Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Anyone Else Have this Problem?

This morning, I stood in front of the gun cabinet for a good half hour trying to make sense of it. I finally had to get on with other chores.

The big question: Which rifles do I take deer hunting this year?

The problem: I've got too many good deer rifles, too few days to hunt, too many new projects that are unblooded and too many dead friends.

Good deer rifles? I've got better than 20 that could conceivably go out. Some are a bit extreme. I've got a SXS 12 GA and a 357 Mag lever that are unblooded.

Too few days to hunt: I hunt the KY Rifle Opener, and the next week, and then the last weekend. That's 10 days. I try to take a minimum of rifles to camp-- usually 3 for the first week. I make an effort to put a rifle away for the season once I've shot something. We've got 4 tags, but we're limited to only 1 buck. We usually only fill 2 tags each, just so we don't overload the freezer.

I've been busy over the past decade or so. I've had a bunch of rifles follow me home. Some have been remarkably good. My 30-06 Ruger Hawkeye is one of those rifles that could do it all. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of leaving it at home this year, just because I usually end up filling 1-2 tags a year with it. I had to retire my Rem 7600 in 35 Whelen, because it was hogging all the deer.

I've had several dear friends pass, and I've ended up with their deer rifles. Top of this list is the Ruger Model 44 Carbine I received from the estate of my gun editor friend who passed late last winter.

I'm going to throw in a few other complications. First off, it's just whitetail deer. Nothing exceptional is required. Our farm is on 200 acres of ideal whitetail environment, with less than 200 feet of altitude difference. Schlepping a Garand around is not out of the question. Out of the stands, shots are inside 80 yards. Out of the longest venues, a shot of 150 yards will take most every deer

I know I've complained to y'all before, but this year it's worse than ever. I just spent an hour working on a decision matrix in Excel that comes as close as possible to reflecting my current thoughts. It's got 5 Axis, and it tells me, that if I want to hunt with the Ruger 44, I need to take the Garand as well and leave the 8mm Mauser at home. I'm scared to add the MAS 36 into the choices.

Do any of you have good coping mechanisms for this?

Isn't that a Good Problem? As for me, I've only have a 30/06 with a 3x9 Leupold. I grab it & go hunt

I've always wanted to try one of those 44 carbines on deer but I don't go to MN deer camp anymore........I'd still buy a 44 carbine if I found a nice one.

so put your self in this position.....you just came home from a weekend away and all your guns have been stolen.....ALL OF THEM!!!!

What is the first one you're going to buy...….assuming you now have the insurance money in your bank.....that's the one you take!!!!!

A couple of months ago I also found myself staring at my rifles and trying to decide what to use. I couldn't really make up my mind but I started getting the urge to hunt my 30-30s. I have two and it has been a long time since I had them in the field although they have been getting range time.


So for me this year it will be the Glenfield 336 and the Winchester 94. The muzzle loader will probably see action again this year during the Primitive season.

So many guns and so little time.

That's way too logical. Besides, if that were the case, I'd probably never take anything besides the Ruger Hawkeye in '06. I'm trying not to be a rifle shut-in. I'm trying to keep my horizons broad.

This is a problem with 30-06 rifles in general. Once you get one, all the other chamberings become somewhat obsolete.


I have a similar problem right now. I'm going hog hunting in December. I'm trying my best to eclectic, but it's dang hard to leave town without that Hawkeye in the back.

So far, I've kind of narrowed the choice of the hog hunt to the Ruger 44 and the Savage 99, but that could still change.

Here is what I do.

I decide in the spring, when there is no real pressure, which rifles I am going to use for deer hunting. I chose three. Then I either work up a load for it, if it is unblooded, or I load up a couple hundred rounds of whatever it likes. Then I spend the remainder of spring and summer shooting those three guns so that I know them intimately prior to the season. I practice with them in every conceivable hunting situation I could be in, not just shooting from the bench.
Then when the season comes around, each of them get a day in the field on a rotation. Sometimes it works out that one gun gets multiple kills, sometimes it is spread out.
I know it isn't the most exciting way to do it, but it works for me.

Just make sure each rifle is in it's own case with the right ammo..

Don't wanna be 70" up a tree ( at sun rise) in the middle of a hard wood swamp with your .308 and realize that you only have 280 Ackley rounds in your vest - just saying...

Kinda makes that 1.5 hour sneak into your stand - well - a waste of time....

But I did in enjoy the sun rise and the good laugh...

[Warning: Partial Hijack by the OP no less!]

That's a good point. For this reason, I find MTM Products to be a good friend. They are HQ'd right up the road from me. In Dayton Ohio, and they make all their stuff here in the US.

All my hunting rounds are in either 50 round MTM boxes or 20 round MTM slip cases and they're all color coded and labeled. The label includes which rifle they're for. When I go to hunt I use the 9 round MTM ammo wallets. I have several of these, and I color code them with stripes of electrical tape. I'm usually only using 2 actively at a time. Before I go out, I open the wallet and make sure the ammo matches the rifle.

So far, in almost 40 years, I've only had one slip-up. About 5 years ago, I got into the blind and found I'd forgotten my ammo back at the house. I walked the half-mile back, found the proper box and returned only to find that I'd put the original box on the sill of the blind as I'd been changing into my outer layer.


All the boxes-- my sons and mine all go down to deer camp a week or two before season. That's why I'm fretting about rifle choices. I have until Friday AM to make my final cut on rifles. The season starts 11/9.

My friend, John, used to tell me that getting through middle-age was a matter of patience. If you couldn't remember something or you were stuck for a word, the trick was to just relax and wait. It would come.

I was on my way to the Shamanic Secret Underground Reloading Cave when a solution to this conundrum hit me.

This year had become overly complicated because I'd added just too many expectations to the mix. I wanted to use Bob's Model 44. I wanted to keep the Ruger Hawkeye home in hopes of giving some other rifles a chance. I wanted to keep all my regular requirements covered. I wanted. . .

John was a Taoist Crank of the highest order. A basic tenet of Taoism is that Happiness or the lack thereof is a matter of adjusting your expectations to meet reality.

BLAM! That's it!

Whatever mix I was thinking of just wasn't fitting into my list of expectations. The main overriding ones are:

1) I have a rifle capable of short range work out of the treestands.
2) I have a rifle capable of up to 250 yards for the longest possible shot
3) I have proper backup for both of these.
4) I have a rifle that I feel good taking out in the rain.

The Ruger Model 44 was an ideal short-range rifle.
The Mauser from Hell (8X57) was good for the longer shots
The Savage 99, my Opening Day Favorite, was an okay backup gun for both situations
I was just getting stuck on what to take out in inclement weather. Yes, I know all these rifles are perfectly fine in the rain. I had the Mauser out last year in rain/sleet/hail/graupel and it did just fine. I was just being neurotic. However, if you don't listen to your inner voices. . . well, that can be a very bad thing for a shaman to do. I always have a designated "Rain Gun" that I know to be impervious to the elements.

Then it hit me: If I take the Ruger All-Weather Hawkeye along and just keep it as an ace in the hole, I'm all covered.


Do other folks worry like this? Is this a regular part of being a rifle looney, or am I special case?

I haven’t done that with a rifle, but left my bow bullets at the house one time years ago. Home was 280 miles away. Damn the bad luck.

I have found that when you can't decide which rifle you want to take hunting it's time to buy a new one.

I'm in the same boat. Was just inventorying my safe contents last night and have seven rifles that see very little daylight, and since I'm angling for something new, and rather upmarket, I'm probably going to put them up for sale. Problem is, I'm pretty attached to most of them, as almost all of them were smithed by Mickey, and the memories that go with them are priceless. But I'm getting older now, and want to simplify my life. Sometimes, having too many things complicates life more than necessary.

Take the Garand and the Ruger carbine. I have hunted with and blooded my M1 Garand a couple of years ago. I do not have the 44 but you could a couple of days with each. I only have 2 hunting rifles the M1 Garand and Remington 700 in 30'06.

Hope this helps and good hunting.

Yes I amn this forum as 358win. but I traded that rifle for the Remington 30'06 to simplify my reloading.

358win.

I am pretty close to this also. I have thought about selling most and maybe using that money for one extravagant purchase but then I think about why I bought each one in the first place & decide that I would probably not take that extravagant gun hunting anyway, my guns are for hunting.

As far as which(s) one to take. Which one have I not taken a deer with or which one have I not shot in a while. I recently acquired two that I have felt a need for. A 1950's Savage 99 .300 that is very accurate & one I have searched for many many years, a Ruger No. 3 in 45-70. That one was never D&T for a scope so it's open sights only, not the best for me anymore. So it will be limited to short range stands and because the Savage will work anywhere I hunt it will do the rest. If I have the time I look at the others and make plans for next year. The years go by faster & faster each year so it's not unreasonable to plan that far ahead, is it?

Sell them to un-complicate things? Sure you can, but do they really complicate things that much? I bought them all for one reason or another & there are a few I at least think I would still like to have so no I am not ready to sell yet but maybe one or two when I come across something different. The rest can go to family members when I'm gone or ? Who doesn't want to inherit a gun or two or maybe come across your own Ruger No. 3 at an estate sale? Either way, it's not that big of a deal, you can't take them with you.

three possible cures: lever action with iron sights, big bore revolver, or stickbow

I feel yo pain...

That is a high level problem, for sure.

I work up a load for a rifle, then I'm off on another project, my latest an FN 338-06.

I would like to be deer hunting with my Shilen barreled 6.5 Creed, loaded with 136L Scenars, but the Mauser needs my immediate attention...

A Loony problem.

Normal people wouldn't understand...

DF

I have blues and stainless rifles. I take one of each. I have blues stainless 243, 7mm-08, and 30-06 rifles. For each chambering I load the same ammo. If I take the right ammo I can't go wrong after that. However this year I plan to take my Mannlicer carbine 7x57 and my stainless M70 30-07. What could go wrong?

Jim,

It's the "you can't take them with you" thoughts that make me lean this way. Both of my kids live outside the US, and I can't really see them having much interest in taking my firearm collection. So if I thin the herd, so to speak, and scratch an itch with something special, it would be a good thing. Right?

When I open the gunsafes, I take the rifles that yell the loudest!!!