Your Deer Hunting Rifle – Pick the Perfect Firearm

One of the most important decisions for you to make in your hunting career is what deer hunting rifle you should purchase.

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. Your ultimate success depends upon having a deer hunting rifle that fits all these criteria.

The Significance of the Location You will Hunt

When you go deer hunting, you’ll typically either hunt in open range country or dense brush country, like deep woods. Some locations are a combination of both environments. Each environment requires different shooting styles and different rifle characteristics .

Deer Hunting Rifles for Deep Woods or Dense Brush

Deer hunting rifles for a hunting area of woods and brush should perform best in close to medium range shooting. The average shooting distance in this type of environment is from twenty-five to two hundred yards. So, having a deer hunting rifle that’s relatively light (nine pounds or less, including the scope) with a short barrel length (twenty two inches or less) is best. Portability is important when moving in dense brush. You may also want to consider rifles that have automatic functions and are easy to reload. It’s fairly common, when deer hunting in rough country, that you end up needing to take multiple shots in quick succession in order to make your kill. You need to penetrate the brush, so get a bullet with a heavy cartridge – nothing less than 120 grain and .270 caliber. Calibers/cartridges that travel at over 2200 feet per second are not recommended to minimize bullet deflection by the brush. If your hunting terrain only allows shots to be taken within 50 yards or less of the intended target, you may want to consider using an open sight. If not, I would recommend a scope with four power, or a variable scope that can get down to 3X. Experiment at the rifle range to see whether open sit shooting agrees with you.

Deer Hunting Rifles for the Open Range

If you’re planning on hunting in a more open area, get a deer hunting rifle that can shoot accurately at least three hundred yards. Rifle portability is of less importance than accuracy and velocity in long shot environments, rifles tend to be heavier and of longer barrel length than deep woods rifles. In open range shooting, high velocity rifle calibers and cartridges are needed. Calibers in the 6MM (.243) caliber range or higher will be OK, and bullets from 100 grain and heavier will work. Typically the larger the caliber the heavier the bullet you need to use for optimum ballistic accuracy. Scopes with a 6 x 9 variable power are the minimum requirement for most shooters.

Personal Choices

When choosing a deer hunting rifle take the recommendations above as they apply best to your hunting environment and then Consider your ability to maintain a comfortable shooting manner when shooting high caliber or magnum caliber rifles. Do you really want to lug ten or twelve pounds of long rifle with you around your deer hunting terrain?

Visit a nearby hunting rifle dealer and test out various models, kinds, and sizes from different makers of deer hunting rifles to see what feels good. You may also want to consider asking any successful hunters that you’re friends with what kinds of rifles they use, and their reasons for using them. Ask friends to let you hold and handle their rifles if you are interested in their type of firearm, and ask them what they like and dislike about their rifle.

You can learn so much more about deer hunting deer hunting rifles, and even get great deer hunting tips, by checking out our webpage dedicated to choosing the best rifle here: Deer-HuntingTips.com/DeerHuntingRifle.

You can also get our latest deer hunting course, “Secrets of Finding Monster Bucks Revealed” for free at Monster Bucks.

Your Deer Hunting Rifle – Pick the Perfect Firearm

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