Kinda curious what's considered and used for a basic deer rifle in the area you hunt and where that area is
MB

Eastern Ky. Unfortunately it is usually the cheapest plastic stocked 7mag, 30-06, 270, 300WM with the blister pack scope and rings.....

.270, 30-06/308, 7mm Rem Mag a few use 300 mag of some sort. Lots of Youth use 7mm/08 and 30-30.

What I consider “my area” is back home in western WV, I don’t know if I can pin down a basic deer rifle there but if I had to it would probably be a Remington 7400 in 308 or 30-06, high-rise scope rings with a cheap 3-9x.

Where I live currently in eastern NC there’s a clear split, private land hunters usually sit in a box blind over a crop field or clear cut with a heavier bean field type rifle, I think 7mag is probably the most common. Public land hunters I’ve seen a little bit of everything, mostly lower end Remington 700s, Ruger Americans, etc.

Winchester 94 or Marlin 336 in 30-30

Rem 700, Savage 110, or Win 70 in 30-06 or .270

Those would prolly account for 75% of what you’d see in the field here in Michigan north of our CF line.

South of that things have innovated a lot... .450 BM has gotten HUGE recently. For quite a while (Before modifications you restrictions) in-line MLs were all the rage.

This one in 6.5x55 loaded with a 120gr GMX.

Custom model 70 SS Classic. Older Swarovski 3-9x36 Optik

Pines and hardwood bottoms where I hunt. Average
" long " shot is 50 - 75 yards.
Typical firearm depends on who you talk to.
First one I took here was with a $50.00 pawnshop
shotgun and a 50 cent buckshot shell.
Lately been using a 43 magnum rifle. Neighbor uses a
45 colt rifle. Others use 300 win mag, 270wsm,
30/30, 303 British, 30/06, 300 weatherby,
Unknown AR's. Mixed bag in general

Down here in Louisiana these days you see a ton of single shot 35 Whelens (usually CVA's or Encore's) among the public land hunters because they can be used for both "primitive weapons" and rifle season. When they originally allowed single shot breach loaders, 45-70's and 444 Marlin's were very popular but the average hunter now is usually going with the 35W after the regs were expanded to allow 35 caliber and larger.

A Ruger M77 stainless of some flavor.

223 up through the 300 mags in bolt guns, quite a few guys i know using the Creedwhore.

Lever 30-30s.

A buddy does pack a 375 H&H at times. Uses it as his guide gun when he guides for bear in Alaska every fall. Think he just carries it to stay familiar with it.

Myself its an old 700 in 6mm Remington. No telling how many critters this thing has killed in 40+ years.

Yep, I hunt in SW MS and use mostly a CVA 444 Marlin, though I will use a 270 Win for those few areas where shots might exceed 150 yards. My buddy uses a 30-06 and his wife is deadly with her 243. The vast majority of out shots are within 100 yards.

Same in East TN


You’ll also find lever guns, mostly 30-30’s, occasionally.

Bolt action 30-06 still by a pretty good margin here. Scopes very greatly. Get tickled to every time I see Brownings with sub $100 scopes on them still. The cheaper bolt actions sell well.
GreggH

Probably more 30-30's in the woods here than anything I would imagine.
I like a Model 7 IN 308.

Where I hunt it's slug zone so it's mostly a mix of smooth bore and rifled shotguns with a few muzzle loaders and fewer handguns. Most of our rifle zones are wooded and host a mix of pump action bolt and pump guns with some semiautomatics thrown in. Way too many see through rings.

Used to be a ton of inlines and shotguns but now with the straight wall rule change a ton of people have grabbed a 450 or 350 or 444

Growing up in PENN in the 80s I saw lots of Remington 760s, Winchester 94s and Savage 99s.

Central ME. Still fair number .30-30 Marlins and 94s. .308 in a plastic/wood inexpensive domestic bolt or 742 probably #1. '06 in same #2. 7-08 possibly #3. Not many .243s (except kids) but .25-06 and .270 are popular. Among larger rounds .35 Rem and Whelen are very popular, probably more than .338.

Same in western Washington tree farms. Lots of 12-gauge pump shotguns in the San Juan Islands.


Okie John

Yep, its the same just over the state line in Southwest Virginia.....Hb

In Maine most of our hunts are in very thick woods lever action 30-30's and shotguns are the norm..In the open 30-06,300 savage and 308 dominant.

Kleinguenthers and Sako’s

A pump or bolt in 30-06

Back in the '70's when I started hunting the Catskills Win. 94's, and Marlin 336's chambered in .30-30 and .35 Rem. and Remington 760's and 742's chambered in .30-06 clearly ruled and accounted for probably 80% of what you'd see in the woods. There are still some old timers carrying those rifles every year but now you'll see most carrying a scoped bolt action. Usually a Remington, Savage or Ruger and most often chambered in .308, .270, .30-06 or .243, though lately quite a few 6.5 Creeds are going afield too.

Myself,

I could hunt with my 35whelen encore for now on and be happy.

Most my shots are close. <150 yds

MS did the “primitive” gun season. First it was .45 cal. Bought a 45-70. Then they went to were a 444 was legal. Bought that. Then .35.

Really like the handi-rifles.

Was Remington 700 30/06 with a 3-9x40 like everywhere else.

I appreciate the responses and hey keep them coming, all ways interesting to see and hear about what others use and like as well as where they hunt. MB

Lever action 30-30
Bolt action or semi auto .308 or 30-06

That is what I saw and used in the 70s and 80s in Arkansas.

Yup. It’s a wonder how deer die with such lame stuff.

A mass produced Remington 700 in some belted magnum chambering

Yeah, those Wally World Ruger American rifles are some deadly SOB's....👍....Hb

The problem isn’t so much with the rifle as it is the guy who uses it. At least around these parts....allow me to quote some of the things I’ve heard over the years.

“If it hits a milk jug at 50yards it will knock over a deer”
“I didn’t even sight it in this year, figured it was still on from last year”

“ I bought 3 boxes of fusion 180g but I used it all
Up trying to get sighted in, when I finally got it close I ran out of fusion so I just bought a cheap box of 150g corelokt to get me through this year”

I guess it works.....it’s not for me though.

#1 well.. Factually that's true although your margin of error certainly decreases
#2 I use a wide range of rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders and revolvers for deer. Whatever I feel like grabbing. It's entirely possible I grab one that hasn't been shot in quite a while
#3 I don't use any load I haven't shot on paper. Although most of the time for minute of deer at 100 yards it likely wouldn't make any difference.

Killing deer ain't rocket science.

-Jake

IIRC, the only one I've seen more than once on my public patch is the Marlin 336. The only guy I talked with last season was packing a left-hand 788 .308 that he'd bought new decades ago.

Raised my crew on bolt-guns; .270s, '06s, and .308s. I've toyed with other stuff and have a couple of break-actions and falling blocks, but mostly tote a .24 of some sort because they're light. My sons both live in Va, and I hunt there at times, where the first "gun season" is for MLs, so we all have inlines and I have a couple of traditionals as well.

I have a sneaking suspicion that my 6.5 Grendel may end up as my main rifle when I've futzed around enough with the other stuff I have. It's light, cheap to shoot, and should have long barrel life, plus a bit more bullet weight than the .24s.

To answer the question: in Ohio it used to be smooth bore pumps... Then rifles slug guns became popular. Now straight walled rifles are legal.

In PA I see allot of the Remington 7600s, Marlin 336s

But like kyhill sees, more and more cheap synthetic bolts.

They all kill deer.

-Jake

In the old days in our neck of the woods, the working man had a Glenfield lever action 30/30 he bought at Kmart complete with a scope. You were pooping in high cotton if you had a Remington 742 with see through mounts and a 3x9. Deer hunters would go out and shoot a couple of rounds before season to see if it was sighted and go hunting. 1 box of shells would last for years.

And they killed plenty of deer!

Few hunters have the passion for rifles that many of us on this site have. As for hunting in general, I am afraid it is a dying sport for I see very few young hunters these days. Most of the teens I know have little interest in sports of any kind, unless you consider playing computer games a sport like some colleges do.....Hb

Hey Boca, I left Appalachia years ago and now in your neck of the woods. See 12 gauge shotguns and bow hunters now mostly. What are you seeing?

Mostly bolt actions with big scopes. The 28 Nosler is popular. Shots are generally 100-1000yards.

A 270 would be fine where I hunt.

in my "neck of the woods" (Central KY), .30-06 and .270, followed by .243 and .223...

a couple, three decades ago it was a toss-up between the remington pumps, 700's and marlin 336's. today in the woods i see mostly what appear to be plastic stocked bolt action mossbergs or some other cheaper gun and giant scopes about 2 feet long and as big around as a coke can in front. not sure why people think they need that in the PA woods where a long shot is 75 yards most times. same goes for guys with the fancy ammo that costs twice what corelokt or power points cost. most deer in PA are 100-120 lbs soaking wet.

as for me, depending on the weather it could be anything from a 100 y/o pump gun to a modern scout rifle and lots in between.

Back in the 60's hunting with my dad's old cronies it was a .30 WCF (.30-30) M64 that I borrowed from dad's gun guy friend. There was a .35 Remington M8, .30-06 M760, 3 .308 M100's, .308 M70, 8x57 M98, .300 WM M70, .30-06 M742, .308 M742, .30-30 M170, .30-06 M70 and a .308 BAR at deer camp at one time or another. Dad would "sight in" his 8x57 Mauser with a couple of shots over the hood of the car on a cardboard box and minute of box was good enough. I got dad's friend's old gun magazines and got more serious about hunting and shooting as I got older. As a kid one of my jobs aside from doing the dishes was shooting Bob's 35 Whelen AI handloads to fire form the brass. Lots of those old guys just let me shoot their rifles to make sure that they were still on. The guys weren't real serious about their hunting back in those days though we did manage to bag a couple of deer every year. Lots of horsing around and good memories every year. The M742 was so common in these parts that our back tags even showed that rifle's profile on our back tags.

A couple years back, my dog's ice cream man, who's not a gun guy by any stretch of the imagination, bought a new rifle, probably at WhataMart. Savage of some sort in 6.5 YouKnowWhat. Can't fault him, makes sense for someone that just wants to hunt. I imagine a lot of guys are doing the same now, at least until they lose one and decide they need a .300 WinMag.

Mostly bow hunters. The gun hunters I see are a pretty equal mix of pump 12s, muzzleloaders and some variation of a straight walled rifle. Most of the rifle guys have a single shot .450 or similar. Very few . Lever actions, but a few. And a few AR platforms as well.

-Jake

That'll fix all their problems for sure!

-Jake

Sounds kind of like my hunting partner. He's definitely not a gun guy. Knows very little about ballistics beyond the load charts put out by the ammo manufacturers. He has only one deer rifle. It's a Tikka model 658 .270 I talked him into buying used from a classified ad in the paper back in the 90's. It still wears an old 3-9x Denver Redfield he mounted on it way back then. The thing is, he doesn't much care what rifle he uses as long as it functions well and shoots decent. He is however, one of the best, most successful, most dedicated, hard hunting deer hunters I know. He kills multiple deer every season with bow, crossbow and rifle and his living room has big buck mounts on every wall all the way around. I have known him and hunted with him since high school and he's never gone a season without punching his tags since way back then. You don't have to have a safe full of expensive rifles or be a rifle loony to be a great hunter.

That's a good looking set-up. I like the express sights.
Around here most guys (and gals) hunt with a bolt action in 30-06, 270 (gals), 308 etc. A few get out with some vintage stuff too, Savage 99, Winchester 94, Marlin 336. I have a mix of old & new, synthetic/stainless or wood/blue.

This is 25-06 country but a little of everything with the 243, 270, 22-250, 30-06, 223 all well represented somewhat in that order. I like to go to the old hardware stores and see what ammo they carry. It can be a surprise when the 30-40 Krag is next to the 300 Weatherby ammo.

270 Win shines here on the prairie.

Back in the 70s and 80s in North Alabama I saw lots of Winchester 94 30-30s often with side mounted cheap Tascos. There was a fair number of sportrized and stock military bolt guns, the odd Remington jamomatic almost always in 30-06 and the well heeled hunters carried a Remington 700 BDL usually in 30-06 as well. The kids, myself included, often started out with an H&R 20 or 12 gauge single shot with Foster style slugs. These were good at 40 yds maybe.

Today in Central AL and East TN where I hunt most I see lots of synthetic stock bolt guns in 270, 30-06, 7mag and even a lot of 300 Win and Wby mags. Hubble sized scopes are ubiquitous.

North central WV.... most guys have bolt action 700s or Ruger 77s. Still a lot of 7400’s and pawn shop specials like low end plastic stock bolt guns. AR-15s (ugh). Plenty of 30-30’s. 30-06, 243, 270, 7mm Mag. Mostly junk bc we are a poor area. People laugh me out of the shop when I tell them I hunt with guns like 250 Savage, 7x57, 257 Rob, 6mm Rem, etc

Once Upon a Once,

the cheapest new rifle that could be had was probably a Marlin of some sort, maybe a 30A. Now it's probably one of the Tupperware bolt actions, maybe a package deal with a low-end Vortex already mounted (It's all sighted in, right?) still from Whatamart, unless a trek is made to one of the big outdoor superstores. Since many don't have access to a decent place to shoot, a fair number get hunted as-is, or test-fired at some informal setup. Some will get test-fired in the woods, maybe after missing a shot at a deer.

At least the Marlins had iron sights, more or less lined up at the factory.

You and me both know, that's a WV truism.

Eastern Nebraska doesn't have a long tradition of firearms deer hunting, so most rifles seen in the field are from the mid-1960s forward.

I see quite a few inexpensive bolt action rifles from Mossberg, Remington, and Savage at sight-in days at the range that I belong to.

I do my part by trying to shoot several whitetails each year with different rifle, cartridge, and bullet combinations.

Like I said before I'm allways interested in the way others do the same things I do. I've noticed quite a few parallels in the responses we don't all think a like but mostly we are all pretty much in the mainstream. I grew to hunting age in southeast South Dakota,corn country ,soybeans and alfalfa with the Missouri River on the south and various other river drainages flowing into it. The Big Sioux, Vermillion, James as well as creek drainages They all had Cottonwood groves along them as well as other timbered lots . Deer bedded in the timber and fed in row crop and alfalfa.in the 50,s thru the 70,s deer were hunted by drives with standers by groups up to 20 in number not allways the same people but the same clique of guys. You were damn lucky to draw every 3 years a tag ,some guys had connections in West river (west of the Missouri) and got tags every year. The Black Hills unit one only had to buy a tag over the counter for $7.50 cash every year if you wanted one.
One thing was pretty much the same and that was most guys only had 1 rifle some of them carted around the same box of ammo for 10 years. I was 12 in 1967 and never failed to listen when the old guys started to talk hunting birds or deer. I remember well that a lot swore by winchester 94's mostly 30-30 and occasionally a 32 Spcl user. Marlins in the same and every once in awhile one chambered for35 Rem . There were guys who had 35's in M 8/81 and M141 rem pumps. The std 30-06 was m760 and m740-2 Remington pump and semi auto's. You saw more converted military 03's and m 1917's than new bolt guns some done custom mostly by the bench out in someone's garage who was handy with tool's. The new bolt guns were out there but it seemed only in a great while that someone bought one. M99 savages were popular mostly 300 savages. In the early 70's things started to change, bowling league for something to do once a week was being dropped for archery league which was cheaper and the same beer was drank afterwards. The interest in bow shooting led to deer hunting from tree stands and it got figured out in a hurry that a scoped rifle in the same tree stand produced a nice buck a whole lot more often than being in a drive. Some of those guys in those stands were the landowners and they also figured out just how many nice bucks they had .That a 2 1/2 year old 4x4 didn't get any bigger if you let anybody hunt your property and the buck went home in the back of someone else's pickup.Times were changing in methodology,what you used for guns, and decreasing access. I traded off a tired Remington 572 pump 22 and some cash for a sporterized M93 Spanish 7x57, it was further sporterized by a gunsmith in Sioux City Ia and myself when I was 14 finally drew my 1st tag at 17 resulting in a nice 3x3 buck. Still hunt all my life using bolt guns ,levers and single shots. I still like hearing how others do it. MB

Area: Wyoming. I’m just gonna offer an “unqualified” comment! The average hunter, is not like the majority of “gun-nuts”, like us on “the fire”. So my answer would be.....they primarily use one rifle/cartridge for all of their hunting! So, listed in no particular order......270 Win., 30-06 Springfield, 7 Mag, and the .300 WM. Likely, the 270 and the 30-06, would top the list! memtb

I'll buy that theory memtb but I'd add the 30-30, 223',243 and 25-06 in a lot of places I think it depends a lot on what is conveniently available. MB

In the 80's when I was a teen most local hunters would have been carrying a Remington pump or semi-auto rifle like a model 7600, 742 or 7400 probably in 30-06.

Now bolt actions are the norm divided between common calibers like 270, 30-06 and 7mm mag. 243 and 7mm-08 are common calibers for women and kids but some men too.

for me its a 223,243 win,25/35wcf, 30/30 wcf, 300sav,358 winchester, this what i use, they all work good

Magnum Bob, As only living in Wyoming for 35 years, I’ve only met “one” hunter using a 30-30, and none using a .223 (though I know of some that say they used the .223). My wife, back in 1973 ish, used a .243Win.....once!

To further qualify my findings or lack of findings......I meet “very few” people when hunting! memtb

Used to be the only rifles allowed in Indiana, PCR.
The .44 mag Marlins and H&R popular.
Private ground reg HP rifles also became legal.
Think entry level .243/.308 stuff like Axis/RAR top sellers.

When PCR only I ran a Ruger .44 auto sporter or a TC Contender in .35 rem (trimmed to meet spec).
Since reg HP rifle has been legal (test period) I've run a Ruger #1 RSI in .243 win and a Rem 760 in .35 rem.
Bought a Steyr Prohunter for crappy weather, in boring ol' .30-06

I'd like a Number 1 in .243 win, in A config.
Or maybe in .250 savage.

I agree with this, with the addition of the 742/7400. What's really changed about Michigan is where people hunt. Thirty years ago, everyone went "up north" to the woods and used centerfires. Now, the majority of the hunters stay in Zone 3 and hunt farmland.

Seems the newer hunters are buying 6.5 Creed & 308 bolt action s with higher powered vortex or other scopes with exposed turrets because tactical is cool. Older hunters likely to have a 30-06 or 7 Mag or similar. Our little pacific mule deer dress out at 125 lbs for an average fork horned buck so not too hard to kill but they are wary. Distances can be 2-400 yards in open heavily pressured areas.

NE MS

Lot of 30-30 levers, mainly Marlins, among the hunters that frequent the woods. 30-06, 270, and 7Mag bolt guns for those that hunt fields. Fair number of Browning BARs around.

Most bolt rifles are of the plastic variety these days, savage and Remington being the most popular. Ruger Americans are becoming popular. Most people willing to spend money on a rifle seem to go with Browning A-bolts and X-bolts. I rarely ever see a Model 70. M77s are seen a bit more often but still fairly rare. $50 or less scopes are the norm. I only know a handful of hunters willing to spend more than $200-300 on a scope.

My hunting partner and I are the only people I know personally that have ever take a deer with a 223.

In Georgia: Walmart synthetic 700 .270 or 30-06 Nikon Buckmaster or similar scope. In recent years the Savage Axis and Ruger American rifles are catching up with the remingtons.

Always autos. Used my Moms 7400 270 With a crap Tasco till I was was 36 years old 2 years ago. Became a tradition, that was my deer rifle for the Wisconsin gun season. That gun will never be sold, not worth much anyway. It will be given to me and then given to my son. Then I Finally bought myself a BAR 7mm from a friend for a good price.
Some of my friends try to say how much more accurate there bolts are. My response is yes your right you can probably shoot a inch at a hundred and I’ll do 2 inch. That will still hit the deer. We’re not shooting squirrels. My longest shot might be 100yrds.
Or I’ll get, they can jam. Also true. Take care of the gun, find ammo it likes. The only problem I have found was that 270 didn’t like certain clips. I found this out while siting it in. So found the clips it liked and away we go.
That 270 never let me down.

Quick CJS, hit the edit button and change clips to detachable magazines before Redneck gets on your case. See the Rimfire section for a more detailed explanation. I know, I know, every guy in deer camp calls them clips too. You are in rifle loony land here on the Campfire.

There doesn't seem to be one dominant rifle where I hunt in Pa. I used to always see several Remington 760's every year but hardly ever see them anymore. Cheap package bolt guns in common calibers are the norm and will certainly get the job done. I carried my CZ 550 full stock in 6.5 Swede with a Zeiss Conquest scope on it for several years and guys ogled that like it was the most exotic rifle they ever saw. Last year I went back to carrying a model 94 in 30-30 like I did as a young hunter but I haven't seen another guy carrying a levergun of any kind in about 20 years.

Not only every guy in deer camp that calls them clips. Marlin and Remington called them clips in their advertising for years. The guys on the fire demanding they be called magazines are just dorks.

The brass I find laying around at the semi-private range I shoot at is 270 Win, 243 Win and 308 Win.

I did see some nickle plated 7mm STW cases laying around the other day. Hard to believe someone shoots that and doesnt reload.

.308 or 6.5 Creedmoor seem to be the “common” deer hunting calibers for younger guys. 30-06 or .30-30 with older hunters. Some areas of my state are Shotgun only, so I’ve done hunters who just use 12g for all their hunting.

Here in Western Pa. the rifle used seems to depend on the age of the hunter. The old-timers carry Savage 99s, Marlin 336s, Remington 7600s and wood and blue Rem 700s and Win. 70s. The middle aged hunters prefer the nicer synthetic stainless bolt guns like Rem. 700s, Win. 70s , Tikkas and the like. The younger hunters are using the entry level black stock and matte blue bolt guns. The kids just starting get the hand me downs. I didn't mention Win. 94s that were legendery in the Pa. woods because the old-timers that grew up using them can't use open sights anymore because of declining near eyesight.

Ya, my only hope was Betty Lou, she was the one, a combination AK 57 oozie radar laser triple-barrel double-scoped hit-seekin shotgun.

Just ask Da Yoopers

LOL! I love this! If you calle d them clips on another forum i'm on they'll tar and feather you.

I've heard a hundred reasons why not. They got called clips from WWII and M-1 Garands. The old magazine inserts were like a clip.

Or maybe just dumb-asses with no life 😂....Hb

There's a couple of guys on the G&A forum that will call them clips just to piss off certain people, me being one of them. It's silly go be so anal.
'

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.

A pump 12 gauge.

kwg