Get the Right Deer Hunting Rifle For Your Season

Written on December 19, 2009 – 12:15 pm | by John Eagleheart

When you go hunting, there’s nothing more important than picking the right deer hunting rifle. Make sure you choose one that will be compatible with what you’re trying to hunt, where you’re hunting, and what kind of hunter you are - the action, ballistics, and size are all important factors. If you have a deer hunting rifle that meets your needs, you’ll have a more successful season.

Match Your Rifle To Your Hunting Location

When you go deer hunting, you’ll typically either hunt in open range country or dense brush country, like deep woods. There are certain places that are a little bit of both. You need different rifles and styles of shooting for each kind of terrain.

Deer Hunting Rifles for Deep Woods or Dense Brush

Deer hunting rifles with short to medium range shooting characteristics are needed for situations when you’re in the woods. Typically, you’ll be shooting anything from 25 to 200 yards at deer in this environment, so this range is important. You should avoid a deer hunting rifle that’s too heavy; it shouldn’t be more than nine pounds, and don’t get a barrel that’s longer than twenty-two inches - it’s gotta be short and light to get you to move quickly. When in dense brush, you have to be able to move around. Get a deer hunting rifle that offers fast reload - automatics or lever action would be best; you might have to do a quick follow shot when you’re deer hunting in rough terrain. You need to penetrate the brush, so get a bullet with a heavy cartridge - nothing less than 120 grain and .270 caliber. In order to prevent the bullet from getting deflected by brush, don’t get too fast of a cartridge, more than 2,200 feet/second is not needed. I would recommend a scope that goes down to three power with variable power, and you may prefer an open sight if you can only shoot within fifty years of your position, If you want to find out if open site shooting works for you, test it out at the range.

Open Range Hunting Deer Hunting Rifles

Deer hunting rifles which are good performers in open areas are those designed for longer range shooting, up to three hundred yards or farther. Rifle portability is not as important as accuracy and velocity in long shot situations and the rifles will be heavier and with longer barrel lengths than deep woods rifles. In open range shooting, high velocity rifle calibers and cartridges are needed. Calibers in the 6MM (.243) range or higher will be satisfactory and bullets from 100 grain up will perform well. Generally, the larger the caliber is, the heavier the bullet will need to be for the best ballistic accuracy. Scopes with a 6 X 9 variable power are what most shooters will need at the very least.

Personal Preferences

As you select your deer hunting rifle, heed the advice you’ve just read where it talks about the environment in which you’re hunting; once you do that, figure out what other characteristics you need to fit your shooting style. Do you really want to have almost twelve pounds of rifle to carry around when hunting?

You can feel out varying models and sizes of deer hunting rifles to see which one will feel best for you at your local gun shop. Get advice from hunters who have a lot of experience in your chosen hunting area when finding the best rifle. See if friends will let you handle their rifles, so that you can get a feel for what kind of weapon you are comfortable hunting with.

I invite you to learn much more about deer hunting rifles and other advanced deer hunting tips by visiting our website here: Deer Hunting. And I also invite you to learn about deer calls and grunts here: Deer Calls.

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