What do you guys use for deer in open county like eastern washington? Whats your favorite?

I use a weatherby vanguard .270 with Federal Vital Shock 130 grain bullets. I've killed several deer with this combo. Very flat shooting, which is a must in this terrain.

What's your .02?

Thanks!

.54 cal muzzle loader.

my dad hunted a 50 cal muzzle. very powerful guns. he had to be close tho because he wasnt the quickest at reloading lol

i'm setting down the modern rifle for a .50 muzzleloader this year. i can reliably hit an 8" target at 100 yards with a peep sight and my shooting sticks. lots of fun to shoot.

before that, i carried a model 70 in 7mm-08.

i love the 130 grain bullets for long range. Tear right through my deer

Nice combo RD, with bore/bullet commonality and all.
I'm one shipment away from completing my first 6.8 (20" A4 style) scratch build.

Ruger M77 in 25-06 for long shots on deer.

i like the 25-06. the only thing that pushed me away from it and made me get the .270 was the abundance of ammo. It's not easy to find 25-06 ammo where i live.

When I was shooting that one a lot I was rolling my own.
The last batch was from some select 30-06 brass I had necked down.
Off the shelf ammo drives sales but handloading opens up almost endless possibilities.

Edit :
Buying ammo online is yet another option.
Some good deals to be had.

Any legal caliber will do its part if you do yours. Your part is to put the bullet in the boiler room at an effective range for your ballistics. My favorites are the ones I've killed with 30-06, .308, 12-ga, and .50 muzz. I'm a huge fan of the Barnes ttsx or tsx for a projectile. Those damn things are just f'n killers. I hear good things about the Scirocco II's by swift as well.

.270WSM with 140 grn Accubonds. Killed deer, elk, and moose in WA. Good combo IMO.

Yeah, I think so.
The first barrage will be Silver State Armory factory stuff so I can accumulate some good brass as well as form opinions on bullet weights/types.

I can see where it's going though, there are a few 6x6.8 wildcats that look really interesting.


But then there's the .458 SOCOM thumper that would be fun.
It's an amazing platform.

Don't have any complaints about X's as they have served me well over a few decades. There are slipperier options in A-Max & VLD as well. Being one who hikes in to distant honey holes, I prefer a light rifle as opposed to a chunk. For light in both weight and recoil, a .243 Kimber 84M spitting 85gr TSX's or 87gr VLD's would a lot of buck for the bang.

Of course the vanilla .243, like others, can be Improved upon for 105 VLD's and similar fodder....

264 mag 130 grain

150gr Nosler partitions have done well in my .308 lately.. . might try the 180gr this year .. .

.270wsm in 130grn has worked well for me!

When I rifle hunted i used either a 243 or 270. Both took a lot of deer.

Kimber Montana .338 Federal

185gr TSX.

If you need a sample of projectiles for either 6.8 or .458, I have lots of weights and designs for both, if you are interested in trading.

Thanks DF, I'll keep that in mind.

CPD finally released their stainless steel 25 round mag...$10.99 - $15.99
The 10 round is next and has supposedly just been shipped to dealers.
First reports say 2.30" COAL is doable.

Cool! At .44mag.com?

No, although 44 Mag is a great place for mags as you know.

Hamlund Tactical is a small Texas shop that is earning a good rep and is a site sponsor at 68forums.
http://hamlundtactical.com/catalog/index...49&sort=20a
They also have the best prices I've seen on PRI

AIM has the best price but shipping is $10 for a small quantity.
http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?i...amp;groupid=578

LCJ would be my last choice because he sticks to MSRP
They are 15 minutes from the manufacturing facility and get stock first.
Reportedly LCJ is the mfr's father.
http://shop.lcjwholesalestore.com/AR-Magazines_c14.htm
They show the 5's and 10's in stock.

When buying these mags make sure that it says C Products Defense or you could be getting old C-Products mags which were problematic according to reports.

Methinks the 5's and 10's would be the best for long COALs.
Hopefully Hamlund will have them in stock shortly.

My old C-products run fine with the lengths I use.

7mm / 175 grain.Good luck,
SZ

Sako .308 with a Zeiss 3-9 shooting 150 TTSX

+1

My guns are garbage if you ask the custom gun nuts that inhabit the interwebs.
If I hunt well I can nearly always kill my quarry with what I shoot and that's good enough for me.

Can't argue results. I lost all my best garbage guns in a tragic boating accident. May have to use the old Savage 99 with a Weaver K4 this season for old time sake.

Good luck to you this season. Thomas is off to a strong start....

243AI - 105 AMAX or 7-08AI - 162 AMAX

I haven't big game hunted for quite a few years, but I only used one gun for it...a Marlin lever action 30-30. Deer, bear, elk...only missed one shot over the years (shot over an elk while shooting downhill on a very steep grade at about 120 yards...dropped it on the second shot where it stood), every other animal was dead pretty much right where it was standing.

Not the biggest, fastest, or coolest bullet...but when it goes through the lungs and/or heart, the animals didn't seem to know the difference.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. Might do a Whidbey Island hunt this fall...so it will have to be with the 12 guage...never shot a deer with a shotgun before.

30-30 has some good shock value

I shoot a 300 savage, was my grandpa's gun

I have many choices from .222 to .458 but every year I grab the same rifle that came down two generations before it got to me-

Pre '64 model 70 in 30-06 with180gr Winchester Fail Safes (formerly Black Talons) It prints a slightly overlapping cloverleaf at 100yds all day long with a Nikon Monarch 4-16x AO

I had it re-blued, the action Parkerized, bolt jeweled and had the trigger re-done. This rifle had a hard life before my time and now, it is just functional but still aesthtically pleasing... It probably weighs nine pounds but I'd still carry if it weighed more.

Ruger 270 m77 mk2 with a Leupy vx2 3x9 shooting Hornady 130sst for deer, or a Bennelli Nova with a slug barrell and a red dot sight in the shotgun zone shooting the Hornady SST slug.
Elk, Tikka .300WSM with a leupy vx2 3x9 shooting Federal premium 180 tsx.

All are effective in their element.

Did it once and that was enough for me....

Killed my first deer with a 12ga rifled slug. Shorter range but much more killin' oomphh. The newer advances in sabot slugs is awesome. Get a rifled barrel with new sabot slugs and you have accuracy and killin power @ 200 yds that is close to rifle accuracy.

Dont use 00-buck. It works, but not very good and you need to be in bow range.

I plan on using a slug, I guess. Hellifino, never used a shotgun to kill a deer!

Fish on...

Todd

I have rifled slug barrels for all of our shotguns. They work well at distances of less than 100 yards with open sights. I've taken two elk and two deer with slugs.

Considerable amount of recoil with slugs so dont use a light in the ass single shot or bird gun. Save ya a bloody nose if I can.

Mine is not rifled, and I'm not planning on investing in a rifled barrel, so I'll use what I've got...I do plan, however, in being very close to whatever I shoot. I was almost always able to do that with a rifle, so I can do it with a shotgun, too.

Fish on...

Todd

Island deer?

Well then Todd, if not an Island deer, how high will the fences be ?

Yes, on Whidbey island.

Fish on...

Todd

Lots of guys shooting the .277 bullet on this thread........ good choice!!


Redd, that's close to my set-up. I use a older Ruger M-77 tang safety in .270 Win have a Burris Signature Select 3-10 x on top & Harris bipod below. Been reloading the Nosler Ballistic Tip in 130 grain @ 3100 fps for deer & goats & the 160 Partition semi-spitzer @ 2750fps for the bigger stuff.


When I get in the thick stuff I break out the receiver sighted Savage 99 .308 Win. & vintage 180 grain Speer Mag Tips.




c/22