Big Game Hunting

[WDW]

Who here big game rifle hunts and what do you use? I'm in TN so whitetail is about as exciting as it gets for me. I use a Weatherby Vanguard 30-06 topped w/Leupold Rifleman 3-9x40 w/Leupold bases and rings. I also use a Rem. 700 BDL Deluxe Engraved 30-06 w/iron sights. I'll post some pics later. The long gun forum seems a little dead.

[JV_]

Later this year, I'm headed to Montana with a 7WSM for some Elk.

[WDW]

Later this year, I'm headed to Montana with a 7WSM for some Elk.
Nice. They have an Elk hunt in TN every year starting 2 years ago. I think around 20,000 people put in for it and they give out 4 tags:(

[Chuck Haggard]

I deer hunt. Over the years I've taken deer with everything from a S&W 5906 to a Ruger .300Win mag.

I tend to prefer 30-30s and .308s, they work really well, low recoil relatively speaking, and don't blow the meat all to hell if you get into the shoulder.

I bought that .300 because I always thought one day I'd get to go elk hunting, 20 years later I still haven't made that trip.


I've been looking at a deer legal AR for a few years now (I'd hunt with quality 5.56 ammo but in KS you have to be .23cal or bigger). Was going to get a 6mm-.223 at one point and just reload, then I was going to get a 6.8, then back to the 6mm, now I am dead set on having a .300BLK before the first week of December.

[JDM]

Deer, Elk, Black Bear, mountain lion.


It's pretty easy to get drawn for a tag for the big stuff- deer, antelope,and elk. There are some once in a lifetime hunts that are harder to get drawn for, although it happens regularly enough-oryx, big horn sheep.

Bear tags, and mountain lion tags are OTC.

Shoot feral hogs on sight.

Very few restrictions on fur bearers.

NM is a fine place for hunting.

[WDW]

I've been looking at a deer legal AR for a few years now (I'd hunt with quality 5.56 ammo but in KS you have to be .23cal or bigger). Was going to get a 6mm-.223 at one point and just reload, then I was going to get a 6.8, then back to the 6mm, now I am dead set on having a .300BLK before the first week of December.
You should get an AR in 6.8SPC. That is a pretty decent deer round. In TN you can use .223, but I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon.

[Odin Bravo One]

My personal preference for hunting is a custom Rem. 700 with Nightforce 5.5-22x56 scope in .300 Win Mag.

[ToddG]

Different kind of hunting, Sean. :cool:

[JV_]

Nightforce 5.5-22x56 scopePretty close to mine, except I use a 50mm w/ MLR + MRad turrets.

[Odin Bravo One]

Different kind of hunting, Sean. :cool:

Oh.

But it could work. Never actually hunted an animal bigger than a squirrel. But it does a number on those sage rats and diggers.

[Chuck Haggard]

You should get an AR in 6.8SPC. That is a pretty decent deer round. In TN you can use .223, but I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon.


Yeah, but I can get into the .300BLK with only a barrel, same bolt, mags etc. as the 5.56 guns.

7.62X39mm/30-30 equivalent ballistics ain't a bad deer rifle round.

[Al T.]

I've hunted quite a bit and the .308/.30-06 are the workhorses for me. I have a scout (M600 Remington, Burris Scout Scope) for stalking and a Winchester Stainless Classic CRF '06 with a Leupold 3x9 for everything else.

I am thinking about a .25-06 for the small deer we have here.

[JHC]

Georgia deer hunting in the big woods of the National Forest up in Lumpkin County. Close range stuff and I use a Marlin .30-30 or more often, a N4 Recce. In fact six .223 rounds have take six deer at 100 yds down to 20 feet. I generally use BH 77 grain OTM because I keep a lot of it handy and the N4 zeroed for it. And it's worked fabulously on a couple. However I think the best single performing round for deer has been the 60 grain Nosler Partition.

[WDW]

Georgia deer hunting in the big woods of the National Forest up in Lumpkin County. Close range stuff and I use a Marlin .30-30 or more often, a N4 Recce. In fact six .223 rounds have take six deer at 100 yds down to 20 feet. I generally use BH 77 grain OTM because I keep a lot of it handy and the N4 zeroed for it. And it's worked fabulously on a couple. However I think the best single performing round for deer has been the 60 grain Nosler Partition.

Are you using a 1/8 or 1/7 twist barrel with those 77gr. .223's. I hear 1/9 won't stabilize them. I rarely shoot anything over 55gr. so I really wouldn't know.

[JHC]

1/7 twist. But I've shot 75 and 77 grains through a 1/9 rifle - only at 100 yards and they were stable (made tiny round holes) and the groups were as OK as that rifle normally shoots most loads.

[will_1400]

18.5" Remington 870 12 ga with slugs/rifle sights for deer. It might sound like over kill, but I've only hunted in southern Michigan and the local regs forbade the use of any bottle-necked cartridge for hunting. And considering I was in a swampy area where the longest possible shot was 25 yards, the 870 worked well enough for me.

[Prdator]

I've killed Semi-truck loads of deer and antelope with rifles bows muzzle loaders and handguns!!
Over the last few years I've kinda gone from a hunter to a guide, I get a huge satisfaction from my hunter getting a deer as I do if I kill one. Last year I got to guide Tom and Lynn Givens, and that was a blast!!!
One of my other hunters killed a 155" plus buck two years in a row with the first one a 175" Non-Typical with a 3rd main beam!!!

This year I plan to get back into it and take a deer myself!!

[ACP230]

My favorite deer rifle is a Ruger M77RL in .250 Savage. It had a Weaver 1.5-4.5 variable on it early on. Now it wears a Leupold 2-7. Very accurate MOA combo for three rounds. Then the barrel starts to heat and the group expands and rises. I've rarely needed more than one round while hunting anyway.

I've killed most of my deer with it. Many of them did not move from the place where they were shot. Of those that did move the farthest one went was 125 yards. My shot placement was lacking a bit on that one, I hit too far back.

Before the .250 I used a couple of .30-06s. One was a sporterized Enfield. The other was a Browning BAR. It is a fine rifle and shoots inch and an eighth inch three-shot groups with Remington 150 grain Core Lokt soft points. With a slightly hotter reload a few years ago it shot the same bullets into exactly an inch.

Also took one buck with my old Winchester Model 12 in 16 gauge with buckshot.

[Wheeler]

I use a paper clip and a pocket knife to stalk deer. :cool:


If I ever have time to get into the woods, I either use a Winchester M94 30/30 or a Mauser M96 American .30/06. Anything larger is overkill here in Ga. IMO. I have a nice little M94 in .357 Mag that I like to carry in the woods from time to time but have yet had the opportunity for a shot with it.