Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What rifle did your Dad hunt big game with?

I shot my first deer with my Dad's 721 in 30-06. His first rifle was a Winchester 94 carbine in 25/35, the Next was a Winchester 54 in .270. Before purchasing the 721, he had a sporterized Springfield 30-06.

I have some interesting stories.

My dad started hunting with a 22 single shot that he found in the hay loft with a rotted buttstock. He carved a new one and went to putting small game on the kitchen table in the 40's.
His Mom and Dad supplied the 22 shorts, and there was no wasting ammunition back then. Head shots were emphasized, so as not to waste any meat. Squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, pigeons all went into the larder.

In the 60's when he started big game hunting he bought a surplus Argentine in 7mm mauser. Shortly after I was born in 67 he bought a 760 Gamemaster in 270 Winchester and has killed a pile of deer/antelope and some elk. He used it last fall to fill his deer and antelope tags. He has used Hornady 130gr Interlocks in it for most of that time. I have loaded some other stuff for him, but he always wants those 130gr.

I have seen/heard him shoot that rifle when it almost sounds like a auto going off. Someday it will reside in my safe, but I prefer that it will be in many more years.

The only rifle that Dad ever used to hunt deer since I've been around was a Remington 740 in '06. My Uncle and Grandpa always used identical 742s in '06.

Somewhere in my early adult life I was bit by the rifle bug or I'd likely have limited myself early on to a 7600 in either '06 or .308.

George

mostly a pre-64 FWT M70 '06, which I still hunt with.

sometimes a .30-30 Marlin, and after he started having shoulder problems a ported Ruger 7 mag.

A Ruger 77 in 270 WIN. He used it exclusively for the last 30 years of his life.

My father only ever owned one deer rifle, an early 336 30-30. He was uncanny good with it. I did see him shoot a fair number number of deer with other rifles and the occasional shotgun though.

My dad always used a Spanish Mauser in 7x57. Old school Fajen stock, Bishop barrel, with a Weaver K4 on it. We ate well.

Certainly the one I heard the most about was a std pre 64 model 70 in 270 winchester, with a K6 on it. We pretty much lived on mule deer in my early years.
For birds (mostly ducks and geese) a model 12 in 12 gauge. Both were sold when we moved to the coast, unfortunately.

Before I started hunting he used a 760 Remington .30-06. After that he used a Remington 7600 carbine .30-06 which he may still hunt with to this day? I'm not sure as we haven't spoken in a long time.

My dad hunted the most dangerous game with an M1 Garand, and a Thompson Submachine gun. He lost his taste for killing anything after that...

Winchester pre 64 M70 .264
Rem. 760 .257 Roberts
Vanguard 7 mm mag
Mark V .257 Mag

Actually more of a bird hunter.

stumpy

Dad never hunted after I came along, but we fished and camped all the time and still do. My maternal grandfather used to take me coon and squirrel hunting with his Walker hounds all the time though. He owned two beat up old shotguns. One was a Wards Western Field pump 16 gauge and a Steven single shot 16 gauge as well. He always kept a couple of slugs in his pocket in case we got close enough to a deer to shoot. It never happened. We jumped enough deer to peak my interest though, and I taught myself to deer hunt on his farm with a Spanish 8mm Mauser surplus rifle I managed to scrape enough money up to buy. I moved up to a slick Marlin 335 35 a couple of years later.

When my Dad was growing up in the Depression, there WASN'T any big game (deer) to speak of in Mississippi. Their game was any shotgun or .22 available for quail, rabbits, squirrels and such. That was what got me started too. My uncle belonged to a deer club north of Vicksburg. He invited me to go along several times in the mid-'60's and that was what lit the fire of deer hunting in me along with reading "Field and Stream", "Outdoor Life", etc.

I was around 15 before I even saw my first deer (does) while specifically hunting them and about a year later, MISSED the first buck I ever shot at . (shooting does was illegal at that time)

Bought an A5 from a vet who'd bought it new, fired it twice - and stuffed in the corner of a closet for twenty-some years. Said he'd seen enough killing.

My yen for a k98 Mauser was put on hold for many years, when after hearing of my desire to own one, Dad's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened, as he hissed, "you bring one of those around - I'll melt it."

He meant it.

My dad started with an 03-a3 that my grandpa got from the hardware store and sport prized. Next he got a beautiful Sako Finnbear '06. Story is an navy admiral ordered it when he was stationed in Greece then retired before it came in. PX sat on it over a year at full retail then started marking it down $10.00 a week. When it hit $375 my pops bought it. Classic smooth action sako with great accuracy but heavy. For the last 20 years its been a 77 MKII in '06.

He has lots of deer capable rifles but that old worn M77 is the only ove he ever grabs, it's beat and ugly but shoots super.

P14 sporter in .303,
Brazilian mauser, shilen barreled .270 win,
Beautiful custom VZ33 in 6mm rem,
Browning BAR .270 win
Ruger mini 14,

My brothers and I bought him a Sako Finnlight .270 topped with a Zeiss conquest which does most of his hunting these days which isn't much. He's still capable but its not high on priority list which is a shame.

He used a Winchester model 94 30-30 he bought used for $30 in high school, since his eyesight got to bad for open sights in the 90's he bought a scoped Ruger M77 in .308Win.

My dad started out on a Winchester model 1894 .30-30 made in 1912.
He graduated to a Winchester model 70 FWT in .30-06. When he got out of the Army in '64 or '65 he brought home a .300 WBY Mag be bought while stationed in West Germany.

He still has the .30-30 and the .300 WBY mag. The model 7 got sold to pay bills for his family (wife and 3 kids, all before the age of 25). I used the WBY in 1995 to take a nice 5x5 bull.

When the Weatherby got too heavy he bought a Browning Stainless Stalker in .30-06. That's his go-to now.


P

Dad was a dairy farmer, and aside from the duck pond at the back of the place, probably didn't get much time to hunt. After he retired, he started deer/elk hunting some with his brothers. Borrowed a Win. 1895 30.06 (a brute of a rifle as I remember it) first time out from my Grandfather. Then fixed himself up a Lee Enfield .303. When Savage introduced the first commercial left handed bolt action, well Dad was all over that one! Got himself a Model 110 in 30.06, and was so excited about it you'd have thought he'd died and gone to heaven! Put a Weaver 2.5x on it. Couple seasons later I remember going out to the range to make sure it was on...first shot took out the "X" at 100 yds. Said, "Close enough!", packed it up and we went home.

Damn, that was a long time ago...and yet seems like yesterday.

Take your dad hunting, you probably owe him.

What he said exactly! My Dad had a shotgun, but I never knew him to shoot it. He took my brother and I deer hunting, but looking back, I doubt that he even had any shells for his gun. Knowing that he wasn't a hunter but that he took us anyway probably means more to me now than if he had been a big hunter and actually enjoyed what we were doing.