Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Basic deer rifle in your area?

I can barely make a post on here let alone edit one. I know I have seen and have edited before but now I can’t seem to see that option. I don’t know how you guys do half the stuff on here. Lol. I wrote a signatureIn my profile but it doesn’t seem to show up on my post and reposting some ones else’s Post to comment on that specific post. 🤦‍♂️
If I I could edit it I wouldn’t, it’s a clip where I come from.🇺🇸👍
I’m glad I found my way back to the fire. Been back 2 weeks and have gathered allot of good information.

If it'll hit a 5 gallon white bucket from 50 yards....its goodnuff!

This concept developed at Start Louisiana!

My northern MN experience was remington 742's, 760, and 3030's and its shifted to SKS and cheap bolt actions. The rem 742s are dieing off....

Our crew... three browning bars, 2 xbolt, savage 99, 760, older wood bolt actions in rem, ruger, savage,

The amazing thing is you can get new plastic stocked bolt actions for about the same price as 3030 levers 40 years ago.

Also 4x was the standard scope and now its 3x9, but the old woods hunters taught me to go with less power. Many young hunters go hi power scopes and don't understand when you tell them our soldiers use low power scopes for close sighting. It really doesnt change their mind because most sit in stands now and rarely do deer drives.

When I was a kid in the 50's and 60's...and probably on in to the 70's, it was a bolt action 30-06 and often a 1903 or 03-A3. I don't remember ever seeing an Enfield. The local VFW had several 03's for the color guard they loaned out during deer season. A Winchester or Marlin 30-30 or 35 Rem. was as common as dirt or, any of several surplus rifles. Dad carried a Savage made SMLE, an uncle a Moisin, another uncle a 98K. When Dad retired the SMLE he used a 742 Remington until it stopped firing and he lost two bucks. One of many I know who had that experience.

These days...I really don't know. We've hunted on our own property for so many decades that we never see and rarely talk to another hunter. My "gun buddies" are kinda like me in that they're apt to carry about anything. I use 2 different rifles every day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening. There's two German double rifles, a 43 Mauser and an 8 X 65R Brenneke, several Mausers of various iterations and in obscure cartridges, a couple Mannlicher/Schoenauer's, drillings, combination guns, an 1890...or is it 1899... Haenel/Rasch in 9 X 57, a Wilhelm Brenneke in 7 X 64 Brenneke, Shiloh Sharps or any of several other single shot rifles. All in uncommon cartridges. The most common cartridge I own is an 8 X 57 and it has the .318 groove diameter rather than the conventional .323. I have been known to carry my #1 in 450/400 with reduced cast loads.

From the time I was about 22 until I was about 35 I shot a Model 70 in 270. You'll never see me in the woods with a 308, 30-06 or 223.

270.....30-06.......308

Tell 'em yea its a 6.5x55

They say...huh ? whats that ?

I got asked what I was shooting today at the range. When I said "257 Roberts", I got that blank stare in reply.

I've got a nice 10pt on the wall with a drop tine. Beneath it is a picture of me with the the deer and the rifle I used to take it. Everyone always asks what the rifle is. I get that blank stare when I tell them it's a 220 Wilson Arrow.

I had a 742 BDL in 308 when I started. I never had a problem with cycling. But I cleaned it after each shooting session. Then the loony-itis hit me. I bought a Mark X from Interarms in 300 Win Mag a barrelled action and put it in an economy walnut stock. Shot great and then another gun caught my interest. Back then you saw lots of lever guns including the 99. You also saw the 06, 308, 243, and gay 270. I only hunt with family these days. The plastics like the Ruger American look good these days. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Growing up in southern WV it was either a 30-30 lever action or a Remington 7400 or 742. The 7400/742 has fell way out of favor, and rightly so. You still see the 30-30's, but the cheap synthetic stocked bolt actions have taken over for most folks.

always fun to have sumthing different

I wonder if we are gun-loonies or gun snobs sometimes. Not getting caught dead with a 30-06 or 270.

Ha! No cartridge snob here, I tried some of the boutique cartridges but now My safe only has rifles chambered in "plain Jane" cartridges like .223 Rem, .308 Win, 30-06, .300 WSM and .300 Win....It has made My reloading bench much less cluttered....Hb

And they all work just as well as or better than much of the new “bling”! Though.....I do question your decision to list the WSM! memtb

Me either. I had some oddballs in the past and found them more of a PITA to find ammo/brass and more expensive to shoot than they were worth. There's always some more popular cartridge that will do the same damn thing with less hassle and expense.

Out to 100 yards or so, Marlin 336 or Savage 340, both in 30-30 with cast. Rem 700 in 30-06 also with cast.
When I get an invite to shoot over a field, Tikka 7mm08.

There's no such thing as a real "deer rifle" here, but since all big game is similar in size, it's usually all hunted with the same gun.
A good 65% of those are made up of Blaser R8s and R93s, the other classic Euro bolt actions like the Sauer 202 and old Mauser Sporters. Either .30-06, .308, 7x64 or 8x57
Another 25% are combined guns, most often O/U shotgun/rifle combos or the classic Drilling with an "Einstecklauf" in a smaller caliber. These days often 12 or 20ga with an 8x57JRS, 7x65r or a .30-06 in the main rifle barrel.
The rest is made up mostly of semi-auto hunting rifles like the Sauer 303, Merkel SR1 or Browning BAR. There are almost no levers or pumps to be found, their owners always gather a lot of attention during the winter drive hunting season.
As for scopes, most guns you'll find with either a 2,5-10x50 or a 3-12x56 as a main optic, almost exclusively for the reason of light transmission during wild boar night hunting. Iron sights are always on the gun, but almost never used.

I nearly forgot to describe the area with all this gun talk going on. It's basically a mix of farmland and forest used for logging. The fields average 80 acres at the very most, often smaller. The forest is a mix of beech, oak and (douglas) fir.
If you wanted you could probably shoot out to 500yds in the daytime, but almost everyone limits their shots to 200yds maximum. Most of the hunting is done from permanent stands and blinds.

^^^^Wise words indeed here ^^^^......Hb

Yeah memtb, I thought twice before I listed the .300 WSM, I guess it is a little boutiqish 😂....Hb

Well, I guess I'm double dead because I've got a .270 and 2 .30-06s. The only reason I only have one .270 is I haven't found another one worthy of it's company. Well that's sorta true, but I just bought a pawn shop rescue Model 721 Remington in .30-06 that I bought to rebarrel to .270, but when I got it home I decided not to molest it. You see, if there's one gun I think Rivals the .270 Winchester it's the .30-06 Springfield. So, I'm still looking for something else in .270 Winchester. If I can find another 721 all the better but I would settle for another Model 70 or something, even a nice Ruger 77.