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View Full Version : What caliber do you deer hunt with?



Lash
02-21-2009, 02:28 PM
Discuss...

SSDude
02-21-2009, 02:50 PM
.308 150gr good for the north woods
12ga sabot, rifled barrel for the south

eric302
02-21-2009, 02:57 PM
35 cal. Remington

STANMAN
02-21-2009, 04:42 PM
.45-70, 405 grain handload going approx. 2000FPS. Yeah, it hits hard, almost as hard as a 458 Win mag:stare, that's my woods gun.

If I am sitting anywhere I can see (and shoot) over 200 yards, it's my Model 700 (snow camo) in 30.06.

STANMAN
02-21-2009, 04:43 PM
35 cal. Remington


Daddy likes, what type of gun, an old 760 perhaps?

73Dustr
02-21-2009, 04:58 PM
270 WSM with Barnes TTSX handloads. Otherwise, it's the 870 12 ga with Hornady SST sabots.

STANMAN
02-21-2009, 05:06 PM
270 WSM with Barnes TTSX handloads. Otherwise, it's the 870 12 ga with Hornady SST sabots.

I have a 300WSM (Browning A bolt) that I have never shot yet even. Love the concept of the short action with magnum veloxity. How does yours shoot??? Using 130 grainers???

Lash
02-21-2009, 07:09 PM
I need to pick up a new rifle. Cant decide if I should go with something like a .270 or along the lines of a .308. UGH...decisions!!!

0TransAm0
02-21-2009, 07:16 PM
i got a winchester model 94 30-30 lever action....it gets the job done just fine..ive had it ever since i passed my hunter saftey course when i was what 13 years old....

Lash
02-21-2009, 07:29 PM
Theres just something about lever actions that I don't like. Maybe it's just that I fell like I'm cocking a BB gun :durr

Rocket Power
02-21-2009, 07:31 PM
8mm Mauser, 7.62x54r, 7.62x39, .357 mag (in a handgun not lever gun but don't have it anymore), 12 ga. slug and this coming year will have .308 to the list.

Lash
02-21-2009, 07:41 PM
I really want a 7mm-08....but don't have the $. :(

0TransAm0
02-21-2009, 07:45 PM
Theres just something about lever actions that I don't like. Maybe it's just that I fell like I'm cocking a BB gun :durr



yeah i know what you mean...i don't always hunt with it i use my dad 30-06 pump action sometimes...depends if im in a stand or doing a push...my 30-30 lever action is really light and is easy to cary threw the thick woods....

Taetsch Z-24
02-21-2009, 10:03 PM
30-40 Krag.

180 Winchester Round nose, loaded to around 24000 FPS. (Or 26, its been some time....)

Chris

Jsho13
02-21-2009, 10:09 PM
7mm Browning X-Bolt

theavenger333
02-22-2009, 12:03 AM
.30 caliber. unless you're firing across some sort of field or prairie, i can't see needing much more to drop a whitetail?

73Dustr
02-22-2009, 02:16 AM
I have a 300WSM (Browning A bolt) that I have never shot yet even. Love the concept of the short action with magnum veloxity. How does yours shoot??? Using 130 grainers???

That's neglect! I absolutely love the short mags. Mine shoots like a dream. I can punch bullets through the same hole at 100 yards all day long. Yep, I'm shooting the 130 grain. I love the TSX-type bullets. Great performance.

70 cutlass 442
02-22-2009, 05:01 AM
i use a 30-06, my dad uses a 300 Win mag, i always thought the 300 was a bit excessive, but hes getting old and dosnt want to track them i guess.

Breecher_7
02-22-2009, 07:04 AM
Browning A-Bolt Syn Stalker, .300 Win Mag

Jsho13
02-22-2009, 09:40 AM
What's the difference between the A bolt and X bolt? Is it just the release on the bolt that allows you do use the action with the safety still on?

77thor
02-22-2009, 09:59 AM
270 Win

That_Guy
02-22-2009, 05:11 PM
180grain 30-06

Russ Jerome
02-22-2009, 05:26 PM
I like flat shooting minumal damage rounds like .243.

That being said I'm putting on my flame resistant jacket:
I learned to deer hunt in CT with a .222, later a .223 in
MN, never lost or mamed an animal that I know of.
Im so comfortable shooting those tiny rounds I never
flinch and never miss, not for everybody but a 64gr Core
lock Remington bullet at 3000fps come out like a 308
at under 100yrds, still lethal at 150yrds.

Not something I admit to often, its frowned on by so many.
Even my hunting buddies give me crap, this past year up
north, they pointed at a doe well over 120yards from our
cabin and laughed I couldnt drop it in the nasty windy and
snowy weather, she's in my freazer right now, one shot.

Russ Jerome
02-22-2009, 05:34 PM
Dropped this WI buck last year for a neigbor up North with a 223
NEF single shot break action, one shot 55gr corelock.
http://sites.google.com/site/miscmicsforlinks/_/rsrc/1235345292417/Home/2008buck.JPG
Aprox 160yrds, double lung ran 30 ft and dropped DOA.
Not a huge deer but not a tiny guy at hte same time.

Lash
02-22-2009, 06:07 PM
I personally would never feel comfortable hunting with a round that small...lol.

-stew-
02-22-2009, 06:48 PM
I like flat shooting minumal damage rounds like .243.

That being said I'm putting on my flame resistant jacket:
I learned to deer hunt in CT with a .222, later a .223 in
MN, never lost or mamed an animal that I know of.
Im so comfortable shooting those tiny rounds I never
flinch and never miss, not for everybody but a 64gr Core
lock Remington bullet at 3000fps come out like a 308
at under 100yrds, still lethal at 150yrds.



Agreed. Off and on I've worked the sight-in clinic at the Menomenee Falls Rod & Gun Club for 14 years. (I'm 28) I would bet that guys shooting mag's are compensating for the fact they cannot shoot in a ratio of at least 2:1.
Guys with $3000 rifle and scope combos; they can hardly hit a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood from a bench at 100 yards with a rifle I'm layin dime size three shot groups. These guys get pissed when I tell them adjusting the scope won't help because they can't shoot.
There is no justification for using anything larger that a .30-'06 to hunt whitetail deer. Magnums are for bear, moose ect. And a .30-'06 will handle those with ease.

When I go deer hunting I choose between a Winchester M70 in .30-'06, a Marlin 336SC in .35 Remington, or a custom Mauser M96 in 6.5x55 Swedish; based upon where I'm hunting and weather conditions.

I would also like to say the Remington 742 may be the best massed produced centerfire rifle ever made. Hands down. Superb accuracy, reliable as a rock. I've shot a rusty ass 742's that looked like it came out of a dumpster and I put three shots in a time, with two touching.

Russ Jerome
02-22-2009, 06:59 PM
One of our hunting buddies uses a 338 Mag, he gets pissed when
we tell him he closes his eyes when he shoots, he is our guy who
returns with "I just missed the biggest buck" stories. I have my
name on the rear quarter of an old Ford pickup we shoot at, he
has the complete drivers door of the truck coverd....corner to corner
with no specific center. I hate shooting it, Im not a real man :)

Russ Jerome
02-22-2009, 07:18 PM
200yrd cold bore shot 2 weeks ago:
http://sites.google.com/site/miscmicsforlinks/Home/200yrdWin50grSilvertip.JPG
I think like you the more confident you are the better hunter you
are. Small 224 class bullets are definetly not for everybody, I wouldnt
suggest anybody use them but the topic was what we shoot....but
I also like chunky girls so Im the exception :)

STANMAN
02-22-2009, 07:51 PM
I would bet everything I own that the .22LR has killed more deer than all the calibers mentioned here combined. That doesn't mean it's the best tool for the job however.


I am a member at Menomonee Falls Rod and Gun club, and my 45-70 Marlin has well over a grand into it (it is a 1895 Guide Gun in stainless that has been Black-T coated, upgraded wood, with a Leupold LPS 2.5X10) and I can shoot. But I know where you're coming from, I see A LOT of people on the line (shooting everything, not just the nice stuff) that if I were a deer I would feel pretty safe:rolf

Holeshot
02-22-2009, 07:56 PM
For the last few years that I deer hunted I swore by a old Springfield Armory 270 with a fixed Lyman 9 power scope. The last two deer I dropped were both 10 pointers. I haven't hunted in almost 10 years now.

Breecher_7
02-22-2009, 08:15 PM
Just picked up the Marlin 1895 XLR 45-70 not to long ago. Actually havent even shot it yet. Has a very smooth action from what I can tell so far.

Oh and the rod and gun club can suck my balls. That place sucks.....




I would bet everything I own that the .22LR has killed more deer than all the calibers mentioned here combined. That doesn't mean it's the best tool for the job however.


I am a member at Menomonee Falls Rod and Gun club, and my 45-70 Marlin has well over a grand into it (it is a 1895 Guide Gun in stainless that has been Black-T coated, upgraded wood, with a Leupold LPS 2.5X10) and I can shoot. But I know where you're coming from, I see A LOT of people on the line (shooting everything, not just the nice stuff) that if I were a deer I would feel pretty safe:rolf

SSDude
02-22-2009, 09:33 PM
When I go deer hunting I choose between a Winchester M70 in .30-'06, a Marlin 336SC in .35 Remington, or a custom Mauser M96 in 6.5x55 Swedish; based upon where I'm hunting and weather conditions.

Got any pictures of the 6.5x55? I customized one once. Wish i never would have sold it.

u_say_go
02-22-2009, 09:40 PM
ughhhh! more pointless gun talk! I use an old farmers shotgun, Mossberg 500 12ga. pump. You guys with your fancy shit, come shoot trap with me and bring your $1500 Benelli's or whatever you wasted your cash on and i'll bust 24-25 every time with my old junk! cracked stock, rusty barrel, hasnt been cleaned in forever...and I never miss!
Stanman, I highly doubt you've popped too many deer at 200+ yards...this is wisconsin, not wyoming.

73Dustr
02-22-2009, 11:27 PM
cracked stock, rusty barrel, hasnt been cleaned in forever...and I never miss!
Stanman, I highly doubt you've popped too many deer at 200+ yards...this is wisconsin, not wyoming.

Sounds safe........

Not sure where you hunt, but a lot of the land I hunt on has many offerings for shots over 200 yards. You get into that rolling farmland, and it's mostly open with patches of woods here and there.

That_Guy
02-22-2009, 11:45 PM
Sounds safe........

Not sure where you hunt, but a lot of the land I hunt on has many offerings for shots over 200 yards. You get into that rolling farmland, and it's mostly open with patches of woods here and there.

this is true.. 2 out of the 3 deer i shot this last year where at about 150-200 yards out

-stew-
02-22-2009, 11:58 PM
Got any pictures of the 6.5x55? I customized one once. Wish i never would have sold it.


No. It's my dads. He bought/built it in the 60's when he lived in Arizona. Birdseye maple with a rosewood accent on the forestock, high comb.cheek piece, jeweled bolt, muzzle break. A gorgeous firearm.

STANMAN
02-23-2009, 06:02 AM
ughhhh! more pointless gun talk! I use an old farmers shotgun, Mossberg 500 12ga. pump. You guys with your fancy shit, come shoot trap with me and bring your $1500 Benelli's or whatever you wasted your cash on and i'll bust 24-25 every time with my old junk! cracked stock, rusty barrel, hasnt been cleaned in forever...and I never miss!
Stanman, I highly doubt you've popped too many deer at 200+ yards...this is wisconsin, not wyoming.

I don't think I have ever even SHOT at a deer that far away:rolf

DirtyMax
02-23-2009, 09:21 AM
Savage 7mm Rem Mag. Nothing has yet to run more than about 20 yards....

94greenbandit
02-23-2009, 09:32 AM
I use a Remington 700ADL .308. Love it and have never missed or lost a deer yet with that gun

-stew-
02-23-2009, 10:12 AM
I personally would never feel comfortable hunting with a round that small...lol.


Any one can use an axe. It takes a surgeon to use a scalpel.

That_Guy
02-23-2009, 10:32 AM
Any one can use an axe. It takes a surgeon to use a scalpel.

im a surgeon with a shotgun:thumbsup

94greenbandit
02-23-2009, 11:31 AM
I become a surgeon after the shot.

Russ Jerome
02-23-2009, 12:23 PM
Any one can use an axe. It takes a surgeon to use a scalpel.

I like that, similar to one of the greatest shooters of all time, Walter Maitland Bell:

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammunition/centerfire_22_biggame/

It was Walter Dalrymple Maitland "Karamoja" Bell who hypothesized that "10 grains in the right place" would do a whole lot more than many times that in the wrong place. He was, of course, absolutely and irrefutably correct. Neither bullet weight, nor bullet energy, velocity or performance in any combination can supplant shot placement.

Rocket Power
02-23-2009, 12:24 PM
I use an MG42 with a 200rd belt, spray and pray bitches:rolf:rolf:rolf

Knyghtmare
02-23-2009, 10:42 PM
I use a Remington 700 .30-06 or a Remington 11-87 12 gauge witht he rifled barrel and the expensive ass sabot slugs. I tried out my friends 7mm and I really liked that one too.

MurphysLaw88GT
02-23-2009, 11:38 PM
i use a net

Taetsch Z-24
02-24-2009, 08:55 PM
Nice!

No hurt meet!

Ill have to try it some time.

Chris