Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles first deer rifle survey

Great photo, Jud. What is your plan for the grandson?

Savage 170, 30-30. Killed my first deer with it at 13yo.

Still have it but would like to give it to a deserving youth.

No one wants an old pump gun anymore.

Wait til he figures out what his favorite color is, mcswirly and build him probably a 6mm cm. 👊🏻

Or maybe a 250 savage 😎 decisions decisions. 😅

Haha I've found shopping for the kiddos is a whole new way to enable the looneyism!

M1 carbine, Universal manufacture. 110 grain Winchester hollow points. 12 years old. Even at 12 I realized I needed more power.

Oh hell ya!! I’m gunned up pretty good. Got the boy setup pretty good, now time to have fun with the grandson! 😆

Winchester '94, 30-30, I was 16....

Marlin 336, 30-30. I was about 15 or 16 in 1960 or 61. Paid for it by mowing yards.

I like where your heads at!

I’d like one of those myself. Cool old rifle!

Just realized I never answered my own poll. Came to hunting a little late... was in college when I bought a Remington 770 in 300 Win Mag. (My logic was "I'll only have one rifle so it needs to cover everything!" Little did I know about the looneyism haha!) The trigger was awful, the recoil pad was awful, but it was actually a very accurate gun. Killed several deer before finally upgrading to a Model 70 in 280.

It was a Christmas gift from my Grandad to my Great Grandad the first year the .244 debuted. I was actually the first person to kill a deer with it since there were no deer around here back when it was new.

I borrowed it for two seasons and Great Grandad told me I should just keep it since I was putting it to good use. Then he asked to borrow it back to shoot some geese, ha old timers. The same year my dad bought me a M7 for Christmas and I kind of forgot about the 760. Sadly when the old man passed a cousin ended up with it and I have no idea what ever became of it, my Grandad was pretty upset since it had been a gift from him. I would pay twice what it’s worth to have it to give him for Christmas.

Model 95, caliber 7 x 57 mm. Full military, earned it cleaning my uncles gun shop. Over the years I got 23 different military rifles, by cleaning, sanding, and general work around the shop. My uncle died in 1968, sure miss that guy. My oldest boy has them now. Hopefully he will pass them on, he's not a looney!

Ages 7-13 I alternated between a few borrowed rifles.

A 336 30-30, a 7x57 and a .303 Brit that had been sporterized.

It wasn't until I was 14 that dad bought me my own deer rifle and it was a model 700 30-06.

Enfield .303 Britt.

First one that was mine 742 30-06.

1974, I was 15. A Winchester model 94 Classic in 30-30. Had a long octagon barrel, 24 or 26" if memory serves me? Killed my first deer with it, a spike buck, the following year. Wished I still had that rifle.

Pretty much what I figured too… Dad’s last hunt was watching his grand daughter killing her first deer.
Cancer had a pretty good hold of him at that point, but he still managed to walk across the field holding his granddaughter’s hand up to her first deer.

Ruger M77 MkII, 270, LH with Leupold 2-7. 12 years old. Bailed hay, washed heavy equipment on the weekends, and cut lawn to pay my dad back for it. Shot it a ton. Took a few deer with it. Was a decent shooter despite the trigger. Had a couple of issues with safety not locking the bolt down and with it not allowing the rifle to be shot even though the safety was in the off position. Sold it off after it sat idle for a few years. Don't really regret selling it.

When the BOSS came out, I picked up an A bolt 300 win so equipped and used that rig to do a ton of shooting and take a lot of game. Must've been around '96 or so because I had to have my dad sign for it when we picked it up as I wasn't 18. That rig was a shooter with about anything you'd stuff in it; but, of course, it was very loud, so I eventually moved on. Still regret selling that one; had a ton of great memories with it.

When I was 13, my dad bought me a 16 ga single shot Winchester mod. 370, 30" full choke, and put me out on a dog driven deer hunt.......did not have a clue what I was doing.....was told later that 3 deer had moved by me that day......never saw them.

Joined a hunt club at the age of 38......thought an SKS would make a good timber hunting rifle......was ridiculed to the point a buddy loaned me a ruger #1 .270 with a leupold 3x9 scope to finish the season. Killed my first deer with that gun. Went out and purchased a rem 700 adl 3006 and a leupold 3x9x40 vari-xll......shooting that thing was pure torture, never hunted with it.....got a model 70 3006 instead and took a lot of deer with it.

Ruger M77 chambered in 250 Savage. Had a Weaver 4x on it. Today a Leupold M8 4x