decent reloading table after selling the works 2 years back when I thought......."it's all over". (Dang.....that sure costs more now than it did in the 70s!!)

That said, the stars aligned for once and I picked up a 700 Classic in 7x57. Such nice shape I think I'm going to stick the barreled action in a 60s issue BDL stock so I don't ding the heck out of the original Finally found NOS brass (no thanks on the PPU......works, yeah......but I'm old!) thanks to a 'Fire member!!!

Still being picky on a scope. Old guys are like that..........yeah they are. Got time yet.

My first (we can shoot lots if you have places to hunt in different counties...........too hard to explain, lol, but ONE buck only) deer will be thusly a "milestone" for me but in more ways than one.

Crossing my fingers and determined to make that first deer a decent (not a trophy hunter per se' ) buck and if all comes to pass, I'll have a post here on the 'fire about that. (Important only to me.......but you guys got elected to share it anyway.)

Who am I kidding......I'll post my milestone deer no matter what.

Some awesome collections,gorgeous photos and a great thread for this soon-to-be 66 year old (day before gun season!) "newbie".



God Bless
Steve

That would take a long time to peck out on this phone.

I've had a bunch of favorites over the past 60 years of hunting. It is a lot easier to fall in love with a new rifle , the is no divorce or guilt involved . I was always a 270, 308, or 30-06 person with short affairs with the 257R, 250-3000, 7mm RM, 300 Sav and 300 WM. The past 12 yrs I've have a very serious relationship a 25-204, Sav99 in 375 Win, a 721 in 35 Whelen and just a few years ago acquired something I've lusted after for nearly as long as I've been hunting.

Sauer Drilling in 16/16/7x57R

Interesting comments and choices. BTW, I've gone through a couple of semi autos as well. But my current favorite for the desert bucks I hunt is a Springfield Armory M1A Squad Scout. Wears a 1.5-4X Leupold Scout Scope. A truly reliable .308 gas gun.
I killed my first buck in 1960 with a Remington 740 in 30'06. My second with a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. I no longer have either rifle.
What I've "evolved to" are usually custom bolt action rifles. That's because I learned over the years that cartriages really don't vary a lot. But rifles do in how they shoot from field positions, and especially when one is in a hurry. The other thing I've learned is that it's a mistake to buy something that you've "fallen in love with" unless I've given myself a chance to be sure the rifle actually fills a need. I've gone through lots of rifles, too many to bother listing here. The ones that stayed are the ones that can be relied on to work as they should when I need them to. E

I don't admire semi auto or auto rifles for hunting.

You are the kind of folks that only stand up for yourself, and hurt the rest of us.

Pisses me off.

When was the last time you saw an auto rifle used in hunting.

I swear damn near ever poster that uses savage in their forum name seems about ignorant.

That said, my first rifle was a 788 in 243, still have it. If everything else went away and thats all I had left, I'd not miss a beat even to the brown bears.

Deer are easy to kill.

I've only hunted mountainous western states, and most often I'm on a mountain when shooting something. Mostly bolt guns in cals from 22 to 30. I got into casting about 7 years ago, and since, I've been trying to work my cast bullets into my hunting, particularly for deer, since I'm not trying to shoot trophies anymore. I've only got one deer tag this year, so it will get filled with a cast bullet in a handgun. Not sure which yet. I'll hunt with someone carrying a rifle who can take a longer shot, so I don't feel like I'm giving up opportunities at good animals. That has often been the argument I've had with myself in the past, that I'm handicapping myself by choosing marginal calibers or short-range affairs, and that I'm going to see the biggest animals of my life, all just out of range. I've proven it to myself that practically any firearm I'm carrying will be plenty if hunt intelligently and shoot straight. Deer are easy to kill. It is more fulfilling for me to do it certain ways over others as the seasons collect under my belt.

It'll get more interesting when my youngest two are finally old enough to hunt. I spend more time speculating and planning what they will carry then than what I'll carry next.

I have settled on:

Ruger M77 RSI 308 (tree climber rifle)
Pre 64 M70 Super Grade 30-06 restocked into a beater M70 stock pillars and beaded (cut over rifle)
FN Belgium Mauser 30.06 pillars and bedded with Timney (because it’s classic and old)

All shooting 150 TTSX with accurate loads.

Went through a bunch of rifles to finally settle on these.

my AR-10 243 win. 24 inch barrel,built for me by Pete Noreen in Montana, I use for coyote hunting is a heck of a rifle fast and accurate.when callin coyotes sometimes 2 -3 coyotes come in and I have a possibility to get them all with a semi-auto ,by the time these coyotes locate a person and with a semi-auto no arm moment and gun is still loading itself fast and accurate. this AR would work just fine for deer too !

I bet it would. I need to get me a .243 AR.

I asked Pete Noreen build me a AR-10 243 with 24 inch barrel and a 1-10 twist so I can use around 70 grain bullets,i put a Nightforce scope 4.5x14 with a x-hair that lights up at dark for coyote callin at nite too. and off a good bench this rifle shoots 1 inch at 300 yards 3 shot groups,less than a 1/2 at 100 yards I am amazed how well this AR shoots,gun shoots 3400-3500 fps with 70 grain bullets very accurate. ya some will say they can do this or that better but when action is fast on a coyotes this gun delivers, I have left this AR outside for 2 days in 20 below weather and it never jams and shoots super accurate and fast ! nice thing about a 243 Winchester its a common cartridge and easy to find ammo out west,hardware store,grocery store, even in a bar,gas station ,rancher .just a simple cartridge that's got a lot more power and keeps a coyote down .and if you use the right bullets it doesn`t wreck the hide either and that helps pay for gas.

Hunting with modern center-fire rifles, cartridges, and scopes is just too damn easy!

Here is a few 700’s I hunt with.