What is your go to deer rifle?

I've hunted with quite a few rifles over the years but keep going back to the same two, Remington 700 ADL .270 and Remington 788 .243. The .243 was my first "adult" rifle that I started shooting in the early 90's and my dad gave me the 700 in 2000 as a birthday gift. Of all the different rifles/calibers I've used to kill deer, those two are the ones I'm most likely to grab. I do occationally use a Henry .44mag, Remington 788 .308, and Ruger 99/44 as well but not nearly as much as the .270 and .243
 
98 Mexican Mauser receiver.With a little adaptation by way of the barrel shank,a Yugo short action 98 bolt worked out.Douglas Premium FWT bbl.Receiver is bedded,barrel is free float.
M-70 fwt pattern Garrett brand stock blank for a 98 Large ring.I blind magazined it,used a Krag guard,I think.Timney trigger.Did some filling with aircraft composite type glass microspheres and West System epoxy.
.257 R Ackley Imp.
6x by 42 mm Leupold.
All up,with the scope on it,it weight 7 lbs even. 115 gr Ballistic tips at 3050.

Its a tool!Built it over 20 yrs ago.It has served me well.FWIW,its built for Western ,more open country.
 
For the majority of my almost 30 years of hunting seasons, I carried my Remington 700 BDL in .308. When I was just starting out, over the first couple seasons I carried borrowed guns: Marlin 336 in 30-30, Savage 99 in .243, and a Winchester 88 in .243.

In the last couple years, I've taken my DPMS LR308B as well as an AR in 6.8. I think the 6.8 will be going to the woods with me more over the next few years.
 
Last 3 years it has mostly been a Thompson Center Venture compact chambered in 7mm-08. I mounted a Leupold 2-7 and have been in love ever since.
 
Dejevu,

A 357 magnum even from a rifle is a small short ranged cartridge. In particular since you hunt out west where the ranges can be long.

I suggest you consider a rifle chambered for a cartridge like the 270 Winchester or a similar round.

Such a cartridge will have far more range and be more effective.

A rifle like the Ruger M77 with a 2-7X Leupold scope would be good.
 
After reading all the posts I guess its my turn to chime in. Here in NH the muzzleloader season starts 10 or so days before regular rifle so out comes my Knight disc in 50 cal with a 3-9x45 bushnell, I know, why so much scope. it never goes above 3 power and it is clear as a bell. I dont usually get much chance to take any other rifle out since we only get 1 tag here, but as of 2 yrs ago I got a chance to hunt in So.Carolina so there I either use my ruger77 stainless in 243 or my ruger 77 in 7-08. Both kill equally well and are 1" or less MOA shooters.
 
I really, really try not to play favorites!

Get'em all warmed up, ready to go and rotate'em.

2 Years ago I took the metrices out for a week.
Last year took the iron sights out for a weekend and the pretty ones out on another weekend.
Around home, I like the short ones. But the most fun is any date with the long tall rifle in the black stock!

Afterwards, I'll spend time with'em all, getting them good and clean.



:D :D :D
 
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These days I hunt mostly with a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless in 260 that was rebarrelled with a Brux #4 contour barrel. Scope is a Vortex Viper 4-16 PST FFP. That rifle replaced, as the go-to, my Sako in 270. Just as my Dad did, later in life, I have gone toward a lighter rifle, which is the Tikka.

Just to mention it, since the scope seems a bit much on a deer rifle, I only ever crank turrets for distant coyotes. In my younger days, shots on deer ranged out as far as 450 yards, but now it'll be a rare day indeed for me to take a shot on a deer at 300 yards. For the last few years, 225 yards is my longest shot on a deer.

I swear I feel guilty about leaving the Sako in the safe, since I used it for decades and at least 100 deer, but the Tikka leaps into my hands.
 
over the years

From when I first started at age 12, up until about age 21, I used my heirloom rifle from my Grandad, a Win 88 in .308. Truth was, I wasn't getting to hunt all that much, and the old rifle only went to the woods a week or so a year. As I aged and relocated, seasons and opportunities became longer and more frequent. After killing about a dozen deer with Linclon's old rifle, I put it in semi retirement, as it was starting to lead a harder life than it deserved. The conclusion of that tale is I took a meat buck for a sick pal this winter with the M88, it's first kill in about 25 yrs or so.

I got bit by the bowhunting bug hard, and bowhunted more than I carried a rifle for close to three decades. Sure I rifle hunted, I loved tinkering with rifles, and still do, but I never really had a favorite. The past 5 yrs or so, I've eased up on my bowhunting, and have carried rifles a good bit more than in years past.

I hunt a pair of short, light carbines, a Ruger tube feed.44 mag, and the other a Ruger 77 bolt in 7.62x39, that see regular use. I still have strong bowhunter tendencies, and many of my stands will produce shots at relatively close range, so I can tolerate their moderate power for their ease of portability. But I recognize their lack of serious reach limits their overall utility.

So, as a "go to" I'd have to pick something bigger, and currently it,s been a toss up between a Savage Hog rifle in .308 and a Mark X mannlicher stocked 30'06. The two rifles have some similarities. Both have short, 20" tubes and are relatively portable. Both wear fixed 6x Leupolds. Both have a bent to lob relatively heavy 180 grain slugs into satisfying tight little clusters. That is far more punch than I need to anchor whitetails, but the extra power is nice for longer shots or bad angles or misfortune.

Appearance wise, the two .30's are worlds apart. I tend to carry the Mark X when the going is easy and the weather nice. It is a looker with relatively blonde wood and deep, dark blueing. The vertically split rings and the gloss scope add to its Euro appearance. It always draws comments from guys that see it.

If its rough and wet, the Savage gets the nod. The utilitarian green poly stock is near ugly, but worry free. So to the matte finish on the barrel and scope. The big XTR rings, medium heavy barrel and A2 flash hider I couldn't resist adding yield a very business like and leathal appearance.

Grandad could appreciate the Mark X. I suspect he'd be a bit taken back by the Savage.
 
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