I know some of you out there are hunters. I’m looking to start deer hunting myself and wondered what caliber you and rifles you guys use. I think I’m leaning towards 30-06. Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
If you are not very familiar with shooting centerfire rifles, I would definitely go with a lighter caliber. It doesn’t take much gun to kill whitetail deer and .243, 6mm, 7mm-08, .25-06, .270, .280, .308, etc., are great whitetail calibers.
A well placed bullet from a lighter caliber gun that you can shoot extremely comfortably without flinch/bad habits and good follow through will be much more efficient than a poorly placed shot from a larger caliber that you may form bad habits with.
If I were to strictly hunt whitetails (as I’m guessing you are since you live in Illinois) I would probably shoot everything with a .25-06…very little recoil, fast, accurate, and can be great at longer distances.
edit: Ruger M77’s (the new wood stock/blued ones are really nice IMO), Winchester Model 70’s, Remington 700’s and 7’s, Weatherby Mark V’s, Tikka T3’s, newer Savages, and Browning A-Bolts are all great rifles. Can’t go wrong with any of those.
What type of terrain and type of hunting makes a huge difference. In Michigan shots over 100 yards are rare unless you are hunting from a blind on farmland or under power lines.
I have a Remington 30-06 but I almost never use it because it is heavy as hell and the scope makes it hard to pick up a running shot. My preferred rifle is a well worn Winchester 30-30 with buckhorn iron sights. So light you can easily carry it with one hand for a long distance and snaps to my shoulder like it is part of me.
Sounds like you are new to deer hunting, makes sure you check regulations. In the Southern half of Michigan’s lower peninsula rifles are prohibited, firearms are restricted to shotgun.
.270
I use my horse and a pack of savage dogs.
I know very little about guns but my brother told me a guy he used to work with who culled deer had a scope on his rifle that was worth more than the rifle. About a 1000 more. Is this common?
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
What type of terrain and type of hunting makes a huge difference. In Michigan shots over 100 yards are rare unless you are hunting from a blind on farmland or under power lines.
[/quote]
Very true in Virginia also. .30-06 is overkill, unless you’re shooting long ranges you’re just going to waste meat. I hunt with a .303 british, which is noticibly less powerful than a .30-06 but both of my kills last year were within 50 yards, and a few others I let walk were also within 50 yards, so I was still carrying more gun than I needed. I do a lot of stalking in thick cover which is why I get so close, and need to gun up accordingly. You really need to figure out where you’re going to hunt before you buy a rifle.
I’d like to get a Winchester in .44 magnum. .44 mag can reach out to 150 yards no problem, and punches through the brush like nobody’s business. This coming season I’ve got a few new cutovers I can hunt and a powerline, so I might hold off on the .44 mag, and either put a scope on the .303 or invest in a .25-06, since I’ll probably be in a stand and could be shooting out to 300 yards. Haven’t decided.
My favorite rifle is still my .54 cal flintlock longrifle, but I wouldn’t shoot farther than a hundred yards with it.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
What type of terrain and type of hunting makes a huge difference. In Michigan shots over 100 yards are rare unless you are hunting from a blind on farmland or under power lines.
[/quote]
Very true in Virginia also. .30-06 is overkill, unless you’re shooting long ranges you’re just going to waste meat. I hunt with a .303 british, which is noticibly less powerful than a .30-06 but both of my kills last year were within 50 yards, and a few others I let walk were also within 50 yards, so I was still carrying more gun than I needed. I do a lot of stalking in thick cover which is why I get so close, and need to gun up accordingly. You really need to figure out where you’re going to hunt before you buy a rifle.
I’d like to get a Winchester in .44 magnum. .44 mag can reach out to 150 yards no problem, and punches through the brush like nobody’s business. This coming season I’ve got a few new cutovers I can hunt and a powerline, so I might hold off on the .44 mag, and either put a scope on the .303 or invest in a .25-06, since I’ll probably be in a stand and could be shooting out to 300 yards. Haven’t decided.
My favorite rifle is still my .54 cal flintlock longrifle, but I wouldn’t shoot farther than a hundred yards with it.[/quote]
I have a Ruger 44 magnum, it is not nearly as accurate as the 30-30 but it does have a lot of shocking power. I have to say that using a 240 grain slug it is not really very good for anything over 75 yards, great brush gun though and it doesn’t matter where you hit a deer it will knock it down.
If you are not shooting long distances a rifled shotgun with a scope is also a good choice. I shot a wounded deer that was laying down in the eye at about forty yards with my brother in-laws Remington 470. Left a completely devastating hole.
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
I have a Ruger 44 magnum, it is not nearly as accurate as the 30-30 but it does have a lot of shocking power. I have to say that using a 240 grain slug it is not really very good for anything over 75 yards, great brush gun though and it doesn’t matter where you hit a deer it will knock it down.[/quote]
Is that Ruger a revolver? Also, what is the problem with the 240 grain slug, too much drop? Some of my friends who load their own swear by a 300+ grain bullet, but they say drop is an issue. Since I’m not great at estimating ranges I realize this might be an issue for me, but I wouldn’t carry it unless I was in the brush.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
I have a Ruger 44 magnum, it is not nearly as accurate as the 30-30 but it does have a lot of shocking power. I have to say that using a 240 grain slug it is not really very good for anything over 75 yards, great brush gun though and it doesn’t matter where you hit a deer it will knock it down.[/quote]
Is that Ruger a revolver? Also, what is the problem with the 240 grain slug, too much drop? Some of my friends who load their own swear by a 300+ grain bullet, but they say drop is an issue. Since I’m not great at estimating ranges I realize this might be an issue for me, but I wouldn’t carry it unless I was in the brush.[/quote]
No it is a semi auto, looks just like the very popular Ruger 10/22. I didn’t mean to imply the 240 grain slug was a bad round, just that it has a lot of drop. I have never shot a 300 grain but that is a lot of lead for a shell that is not very long.
I saw a 130 yd shot with a 44 mag where the guy had a bucks antlers lined up in the bottom of his scope. The bullet hit a doe standing twenty feet in front of the buck in the top of the head like it was lobbed in like a mortar. No way to duplicate that shot.
i recommend a tikka .308 or a remmington model 700 .243
the 2nd one was my first gun, it was nice. but i moved up in caliber to the 308 and i like it a lot. really smooth bolt action + a lot of dropping power.
Thanks for the info. The vast majority of hunting I’d do would be in IL or WI.
[quote]Drunkard wrote:
Thanks for the info. The vast majority of hunting I’d do would be in IL or WI. [/quote]
So is that dense woods or farmland?
I use a .270 for antelope, deer, and elk. Does the job on all three. If you are sticking strictly to whitetail 7mm-08 is a great caliber.
[quote]Drunkard wrote:
Thanks for the info. The vast majority of hunting I’d do would be in IL or WI. [/quote]
You can’t hunt deer with a rifle in Illinois. Shotguns, muzzle loaders, and centerfire revolvers only.
I have no idea about Wisconsin.
I use a 308, my son does also and my daughter uses a 243. both work great for whitetails, work well to as far as we can shoot ( maybe 300 yards at the farthest, and don’t really kick to bad.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
[quote]Drunkard wrote:
Thanks for the info. The vast majority of hunting I’d do would be in IL or WI. [/quote]
You can’t hunt deer with a rifle in Illinois. Shotguns, muzzle loaders, and centerfire revolvers only.
I have no idea about Wisconsin.[/quote]
Really? Why?
This seems to work pretty well.
[quote]Derek542 wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
[quote]Drunkard wrote:
Thanks for the info. The vast majority of hunting I’d do would be in IL or WI. [/quote]
You can’t hunt deer with a rifle in Illinois. Shotguns, muzzle loaders, and centerfire revolvers only.
I have no idea about Wisconsin.[/quote]
Really? Why? [/quote]
I have no idea. In PA it usually has to do with population density (Allegheny County and other heavily populated counties don’t allow rifles), but in Illinois it’s a state-wide law. Doesn’t make sense to me since a good portion of the state is nothing but farmland. But, rules is rules.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
This seems to work pretty well.
;)[/quote]
Poor Bambis’ mom is tired.
She sleepy