Favorite Deer Rifle

Creature Meadow

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Bulldog I was having fun too:D

I've noticed there are so many good guns and calibers these days. My favorite was an older Remington in 257 Roberts. My son has it now. My wife has a Browning BLR in 257 Roberts. That is a sweet caliber. My other son and granddaughter use 7mm-08's. They all use guns in that caliber ranger. Kill caribou and occasional moose with no problems.
It is so cool we live in a country where we have so many choices. We're not mandated to use this or that gun/caliber.
Very true, many choices and the freedom to pursue any of them in most places. The gun store I deal with is 5 minutes from my work. I can walk in the door and in 15 minutes can leave with any number of different guns. Great shop to deal with and best prices I have found in eastern NC.
 

mjrwood

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These days I usually grab my Savage 11 308 when I'm heading out to hunt. But my favorite deer rifle I've ever owned was probably a little Rem700 youth in 243. I loved how compact that gun was and I'm a fan of the 243 for deer, at least around my area where the deer don't get quite as big as other parts of the country. Even with my 308 I love loaded down light for caliber loads, I usually shoot 125 grain SST's out of my 308 with great success.
 

Tim Horton

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Like said in post #34 and #35, is where my grandfathers old saying applies. That being...

The farther north you go, the more things capable of eating both you and your horse.....

In our part of the GWN bush, when I'm out on tractor, utv, or a foot, I carry an SKS. A bit heavy, but it is rugged, dependable, cheap to ware the finish off, and surprisingly adequate for any "encounters" I've had to "intervene" in to protect livestock. There have been a number of "incidents" like this. I tend to be extremely narrow minded about sharing any of our livestock with predators.

For game hunting up north of us (Yukon) and local it is an old Husqvarna made commercial 98 Mauser in 30-06 US caliber imported in the 1960s I think. Most excellent Northern European quality, fit, and finish of firearms for that time. Still very good looking today.
 

skeets

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Last gu,,,,errrr toy show I attended I found a bolt action 7.62x39. The one grand kid hates recoil so I figured I would give it a try. Set a cheap 4x power on it and she now keeps 4 out of 5 in a 3 inch ring at 100 yards the grouping is pretty good even with range ammo. Even the 243 was to much for her but now shes a shootin fool,, For my self when I do get out its an old Mdl 70 with a 3x9 Bushnell 168gr setting on top of 4064, Im thinking around 2600fps.Not blistering but it hits what I shoot at and one in the boiler room its all over ;)
 

Bulldog

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Although I haven't hunted in years if I had to choose one rifle for deer it would be a 243. For the most part though my go to rifle is a 223 and favorite hunting pistol is a 221.
 

greeno

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Everyone in the family loves the 6.8 SPC. I have 3 rifles in that chamber. My “pistol” length 6.8 is my favorite.





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Lil Foot

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Early on, I carried an 1895 Marlin in 45-70. Then I switched to a Remington 788 in .308- not a pretty gun, but light & accurate. I sold them when I stopped hunting, but after a few years I got the bug again, so I hunted the last time with a Springfield Armory M1AE2. Deer beware.:D
 
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twomany

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I've put an SKS action in one of those laminated "TimberSmith" contemporary stocks.
(They are hard to find any more)

A little gun plumbing was needed to fit an A2 rear peep sight to suit my ageing eyes, Add a useful carry and shooting sling, and I'll say it's one sweet rifle to knock around the woods with.

The 154 grain .30 caliber bullet cuts through brush without carrying "to far" on the chance of a miss. A bit of work was needed to cut down the issue 10 rd magazine to only accept our state legal five round limit. The slim profile is a benefit!

If I plan to still hunt, The LR-308 is scoped and waiting....
 

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Tim Horton

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Mar 22, 2018
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Lake Superior
I've put an SKS action in one of those laminated "TimberSmith" contemporary stocks.
(They are hard to find any more)

A little gun plumbing was needed to fit an A2 rear peep sight to suit my ageing eyes,
Nice looking in that stock. Some think putting something like that on a SKS is like putting a prom dress on a pig. But it is your date...... Enjoy.

I do agree about taking off the stock finish they come with. Many stocks are some nice looking wood under the refurbish finish.
A nice urethane refinish does make them nicer for little $..

I also could benefit from a longer site radius. Still seem able to use an iron front site, but better rear site would be appreciated. Will have to look into that. There is a site, Tec Sights (?) that does an extended radius pair of sites for SKS and 10-22 ??

Anyone with experience with them ??
 

skeets

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I have a bud he says his favorite deer rifle, is a .22 with a flashlight taped under the barrel :D
 

RLinNH

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I have a remington model 700 .270 that comes out of the safe on occasion.

My main deer go to is a Henry lever action 30-30.
 

Creature Meadow

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I mentioned this in an earlier post that I had to send back my Browning 300 WSM for the dura touch coating to be replaced.

It was returned from Browning like new and only cost to me the $40.00 shipping it.

Time to mount the scope back on it and sight it in, project for tonight after the grass cutting.

The Swarvoski 3x15x56 with a 30mm tube is what sits on the Browning, nice pair.

Lucky to have a range on the farm for sighting in and shooting, no need to go any where except across the ditch and over the pond dam.
 

skeets

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3x15x56,,, good Lord man!
I only had a 10x Unertl on my national match and she shot well to a thousand yards ( more or less) but then life got in the way and a lot of toys went to new homes, ahh well :D
 

shootem604

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M305 (Norinco M14) in .308 with a Bushnell Dawn to Dusk 12X. Simple, cheap, fun.
 

lugbolt

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I don't own any guns so I guess I'm left out of this discussion.

I hunted with a bow mostly, whatever I could eat. I lived off the land for a couple years while I was off work. Used bow to kill rabbit, squirrel, turkey, hog, and deer. Occasionally fish but rare since that pond was a mess. Yes some of them were out of season. When you're in that situation, you do what you have to in order to survive.
 

bearbait

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I don't own any guns so I guess I'm left out of this discussion.

I hunted with a bow mostly, whatever I could eat. I lived off the land for a couple years while I was off work. Used bow to kill rabbit, squirrel, turkey, hog, and deer. Occasionally fish but rare since that pond was a mess. Yes some of them were out of season. When you're in that situation, you do what you have to in order to survive.
Nothing wrong with that my friend, at that point you have no choice. I hunted with bow myself for years, mostly deer and bears. I miss those days.
 

skeets

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I miss the days when I could walk that far and draw a bow. Many many miles with a bow, many critters came home and Mom cooked up. The Kid got interested in the mounted archery thing. she has her Arab stud doing the course while she shoots,, Hell I had trouble htting stuff when I was standing still let alone riding a horse,,lol
 

bearbait

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I miss the days when I could walk that far and draw a bow. Many many miles with a bow, many critters came home and Mom cooked up. The Kid got interested in the mounted archery thing. she has her Arab stud doing the course while she shoots,, Hell I had trouble htting stuff when I was standing still let alone riding a horse,,lol
Horse, bow, I can't imagine but good for her. Brings a whole new meaning to drive by shooting.;)