What are you taking to the deer stand this year?

Everybody’s most likely made the call by now, so I’m interested to hear. What weapon will you be taking to the deer stand this year? If it has a special history, let’s hear it.

For the 10th year in a row now, I’m heading out with my Thompson Center Contender handgun and currently it’s wearing a 14 inch barrel chambered in 7-30 Waters. The 7-30 is a (now) wildcat cartridge made from 30-30 Winchester case that’s necked down to 7 MM and then fire-formed to move the shoulder forward for increased case capacity.

I don’t like muzzle brakes, so it’s a bit of a handful, but it’s an excellent handgun deer round.

My father will celebrate his 50th year hunting with his Remington 760 pump. It wears the original Bousche & Lombe 2×10 scope that cost as much as the rifle did in the 1960s. Back in the 1960s, the scope was an addition that caused extreme controversy in deer camp. The 30-30 crowd claimed that a scope could not be used in the brush because you couldn’t find the deer quickly enough. The critics were silenced by noon of opening day and modern era had arrived in the north woods.

It’s now ironic that dad still hunts with a pump. He hasn’t fired more than one shot at a given deer in over 25 years.

What are you heading out with?

I’ll be grabbing my brothers bow tonight and hopefully end my usually 20 day season in a few hours. So far, i’ve only shot 1 arrow and 1 doe with his bow.

If no success this wwwarm weekend, then maybe i’ll buy that shotgun license and grab my CVA optima and smoke them out during shotgun season.

Typically i hunt in a managed zone and a lottery zone. This year the managed zone is hunters choice, so i’m just going to head to the lottery zone and fill my tag with the first mature doe or buck i see. I want to spend more time fishing than hunting this fall…Typically i don’t fish in november due to hunting and i hate myself for it each fall. Going to try to change that this year.

I’m not much of a hunter but do enjoy deer hunting for a variety of reasons.
I shoot slugs through a 870 Wingmaster that belonged to my Grandpa. He taught me how to shoot with a Winchester .22 down on the farm. The first “big” gun he let me shoot was the 870 and he willed it to me when he passed away. Not much of a gun compared to what’s out there I guess but I treat it like a baby and I know he would be proud that I still use it and of the great memories it brings to mind.

During gun season I will be using my Savage .270wsm. This is a crazy accurate gun. The big issue I’m having right now is finding the ammo that shoots best with it. I have been using Winchester ballistic silvertips in 150 grain for years. This gun loves that ammo. I can’t find it ANYWHERE. I struggle finding .270wsm ammo anywhere locally to begin with but have I looked everywhere online and even called Joe’s and can’t find it. I had a little too much fun at the range last week and I’m out. I may have to do a last minute bullet test/switch. Not happy.

Signed, Not happy in Alexandria.
DT

belletaine wrote:

I shoot slugs through a 870 Wingmaster that belonged to my Grandpa. quote]

I have an 870 Wingmaster too. I should really ask my dad just how old it is. Maybe i can look at the serial number; but such an awesome shotgun. The thousands and thousands of rounds i’ve shot through it, as well as my dad…It’s just flawless!

I want to reblue the barrel and reciever some day to return it to darn near origional condition. Just can’t believe how good of a gun it is!
Have been opting for the muzzleloader the last several years and the shotgun just sits in the truck with the exception of some drives through real thick brush.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Maybe i can look at the serial number; but such an awesome shotgun.

If you go to Remington’s website and e-mail their customer service with the serial number, they’re pretty quick to respond with the date of manufacture.

Bow – OLD Hoyt if I can make the time to get out for bow

Gun = Sparky
Tikka 270 WSM (with a trigger mod)/ resting on a modified thumbhole stock. Topped off with a Burris XTR 4x20x50 Ballistic mildot FFP w/ XTR mounts and upper pictany mounts over the scope. Sending down range is the 140gr Barnes TTSX over MagPro at 33XX fps. Just fascinated with the consistent sub moa. On a bad trigger day, I’m doing about 3″-4″ at 500 yrds.
Last year it got its call to duty
3 whitetail bucks, 1 wt doe, cow elk, and a few prairie dogs

Seven years ago, my father-in-law loaned me his Marlin 35 lever-action, and after shooting my first deer with it, he gave it to me! Which I’ll admit is pretty awesome. It fits me well and I enjoy shooting it. I don’t have the greatest relationship with my FIL, but several people seem to agree – if he’s willing to give me my first deer rifle, perhaps he doesn’t hate me as much as I suspect.

deertracker wrote:

During gun season I will be using my Savage .270wsm. This is a crazy accurate gun. The big issue I’m having right now is finding the ammo that shoots best with it. I have been using Winchester ballistic silvertips in 150 grain for years. This gun loves that ammo. I can’t find it ANYWHERE. DT

I did a quick whip round the usual mail order sites and nothing doing for the Silvertips. Out of stock everywhere.

Are you saving your brass? I would if I were you, DT. Handloading for that chambering might become very, very attractive at some point in the future.

Grosue

Randy Wieland wrote:

Gun = Sparky
Tikka 270 WSM (with a trigger mod)/ resting on a modified thumbhole stock. Last year it got its call to duty
3 whitetail bucks, 1 wt doe, cow elk, and a few prairie dogs

Don’t you find that chambering ruins too much meat on the prairie dogs?

Thank you. I’ll be here all week doing two shows…

Grouse

i will not be hunting this year to starting a new job, so please post lots of stories and pictures. otherwise i normally carry my 30-06 rem

I’ll be sitting with the T/C .50 inline. I used the .50 bp pistol last year so this year the rifle goes again.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Are you saving your brass? I would if I were you, DT. Handloading for that chambering might become very, very attractive at some point in the future.
Grouse

I probably have a few hundred brass at this point. I’m going to have to go another route for ammo this year. I wanted to buy your loading press but just missed it before it was taken. I will probably start reloading next summer.
DT

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Don’t you find that chambering ruins too much meat on the prairie dogs?

Prairie dogs are like walleyes, only the cheek meat is good.
DT

30-30 bolt action or AR in 6.8 for this year.

deertracker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
Don’t you find that chambering ruins too much meat on the prairie dogs?

Prairie dogs are like walleyes, only the cheek meat is good.
DT

Hard to tell how much damage is actually done…..only could get BEFORE pics of them

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If I go it will be in MN with the T/C Omega in the .45 or the .50 – depends which one I want to shoot and if I have to give one up to one of the boys. I just love shooting the bp guns and the woods are a lot less crowded at that time of the year.

I have not personally hunted in WI for many years but have taken the boys over to share time with them and other friends while taking advantage of the land opportunity I have in Buffalo County and the cheap non-resident youth license options. My oldest will be carrying his Weatherby Vanguard 7mm Rem. Mag stainless and composite and my youngest will be taking his Tikka T3 Lite .270 both of which have been very solid guns for them even though they see limited annual use. My deer rifle is a 1990 Savage #110 walnut stock .270 that has been a super gun – yes, both kids have newer fancy guns but that’s okay with me:)

Good luck to all and stay safe out there!
Dave

Ruger M77 Mark II in 30-06 topped with a Leopould Vari-x II 2-7.

If I go rifle hunting, I’ll be taking my Savage 25-06. I’ve got a new Boyd’s stock and Weaver glass to get mounted on it next week.

Otherwise, it will likely just be the Bowtech.

Depending on stand location I’ll have either the browning a-bolt in 270wsm or my old marlin lever in 375 Winchester. That old 375 has killed many deer for me. None have gone more than a few steps from where they were shot. I wish I could say the same for the 270wsm. Still trying to find a round and a good shot placement to solve the issue of deer running off and leaving little or poor blood trail. It funny that grouse likes and must have good success with the ballistic silver tips. That was the 1st round that I used when I got the gun. I had real poor results on 3 deer with real good hits on each. On a post here at that time most people had only poor things to say about them. One told me to take all of them I have left and throw them as fall out into a lake as possible. My guess it most likely more a factor of the shot placement

Those silver tups are a very high expansion bullet. I hate how the fragment so much. I have a couple boxes for an 32 I have. (not the 32 special). Shot a couple deer with them and dnot like the results. Never lost a deer, but they had shallow penetration. The bullets just fragmented and fell apart. Sin:e I’ve gone to the solid bullets, barnes in particular, I have been extremely pleased with the internal devastation. So much energy transfers through the animal. Every lung shot resulted in the heart and arteries brushed as if I took a baseball bat to them.

I used the Silver Tips for 2 seasons before I switched. Very,very poor penetration and they came apart on contact leaving shrapnel-like wounds. I shot a doe at about 10 yards and had to track for a mile, when we skinned her out, she had like 3 large gashes instead of a single entrance….never had an exit hole with those things either. I then switched to a bonded bullet, the Winchester Power Max. since the switch, all of my deer have had exit holes with massive internal damage. I’m shooting a Browning A-Bolt 7mm WSM. It’s not the best caliber for the north woods, but the new bullets get the job done.

Bow= Oneida Kestrel, 56#@29″, 150gr Slick Tricks on NitroStinger Carbons

Rifle= 2004 Remington Custom Shop Model 7 SS… .308 Win… Hand loads= 165gr Nosler Combined Technology Ballistic Tips… M.O.A. 1/2″@100yds…
Scope…Leupold Mark IV… 4.5X14

Old school tack driver that gets it done every time.

The Mathews dxt and I have spent time already in the stand, come time for the orange army season it will be my rem. 700 in .270win. Bought the gun (technically my dad bought it with my cash) at 17 and has killed every gun season deer I’ve killed since. Killed my biggest buck to date with it, a 138″ 9 point, hardest part of that shot was trying to figure out exactly where his heart was in the scope when he was only 12 yards away. I had had that same buck literally at the base of my stand (he licked the ladder rungs) earlier in the bow season, couldnt shoot then as I didn’t have my ‘earn a buck'(wi) sticker yet.

Very interesting replies on this thread.

Interesting that mentions of the .270 outnumber the .30-30 and .30-06 combined. Is the once ubiquitous .30-30 riding into the sunset like the other transitional cartridges that few people now have heard about?

But at the same time, a nice selection of old school lever actions will be heading out with people and that’s really nice to see. I wonder how much venison the old deer killers like the .35 Rem and the .45-70 have collected in MN and WI over the years?

But no real oddballs! C’mon guys, we’re all friends here. Someone out there is using a 30-40 Kraig or a .25-35 Winchester or some other really interesting cartridge.

Grouse

I’ll be hauling the old Winchester 30-06 featherlight out. Been a great rifle for me and my grandfather gave it to me as my first gun. He has since passed on so it’ll be something I’ll treasure picking it up and hopefully putting down a buck for him.
Hand loading is the way to go, i haven’t bought rounds in 15 years since my dad and I loaded 150 with Nosler 150 grain ballistic tips. Never had a deer run more than 20 yards after a shot.

For the WI gun season, I’ll be in stand again with my .30-06, an older Remington pump. Not much need for the pump or clip as I’ve never fired multiple times at any one deer.
This gun was my Uncle’s. He passed away in 1981 in a car accident. This event changed my life as we then took over the family farm, moving from Brainerd to N. ND. For better or worse I’m not sure but I have no regrets.

I first used the gun when I was 14, the year we moved. I dropped a nice 8 pt in a dense fog in a freshly cut sunflower field that year. Perfect heart shot. I’ve harvested many deer since and I’ve never replaced or for that matter, ever adjusted the scope. If you read my old post (the one I re-posted from 2008) I have not upgraded that scope yet.

My daughter will be hunting with me again, and she’ll head afield with her Ruger American, bolt action in .243.

Deer hunting has become an annual tradition I look forward to more and more each year. And as I get older, I become less and less concerned about what I shoot, than just being able to be there, with great friends and family.

ET

Bow: High Country Iron Mace
Day 1 gun season: My pet Tikka M695 in 25.06 w/ hand-loaded 115gr Nosler Ballistic tips. Love that gun. After that who knows… one of my Remington M700 BDL’s in .243 & .270 or my Ruger M77 in 7mm Mag Or my Ruger M77 MKII .300 Win Mag as I like to carry different ones on different days so none of them feel left out

I’ll be hunting the Wi gun season with an old Interarms Lever Action .357mg/.38special that my grandfather gifted to me for my 16th birthday. It was his first deer gun, last year it dropped two does and he was pretty darn proud when I called him to let him know that old gun still put deer down.

If I don’t get the time I want in the field during the regular gun season it will be a CVA Buckhorn .50cal my dad surprised me with for Christmas a few years ago, and I’ll be looking to fill my tags in the muzzleloader season. This one dropped a doe at 125yd during the second half of the IL shotgun season a year after I got it. However, I have to make one more trip to the range with this one though as I just added to scope to it and only have it “rough/sighted” at 100yd.

I will be using my old 30-30 as always.