whitetail guns

[rinodods]

Just used a savage I built up in 260rem this year on whitetail. Bagged a 16pt at maybe 100yrds with it. It was spur of the moment choice and all I had was some 95gr Vmax loads to use. Having shot a lot with this rifle at pdogs I wasn't worried about making proper shot placement. I would rather have had some berger hunting vlds done up in maybe 130gr but at limited range the Vmax works quite well. The good news is if you went with 260 you'd have some very high BC bullets to choose from and reduced recoil over the 308 (not that it is bad). I'm sure you could enjoy shooting some paper with it out to 700 and beyond.

 

[liltank]

If it adds any amount of comfort, my uncle shot a doe through a sapling. We aren't sure how he did it, but the doe had no idea what hit her when she bang flopped. It was about 2" in diameter.

Tank

 

[BARatdistance]

I agree, don't worry about overkill, worry about over carrying a heavy gun that may be a nuisance on long hikes up mountains, but if its treestand hunting a field 200 yards from the truck, I'd bring my 338 win mag to ensure a solid blood trail, if the deer goes anywhere.

 

[BountyHunter]

Texas has med body(150-175 lb) deer compared to small body in coastal NC (100-150 lbs) and large body midwest (200 lb plus).

I certainly would not consider the 308 overkill. You can load 150-165 gr for deer and 125 Btips for coyotes.

Yes, savage has 243s in sporter and varmint barrels. However, you must use the 100 gr bullets on deer which give you the same issues of overkill on the coyotes unless you use the 87 VMax

Yes, the 260 is an excellant alternative and so is the 7mm-08 particularily with the 120 Btip

Walmart, Kmart etc all sell cheaper 308 and sometimes the 260 IF your gun shoots that brand and bullet weight accurately.

However, best thing is to get into reloading asap.

BH

 

[Buffalobob]

want to do a tactical bolt build based on a savage 10fp action in .308. i just feel like this might be a little too much bullet for whitetail though. everyone i know uses .270 or 22-250 or even .243. should i do a build based on a smaller round? i still want something i can shoot paper at long distances though, like out to 700 yds if i feel like it? thanks for the help

Here is a small eastern Whitetail with a 308 and a 175 Sierra MK. This rifle has killed adult boar hogs and auodad. It occasionally places high enough in 1000 yard F-class to get a mantle trinket if one of my kids is shooting it. It doesn't win many trinkets with me shooting.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f84/home-thanksgiving-49348/

On a deer, the 308 does about the same amount of meat damage as a high speed 240 Wby and a whole lot less than most bullets from a 7mm Wby. The reason I went to the 240 Wby many years ago is due to overkill with a 7mmWby. I simply did not need that much of a wound channel and that much mangled meat to be thrown away.

The 308 175 SMK does one thing well. It kills animals. Sometimes it expands violently and sometimes it doesn't.

 

[7 loader]

Try the 6.5-284 great 1000 yd gun. Great caliber for deer.

 

[fmajor]

Nice pic BuffaloBob!!! The write-up reminded me of my "returned home from Bragg and ....." stories. Spent 3 years on "The Street" during Reagan's Presidency - go Red Falcons!!!!

 

[JARHEAD1371]

i want to do a tactical bolt build based on a savage 10fp action in .308. i just feel like this might be a little too much bullet for whitetail though. everyone i know uses .270 or 22-250 or even .243. should i do a build based on a smaller round? i still want something i can shoot paper at long distances though, like out to 700 yds if i feel like it? thanks for the help

I believe there is no such thing as too much gun, I'm sure there are many here that agree with me! That reminds me of a famous Marine quote by MAJ Holdredge "Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to kill a fly with a sledge-hammer!"

 

[D.Camilleri]

I used my overkill 338 rum this year to take 3 whitetails at ranges from 150 to 300 yards with a 225 accubond @3300 all 3 deer DRT, LIGHTS OUT, NO SURVIVORS, NO TRACKING, AND BEST OF ALL NO LOST MEAT, AND THIS WAS JUST SO I COULD TRY OUT MY NEW SCOPE