Gun choices when hunting White tail Deer

[Guest roginc]

I am new to hunting. I live in west Tennessee and I have a few questions I hope you might be able to help with. 

I was handed down a 20 ga. shotgun. I went hunting with a friend recently and he suggested that I get a rifle. 

My questions are this:

1) is it necessary to buy a rifle to hunt white tail or will the 20 ga. be adequate for hunting if used slugs?
2) my price range is around $350, If this is my budget can I get a good rifle in this price range? I have seen the Remington 770 in this range.   3) if I do get a rifle, .30-06 or a .270 Winchester?

4) would it be better to take this money and buy a great scope of the 20 ga?

Any suggestions and help would be great.

Thanks

roginc

[Sidinman]

While I'm just guessing, you are probably just shooting the slugs out off the smooth bore, right. That shotgun will be ok for short distances, which if you hunting in the woods will be ok. Now if you are wanting to shoot past say 50, 60 yds. you are going to want some kind of a rifle. Either of the calibers you picked will be fine, ammo in either one is usually pretty easy to find pretty much any where you are. I like the 06 but thats just me.

[Slappy]

If you think you will stick with deer hunting, you need a rifle. They simply are more powerful and more accurate. With the shotgun slugs you will be very limited in distance and from what I understand, especially out of a smooth barrel, are not very accurate.
As far as caliber goes, it's a personal choice. I hunt with a .270. I like it because with the 130gr bullet it is powerful and flat shooting. I made a head shot on a deer at 183 yards a few weeks ago and I'm just an average Joe Schmoe. My dad shoots a 30-06 he also is a good shot and it's a very effective caliber but slightly less flat shooting compared to the 270. The 30-06 has more weight in the bullet meaning more energy at point of impact. So basically just pick one, go with it and don't look back. Both are proven calibers. If you want a suggestion, I'd get the .270 because it's a hard hitting and flatter shooting gun.
If a heavier rifle is a problem for you or you are recoil or noise sensitive, look into a .243. Also if you plan to share the rifle with kids or women, a 243 would be the best all around caliber.
I think I speak for all saying that us hunters are glad to have you as part of the family. Keep asking questions!

[DaveS]

First of all WELCOME to TGO and welcome to our little corner of the world. These guys on here know their stuff and will help you anyway possible. The calibers they list are all awesome in their own rights but I'd like to mention a couple of my favorites, and that being the .308 and 7mm/08. Both are awesome calibers and are available (as with the others mentioned) for $350 and less. If your shotgun can be scoped, that may be an alternative to buying a rifle right now. As already mentioned, your range with the 20 ga will be somewhat limited. I have a 12 ga with a 20 inch smoothbore slug barrel, scoped and 100 yards is nothing to that shotgun.

 

Tell us a little about your shotgun and your shooting skills and experience, and I bet we'll all get you going in the right direction!

 

Again Welcome!

 

DAve

[Jonnin]

1) yes, a 20 will drop a deer, but slugs are not terribly accurate.  Give it a try on the range, if you can say in a 5 inch circle consistently (at 50-100 yards), it will do.

 

2) You can get all kinds of inexpensive suitable guns.  A mosin nagant, for example would work though its very heavy to haul thru the woods.  There are tons of used rifles at low prices and  ruined (for collecting purposes, they shoot fine) military surplus rifles.  Some are harder than others to find ammo for, so ability to reload or research ahead of time is important. 

 

3) either of those and literally 2 dozen other calibers will do.  One thing to do if you do not reload is to check your local stores a few times to see what calibers are often in stock. 

 

4) No.  Having a good scope is a good idea but its like putting a scope on a slingshot: it won't help much.  Let me repeat #2 --- a mosin and a modest scope for it can both be had for your budget, with ammo to boot.  Might need to set $50 aside to get it drilled to take the mount, though.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Jonnin

[runco]

You can get into a Mosin Nagant 7.62x54 Russian military rifle for ~$125 +/-, then just buy some soft lead nose rounds, and you are good to go.   But if you are a 1/decade type hunter, just keep your 20ga with some slugs.  From my experience 80% of the deer hunt fun is from the woods experience, and the comrade with my fellow hunting partner.

[JWC]

I bought a used Savage 11 in 7mm/08 for $300. Stuck a Redfield Revenge 3-9x40 on it so I'm in it for $450 and it shoots great.
But being that the season closes in 9 days you have pretty much 10.5 months to find a deal. If you look for a used 770, or Ruger American Rifle, or Savage Axis or other used rifles you'll probably be able to find one in that budget scoped and all.

Flip a coin on caliber. I'd more look for a deal if it doesn't matter to you. For the most part, the rifles I referenced really only come in common deer calibers any way (with the exception of .223 or 22-250 models.)


Keep the 20ga for wing shooting and other critters. You can kill deer with one but to me they just aren't optimal. I would only choose shotgun with slugs if the rules say I can't shoot a rifle. And I'd personally want a dedicated slug gun with rifled barrel and all before I considered adding a scope on a shotgun.

That said if it's all I had I'd hunt the last 9 days of the season with the 20ga you have and pray a monster didn't come out at 125yds, lol.

[Mdunntn]

A ruger American rifle would fit that price range pretty well

Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk 2

[R_Bert]

While I was growing up, our family put dozens of deer in the freezer using 870s and open-sighted slug barrels. 

 

Me, when not using the shotgun, I take a pistol or muzzle-loader.

 

 Learn to hunt, then worry about your next hunting firearm. Don't get too tore up about the equipment, but fanatical about the process and technique.

 

B.   

[Guest roginc]

Thanks for responding guys.  The Shotgun that I have is a Remington 880 and yes it is smooth bore.

 

 I would love to pick up one of those old Russian models but I am limited to where I can buy from.  I was given gift cards to Bass Pro for Christmas.  With only 9 days left in the season (which for some reason I did not realize) I think I might take some time and see what deals Bass Pro might have later in the year.

[Guest roginc]

Now to try to find a place to hunt next year... that is my next hurdle. 

[gregintenn]

You could always buy a rifled slug barrel for your 870, but I like rifles.

[Jonnin]

You could always buy a rifled slug barrel for your 870, but I like rifles.

This might be the cheapest option, if that is a concern.

 

The mosin was one example, but if you have gift cards, there are many other inexpensive rifles out there.  Should be able to get a very nice one for 300ish, savage perhaps?  I dunno what bass pro carries for guns.   I dunno if they can order you a barrel or if its just "whats on the shelf". 

[Howler]

Savage is a nice little rifle. The Accu trigger is worth a few extra bucks. The Handi Rifle is a cheap little option as well. As far as calibers... go .243 and up. I'm not a slug fan, not that they don't work, I've just never had an accurate slug gun.

[Ron Padilla]

with only 9 days left it is going to cost you 56.00 for the license as well, so you need to determine if your going out this season or next.  And the next season you could save for and find a gun shop that will do layaways or wait for next fall and lay one away at Wal-mart and have more choices. what every you decide have fun once you get to hunt and welcome to the site.  

[10-Ring]

I used to hunt the far west part of the state, IMO you want a rifle that can reach out a bit.  Can't go wrong with a .270 or 30-06 because they do the job well and if you can find ammo for anything you can find ammo for those two.  This is only my opinion but I would stay away from the Remington 770s, a friend has 2 and thinks they are the best thing since sliced bread, that tells me that he has never picked up another bolt action rifle.  The actions on these rifles are very rough.  The actions on my 91/30s are much smoother and I gave $70 for those. 

[Guest roginc]

I went looking at Bass Pro yesterday and looked at the Remington 770 and the Mossberg 100 ATR.  Just in the store I could tell that the Remington 770 had many of the problems that you find discussed on Youtube.  As I was handling the Mossberg the clerk suggested that I should go with a Savage Axis XP.  I could not handle that rifle at the time because they were out of stock.

 

Does anyone have any experience with the Axis Xp?  The reviews seem to be good from what I can find.