What Gun/Guns and Ammo do You Deer Hunt with?

[ranwin33]

I shoot a Savage FXP16P in 300WSM that I bought six years ago - figured one caliber for just about anything I'd ever hunt.  I purchased it because it was inexpensive, Savage had a good rep for accuracy from what I had read, and it came with a scope.  At the time my thought was that I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that I might not enjoy (deer hunting).  
 
Shooting 165 grain Federal Fusion ammunition.  Very happy with it.

If I knew then what I know now my choices would have been very much different.

[ibewman]

never to be out gunned 300 weatherby with 150g hand loads

[ranwin33]

Given the price of ammunition I wish I had the patience to handload.  Does that thing kick a bit?

[ibewman]

no i dialed it back a bit im shootin 150g at about 3000to 3100fps . rem core-lok are 180g at 3200 fps they  get kinad sore  after about 5 rounds  but it like a heavy 30-06 load

[wannabehuntin]

Grew up in South Texas shooting 30-06 them moved to 7 mag, moved to Mississippi and now shoot a .243 size of the caliber doesn't matter as much a bullet placement.  I would say i have more fun shooting that .243 than I do the larger calibers.  Plus it doesn't cost nearly as much which allows me to plink more with it and become even better.  Plus my shoulder doesn't hurt near as bad. 

[shaman]

I started way back with a Remington 1100 12 GA  shooting Sluggers in Ohio and a Remington 742 in 30-06 shooting 180 grain RN loads.  That was a quarter-century ago.  My current deer battery:

Remington 7600 in 35 Whelen-- The 742 died a few years ago, and I replaced it with a pump. I load  "The Whelenizer" with 200 Grain Remington SPCL. It has a 1.50-4.5X Bushnell Banner scope. I wish I could say it's the ultimate deer gun, but I do not see it performing any better than a 30-06.

Winchester M70 in 30-06 with a 4-12X Bushnell scope. If I actually had a beanfield to shoot over, this would be the rifle.  My longest shot with it to date has been 165 yards.  It shoots 165 Hornady Interlock SP.

Marlin 336 in 30-30.  I have been somewhat underwhelmed by 30-30, but it has suited my young sons for a Yute rifle. I load it with Winchester 150 grain Powerpoints.  It has produced several deer, but it has also lost a couple. #3 son will be hunting his first rifle season this year and I'm trying the Winchester bullets, having had spotty luck with 150 and 170 grain Hornady FP.

M1 Garand.  My #2 son finished out his yute career with several deer using this rifle. It shoots 165 Hornady Interlock SP, the same load I use in the M70.  It is heavy for a deer gun, but that and the gas-operated action helps the recoil. When you have a yute that goes 6'4" and 200lbs, this is a perfect yute rifle.  I found #2, his own M70 in 30-06 for Christmas last year. He'll start hunting on his own this fall with that.

. . . and now the envelope please.  My #1 deer rifle is a Savage 99 in 308 Win. I had wanted to shoot downloaded 150 grain loads and make it a hot 300 Savage-ish gun, but I could not find a 150 grain bullet that grouped well. I tried the 165 grain Hornady Interlock SP (see a pattern?) and it shot perfectly at a load that produced 2600 fps.  I've shot 3 nice bucks with it since 2003, including my two biggest to date.  If I didn't end up filling the freezer with these guys, I would be shooting more.

The Rem 1100 in 12 GA is still around, and I still like to get it out at least one day every season and do some stalking in the cedar thickets.  It still shoots 12 GA Sluggers into a pie plate offhand at 50 yards.  When it connects on a deer, it is still awesome.

For Smokepole season, I have a .54 caliber TC Hawken that has been with me for 24 years.  #2 son shoots a Mossberg 500 with a ML barrel.

We have a bunch more,  but that's the ones that regularly get brought out. Over time, I have whittled down my powder selections to just one, H4895. The years of developing youth loads and the M1 Garand convinced me that it was an ideal powder for shooting consistent groups at less-than-max velocities.

[vambo991]

Kimber Montana 8400 in 270 WSM, will do you perfectly... very light and compact. I own a 8400 Classic in the same caliber and I adore it! Also, the 270 WSM is almost identical ballistically to the 7mm, but recoil is noticeably less. It's really a fine new round.

[OHhunter]

No rifles allowed here in Ohio, when packing a gun for deer it's a knight muzzleloader, shooting barnes expander mz's.  Probably the most accurate gun I've shot.  Bullet holes touching at 125 yds shot after shot, year after year. One my favorite hunts of all time was a doe I dropped at 155 yds on the final minute of gun season  a few years ago, it was awesome the smoke cleared and all I seen through the scope were four legs and a white belly sticking straight up sliding down the side of the hill.

[tattooed redneck]

YOU WILL LIKE YOUR 243 VERY MUCH.MY SON KILLED HIS FIRST DEER WITH A 243 NEF HANDI RIFLE WITH A REMINGTON CORELOCK 100 GRAIN BULLET.MY UNCLE HUNTED WITH A REMINGTON 742 WOODMASTER 243 FOR YEARS AND TOOK DEER EVERY YEAR.NOW OUR DEER ARE NOT HAS BIGS AS YALLS,BUT IF YOU HIT THE DEER IN THE RIGHT PLACE THEY ALL GO DOWN.GOOD LUCK.

[BlkLabDE]

Remington 700 .308 and T/C Omega .50. I introduced my 15 y/o son to the T/C last year and had to buy a new one this year as he won't let go of the old one. That is a good problem to have. He got straight A's after he started hunting (good grades are a requireent to go), and is a super kid. His twin sister now seems to want to learn too so maybe I'll hae to buy another t/cand another freezer. God has blessed me, I hope he does you too!