I figure this category to cover rifles better suited for shooting past 350 yards. I really don't hunt Whitetails much in areas that require such shooting. I have two 270 rifles with good 3-9x scopes that are accurate enough to do it but they end up going Mule deer hunting mostly. Last year I used a 257 Roberts for my evening hunt because the scope on it was better suited for low light situations than my light 7-08 which is topped with a 3x Weaver. When I hunt public land in east Texas I like a light lever carbine in 45 Colt because shots often are so close and quick. What would a specialized rifle for deer hunting look like to you guys?

I started grabbing my little Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel with #1 topped with 3-9x40 Burris more than any others last season. Hunting eastern Carolinas so Fields, farm roads, swamps etc. So pleasant to carry and shoot and good results on game I shot with it. If I think I may have long shots I grab the heavy Howa 6.5 Creedmoor with a 4-16x50 Vortex Viper (has better light gathering) Now I’m thinking about selling one and putting together a 18-20” 7-08 or .308. Seems to fit all my possible scenarios with suppressor on hold. Would love a .257 Wby but not sure about shorter barrel.

A stock model seven can be had pretty cheap, light, tough and accurate.

https://dahlonegaarmory.com/product...synthetic-black-stk-blued#product_detail

A light bolt-action for a versatile cartridge covers most bases, including most whitetail hunting. I've used other stuff a good bit, but never felt handicapped by a bolt gun in any way.

Hoping to get some action with my Mini Grendel this year too. Every time I shoot it, I like it better. It's just as heavy, however, as my Alpine, and heavier than my Fieldcraft. Still, it's very handy. The same outfit that makes the hinged floorplate I have on mine has a light stock in the works too.

I use a 260 for that ... lighter kick, and hammers out to 400.

I like my M99, 300 Savage when sitting in stands where long shots are not possible.

m-70 featherweight 308 with an old weaver 2 1/2x with a post reticle.

Most all my rifles are "SPECIAL!" ,in that nobody else would build them like most of mine are built. Most of my rifles are big and heavy. However, the one I use the most is probably the lightest. It's a 1966 model 70 in .270 Win. Really, if you want to know the truth I could get by just fine with a Model 7 in 7-08.

I grew up hunting the deer woods of Pennsylvania and the Adirondacks.
A Remington 760 30/06 with either a low power scope or, better yet imo, a peep sight was the go-to gun.

Things have changed here in WI. Over the years a Remington 742 .30-06 or .308 with a variable scope was the go to gun back when I started hunting. We drove deer for one another in a deer camp with lots of guys. Now it is stand hunting often over bait at slow or non moving deer and a synthetic stocked bolt action with a variable scope likely still in a .30-06 or .308 or lesser chambering is pretty typical. The deer camps up north with a dozen guys are pretty much a thing of the past. Now a couple of brothers might head out opening day to sit in their stands on a private 40 acres that they bought. I miss those old days and a week long deer camp.

When things are a little on the up-close side, I usually hunt a carbine of some sort, or a lever gun. I've got a 336 in .35Rem that wears a low mounted 2-7 and it's a good one for 150yds on in. I'd not consider it a candidate as an "all-rounder", while some of my bolt gun carbines can be employed in that role if need be.

Every gun in my safes, with the exception of the rimfires, will do very well for whitetails.
But, for me, the quintessential NE deer rifle for the stillhunting that I do, is an open sighted lightweight Savage 99F in 300 Sav or a vintage 760 wearing a Lewey 1.5-5X in 300 Sav or 35 Rem.

.35 rem w 4x compact for in the timber

I have a Steyr Pro Hunter .30-06 as my crappy weather do all rifle.
The old beater .35 rem 760 is my timber gun
And I just snagged a 26" Ruger #1 .280 for good weather open field stuff.

The whitetails in my state have adapted to a few different environments that are so different that you couldn’t have a “perfect” rifle for all whitetail hunting. Some live in heavily forested areas where shots are usually within 100 yards or even closer. Some live around open grain fields where a shot could be several hundred yards across a field or a quick shot up close in tree lines and creek beds. Some have taken up with mule deer in river breaks and canyons where shots are not only long, but it can be a bit windy. But, if I HAD to choose...I’d run a sporter weight bolt gun in something like 7mm-08, 270 or 280. Scope would be a variable of no more than 10x on the high end.

7600 carbine with receiver sight.

38 seasons
My state starts in September and ends January, average about 7-9 deer a year and can't remember the last time I needed to shoot that far.
Problem is you design your parameters around an event that you don't control.
If you sit on a beanfield with a certain rifle of a certain caliber and certain bullet design topped with a big ole moon scope and the deer shows up 35 yards behind the stand quartering away and won't stop for a good shot....

Deer aren’t hard to kill, I hunt with most calibers from 25-06 to 358 Winchester. A good shot with a 223 is better than a bad shot with a 338 Win mag. I really like my 99’s, cause I’m the only one in camp with one.

I like a 22" 308 bolt rifle with a 4x scope. I can hit with it as fast up close as I can with anything else, I can thread a bullet through a hole in the brush as needed, I get more hunting time at each end of the day, and I can reach out if needed.

I've found that "specialized" deer rifles don't do much if anything better than this, and I'd rather put they money the cost into other things.


Okie John

Quit being practical.

I unloaded my gun room not long ago for some cleaning and my wife and kids were looking at the pile of rifles that a man "needs" to be a deer hunter in these parts. They just don't understand....

I had to do some re organizing a couple of days ago, put most of my rifles in gun cases. Impressive even to me actually. The wife says why would you need more than 20 hunting rifles (she doesn't know about the ones in the attic or the garage), I acted like I didn't hear her. She probably figured I am getting deaf in my old age. Hah!

Yep I have one, works great.

I have one too, kills a well as the 06’s, 300 Win mag and 300 Weatherby rifles I have

My current favorite is a Model 99 F in .300 with a fixed Leupold 6x. Does anything I need to do in the deer woods from up close to out to any range I have any business shooting. Being a fellow loony I have a safe full of other rifles that are perfectly suitable for any type of deer hunting.

My favorite woods rifle is a Marlin 336 .30-30 with 1-4x20 Leupold. Have used a bunch of different pump, semi auto, lever and bolt rifles over the past several decades and never found anything better for the woods hunting I do. For hunting where longer shots are possible, I like my Ruger 77 Hawkeye all weather .30-06 with 3-9x40 Leupold. Amazingly, neither rifle seems too heavy and they both shoot very well {sub MOA} and stay sighted in despite the crappy Leupolds.

Playing deaf....I'll remember that!


My dad took to hiding guns. I'd stop by, and he'd smile conspiratorially, and ask if I wanted to see his new rifle. Next he'd be taking me into the dry storage room downstairs, or in a storage closet. Upstairs, behind boxes. He'd tell me not to tell his wife (my step-mother). He didn't need to hide them, which made it all the funnier. She saw the bank and card statements. She always saw it as an excuse to do her own "secret" shopping. After he passed, we had lots of good laughs over it. He would never own up to buying some guns, and others he would spend a lot of breath selling her on why "they" "needed" them. He was sure a character.

I told her that was her inheritance, that every one of them is worth at least $500. She seemed to have to hold back a smile!

My favorite for the Piney woods is my 50 year old Marlin 336 in 30-30 with a 2-7 x Vortex Viper scope.

I grew up using a Rem. 742 in 30-06 with a 3-9x Redfield on it and now use a Mossberg 4x4 30-06 with a Meopro 3.5-10x 44mm scope on it in more open areas.

If I need something with a little more range I'll bring out my Sako L691 in 300 Wby with a 4.5-14x Leupold scope on it.

My favorite. A Howa SA

It was a "light weight" version but was just too muzzle-light with the pencil barrel. Put a 20" sporter contour on it and that put some weight out front, helping a bunch. Pillar bedded it, added an aftermarket trigger, and replaced the scope with a 3-10X42 SHV. It ain't as light as it was, but it's not too heavy either, and it shoots damn good, with a huge improvement offhand due to trigger and some weight out front.

Handles good in stands, moving through thick stuff, and accurate enough to shoot across a fairly wide field.

I have stainless/synthetic rifles for hunting in the snow & rain.
For the nice days and long walks I have a few lever guns with either Skinner or Williams peeps. My 2 nostalgia days guns are also in this group.
For the briers and thick stuff I take my 7600 Carbine with a 2-7 Leupold.
Variety is good.

Best we can use in Southern Michigan is the .450 Bushmaster. I love mine. I still watch a lot of deer across some of our fields I wish I could use a 7mm or .300. I know a lot of the guys North in the rifle zone carry the ole family 30-30.

For deep woods Eastern US deer hunting, a lever rifle gets it done for me. Most times the ranges are 100yards or less, and many times you might want a quick follow up shot. I personally like larger bores...35 and up. A lever gun is the right tool for my situation.

Rem 660 in 308 sitting in a Brown Pounder.
The trigger sucks, the throating is way long for the magazine,
It's easy to screw up loading it and tip the follower. What a bitch in the dark!

But, I can carry it by the pistol grip and it won't hit the ground. The stock is
cut short enough to come up perfect, even with heavy clothes. And i rarely
shoot it without killing.

When I bought it, I thought it was a short range deer rifle.
Made my longest kill ever with it.

Funny, I have several rifles I want to like better,
but why?

BLR .284 W with a 2-7 Leupold.

Ruger 77 .257 Roberts with a Kahles 3-9x50 for early and late sits and a M700 in .308 Win with a 2-7x33 VX-II for still hunting. Both 22” barrels.

My classic favorite deer rifle is a good bolt action .308 carbine with a 20" barrel with a good variable scope, For hunting on a farm where longer shots might be needed, a .270 is my choice.

Not really very specialized but I've mostly taken to using a single shot 35 Remington or a 357 Herrett pistol almost entirely. The gun season is short on public land and they both qualify for "primitive weapons" so it's just easier to use something that's legal for both seasons and call it good. The other 3.5 months is archery season so there ends up being a lot more time in the woods with a bow than a gun anyway.