super_hunt54

And just who says I haven't tried it? Careful there pup. You forget I make dirt look young There aren't many cartridges I haven't used on deer and various other mammals. And you are right, I am in the "a bigger gun wont make up for poor shooting" group just as you are. BUT the fact is, inexperienced hunters should not be limited to poor cartridge selection that takes away half the optimal target solution away from him. And discovering that problem of "light in the ass" cartridges not CONSISTENTLY getting through a shoulder bone is not an acceptable practice. Just because you have the patience to wait for that half a window to get that tiny bullet through the vitals doesn't mean you should be recommending it for an inexperienced hunter and you know it. You just want to argue for minimal cartridge use for some reason. Just like you champion long range shooting for people that have no business attempting over 100 yard shots. You do know there is a difference between a poor shot and a lack of power resulting in a good shot gone bad right?

Choose a cartridge that has the power to bore through shoulder because not every deer will present you with that perfect leg extended "come hither" presentation. It's that simple. Not every state has a deer "infestation" like your state does RR (not to mention tiny deer ) (like I was going to resist that shot) so telling a newbie to use a .223 when there are SOOOOO many other BETTER choices is just flat out ridiculous when they may or may not be getting ONE shot at ONE deer the whole year.

Ridge Runner

tiny window? the shoulder covers how much of the vitals? would you believe less than 20% with the onside leg back, why shoulder shoot? only reason I ever did it was when I needed to put the deer in the dirt or they would end up in a place where its hours to get them out. a pic

a smaller rifle allows more precise shot placement, if it has the energy to do the job, what more do you want?
my daughters first deer years ago, yep that's a 223

she made the choice to make her shot window even smaller, after I told her to aim behind the shoulder

RR

jerry d

My 2 cents FWIW......."Fairly new to hunting" So you probably don't handload. "Shoots flat to 125yds", "appropriate for varmints" to me those statements equals 243.

As for choice of gun you have to get one that feels right to you. But you said "known for reliability" & "I prefer a wood look" to me the choice would be a Ruger Hawkeye.....its wood, reliable and I like the twist rate just in case you ever do want to handload some 105's.

Now if you handloaded and was going to do a fair amount of varmint hunting then I say 223. Because if you do a lot of shooting in a day even the 243 seems like a heavy "kicker" at the end of the day, plus the barrel life on the 223 is better.

With the 243 there is a decent select of factory fodder varmint and deer ammo.

Don't be deterred that a 223 is "marginal" as a deer round,if you hand load (IMO it gives you an advantage) it's gonna kill any TN. deer that ive seen as long as you do your part.....that goes for any cartridge/thou.

My hunting pard killed to very nice TN.bucks this year a #162 10pt. & a #130 8pt w/ a 223 load w/ .......dare I say 75g A-MAX's!!

Wasn't that long ago I heard the 243 was a "marginal" deer round.

Just my opinion.....YMMV

gjersy

My vote is for the .308. It can reach out to 1000 yards, in rifle matches. The .308 fam of cartridges is awesome. Hodgdon reloading data gives some awesome .30 cal velocities, it's a short action machine, when shooting 130-150grn bullets. The spectrum of .30 cal bullets is awesome.

cr422

You could say the same, I guess, for the .30-06, since they both use the same .30 caliber bullets. You can get bullets in 110 gr.

If you really want to have some fun, spend some of that money on some reloading equipment.

Champlain Islander

A combo gun for both deer and varmints/ small game hmmm. If it were me I would go with something along the lines of .243 if hunting more varmints than deer or a 25-06 if the deer were the main quarry. 7MM-08 is another nice caliber. I would go with a bolt and some decent glass. The $1500 price tag could pay for a couple of guns or a gun and an inexpensive safe to start the collecting.

cr422

That sounds like a good suggestion. The only varmints we hunt are woodchucks. And we eat them, roasted, with yams and broccoli and onions. We use a single shot NEF .22LR with a scope. Does a great job, same rifle we started the girls with.

Okay, I'm off topic now, but I think anyone with kids should hand them a single shot .22 rifle as soon as they're big enough to shoot it. They'll be definitely hooked. Easy to load and shoot and no discouraging kick. And you can shoot all day for less than the price of a crappy movie.

gjersy

I agree cr422, and reloading is time consuming, a little pricey, but it's fun. Don't they make a 100 grain .30 cal, maybe even a 90gr? Anyway there's a lot of bullet choices out there for the various game your hunting, with a .30

cr422

I use Sierra bullets a lot, so I was going by their catalog. For all I know, there could be 100 or 90 grain .30 caliber bullets available.

I don't think you save much money reloading. But it's like they say, you can shoot a lot more for the same amount of cash.

My wife has been known to walk up to guys at the range and ask them if they have kids and, if so, why they didn't bring them.

Our girls started shooting the single shot .22 rifle when they were five. I bought them a Beretta Bobcat which is an itsy, bitsy pistol that shoots .22LR.

Champlain Islander

Never tried chucks. Probably not something I will have on the bucket list
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One of the latest guns I bought was a Henry Golden Boy in 22LR. Very nice shooting 22 lever action cowboy type gun. Beautiful to look at and I got it to teach my grandkids how to shoot.