Best caliber for So. Carolina deer?

You didnt mention if he has had much experience with center fires. Is he recoil sensitive?

243 with good ammo if he is ... If not 7mm08 or 308.

Academy sports sells the CVA hunter single shots for <$200. Add a $100 vortex crossfire and good to go. Very neat little rifles. I own one in 223, 243, and 7mm08.
Nice first rifles and well accurate enough for 200 yard shots.
 
YES, I second the little CVA Hunter. I also have one in 243 with Nikon glass on it. AWESOME little rifle, the one piece scope mount rocks also. It is very accurate, has a good trigger and is so handy it isn't funny.

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There are at least 50 different cartridges that can be considered "first rate" for deer...maybe more, but you get the point. Throw them all in a sack and pull one out is as good as any other method of choosing.

Seriously though, I tell everybody to look past the cartridge and find the rifle they like first...the stock, the trigger, the weight, how it feels, the action type, etc. Once they have that figured out, then pick one of the chamberings in which it is offered. The rifle makes a heck of a lot more difference than the cartridge for which it is chambered.
 
with a 210lb bruiser
Click to expand...

Definitely a nice deer in any state, but a 210 pound buck isn't really noteworthy here in Nebraska...but a very good rack on that deer, definitely better than I have shot.

I buy doe permits these days in Nebraska. I get 2 for $15 and can hunt almost 3 1/2 months on them if I went during archery, muzzleloader, early firearm, firearm, and late firearm seasons.
 
Depending where you hunt, SC's deer season begins as early as 8/15 for rifle and runs through 1/1. You can get 4 doe tags for $20 to use at any time after 9/15. Add to that many weekends are either sex and your chances of taking deer is up there provided you spend time in the woods. Deer are normally not huge due to the local genetics of the state but are plentiful. You have the occasional 200+ deer but most mature bucks are in the 150-175# range. Does average 80-90#, the biggest I've killed is 110#.

You don't have to sling a 180-200grn hunk of lead to kill them. The biggest bodied deer I killed was with a 95grn NBT out of a .243. One shot to the high shoulder and it dropped like a rock. By comparison I shot a doe with a 7RM through the neck facing me with her head down, the bullet exited at her rear hip and turned her insides into pulp. When they put her on the winch to pull the hide, her head popped off due to the bone fragments in her neck becoming shrapnel.
 
Saltydog, I have hunted in SC for the past 2 years, this will be my third, first year was just a 3 day hunt end of november, got a smallish spike buck, last year I was there first week of November, just the end of the rut where I was (leesville) but I did score 2 nice 8 pointers and a doe on a different day, the 8's were killed with a 7-08 one shot each and the doe with a 243 with 85 gr hollow points, lung shot she went about 30 yds and folded. I will bring both rifles again this year. The young guy that is going with me has gotten himself a 30-06 from his grandfather. Too much gun in my opinion but that is what he has and I am sure it will do the job, he is a member of a gun club and he will be practicing weekly. The nice thing about where we hunt in SC and as you all that hunt there know its stand hunting and 90% of the time you can rest your rifle on the stand rail. We are going the 4th week of october this year, hopefully we will catch some of the rut..I will of course provide pictures.
 
What's his budget? I'd be thinking of suggesting he think long term and consider a rifle/cartridge suitable for all game anywhere in North America. That'd be .27 calibre to .30 calibre with no magnum's.
Used is an option, but this time of year isn't right for used hunting rifles. That's just after deer season.
And he'd best get his finger out of he's planning on hunting this year. It's not a case of buying the rifle and going hunting. It has to be sighted in as a minimum.
"...old military guns can be inexpensive choices..." Not any more they aren't. Unless it's been 'sporterised' stuff like oh say a 1903A3 will run close to a grand. Deerslayer303's No. 4 Mk 1 Enfield, in safe to shoot condition, $500 plus. The days of milsurps being cheap are long gone
210 bruiser. HAHAHAHA. We have bigger deer living near downtown London. snicker.
 
Hey 210lbs is big around here [emoji3]. Not the tiny deer most people think. The problem is the bag limits IMO, when you can shoot as many bucks as you want, what stops people from shooting that little spike or 4 point? What gives them a reason to wait on something bigger? What gives them a reason to pass on that little yearling buck and let him mature? I say Nothing. They can shoot him, harvest all of his 25lbs of meat. And go back out the next day and shoot the first thing that walks out. As for my rifle. It cost a whole 69 dollars at Roses Dept. Store. My Dad bought it for me when I was 14 and together we Sporterized it to what it is today. I would never Pay the price for an Enfield today and Sporterize it. So many more options available ready to go for far cheaper than you would have in the finished product.

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Ok, it sounds like he has his grandfather's 30-06 which is capable of killing any deer on the planet. He might enjoy shooting your rifles and then practicing with the one he will take on the hunt.
 
There is a reason we call them suit case deer around here lol. OP, I hope you have a good hunt, the 30-06 your friend picked up is more than enough and the best thing about it is you can always find ammo for it. I have always used my ole tried and true 30-30 for my deer hunting needs, it works for here and when I go back home to TX. I am interested in using a 7.62X39 AR I purpose built for hunting but have not been able to get to the loading bench to work up a hunting load yet so I guess it will have to wait until next year
 
First of all your young hunter won't need a big bumer. To incurage your youngster don't get him a kicker. I feal to learn how to hunt Deer he will need to place the shot. So forget about the auto's. My no one choice would be a bolt in a 243. A Rem. 700, Win. mod. 70 or a Ruger American.
 
Longshot4, You will need to go back a few replies, my young hunter friend has gotten a 30-06 from his grandfather, I do believe its a model 70 winchester. Too much gun but it was free.
 
I suggest a lever action carbine mounted with a 4X scope. 30-30 has been a TOP seller for these conditions for over a 100 years!

30-30 is a keeper!

Jack
 
Sometimes the obvious seems to escape us, and is as good a chose as any. See Jack O'Connor's suggestion above.

This year I will probably kill my deer with a peep sighted Marlin 30-30. It's just a nice rifle to hunt with, kills deer well with 170 grain bullets and is fine out to 200 yards.

I have many rifles that would work on deer out to much longer ranges, but that not important to me this year. I enjoy the old Marlin.
 
The vanilla choice is .270 Win 130 gr.

But of course, half of the fun of hunting is using something a little different. So I would go with 6.5 Swede or 7mm08. :cool: The "secret" about 7mm08 is out now, so it's becoming more mainstream, although you may still have trouble finding a variety of ammo in places that have all the old standards....

For open sight hunts, I use my K31 7.5x55 Swiss. Definitely a conversation starter, and essentially the same as .308, but in an more interesting package.
 
The big secret with the 7-08 is to roll your own, which I do cause I have 2 of them, Remington model 7 and a ruger 77 Hawkeye..
 
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