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Caliber survey

Tenntrapper said:
For me, with all the time at home that I have, I got drawn into the....well, what about this, I want to try that. Always searching for something new.... something to do. Thousands of dollars later, I've came to the conclusion that they will all do the job. Sure, some might have an edge when it comes to certain scenarios, but in reality.... you're just splitting hairs.
Your choice in the 30/06 (Springfield) is a solid one. I killed my first deer with one. Hindsight being 20/20... should have stuck with it and saved my money.
Kudos to you...👍
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Springfield, not win. You are correct. Shows how much I'm into guns 😂

Now when it comes to archery I probably fall into the same boat as you do with rifles. Or at least I used to. It's easy to fall into the rabbit hole of arrow weight, balance, head type, head weight, fletching offset or helical, 3 or 4 fletch, etc. etc. etc. Sure certain set-ups hold advantages in their respective areas, but at the end of the day all that matters is cutting a deer bad enough that it bleeds to death, and endless combinations of options can get it done just fine. So now days I am about the same way I am with my rifle. As long as it does what it's supposed to, I only have to focus on what I'm supposed to do. The older I get the less trends seem to matter.
 
British 303 enfield.....deer none... (was told by someone that some of these had a faulty receiver so stopped using)
Remington 742 30.06...deer several
243...deer several
I like both and use both.
 
Not a gun guy either. They are just tools to me.

30-30 K
7mm/08 K
308 K
357 Herrett Contender K

and one probably nobody else has used:

32 Remington Rimless K

50 and 58 MZs K

I've killed far more deer with an MZ than a rifle.
 
BSK said:
Not a gun guy either. They are just tools to me.

30-30 K
7mm/08 K
308 K
357 Herrett Contender K

and one probably nobody else has used:

32 Remington Rimless K

50 and 58 MZs K

I've killed far more deer with an MZ than a rifle.
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This is me... I'm not a gun guy at all. Just a means to get job done. I get really cracked up, because people that know i hunt are all the time asking me gun questions. I always reply, "you're asking the wrong person".
 
  • Crossman pump BB/pellet rifle - tons of birds and a bat
  • 20 gauge single shot - never shot a slug through it and only saw a deer once
  • new Marlin 30/30 1st kill - only rifle I ever traded, wish i still had it
  • Remington 742 30.06, lots of kills
  • Browning A-bolt stainless 30.06, lots of kills and chased elk, moose, wolf, etc. in several states
  • Lyman Trade Rifle .50 cal. - killed a few deer and a mountain lion
  • Knight DISC thumbhole .50 cal - owned 2, great one was stolen and bought & sold the other rust bucket on here - both killed plenty
  • Rossi Wizard Single shot .243 - both kids killed first deer with it, loaned from Zulu on tndeer
  • Savage ML2 - .50 cal - both kids and I have killed several deer - love it, just a bit heavy and tight barrel loading
  • Marlin 336 30/30 - bought used on tndeer and we have all killed deer with it, everyone's favorite gun to carry
  • Savage 220 youth model- son and I have killed some great deer with it. Most dropped on the spot. I would just as soon carry it as anything.
  • Axis 45/70 smokeless conversion .45 - had it for 5 years and yet to mount a scope and hunt with it, but eventually will

I have held, shot and been in field with friends toting a lot more calibers, but I think that is all that I have ever carried or hunted with for deer in over 45 years of hunting.

I would be tempted to get a short action .308 or 7mm-08 with a woodstock and carry it till I die if I found the right one. A lot of my guns have just been determined by the season or the type of firearms allowed where I was hunting. Without a bench, I would never be able to hit anything beyond 250-300 yards so the ole 30.06 pretty much was a sure bet.
 
30-30 k first rifle
30-06 k
25-06 k 1 deer
300 WM k
300 RUM k
260 Rem k
264 WM k
I will probably never kill another deer with any cartridge besides 260 Rem or 264 WM. I like the 6.5/.264 dia bullet performance and have one Encore set-up for a Hankins SML barrel and a Bullberry 264 WM, and another Encore that is primarily my daughter's gun although I do use it some with a 260 Rem barrel, 45/70 SML conversion and a 20 ga Turkey.
 
270 k
7mm08 k
25-06 k
30-06k
Hunt 99 percent of the time with My 270 abolt that I got when I was a kid. It has also killed a bear.
Forgot also a 300 blackout. We have it set up for when we take kids. Killed a doe with it. Not a big fan.
 
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Forgot to mention 12 gauge rifled slug. Killed two deer with that. Everything on my list I killed deer with except for that stupid 8 mm Mauser. That's because it was a crappy year and I hardly saw anything much less had a shot at anything.
 
264wm
30-30
25-06
338wm
300wm
243
6.5cm
44 mag
Killed deer with all of them, killed the most with the 338. My first 3 kills at 10, 11 and 12 years old in the late 80's was with the 264 which was dad's but then he bought me my own 25-06, killed a bunch with it. Took an old open sighted win 94 30-30 just for fun and killed a couple. Killed one with a S&W 44 mag (no scope) just so happened to be a 12pt. Took the kids 243 and 6.5cm a few times and killed with them. The 300wm is what I carry 90% of the time now.
 
I'm going to try to add a new one to the "K" list in a few weeks.

9mm

Hear me out. I am shooting +p+ 127g buffalo bore out of a carbine with 16.6" barrel. The additional barrel length and hot loads gets me to about 1580 fps.

That equates to over 600 ft/lbs at 20 yards, or about on par with a .357 magnum.

I'll limit my distance to bow range. Been plotting this for a few years.
 
DMD said:
30/30
30-06

Never had any interest or reason to change from a 30-06. Been hunting with same Remington 710 30-06 for 20+ years. Had a guy tell me I needed to get a better rifle for deer hunting once. I said, "listen...that rifle has killed more deer than you've probably seen in your life. It's just fine, thank you" 😂
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Oh yea...forgot, I killed my first deer with a Harrington Richardson single shot 20 gauge shotgun. It was a miracle! 😅 I broke it down and loaded another shell in it three times before I hit the little spike. I was more surprised than he was! BUT, I couldn't have been happier if I had killed a B&C!
 
DMD said:
Oh yea...forgot, I killed my first deer with a Harrington Richardson single shot 20 gauge shotgun. It was a miracle! 😅 I broke it down and loaded another shell in it three times before I hit the little spike. I was more surprised than he was! BUT, I couldn't have been happier if I had killed a B&C!
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Seemed to me he committed suicide 😁
 

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