Thread: deer rifle part 2

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Ted
The 7mm remington is a fine rifle. It shoots great and has a nice weight and feel. I actually felt priveledged to get to shoot my friends on my first deer hunt.
Dave - just a little weekend plinker?

Alan - no pot stirring. I respect hunters and non hunters. At 320 yrds I felt challenged enough, I respect bow hunters for what they do as well. I went into this not realizing how hard it is to shoot a deer in California. Unlike eastern woods where 100yds might be a long shot, here with the wide open ranges and low brush hillsides your lucky to get within 200 yards of a deer without spooking it. But until you try something, I guess you never really know what to expect. I respect my friends a lot more now!

Barb- Elksteaks or burger? (might be a while on this one!)

Dogtag here is a great sight talking about that crazy beast
http://airbornecombatengineer.typepa...under_50_.html

Hombre and Vara
Those are some long shots. What kind of scope power are on those rifles?

either one is good for me steve.

I shoot a .308 Norma, my brother has a 7mm Mag. Either will kill anything on the continent out to ranges that it's just too darn much work to go get 'em! A word of caution about a Savage bolt action....I bought a new one and fired it once, had to beat the bolt open with a hammer! The chamber was rough as a cob. Savage has outsourced many of its designs to Pakistan or somewhere, they are crap. Also they aren't a "captive round" action, the round can just fall out on the ground if the gun isn't held straight and level, as when you are lying down and trying to be nice and quiet. A military design is better, like a Mauser or Enfield. My .308 is a Parker-Hale, based on a Mauser.

steve there's a story of why I have my 700 bdl it and a friend of mine and that 700 saved my life it was Christmas of 1967 me and my friend jimmy were hunting caribou no. of Fairbanks ak. near chena hot springs and stumbled on about a 1200 lb moose so this was my first hunting trip in Alaska so I aimed and squeezed one off from my newly purchase marlin 30-30 perfect shot right shoulder hit it pissed him off he came after us running on 3 1/2 legs I was soo scared I shot 2 more times and missed jimmy stopped him with 2 shot from his 700 he died about 15 yrds. from us and jimmy a long time hunter was pissed at me for shooting him we gutted and caped and quartered him but it took us 8 hrs. to pack him out of there when jimmy rotated out I bought that 700 and still have and use it .....ted

I used to hunt in the Sierras, zones D-4, 5, and 6, and over in the X zones near Portola and to the Nevada border. My basic rifle is a Savage 111 in 30-06, and it has never let me down. I have also hunted with a couple of my old Winchester lever guns, a Garand, and a Browning High-Wall .45-70. Some years I filled, and some were skunkers; but good years, none the less. But, I also will not take a shot that is more than about 200 yards over reasonably mild terrain; too lazy and broken. In my youth, I was much more daring. Some of the gents I used to hunt with had 7's and 30 cal mags, and they were good pieces, and flat shooting compared to my '06, but in the D zones, I never saw a reasonable shot over a couple hundred yards. One time, one of the guys took a nice buck with his 7mm Mag across the river, and about a quarter mile up the other slope, a solid 350 - 400 yards; dropped it where it stood. He said he had hoped it would tumble to the bottom; took him and the other "kid" in the camp several hours to fetch it all back. Out in the x zones, a longer range, flatter and faster cartridge will have more benefit. There was a gent that I saw every year I was in D-5 who filled his tag every time, and he used a Winchester model 94 in .30-30. He walked those woods like a ghost, was quiet spoken and unassuming, a true mountain man; so it all sort of depends on many factors. Good luck in your hunts.