RE: Deer rifles
 

25.06 or .270 would be my choice.

RE: Deer rifles
 

Those are two great calibers for deer.

RE: Deer rifles
 

There's nothing wrong with what he has now. Shooting off the bench is great for zeroing your scope. Point of impact will change when shooting in the field freehand or with an improvised rest. Know where the bullet will hit before pulling the trigger.

RE: Deer rifles
 

Huh!!! I have been hunting and shooting for over 25 years and have never had my POI change due to changing rests or shooting positions. IF your gun is sighted in and hitting where you aim on the range, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON (other than human error) why a gun should not shoot "true" in hunting conditions.

RE: Deer rifles
 

Have to agree with Predator26. I have a Model 670 in 30-06 and usually drop them where they're shot. My favorite load is a 180 gr. Core-Lok. It is extremely important to hit the range after a flight or a car trip before heading out for game. Sounds like you learned that the hard way.

RE: Deer rifles
 

I'm not a mulie man, but I can tell you that .308 150 Gr. Corelokts are mean medicine for whitetail.

Even if he's talking about a 7mm-08 and not a remmag, still should be fine on a shoulder shot. He also didnt say if they recovered his deer.

HOWEVER... no two shots are every exactly the same.... regardless of caliber/bullet, no rifle can scientifically garantee 100% bang-flops... I've seen 80 does shot with .300WinMags shot through the lungs run 150 yds, you just never can tell... Sometimes you're just gonna have to track... it happens.

99% of people will shoot larger groups from field positions( even when braced with bipods or boxblind windows) than from a bench. Sorry but that's just common sense.... as you move away from the bench, you rely more and more on the human element, and we all should know that we, the shooter, are always the weakest link in that machine(machine in the definitive sense of a system to perform work).

Now for my soap box...

There is no good reason to use a 7mm Rem. Magnum(ESPECIALLY NEW SHOOTERS), for deer of any kind... sorry but there really isnt anything a 7mag will do that the .270 doesnt... accept make more noise and beat the snot out of you.


Best advise to prevent deer from running off... get a milder recoiling rifle and practice with it. Shoot at least 200 rounds from it, and only use the bench to sight it in. Get so as you can hit a golf ball at any range out to 300 yds on the range from field positions(no bench), and on the first shot. General rule of thumb, your effective range on game will shrink by about 20% from nerves alone. Your accuracy(potential POI radius from point of aim) will double under field conditions.

RE: Deer rifles
 

Hey, Davoh... Do you practiceat American Shooting Center?

RE: Deer rifles
 

I'm going to call you out on that one. There are very few people in the world that can shoot a golf ball from 300 yards from field positions on the first shot on a regular basis. Baseball, maybe. Softball, sure. But a golf ball is a little hard to believe. A rifle on a lead sled with a grouping of 1" MOA will move out to 3" or 4" at 300 yards. That's what mostrifles is capable of without any human intervention, and those rifles would be considered pretty accurate by most. If the wind was gusting between 5 and 15 mpha gust or lack of gust of windcould create a clean miss on a golf ball pretty easy at 300 yards.

RE: Deer rifles
 

Dave what about elk and moose they are cervids too???:) I use a 7mm rem mag for antelope to moose, have no problems handling the recoil, shooting submoa groups and harvesting game effeciently. While I agree the Rem Mag isn't required for whitetail or mule deer it certainly isn't a bad choice either if the shooter can handle/put forth the range time to be proficent. Though that goes with any cartridge IMHO. Also bare in mind other regions have larger subspecies of deer, here a 300lb buck is not uncommon - so what may seem like over kill for 150-200 animal to you in Texas may not be seen as the same for region where weight in excess of 300lbs are a reality.

I agree with your premise about shooting and the target size growing. Though very few shooter's will be able to hold a golf ball sized group at 300 yards, that to me seems a little unrealistic of an expectation or standard. My rule of thumb has always been a grapefruit sized target or like npaden suggest softball. I feel very comfortable with this standard & for me it has proven successful.

RE: Deer rifles
 

Yeah npaden, ur right to call me out there... i was thinkin softball but typed golf instead... mybad... Honestly, I doubt I could probably hit a baseball at 300 yds dependably, especially from field positions... I'm at work and my attention is splite between 7-8 things at the moment so I'm kinda scattered and didnt finish my point... I was just mainly trying to make a point that you can't guarantee a bang-flop, and that extreme accuracy is about the only chance of getting close...

The only way to garantee a bangflop is direct interuption of the Central Nervous System... which makes for a very small and improbable kill zone at 300 yds... This is regardless of how much noise, or how much kick your rifle makes....


Havn't made it down there yet.... would like to, sounds like they have a nice facility...

I actually havn't recreationally shot(aka practiced) in years... after I moved out on my own, my dad fell on hard times and had to sell my beloved Remington 788 in .308(much to my dismay) and my old Mossberg .243... both were 1/2 MOA shooters at teh bench all day long.... So now I'm starting over with a cheap singleshot I put on layaway a few weeks ago....

Valid point skeeter... but I'd still take a familiar .308 loaded with 180 Gr premiums after elk and especially giant northern whitetail... it's not that far behind the .30-06 ballistically... not sure about moose don't know much about 'em... Surely if someone can take one with archery tackle a .308 wouldnt be considered subpar....

Someone well versed at handling a firearm is different from a new shooter. New Shooters most especially should not pick up magnums... thats a good way to develop a nearly irreversible flinch... I'm not saying no one should mess with Magnums... just that they're unnecessary, and pose potential problems for those with little experience with big-boomers...