Deer hunting seasons are opening across the country, in fact the Northern zone here in NY is open now, so I’m bringing you an article about deer guns.
What makes a good deer gun? Other than shooting a deer with it that is. Some of it will depend on your local laws. There are places where you have to use a shotgun, others allow rifles and some allow rifles, but require the use of a ‘straight-walled’ cartridge. Still others restrict the use of autoloading rifles.
Until recently, my home state of NY split the state into two zones, Northern (Adirondack mountain region) and Southern. Rifles were ok to use in the Northern zone only, you had to use a shotgun shooting slugs in the Southern zone. As of this year, rifles are ok to use state-wide with a couple of exceptions in densely populated areas.
So, once we take the heavy hand of the government into account, the question still remains: what makes a good deer gun? That will depend some on the type of hunting you do and the terrain you hunt.
Is your gun and chosen load accurate enough? The vitals on a deer are an oblong of about 6″ x 8″. So, you need to be able to shoot a group that’s smaller than that. Most new rifles and dedicated slug guns are more than capable of that with the right ammo. Keep in mind the ranges you expect to shoot at. A gun that shoots a 2″ group at 100 yards is a gun that shoots a 6″ group, or worse, at 300.
There are also velocity and energy concerns as you stretch the range. It’s pretty commonly accepted that 1000 lb-ft of energy is needed to ethically harvest deer. Some of the smaller calibers just don’t carry the energy needed all that far. Some of the larger calibers ruin too much meat.
This editor is lucky enough to have a relatively large collection of firearms to choose from, and has hunted deer with quite a few different types and calibers of gun. I took my first deer at 13 with a Mossberg 190, a 12 ga bolt action. I still have that gun. My longest shot at a whitetail was in south Texas, a 475 meter (519 yards) shot. That was with a custom .30-378 Weatherby and the deer dropped like it was poleaxed. (As an aside, the round I used for that shot was a handload, a 210gr Berger VLD Hunter bullet over 99.5 grains of Retumbo powder for a measured muzzle velocity of 3270 fps. That combo kicks like a mule but really delivers the long range punch.) I’ve taken deer with .223 on up to .50-90 and a lot of other calibers in between. Most recently, I’ve been using a Tikka T3 chambered in 7mm-08.
Frankly, I’ve come to the conclusion that a 140 grain 7mm-08 is as close to an ideal chambering for eastern deer hunting as you can find. I am aware this is a controversial take, however I have my reasons. Mild recoil, excellent ballistics, very good terminal performance all wrapped up in a tidy little package. Would I look elsewhere if I was hunting somewhere that longer shots, 500m or more, were the norm? Yes. But for anywhere else, it’s 7mm-08. I like that round for black bear as well, but I switch to 150 bullets for that.
So MVAP, what are you taking into the woods this fall? What round do you think is the best for deer hunting? Does your state have any restrictions on what you can use? Sound off in the comments. . .