What is your "go to" deer rifle?

Pre 64 model 70 in 270 Win. My dad bought it new in about 53. He scoped it with a Lyman All American in 4x with fine cross hairs. It was the only deer rifle he ever owned. I had borrowed it a time or 2 for hunts out west and used it 2nd weekends when Dad did his normal opening morning one shot buck kill.

I inherited it 15 plus years ago. It has since been with me on most deer hunts, I killed my biggest buck with it. It probably will go to my oldest grandson.
 
Mine used to be a Browning BAR in .30-06.
For many years now it's been a Ruger M77 RL in .250 Savage.
Most deer I've shot with it have dropped on the spot.
 
Remington 700 BDL, 270 Win, with Redfield 5-Star 4X scope.
I use it for deer, antelope, elk and more.
 
Mine is kinda like the original post. I bought it thinking I would use it for a year or so and trade it off. Its a Weatherby Vanguard chambered in .270 with an Ugly plastic stock.
The problem was, I loaded a couple of different loads for it and went to the range. The first group was ok at about 1 1/4 inch. The second load shot 5 shots with 4 of them touching and 1 about 1/2 inch out. I pulled that one. I decided on that load.
I don't worry if I drop it on a rock or hunt in rain or snow. It has a lot of bumps and bruises but still shoots better than any factory gun I have.
I have shot many deer a few antelope and about 8 Elk with this gun and don't ever see it going anywhere. I have used it for an excuse to buy another rifle saying I will get rid of the old .270, but I knew deep down the old .270 wouldn't be going anywhere.
Ugly and beat up but dang it has some good memories.

Wingmaster
 
A Remington Model Seven in 6mm is what I reach for first. For longer range shooting there is a Remington 700 in 25-06.
 
I only went to a bigger caliber because I've had a few close calls with the unknown. In the very thick pines once and the tall grass another time.
I'm older now so I'm on the ground I can't use tree stands. Plus I'm not built for running nor speed.

One of the college degree stuffed shirts at work asked me once you shoot the bear how do you get it to the car? I told him I run up to the bear and kick him in the butt to pizz him off and he chases me to the car where I turn and shoot him. I was very serious about it. After a few minutes he turned to me and said na.

My camp borders on the green mountain national forest. It's away from the neighbors but in the hottest black bear country.
 
For those damp, rainy days so common to deer season in Pennsylvania, I have my old 6.5 X55 Swedish Mauser. A 1908 Karl Gustav. It's fitted with a Lyman 57 peep and ramp front sight from a Remington 700, I think. Nothing special to anybody else but me. In better weather I might carry my Ruger #1b 30-06 but the Swede is my favorite. It's been to many a remote ridge with me.


Shoots very good for a parts gun, despite the bolt having a different serial # than the rest, and I don't have to worry much about getting it dirty.
John
 
Deer Rifles...

I have three killin' guns matched to the conditions of where I hunt.

For the swamps of Maine it's an iron-sighted Marlin Marauder in .35 Remington.









For the hills and hollars of West Virginia it's a Remington 721 in .300 H&H with a Leupold 4-12x.







... my son killed a nice little 3-pointer waaaaaaay over there on the far hillside with this rifle.



For everything in between it's a Pre-81 Browning BLR in .358 also scoped with a Leupold, a 1.5-5x.





Over the years I've laid down alot of meat and filled alot of freezer space with these rifles...
 
I bought my first deer rifle in October, 1974, a Remington ADL in .30-06 with a Bushnell 4X scope. It was my first really good gun and I greatly enjoyed shooting it. It got me into handloading. It can do anything I am ever likely to ask it to, with high quality, controlled expansion hunting bullets at quick speeds in 150, 168, 168 and 180 grain.

A few years later, seriously dating a woman who seemed interested in trying hunting, I bought a new Ruger M-77 in 7X57 Mauser. She thought it a bit big and heavy for her petiteness. A local gunsmith cut and recrowned the barrel to 16-1/2 inches and tuned the trigger, a local stock whittler chopped down the forend and generally slimmed down the stock, recheckered it to the original pattern and applied a nice oil finish, overall making the rifle 3 pounds lighter. I added a 4X Redfield Fullfield and handloaded it with 139-145 grain bullets, both of which liked H-380.

The woman and I parted but the rifle is still in my safe!

I have some bigger bore rifles, .45-70, .375 H&H, some smaller, but I think for what little deer hunting I still do, the Remington of the Ruger (maybe the first Ruger Mountain Gun!) will do it.
 
I use a Remington 700 BDL in 30.06 I bought new in 1979 for $200 with a Bushnell scope from that era. I thought many times about replacing that scope but it works fine as some older ones do.
I bought a similar rifle in 25.06 but have yet to take anything with it.

At home in my shotgun zone I use a Browning Gold Deer Hunter with a Nikon scope. I've taken several deer with it and my only double a couple years ago with it.
 
My goto is a Savage Model 99 Featherweight in .308 with a Williams receiver sight that I inherited from my father. Lately I have been toting a .32 Remington Model 8 with a Marbles tang sight around the woods. I don't actually hunt deer as that would imply occasional success. What I do would be considered more along the line of taking a gun for a walk in the woods.
 
I turn to two of them, an old Win. 94 30-30 or a Win carbine bolt action .308 topped with a Luepold 2x7. Both pre 64.
 
I use the same Remington 1100 12-ga that I shoot trap with. I just change the barrel and put foster slugs in it.

Most deer get within 100 meters or less or you wait until they do. I can't remember the last time anyone I know, took a shot over 75 meters.

Deer are almost as plentiful as geese, around here. We should be able to buy venison and goose in the grocery store. :)
 
For almost 40 years a Ruger M77 .243 Win. with a 4x Redfield scope has been my deer rifle. It is easy to pack and puts the rounds where I want. I've only had one deer that required a second shot.

The little Ruger is a keeper.
 
Marlin lever action in .35 remington perfect brush gun as around here the longest shot i will have at a deer is 150 yds

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk
 
for in the woods -Winchester model 94 in 38-55
for open country- Winchester model 70 in 264 mag with a kahles 3-12 scope
 
Remington 700 BDL in .30-'06 with a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10x40mm scope.
 
Remington Model 700 ADL in .270. In 1977 I was fresh out of the Air Force and bought it at K Mart for the grand sum of $177. I topped it with a Weaver K 4 wide view scope with a set of see through mounts. Over the years I learned to truly hate the see through mounts and ditched those. I also had to put a set of sling swivel studs on it, they weren't standard in the day. That rifle has taken a truckload of deer, antelope, and occasional coyote, and my only moose. It eats Federal 130's for breakfast and I've carried it many a mile. I've considered restocking it, but I like oem for the most part, and it's got it's honest scars from use. I think it'll go to one of my great nephews when I have no further need for it.
 
My current deer rifle is a synthitic stocked semiauto Remington model 7400 in .308 with a Simmons 3X9X50 scope.

Don't have a current photo of it with the scope.

 
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I have several Remington bolt guns to include 700's & 7's. They shoot great, one 700 shoots 3/4 inch groups with factory Winchester ammo. I hunt timbered areas on my farm in Ky. and a long shot is 100 yds.
For about the last 10 years I have found that the rifle I use the most is a NEF single shot. I have a 30-30 with a 2x8 power scope that has taken two large 140 class bucks and a .44 mag with rifle sights that has taken a 160 class 11 pointer. They are light and are easy to carry and clean. They are also short and easy to move around in a stand.
I tried a T/C Encore and could not get it to shoot as well for me and went to the cheaper NEF rifles with great results. I have a second .357mag bbl for the .44 and practice quick shots while sitting to mimic as if from my stand. Cheap shooting and good practice with the same rifle I use in the woods.
 
An extremely well used Mod 70 in .270 Win. I carried it horseback for about 15 years and it has been dropped, rolled on and stripped out of the scabbard while pushing through the "black timber", and it still shoots 1 MOA. It has an old 3x9 Browning scope on it that fogs if I breathe on it, but you shouldn't be breathing on the scope anyway...right? It has never failed me and it has done the job on as many elk as my name suggests. Wouldn't trade it for a brand new one straight up.
 
First RIFLE

I got a late start @ 18y/o with nobody to teach me & little money. lived & hunted in 3 states NH, NY, Co & took a lot of game & made all my best & longest shots with a cheap Mossberg mdl 500 with a 28" & 24" smoothbores, including antelope & elk. FINALY got a real rifle when almost 30 y/o, a REM mdl 7 in 7mm08 in blue & wood, 18 1/2" bbl & a leupold 1.5x5 vxlll. 30 years later it's still the one I ALWAYS end up taking at the last minute & it has never been a bad choice, near or far drt with a 140gr partition. being able to one hand it & carry it effortlessly for long uphill climbs has been a blessing MANY times. I've heard it called Puny, a runt, a pop gun, underpowered, REAL men start with a 300 mag, etc. But when I turn grapefruit to mist at 300 yds while they are missing due to flinches/ turning their heads away/ closing their eyes, they generally shut up quickly, then ask to try a shot.
 
I've shot many a Sika deer with this .270 Winchester Featherweight and Leupold 3x9. Only two whitetail though.



Shot a few Sika with this Swiss K31 and Leupold scout scope on it. Very accurate but a bit too heavy to carry as far as we go in for them. No drilling was done on the rifle, the mount is pinned into the rear sight base.

 
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