re: Deer Hunting Rifle Recommendations Needed

A tikka T3 with a trijicon accupoint 3-9 mil dot if you aren't going to shoot far (~500 yards and in) or trijicon tenmile / nightforce / swfa if you are going to shoot far. That's going to be my answer for everything except varmints or fighting a war. It's going to be dead nuts reliable and accurate right out of the box and there's really no practical reason to buy anything else unless you need to burn some money.

Caliber dependent on what you plan to do. 6.5 creedmoor, .30-06 or .300 win mag. Same thing, that's going to be the answer for everything except varmints or fighting a war. Any of those will work for anything in north america and the decision depends on how far you want to shoot, how well you can shoot and how well you handle recoil.

I think a T3 in .300 win mag is the best do anything in north america rifle you can get regardless of price. There's no reason to put up with the recoil and ammo cost if you aren't ever going to shoot an elk across a canyon though. Shooting that rifle well requires some dedication to the range. For damn near everybody in the southeast, 6.5 creedmoor is a better choice and lots of serious elk hunters would argue that's a better choice for elk than a .300 as well. Some places have caliber restrictions, especially guided hunts, and a .300 win mag will have you covered for all of those in case you ever end up on a guided grizzer bear hunt or something of that nature.

quote:

---

What would you recommend for such a scenario?

---

7mm rem mag

.25-06

.25 is a very snappy deer killing machine

I personally like the 6mm due to less recoil and flatter shooting than the 6.5 CM. I think it’s like 15” difference at 500 yds

I prefer the 6.5PRC over both of them though.

Not sure on 243 vs 260, I do know I’ve seen a pile of deer killed with the .243 though. I’ve never used either personally

Good info, I really like the PRC. It's been fun to shoot.

Browning AB3 Micro Stalker 7X08 with 140g. Double tap ammo and Swarovski Z8i 3,5-28x50

My grouping improved because of low recoil.

quote:

---

I think that's been one reason that the 6.5 grendel and 6.8 spc have been so slow to be adopted is because of the AK bolt face on the grendel and not sure which is on the SPC

---

Which is a shame. I absolutely love my 6.5 Grendel build. I’ve been on the deer and hogs with it for the past couple years with great results. And pretty much zero recoil to boot. 250 yds and in, it’s a nasty round using Barnes bullets

My buddies 5 year old son rolled a doe on youth weekend with it.

I guess I'm a bit old school, or maybe just old. I have always used a Marlin 336 .30-30 with a Leupold 2x7. At the ranges I hunt, it has served me well.

Lightweight and accurate.

ETA: And for me, there's just something cool about hunting with a lever-action; it feels like a throwback to a much simpler time.