What will be your cartridge/rifle of choice for this fall? Second?

While I will almost certainly go with the Whelen, I have a hankering for having a poke at a deer with a 44 mag. Wife will probably use her new 243. Also itching to use a 10mm, but I'm a little worried that I'd end up with a runner that would end up off the property.
 
In addition to my above post, other calibers that I have such as the 6.5 Creed, 7 Mag and 308 can get the job done for small to medium deer sized game. I have used these rifles mostly for my hunting needs. Bullets I mostly used for these rifles are the Ballistic Tips, never failed me.
 
Not sure what I'll use. I didn't draw any tags this year and the guide I used for my elk hunts on the vermejo ranch in New Mexico had a falling out with the people on the ranch that do the hunts.Hunts on the Whittigton rifle range are booked up for a long time. I gudess if I do get out and do a hunt it'll be for a bear of any OTC tags are left and I'll try to call one in. I'm thinking I'd go old school and use arifle in 7x57 with original level 170 gr. bullets at 2300 FPS. After all, that's the load that cartridge built its reputation on. Just have to decide whether to use the Ruger #1A and be gutsy or stick to the M70 Featherweight. Bullet would be the long gone Sierra 170 gr. round nose. It has a good reputation from those how have used it.
Paul B.
 
JD338 said:
Congratulations Mike! That's a dandy bear.

JD338
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Unfortunately, I have no pictures. However, it was delivered to the meat processor Friday morning. I'll be giving much of the brats, the summer sausage, and the pepperoni to Noah. I will keep a fair sampling for myself, and a roast together with the ribs. These will grace my Traeger.
 
Been using the 6 arc with 87 grain v-max bullets for coyote. So far 2 yipping flea taxis went down quickly. After seeing how well the 350 legend ant 180 grain Win PP’s performed on my grandson’s hog, a 250 lb sow, I want to use it for thick woods black bear. Went from a 16” to a 20” barrel gained a respectable amount of speed. Then deer it’ll be either the 7-08 with 119 absolute Hammers, or a 280 Ack with 140 absolute hammers. Or maybe even the Grendel.
 
NYDAN said:
Congratulations. Is there a story that goes with this?
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Not much of a story. The bear was dining on grasses and forbs along a little used road in the foothills of the Rockies. He stood broadside to us as we topped a hill. Seeing that we were approaching in a pickup, he sat down and continued his evening meal. It was about ten in the evening, so light was fading. We discussed whether we wanted to shoot him, but since he was the only bear we had seen that evening and he was obviously in great shape with a thick coat, he just couldn't be passed. The entire time he sat there grazing, and I mean he literally sat there. At the shot he dropped and his hind leg kicked a couple of times. We concluded that he was finished, but we shouldn't have relaxed. It's amazing how fast a dead bear can roll over and sprint away! I managed to find one paw print, so we knew where he had been. Then we found a very small smear or blood on the grasses. We tracked where he had been by the drops of blood at about 20 to 30 foot intervals, until we found him stretched out in some thick bush. Not much of a story, as I said, except for our mistake on thinking that he was down for good. Our relaxed view meant a 120 yard track and some work dragging him back to the road. One shot through the lower neck angling down into the lungs. His lung cavity was filled with blood which explained why we weren't finding much blood. Wayne has the hide and the skull. The hide is 6' 6" tail to nose, and it is an 18 inch skull. The meat all looked excellent, though he wasn't overly fat yet.
 
I am glad you were able to track him down. It must be a little spooky tracking a wounded bear. Congratulations again.
 
Darryle said:
I keep saying that I will use this or that come hunting season, but I always fall back on the APR 280 Ackley. It just flat puts things on the ground inside 400yds.

My "plan" this fall is to use the new Tikka 223, Aero/Liberty 6.5 Grendel and the APR 6.5 Creedmoor, but the night before, that could all be for naught.

FTR, furthest shot on Whitetail does would be 240ish. Probably won't shoot any bucks this year, I will let the kids have those, pretty fun watching them get worked up anytime horns are in the picture.
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I have an elk/deer combo license for Montana this fall. For that hunt I will take a LH M70 chambered in 300 WSM as my primary rifle and a LH M70 chambered in 300 WM has my back-up rifle. 180 AccuBond bullets in both rifles.

For New York State deer hunting I will use a LH M70 chambered in 7mm WSM with 150 gr. ABLR bullets. My back-up rifle will be a LH M70 chambered in 7mm RM with 150 gr. BT bullets.
 
hunter24605 said:
Been using the 6 arc with 87 grain v-max bullets for coyote. So far 2 yipping flea taxis went down quickly. After seeing how well the 350 legend ant 180 grain Win PP’s performed on my grandson’s hog, a 250 lb sow, I want to use it for thick woods black bear. Went from a 16” to a 20” barrel gained a respectable amount of speed. Then deer it’ll be either the 7-08 with 119 absolute Hammers, or a 280 Ack with 140 absolute hammers. Or maybe even the Grendel.
Click to expand...
not a thing wrong with the Grendel for deer, been my woods rifle for the last 3 years. just wish federal would load the 120 gr fusions again, my rifle loved those
 
Ridge_Runner said:
not a thing wrong with the Grendel for deer, been my woods rifle for the last 3 years. just wish federal would load the 120 gr fusions again, my rifle loved those
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Yeah my daughter has taken whitetail, yote and pigs with it. Usually the 123 sst.
 
so many choices, so little time!

Since I will be only hunting deer this fall, will probably rotate 257 R, 25/06, 270 Win, 6.5x55, 308 and 30/06. Might throw in a 7 mag as well.
 
Great question… I’m horrible, usually a game day decision, so try to have all the rifles tuned and ready to go. The 3030 is still a virgin…so it’s a candidate…the model 70 in 270Win is new to me and shooting well with 130gn TTSX, 45/70 and 3006 are favorites.. lately crop damage deer get either 243win or 4570. Both capable of no track kills if I do my part.
FIL will draw a newberry 3 bear hunt this year and he’ll use his sav 99F in 308win. I think he said he bought it in 1961. He’ll be 87 this year. Still pretty dangerous in the woods for the critters. I imagine he’ll hunt my 40 during bow season, but when the leaves drop he’ll be packing for Florida…
I’m drawing a bear point this year… seems each year I draw a point, the points needed creeps up a point… might sign up for an Ontario bear or moose hunt…
 
All great replies folks. Its nice to see the excitement! It will depend greatly upon what I draw but if all goes as planned here is my gun/hunting itinerary:

Oregon varmints - Ruger M77 .22-250
Wyoming Antelope - Rem 700 .25-06
Oregon Buck deer - Browning BBR .270
Oregon Doe deer - Win 1894 .25-35
Oregon GS Cow elk - wildcard
Oregon GS Black bear/cougar - wildcard

Backup gun - Win 70 .30-06 (Old Reliable)

The first choices are pretty well established. The general season tags aren’t so much. As a rule I try to use something I haven’t used before to fill my elk tag. It gives me a better résumé as a budding gun writer and it’s fun to try a new cartridge or rifle. If it doesn’t work out, I just grab Old Reliable.

Some I am considering for elk this year:
Win 70 .264 Win Mag
Savage 99F .284 Win
Win 70 .300 WSM
Mauser 98 9.3x62mm
 
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