Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Regions and Rifles...

Deer hunting has changed here in the upper Midwest. Growing up hunting in the 60's, we went to deer camp with lots of guys nearly all carrying Remington 742 or 760's .30-06's. We drove deer and seldom only heard one shot because the deer were on the run in the big woods. Now hunters are older, QDM is on the private land and nearly everyone finds a good spot and stays there with a scoped bolt action, me included. Custom 7mm-08 with 140 NBT ammo. Much as I like walking and stalking with my .300 Savage 99F, doing that just gets "my" deer killed up ahead by some guy who stayed on his stand.

NY/VT Most the bucks in camp since 1972 have been taken with 150gr. 165gr. or 180gr .308

With the famous words of Little Brother Tommy Norris
"There it is Ralph "

Tommy Norris

Warshington. Mostly east side deer.

Go to rifle is an old M70 chambered for 280imp. McM stock. Rifle is about 7 1/2#’s all up. I’ve had good experiences with 150 BTs so use them for everything.

I got my first rifle, a Rem Model 514 single shot bolt action .22 when I was 10. Over the years I "upgraded" with a Rem 512 tube feed .22 and a Rem 541T that I lengthened the stock to the same as my centerfire rifles. These rifles have put many a rabbit on my dinner table, and after I moved to Montana, even a few deer into my freezer.

I didn't start hunting until the mid '60s when I was in college and worked and lived summers in NW Colorado. The locals that I worked with there recommended that I get a bolt action .270 Win or .30-06 for deer and elk. So I bought a .30-06. I actually killed my first deer back then with a borrowed Model 94 Winchester and a few years ago I shot my Mountain lion with another Model 94. I killed my best Mule deer buck and an American buffalo with a couple of my black powder rifles. I also shot a couple of Black bears with my pistols. Before Ieft Steamboat Springs, I killed a 5x5 elk with my recurve bow. I think everything else that I've hunted, I shot with my bolt action rifles.

My last few years in Colorado and first few years in Montana, I used my 30-06 for my deer, elk, and antelope. About 1978 I had my .30-06 re-chambered to .30 Gibbs and that became my primary elk rifle, and later shot a couple of moose and an Alaskan caribou with it. At that same time, I had a .257 Ackley built for my deer and antelope rifle and later I shot an elk, several bighorn sheep, a Dall sheep and a Mountain caribou with it. And I built a .22-250 mainly for varmints but also shot several deer and antelope with it.

After the turn of the century, I bought a Rem 700 in 7 mm RM for deer, elk, and antelope here in Montana, several hunts in South Africa, and several hunts In Canada for a Musk ox and several caribou. In 2004 I built a .375 RUM in a Rem 700 for an African cape buffalo hunt and a couple of plains game hunts. It then was a safe queen until this last September when I took it to Alaska for a brown bear hunt.

In 2009 I finally fulfilled a 40+ year dream and built a .300 Weatherby. I broke that rifle in on an exotics hunt in Texas. a couple of elk in Montana, and a great hunt in New Zealand. That quickly became my favorite rifle and I have also used it on 3 more African hunts and a hunt in Azerbaijan for a Dagestan Tur.

I couple of years ago I bought two more Weatherby Vanguards, mainly for plinking steel at the range. I did use the .308 Win for a Sitka blacktail deer hunt on Kodiak Island, and the .223 would also be a fun varmint rifle.

I think that I now have a pretty good battery of rifles for anything that I would want to hunt. Now I just need the time and $$ to do it.

To generalize..... many years ago I had built (semi-custom) a rifle that would perform on any game on any continent (region) that I may hunt! While life didn’t provide me with the hunts on other continents or Alaska....it has served me well here in the lower 48.

I suspect that you will find very few hunters that have taken the “chosen rifle/cartridge” path that I have taken! memtb

Colorado, Montana and Idaho for elk using Remington 700BDL in 8mm Rem Mag
Saskatchewan for moose and black bear using Remington 700 BDL in 338 Win Mag
Here at home for antelope and deer using Ruger #1 in 7mm STW

NE Washington deer usually .257 Roberts, elk .35 Whelen

NW Colorado elk .300 Weatherby, big mule deer usually 7mm Wby.

Southeast - mainly GA and AL - wooded mountainsides and open crop fields

Deer from mid-October to early February - NULA muzzleloader to start it then centerfires - mainly bolt rifles, all over on the cartridges as I like to experiment over the ~4 months. 6.5, .308, and .358 Win are the most used.

Predators and crows - mainly a few .223/.223AI bolt guns

I try to hunt all over, usually about 3 states a year…it’s money well spent imo. Always use a M70 is a boring caliber that you can find ammo for anywhere, they all weight 7.5-7.75 lbs and have set and forget 2-7’s or 3-9’s on them. I wear wool and have a striking resemblance to Elmer Fudd.

For regional trends, I do have a soft spot for the NE, snow, tracking and Remmy pumps with a peep.

When I lived in New England up until 1990, you saw a fairly balanced mix of action styles; bolt, lever, pump, and semi-auto.

Since moving to Nebraska, I've mostly seen bolt actions, a few semi-autos, a couple of lever gun, but no/zero pump guns.

For some reason, when I see used Remington 760s in gun shops or at gun shows, they are mostly pre-1970 vintage and mostly appear to have hardly been used. A friend came across a minty 760 in 257 Robert in 11/20 with an asking price of $425 OTD.

I hunt with old wore out rifles. I haven’t a clue what all the other goofballs around here hunt with.

But the big difference is I have ample cartridges for all my rifles. I doubt many of them do.

When I started deer hunting in 1984, a lot of hunters were using either levers in .30-30 or .35 cal. I saw a lot of Rem. 742 and 760 in .30-06, .243, and .270. Some bolt rifles in various calibers. Today mostly bolt rifles. Don't see many levers or autos anymore. Unless you take in consideration the AR crowd.

Mostly bolt action rifles here in Texas

Until back to the1990 the bread and butter gun for the average hunter in Germany was the combination gun called "Drilling". But since the wild boar moved in the bolt action rifle in calibers from 30-06 7x64 mm Brenneke to 9.3x62 came more and more in use. Since boar hunting by nighttime is legal the guns often were mounted with almost an observatory.

Southern CA use a made in 1976 200th year of American Liberty Ruger 77 in 7mm RM 150 grain TTSX primarily. Deer pigs, elk the occasional noisy squirrel. Most use bolt action scoped rifles here mountain hunting most common. In NW CO & other places with elk old Vanguard in 300 Weatherby.180 grain TTSX. I killed an elk years ago with my Dads old 30-06 mostly because he never got to shoot one.

Grandfather used a Remington 742 in 30-06 with a variable scope, iron sighted levers were common years ago but not nearly as common today.

Maine here. We use bolt actions though my buddy has a thing for lever guns. Mainly 7mms and 30 cals though I do like shooting them with my 9.3.

When I hunted public land in upper Michigan the most prominent deer rifles encountered were the "turdy-turdy" in a lever action of some flavor or the "ought six" in a Remington pump or semi-auto. Southern area was a Remington 870 or an Ithaca 37 Deerslayer. In the southern zone today I would say the Ruger American in .450 dominates.

Can’t see far in southern woods and I don’t shoot open fields. .30-30 does the trick about 95% of the time for deer. Toss up with hogs, but the .22 CB Short leads the pack. #2 is 20 ga #3 buck.

When hunting white tail & pronghorn I’ve used 22-250 with old Winchester 55 grain bullets to 300 Win Mag with 180 grain bullets, plus many cartridges in between. Off hand - 25-06, 270, 280, 7mm RM, more than others listed below besides the 30-06.

I shot more with the 30-06 than any other cartridge using 170 grain hollow point cast, 150 grain, 165 grain and 180 grain jacketed.

I shot four with 300 Savage and a couple with a 308 Win with 150 Interlocks in the last couple of years.
This last time out I brought a 300 H&H with 168 grain GMX and 358 Win with 200 grain Interlock SP’s, but only saw bucks and I had doe tags.
Others I’ve used, 7.92x57, 7x57, 303 British, 257 Roberts, & 6mm. I shot a few with a 54 caliber muzzle loader with round ball and with maxi-ball - the 54 anchors them quite soundly with either.

I shot a couple of does with the 300 Win Mag through the heart. I thought I’d be shooting at a distance which is why I brought the 300 as it was both were less than 20 yards when I shot. One ran a hundred yards or so and the other flopped over.

I shot one doe in the shoulder with a 30-06 and a 165 grain jacketed bullet that the manufacturer said was a “Game” bullet. The shoulder stopped the bullet - it never entered the chest cavity.

I shot a large buck antelope through the lunges six times with a 6mm and 105 grain bullet before he dropped. That bullet was a poor choice!

I plan on using a 44 Magnum & 45-70 with cast bullets next year, if I’m able.

All the above will work with white-tail. I only shot one deer with the 22-250, I’ll not use that cartridge again - I was a hungry college student and that was what I had. I know that other people use 22 calibers for deer and they are welcome to do so.

North and Central Idaho. 6.5 creedmoore and 30-06 are popular amongst folks and surprisingly so too are the 30-30 and 45-70.

Personally I've been a user of 308win and various larger 338 cals and my leverguns. Currently I'm getting acquainted with the 270 win and 30-06. Truth be told our game numbers have plummeted from what they were when I was a youngster in the 70-80-90's. We have more predation but far fewer herbivore game animals and there's also overcrowding of folks from Washington state coming over here using the local resources. Just the facts that there isn't the same hunting opportunity there was a couple decades ago.