New gun for Ohio deer season

[Black67]

Since Ohio has now changed its hunting laws so that they will allow some straight walled rifle cartridges, I am thinking of a new rifle. The two that I am looking at are either a Browning/Winchester 1885 in 45-70 (single shot) or a Ruger 77/44 44 magnum in stainless. They also have a law that limits how many rounds a gun can hold, so I was thinking the 1885 will be great for that.

I feel they both have good and bad points. I know that the 45-70 with some of the new modern loads can be a bit over gun for deer. Sometimes I think the 44 mag might be a bit under gun for some longer shots.

I know that neither of these are long range deer guns, and most of my shots here in Ohio should be mostly under 100 yards, maybe 200 yards max. To bad they will not allow me to use my 7mm STW!!

Oh, my current Ohio gun is a Winchester 1300 with a cantilever rifled barrel. It shoots about 2" at 100 yards. Not bad for a slug gun.

Any thoughts on this would be great.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Engineering101]

I gotta be honest. My first thought on this is hunt somewhere else. You can buy an over the counter out of state deer tag (or for that matter a cow elk tag) for areas around Bozeman Montana. If I remember right the deer tag is less than $100. Don't need a guide, don't need to put in for a draw. That is just one alternative. There are many others. And then you could put that STW to use!

 

[Black67]

I have thought of that. My other problem is time (family) and vacation. I only get a week of vacation, and my hunting spot is 10 minutes from my house.

The Ohio tag is cheep, and I can get 3 deer for the county that I live in.

Do you know of any good areas around Bozeman, would love to visit there with the STW. I am thinking maybe next year for elk or muley of going out west.

 

[gohring3006]

you know if you go out of state to hunt your putting that monster Ohio buck in the hands of your neighbor lol. I'm thinking about the marlin 45\70 but don't know how to limit the shell capacity and my slug gun will hit the 5in steel plate at 200yrds. Every single time so I don't know if I'll benefit much from the rifle...

 

[Punisher]

Any thoughts on this would be great.

Thanks
Bill

i grew up in Seville, OH. My thoughts?

Move at least 3 states further west! Then, use the 7STW.

 

[Dgd6mm]

If you do not plan on moving, go with the .44 Mag.

 

[Black67]

Right now, moving west is not an option. We would love to move to Montana or Idaho, but with the type of work that my wife and I do, it is hard to find work in it.

I still have not made my mind up. I have held both rifles, and the Winchester felt much better.

Punisher, are you still in the Seville area or somewhere else?

Thanks for the input guys.

Bill

 

[dstegjas]

I have hunted with the 44 magnum for years here in Ohio. Of course it was with my T/C Contender with a 12" barrel. Using the 240 grain JHP, I have taken deer out to 100 yards with excellent results. So it is an excellent round for deer if you can keep the shots at 100 yards or less.

I will be carrying my Marlin in 45/70 this year. I still haven't decided if I am going to use lead or jacketed bullet yet.

From my understanding, ODNR decided to use the honor system when it comes to the 3 rounds in the magazine rule. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Jim

 

[Michael Courtney]

When I lived in Ohio, I always envisioned a .357 Maximum with a fast twist shooting a 225 grain ballistic tip.

 

[Dgd6mm]

you know if you go out of state to hunt your putting that monster Ohio buck in the hands of your neighbor lol. I'm thinking about the marlin 45\70 but don't know how to limit the shell capacity and my slug gun will hit the 5in steel plate at 200yrds. Every single time so I don't know if I'll benefit much from the rifle...

Who needs a rifle ? When your slug gun can hit a 5" plate every single shot you shoot at 200 yards...

 

[Michael Courtney]

Who needs a rifle ? When your slug gun can hit a 5" plate every single shot you shoot at 200 yards...

I hunted Ohio for many years, and there are a lot of windy days during Ohio's firearms season. A high BC .358 rifle bullet from a straight-walled pistol cartridge will drift much less in a stiff wind and be much more reliably effective at 200 yards.

Shotgun slugs were always a dicey deal. In addition to wind drift, they also had a lot of muzzle velocity variation with temperature, and accuracy issues when the velocity approached the speed of sound, which also becomes an issue at 200 yards.

 

[dstegjas]

My slug gun is a scoped Winchester SX3. I also roll my own sabots which throws a 45 caliber, 300 grain Hornady XTP bullet down range. It is very accurate at the 150 yard marker.

That is one of the reasons it has been a tough decision for me to hunt with a rifle or continue hunting with my Winchester here in Ohio.

Jim

 

[Punisher]

Punisher, are you still in the Seville area or somewhere else?

Thanks for the input guys.

Bill

i moved to Alaska at 18, somehow, i ended up in Eastern Kansas. all we have is Whitetail. BORING!

 

[gohring3006]

My slug gun is a scoped Winchester SX3. I also roll my own sabots which throws a 45 caliber, 300 grain Hornady XTP bullet down range. It is very accurate at the 150 yard marker.

That is one of the reasons it has been a tough decision for me to hunt with a rifle or continue hunting with my Winchester here in Ohio.

Jim

I hear ya. The funny thing is I have hunted Ohio deer for close to 30 years and the farthest I have ever shot a deer was 110 steps I have been shooting those hornady SST slugs in my slug gun for a few years and I really like them shot a nice meat doe at about 40yrds. She had substantial wounds I think it make a perfect black bear round..