Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Advice strongly needed...

The problem with your thinking is you need more rifles, not cartridges. Ignore cartridges, think more rifles.

For 20 years I used a Sako FIberclass in 30-06 and a Remington 700 7mag FS for all my hunting, out west local etc.

Since I have joined this site I have honestly lost count of the number of rifles I have owned.

I would get a good 7mm-08 and a 444 marlin and be done

Sorry about that. I'm pretty recoil averse also but not quite to that extent.

I'd be thinking more along the lines of different roles and uses, versus chamberings. I see nothing wrong with having a pretty walnut/blued rifle and a stainless synthetic sporter in the same chambering, or a heavy, butt-sitting rifle and a carbine, both in the same chambering. And then there's bolt guns versus autoloaders and single shots. A guy could have 3-4 different .308 rifles with little actual overlap.....

Fireball, you're either on to something, or on something...........not sure which!

Most of your stuff is way to modern. You need a 32 win spec. Or if it's gotta be 7mm go with the 7mm Mauser.

I agree, you need an AR-15 .450BUSHMASTER like mine!

I have brass and bullets and dies for 357 max. Will order a barrel later this year

Sigh, I remember the year I took 5 rifles to deer camp in November and by the end of January had sold all of them a bought 6 more. It is a Sickness indeed.

KC

No 6.5 Creedmoor?!!!

Glad to see i am not the only Looney. Wife went to a gun Show with me and said she was relieved since there were worse cases of Looney there than she has at home lol

You're looking at this from the wrong angle. These aren't backup's, they're simply utilized for different weight classes. It took years to convince my wife that ethically, I NEED different rifles according to the size deer I was chasing.

So if I'm filling my doe tag with a hundred pounder I need the 223. But if she's a fat one after munching on corn, I need to step up to the 243. Mature bucks fall into the 308, '06 and 35 Whelen class, again based on live weight. Woods or swamp bucks, 30-30 for smaller, say 140 - 156lbs. But you need a 35 rem or 348 win once he hits 200lbs. Magnums are for elk. So if you have a cow tag, something like the 270 bee is a must. Maybe a 7mag for satellite bulls but you might actually require multiple rifles chambered in various 300's for herd bulls depending on bull sizes in your hunting unit. Moose and bear opens up whole other needs.

So by my calculations, your selection is lacking at least 9 and possibly as many as 12 more rifles, starting with something chambered in 270, 7-30 Waters and a good 7-08 (or 7x57, you have to choose one. You can't get everything by her). After all, what happens when you know there's a nice 168 pounder that hangs out in your favourite food plot and all you have is your "inadequate" 6.5x55. You go home with an unfilled tag because you didn't think ahead and have a 7x57 in your stable.

A .45-70 pushing 300-350g Oregon Trail LaserCast bullets using 13.5g HS-6 yields 1167fps and 1081fps respectively in my Marlin 1895. Recoil is less than a .30-30. Very accurate but limited range. LOTS of fun - my girls love them. Have not used them on critters but have killed a lot of rocks with them. Would not hesitate to use them at 50-75 yards.

And isn' it against the law not to own a .30-30 for fun, even if you cant hunt with it locally?

Only 6 deer rifles? What a light weight. Sheesh. No redundancy in cartridges? How can we take you seriously?

I know. Deep apologies. Please help me mend my ways

Gunbroker is your friend and therapist.

I might be the only one on this website to ever admit this: I have 1 rifle and I use factory ammunition.

You guys consider a 223 a deer rifle? It would work, I guess, but I have mine for smaller animals. I have some deer rifles but not as crazy as some folks. I have a 30-30 lever, 25-06 bolt, 6.5 CM bolt, 308 lever (BLR), 308 bolt, and a 30-06 bolt. Two of them get most of the use on deer.

Blasphemy

I only use factory ammo. For years I only had one centerfire rifle (also had a 22 LR). It is a Remington 700 30-06. I could have never bought another rifle and would not have had any less success. I have fun playing with different rifles but if you buy a versatile chambering, you only need one.