Deer rifle stories

coachcornbread

coachcornbread

Ten Pointer
I saw something on the book of face that sparked an interest. What deer rifles do you have that could tell a story?

The rifle pictured below is a savage 30-30 pump that was given to me by my dad when I was 10 years old and I killed my first deer with it later that same year. Fast forward about 30 years and my son killed his first deer with it as well. Lord willing if he has kids they will do the same.

So what’s your deer rifle story?C390C891-A557-4FA1-A979-5610D1112F96.jpeg
 
45/70 hunter

45/70 hunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The only "deer gun" I have that has stories to tell is my mother in law's Mossberg 183 bolt action 410. Times were lean in the late 60's, early 70's on their small dairy farm and she would hunt dinner. Rabbits, squirrel, and ruffed grouse were daily table fare with that gun. About 15 years ago her second son painted it flat black, D&T for a red dot, and took a couple turkey with it. He figured out with the external choke removed it shot slugs very well and he managed to take a small 8 pt with it. About 5 years ago he gifted it to my son to keep it hunting in the family. I stripped it back to original (fortunately he hadn't sanded it) The bluing is still in nice shape. Sadly my son is not going to be a hunter tho I tried. Determined to keep traditions running I did manage to take a spike and a doe with it. I was impressed with how hard that little 410 slug hits at my self imposed 40 yard limit.
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nchawkeye

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
How long have you got??? I bought a Ruger Model 77 in .243 in 1980...Until about 5 years ago, that was the only centerfire I owned...At the time, we had 3 farms, about 850 acres, in Gates County...With that gun I killed at least 300 deer...Through the years, several of my friends went from larger caliber deer rifles to a .243...We sold the farms about 3 years ago and I probably need to rebarrel that gun for my grandsons as it doesn't group as well as it used to...I no longer have any place to hunt and frankly I've killed enough....
 
cloningerba

cloningerba

Old Mossy Horns
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Another vote for the ruger .44 carbine. Best 100 yard deer gun there is. It’s definitely a family favorite gun in Our household. My dad got it while he was in high school and killed his first deer with it. My brother, best friend, myself and another friend all killed our first deer with it. My dads best friend killed a giant with it before he passed. If only that rifle could tell all the stories itself. Easily over 100+ whitetails have fallen to that little master piece over the years.
 
pcbuckhunter

pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
YanceyGreenhorn said:
Nice!!! I had a feeling this would be the one you’d post !
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It’s kind of been my go to for 25+ years. Even though I’ve used quite a few others over the years, nothing quite has the numbers this one does. My muzzleloader is close in there, and so is my Winchester 7 Mag, both with over 40 to their credit. My Mountain rifle and my STW have over 30, but nothing else I can think of has more than 20.
 
TobyScreams

TobyScreams

Twelve Pointer
I was generously given a 7rm savage 111. Sprayed groups of about 3” at 50 yards. My first deer I almost missed. Pulled my one and only sight in shot way left. No one would listen because it was a bullseye. My Father in law bought himself another one the same day. I think he knew that rifle wasn’t worth a flip. I re made the thing after I learned a lot and gave it back as a hand cut checkered, reblued (hot), 1 moa gun. He didn’t want it.

Got some great nostalgic stories…. Built my Dad a savage action custom later with a shouldered barrel. High polished, Engraved it and all. It was a tack driver. Still is even though I had to buy it back from the pawn shop after someone blasted it and duracoated it. Hand engraved in script and gold filled. now all covered and gone.

I could keep going…
 

Buffet Trout

Twelve Pointer
I have a BLR 308 that took a buck on the last day of the season 4 years in a row on highly pressured land. None of them went over 110”, but all of them felt like a trophy.


I bought that rifle in 2003 and have probably killed about 25-30 deer with it.

It’s seen SSTs, CoreLokts, Fusions, and TSX from 150-180 grains, but 150 gr PowerPoints worked the best…big exits, shorts runs, and lots of blood
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
My Dad's 336 Marlin in .30-30 he bought in the mid-60's. He didn't hunt a lot as i was a teenager. He hunted enough to get me started because he knew I wanted to go. He loved bird hunting but issues with the gout put that to a halt about the same time. I used his rifle to kill my first deer around the age of 20, Dad had never killed a deer with it. I couldn't wait to get a better rifle. Missed a bunch with that rifle, see through mounts and scope always off. Both way to cheap I know now. Snatched those off and killed the rest with open sights. About 4 years later in 1994 I finally had enough money, I bought a Remington 700 ADL in .270. Boy that thing was sure death. Then I started hunting land where I was limited to a shotgun. The Savage 210-F has slayed more deer than any other firearm I have used probably more than a hundred. Now, that thing don't play, got to where I would use it even if I could carry a rifle. After years of hunting primarily with it, land owners finally allowed rifles. Guess what? I decided I really loved levers. like my Dad's Marlin, of which the only deer he has killed with it was in 1995. We were on a camping hunt, a year after he had a massive heart attack. We were 2 miles in, I had scouted and put him in the best place I could find. There was a huge hollow log there, setting on a hammock with some swamp white oaks that were dropping like crazy. Almost dangerous to be under them. The weather was unsettled. I left Dad there and went about a 1/2 mile. That's when the storms hit. Wind, rain and crazy lighting abounded. It quit and as soon as it did, I heard the report of Dad's rifle, then another. I gathered my stuff I had scatter everywhere as I was curled up, trying to avoid being struck by lighting, then headed his way at a fast pace. When I got there, there the buck laid a true trophy even though he was just a cow horn. Dad had crawled in that hollow log during the storm. He said when he peeped out there the buck was. One shot the deer was down, the second was just to let me know he shot. :giggle: That is the only deer Dad has killed with that rifle and the second ever. The fist was when he was 16 at the Daniel Boone Preserve. That cowhorn rack means as much to me as any buck I have ever killed. Dad will be 83 soon and not sure but I think our hunts together are limited if not in the past. Since I have collected many hard to find levers and have taken game with them all, but Dad's rifle ain't going anywhere. So I can't say I have a special rifle, they all have their place even that Marlin M25 .22 I bought when I was 15. Maybe I'm just a sentimental type of guy, guess that is just the way it is.
 
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Woods and water

Ten Pointer
I have a 30/30 I got from a boot legger . I traded a bucket of catfish for one Sunday morning. I showed up to do my usual trading about 6am and was presented the offer to trade . Passed the law as I was leaving and found out that evening that she had shot a guy in the nuts that Saturday night with a rifle and the law couldn't locate the weapon .. Man that gun has seen some stuff.
 

Buffet Trout

Twelve Pointer
Woods and water said:
I have a 30/30 I got from a boot legger . I traded a bucket of catfish for one Sunday morning. I showed up to do my usual trading about 6am and was presented the offer to trade . Passed the law as I was leaving and found out that evening that she had shot a guy in the nuts that Saturday night with a rifle and the law couldn't locate the weapon .. Man that gun has seen some stuff.
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That’s some Darlene Snell sh*t
 
JJWise

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
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My grandpa’s Marlin 30-30 which has been mine for about 10 years now since he passed. The first gun I ever shot, and the gun I killed my first deer with, the season after he passed away. I can’t remember the manufacture date off the top of my head, I wanna say late 70’s. He had an old tasco scope on it with see-through rings, that I took off after high school, but have since put back on in lower rings as I can’t see the irons as well (at the ripe old age of 25). When you look at it’s groups on paper it shoots sub-par compared to all of my other guns, but in the field it handles like magic. The doe in the photo above was one of those shots, a little over 150yrd, offhand, with iron sights. She was limping and went right down with my first shot, I surprised even myself 8DA43499-F670-4303-93B5-8218F35C59AB.jpegMy first deer ever, with the same gun.
 

Tjm1534

Spike
My Jarrett custom 7stw has been with me to Canada at least 30 times since 1987,it was the third STW built by Kenny after the article in Shooting Times made the caliber famous.Would never part with it if there was a choice,it has been named Black Magic almost from the start and has been the last thing a lot of jumbo bucks heard ..Alberta,Saskatchewan and Manitoba,it’s been around The country.Not a funny story but true on the way to Saskatchewan one year my gun case didn’t show up in Saskatoon.The Air Canada worker was very nice and said he would track it down for me and call me the next day with an update.This was in the late 80s when there were no cell phones so I had gave him the number at the motel I was staying at.The next day after a full day of scouting,this was before you had to have a guide and we hunted by permission on more ground than could ever be utilized the Air Canada worker phoned and said he had good news and bad news. My rifle had been found,in Hawaii.According to him when the plane we came up to Chicago on was unloaded my gun case was overlooked and the plane left there bound for Hawaii of all places.The good news was he had it on a flight bound for Saskatoon and it would be arriving that night. I told him we were 250 miles or so from the airport and he promised it would be in my hands the next morning. I decided I would get up before light as usual and with out a gun just tour the area and see what I could see.Right about 5 am a taxi pulled up in front of the motel and as I walked outside in the subzero weather the driver was pulling out my gun case,what a beautiful site it was.Remember I said this was in the 80s ,airlines don’t give that level of service anymore.
 
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