This article by former taking pictures editor Jack O’Connor, initially titled “Deer and Deer Rifles,” first appeared within the September 1962 situation of Outdoor Life. It was later reprinted as a chapter in his traditional ebook The Hunting Rifle.
THE SCENE was the Arizona desert and the time was about two generations in the past. One of the actors was a thin, long-legged child, a slipshod lout with large ft, inexperienced eyes, gentle hair, and a disguise so browned by the solar that on the uncommon events when he wore a hat and his straw-colored hair couldn’t be seen he was usually taken for a light-eyed Mexican.
The different was an equally skinny, three-year-old buck mule deer, slabsided and doubtless beset with worms. The child known as the buck a blacktail as a result of in these days everybody in Arizona known as mule deer blacktails. The buck was not very effectively nourished but it surely had a spindly four-point head, which within the East could be thought-about a 10-pointer.
Anyway, when he was searching quail, the child had discovered an space all tracked up by desert mule deer. In addition, he had really seen a doe and a fawn. In these lawless days, the sight of a deer was uncommon on the Arizona desert for the reason that animals have been hunted in season and out.
So, saying nothing to anybody about his plans, the child had gone out the subsequent day with a rifle as a substitute of a shotgun. It was a .30/40 Krag with a 30-in. barrel. The child had paid $1.50 for it. He had purchased it from a bindle stiff (tramp) who had been camped down by the river beneath a wrecked railroad bridge. The bindle stiff had discovered himself in nice want of a bottle of corn squeezings and in no specific want of a rifle simply then. His asking value for the Krag was $3, and the bottom value he would settle for was $1.50. By a curious coincidence, the value of a bottle of popskull was $1.50, and the child occurred to have that a lot scratch with him.
So the bindle stiff received his jug and the child received his rifle. Ammunition, as he now remembers it, value about $1.25 a field. The cartridges have been loaded with the lengthy 220-gr. bullet with a number of lead uncovered. The bindle stiff had evidently recognized a factor or two a few rifle, as he had placed on a selfmade entrance sight that lined up with the army rear sight in order that the outdated musket shot at level of purpose at about 150 yd.
So, that frosty winter morning the child was sneaking cautiously by means of that tracked-up desert forest on the lookout for a deer. Generally he couldn’t see over 100 yd. since this was a rustic of paloverde and ironwood bushes, saguaros ( big cactus), and cholla ( leaping cactus) . Then the child turned acutely aware of a motion on the opposite facet of an ironwood tree about 50 yd. away. He suspected it was a deer, and the shock was so violent that afterward he had a headache.
Next he knew it was a deer, because the animal moved a bit and he might make out grey disguise and dingy white rump; then he noticed the deer’s head because the animal reached up and delicately nipped off a tasty little bit of browse.
After what appeared like an hour however was in all probability lower than a minute, the buck was pretty effectively out within the open. The child might see the gray-shiny antlers. It was time to shoot. Shaking, he lifted his rifle and tried to maintain the selfmade entrance bead in the course of the deer.
He was trembling so violently that the entrance sight jerked on and off the buck. He tried to recollect to squeeze the set off. He tried to make himself stop shaking. He hated himself as a result of he couldn’t. He was desperately afraid the buck would see him and take off.
Finally he yanked the set off. The buck was gone, and the child stood there, his coronary heart pounding, his head aching, his arms nonetheless trembling, his legs weak. After the roar of the shot, the desert appeared deathly nonetheless. He heard a quail name, and much off within the quiet desert air the candy and melancholy whistle of a freight prepare. He had blown his likelihood and he’d in all probability by no means get one other.
Slowly he walked over towards the spot the place the deer had been. There have been the tracks all proper; he might see how that they had plunged by means of the comfortable, sandy soil because the deer had run. Desperately he tried to consider an alibi. It was that damned, long-barreled rifle, he determined. What he’d needed was an actual deer rifle, a .30/30 Winchester or Marlin carbine. But these value $15 down on the ironmongery shop, and so far as he was involved they could as effectively have value $1,000.
Hopelessly he adopted the tracks. He had gone about 50 yd. when he received one other violent shock. He noticed blood. He might hardly imagine it. At first there have been a couple of drops. Then he discovered a giant splash, then extra. He adopted the blood. Then he noticed one thing grey and quiet beside a bush forward of him. It was the buck-and the buck was useless. The outdated 220-gr. comfortable level had struck simply ahead of the flank and had come out behind the left shoulder.
Maybe the truth that that outdated Krag occurred to wobble on simply as the child yanked the set off had quite a bit to do with making him a hunter. Anyway, the child grew up, turned a father and a grandfather, and virtually yearly of his life he has hunted deer-whitetails and mule deer, large deer and little deer, deer in brush and deer in open nation, deer on the flats and deer in mountains virtually rugged sufficient for sheep, deer far north in Alberta and British Columbia and deer south in tropical Sinaloa.
He has hunted deer with that outdated .30/40, with a .256 Newton, a .250/3000 Savage, a .30/30, a 7 mm. Mauser, a number of .30/06 and .270 rifles, a .35 Remington, a .257, a .348, a .35 Whelen, a .300 Weatherby. He has killed deer with a .22 Hornet, a wildcat 2-R Lovell, and a .22 rimfire.
How many deer this chap has shot he doesn’t bear in mind, but it surely has been fairly a couple of. He has completed a little bit deer searching in Pennsylvania and South Carolina and fairly a little bit of it in Texas, however many of the deer he has shot have been mule deer (of the desert and Rocky Mountain selection) and Arizona whitetails. He has heard of mule deer which have dressed out at 400 lb. and extra, however he doesn’t imagine such an animal exists. The heaviest buck he ever weighed area dressed was, as he remembers it, 235 lb., however he has shot two bucks that weighed about 175 within the quarters, and he thinks they could have gone 250 area dressed. The heaviest Arizona whitetail he ever shot weighed 118. He as soon as shot a whitetail buck with 19 factors in all and has shot a number of mule deer with 13 and 14 factors altogether. He as soon as killed two deer with one shot and as soon as helped a few companions put 14 pictures right into a 110-lb. buck earlier than it went down. The antlers with the widest unfold he ever shot went 37 in., however he has seen mule deer heads that went from 45 to 48 in.
This hunter has missed extra deer within the brush than anyplace else. The finest shot he ever made on a deer was with a scope-sighted .30/06 at 330 paces. He might see solely the buck’s head and neck, took a relaxation over a log, held what regarded like about 9 inches excessive of the neck, and broke it. His worst shot was a clear miss-before two witnesses—at a standing buck broadside at not over 125 yd. He was afraid the deer was about to leap, and he yanked the set off.
A great deal of deer searching has satisfied this chap that deer are simple to kill if the bullets hit in the best place and behave correctly. He additionally is aware of that if the bullets don’t hit in the best place deer are very exhausting to kill.
ALMOST ALWAYS this deer hunter, if he has the chance, tries to put the bullet by means of the lungs again of the foreleg. If the deer it not broadside, he goals to drive the bullet up into this space. He likes the lung shot as a result of it’s a massive goal simple to hit, and since if a bullet positioned there behaves correctly, the deer seldom goes far and is usually useless inside a couple of yards of the place he’s hit. Furthermore, the bullet that goes by means of the buck’s rib cage back and forth destroys no edible meat.
This hunter thinks there are two very totally different sorts of deer rifles—one for use in brush and forest and the opposite for use in hilly, open nation. For the type of brush and forest searching completed for whitetail deer within the East, for blacktails west of the Coast Range in northern California, Oregon, and Washington, for mule deer early within the season in thick spruce and fir at excessive altitude, and for mule deer within the brushier elements of the Sonora desert he likes a light-weight, fast-operating rifle with a brief barrel. He thinks such a weapon ought to be chambered for a fairly heavy bullet at average velocity.
“A good deal of deer hunting has convinced this chap that deer are easy to kill if the bullets hit in the right place and behave properly. He also knows that if the bullets don’t hit in the right place deer are very hard to kill.”
The purpose for that is that the heavy, round-nose bullet that isn’t touring at breakneck pace will get by means of brush with much less deflection than sooner, lighter bullets with sharp factors. But he additionally is aware of that any bullet might be deflected by brush. He remembers one time when he took a shot at a moose by means of heavy brush at what he remembers as being about 30 yd.-and missed the entire moose. His subsequent shot on the moose was within the clear and he killed it. He remembers additionally three pictures at a whitetail buck that foolishly ran in a semicircle round him by means of heavy brush. The first two pictures, he afterward came upon, did no injury besides to nick the buck with some fragments of bullet jacket, however on the third shot the buck went by means of a gap and the 180-gr. 30/06 bullet piled him up.
Unlike many hunters who look down their noses on the .30/30, he thinks it a wonderful cartridge for this kind of factor. And he likewise regards the .32 Special as an excellent brush cartridge with satisfactory killing power-at average ranges and with well-placed shots-for any North American deer that ever walked. He additionally thinks that the sunshine, fast-handling Winchester and Marlin lever actions in such calibers are about proper for deer.
Because there may be all the time a risk that the primary shot at a deer in brushy nation could hit a limb or a twig and deflect, he thinks that for searching of this type a lever motion, a pump, or a semiautomatic is a good suggestion for the woods hunter. All of those are sooner than the bolt motion. The Winchester Models 94 and 88, the Marlin Model 336, the Savage Model 99, the Remington Model 760 pump, and the Remington Model 7 42, the Ruger carbine, and the Winchester Model 100 are all gentle, useful, fast-operating weapons.
This outdated deer hunter, as we have now seen, has killed deer with a .22 rimfire. They have been killed at a Mexican waterhole at very brief vary. He has likewise killed deer with rigorously positioned pictures with varmint calibers just like the .22 Hornet, the 2-R Lovell, and the .22/250. However, he has seen the high-speed .22 bullets go to items on massive bones (if a deer might be mentioned to have massive bones) and even on ribs, and doesn’t suppose deer ought to be shot with any bullet weighing lower than 90 gr. He thinks a minimal of 100 gr. is best.
For short-range woods taking pictures, he thinks any pretty heavy bullet that opens up shortly is satisfactory for deer. The outdated .44/40 cartridge with its 200-gr. bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1,310 ft. seconds has in all probability killed extra whitetail deer than some other cartridge with the potential exception of the .30/30. The .44 Magnum revolver cartridge shot within the Ruger carbine ought to be lethal.
BUT IF HE have been stepping into hock for a brand new brush rifle, he thinks he’d purchase a Marlin lever motion or a Remington pump for the .35 Remington cartridge or a Model 88 Winchester or Model 99 Savage in .358.
He regards the uncared for .358 Winchester cartridge with its 200-gr. bullet at 2,530 or its 250-gr. bullet at 2,250 as in all probability essentially the most lethal woods cartridge in existence—not just for deer however for elk and even moose. The .358 has the ability and weight to drive deep on the rear-end pictures which the woods hunter all too usually has to take.
Over the years this deer hunter has had extra bother with bullets that didn’t open up quick sufficient than he has had with bullets that penetrated too deeply. He thinks that if the deer hunter has a selection he ought to take the fast-opening bullet.
For woods taking pictures he hasn’t received a lot use for open sights. Under the stress of pleasure, it’s simple to shoot over with them for the reason that tendency is to not get the bead down into the notch. Receiver sights are higher, however the most effective iron sights have been the peeps near the eye-the outdated Lyman tang and cocking-piece sights. They weren’t essentially the most correct sights on the planet, however they have been adequately correct for 50-100 yd. taking pictures.
The finest sight he has ever used within the brush is a low-power scope (2½ or 3X) due to the large area of view and due to the flexibility of the glass sight to resolve element, to “look through” the comb, to inform deer from limbs and twigs.
For open-country deer searching at longer ranges, this chap likes a flat-shooting cartridge giving a reasonably gentle bullet a velocity of from 2.700 to three 200 ft. seconds. Then he likes to sight in for the longest vary that won’t give him midrange misses. The world is stuffed with good, open-country deer cartridges—the .30/06 with the 150-gr. bullet, the .270 with the 130-gr., the .280 with the 125-gr., the 7 mm. Remington Magnum with the 150-gr., the 7 x 57 Mauser with the 140-gr., the .300 Savage and the .308 with the 150-gr. He has by no means shot a deer with the .243 however considers it fully satisfactory with the 100-gr. bullet. He bases this opinion on a great deal of use of the now-dying .257 Roberts on deer.
However, he has completed extra open-country taking pictures of mule and whitetail deer with .30/06 and .270 rifles than with the rest. The quickest-killing .30/06 bullet he ever used was the outdated 150-gr. Western hole level. Bullets he favored for the .270 have been the Remington 130-gr. Bronze Point, the 130-gr. Speer and Sierra, the Western Silvertip, the 120-gr. Barnes. Some of the managed increasing bullets don’t open up fairly quick sufficient, he thinks, and don’t give kills fairly so fast. He remembers a buck he shot together with his rifle rested over a rock at about 325 yd. Dust may very well be seen to fly above the deer’s again because it stood on a hillside. “Over,” his companion mentioned. But earlier than he might shoot once more, the buck was down. If the bullet had opened sooner the deer would have collapsed in its tracks.
For this open-country taking pictures at deer, this hunter now makes use of 4X scopes. They have adequate area and so they give a greater image of the deer and extra exact purpose. However, this hunter admits that in all probability a 2½ or 3X scope will do nearly as effectively for any large sport, even at ranges of 300 yd. and over. Before World War II, he used 2óX scopes virtually completely and by no means felt himself underpowered. Flat-shooting, high-velocity, bolt-action rifles, equivalent to these described, are additionally wonderful for these Eastern hunters who shoot from hillside to hillside at deer when the leaves are off the bushes and bushes and for individuals who plan to shoot throughout pastures at deer popping out of the woods to feed.
But they’re under no circumstances best for strange woods searching. The quick bullets deflect badly within the brush, this deer hunter thinks. In addition, the 4X scopes are a bit shy of area for brush searching, and the bolt motion is on the sluggish facet for the quick second shot.
LIKEWISE, many of the brush cartridges aren’t a lot good for open-country taking pictures the place pictures will usually be taken at 300-350 yd. Used correctly, the ,30/30 is an effective killer on deer. Shot wildly at deer 250-350 yd. away, it isn’t so .scorching. When this chap received out of faculty his pocketbook was skinny and he had bought his rifles so he would have sufficient jack in his denims to take fairly women dancing. He ordered the then brand-new Model 54 Winchester rifle in .270 caliber, however till it got here he tried to make do with an historic Model 8 Remington computerized for the .35 Remington cartridge. He hunted in semiopen nation of juniper, piñon and yellow pine, and the pictures he received have been lengthy. It was a reasonably irritating expertise.
But cartridges just like the .308, the .300 Savage, and the .30/06 when used with appropriate, round-nose 180-gr. bullets do fairly effectively for the comb in addition to for open nation. The .270 and .280 with the round-nose 150-gr. bullets are usable within the brush and shoot flat sufficient for a lot open-country taking pictures. Once this chap hunted within the jungles of India, shot every little thing together with hog deer, noticed axis deer, wild boar, and even peacocks with the 150-gr. Core-Lokt and Hornady round-nose soft-point .270 bullets. He didn’t have a lot to complain of.
The outdated deer hunter on this little piece is, in fact, your correspondent. The piece is directed principally to the numerous hundreds of Outdoor Life readers who’ve completed little or no deer searching however who will probably be out for deer this fall. The outdated deer hunter needs them effectively and hopes they get an excellent bullet in the best spot. If they do, they’ll discover that just about any fairly potent rifle will get them venison.
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