Hi Everyone!
I have come to a time in my hunting career that I am considering stepping up to a larger (legal-sized) caliber in a rifle for hunting whitetail deer.
I currently use a .20 or .12 gauge shotgun, but I hesitate when I see a 70+ yard shot. I want to be able to take a 100+ yrd shot with confidence in knowing that I can accurately take down the deer.
With this said, I've looked up the current DNR regulations on rifles:
Rifles with cartridges that fire a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger, have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches, and have a maximum case length of 1.8 inches are legal to use only during the deer firearms and special antlerless seasons. Some cartridges legal for deer hunting include the .357 Magnum, .38-.40 Winchester, .41 Magnum, .41 Special, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-.40 Winchester, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .458 SOCOM, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action Express, .500 S&W, .460 Smith & Wesson, .450 Bushmaster, and .50 Beowulf. Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal.
So before I start blindly checking into the calibers listed... does anyone have a favorite that they would recommend??
I am open to the style of action.. I am hoping to just need one shot.. so a bolt-action would be fine with me. I plan on mounting a scope to it so the model would need to allow for this.
I also believe there is no issue with having suppressors on the rifle for hunting, so I will look to have this feature as well.
Some initial ideas that I found were:
Marlin 1895
Rossi .44 mag
Winchester model 92 carbine
Ruger 77/44
Please provide any advice!! If this topic has been covered elsewhere, please point me to the link.
Thank you!!
I have come to a time in my hunting career that I am considering stepping up to a larger (legal-sized) caliber in a rifle for hunting whitetail deer.
I currently use a .20 or .12 gauge shotgun, but I hesitate when I see a 70+ yard shot. I want to be able to take a 100+ yrd shot with confidence in knowing that I can accurately take down the deer.
With this said, I've looked up the current DNR regulations on rifles:
Rifles with cartridges that fire a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger, have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches, and have a maximum case length of 1.8 inches are legal to use only during the deer firearms and special antlerless seasons. Some cartridges legal for deer hunting include the .357 Magnum, .38-.40 Winchester, .41 Magnum, .41 Special, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-.40 Winchester, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .458 SOCOM, .475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action Express, .500 S&W, .460 Smith & Wesson, .450 Bushmaster, and .50 Beowulf. Full metal jacketed bullets are illegal.
So before I start blindly checking into the calibers listed... does anyone have a favorite that they would recommend??
I am open to the style of action.. I am hoping to just need one shot.. so a bolt-action would be fine with me. I plan on mounting a scope to it so the model would need to allow for this.
I also believe there is no issue with having suppressors on the rifle for hunting, so I will look to have this feature as well.
Some initial ideas that I found were:
Marlin 1895
Rossi .44 mag
Winchester model 92 carbine
Ruger 77/44
Please provide any advice!! If this topic has been covered elsewhere, please point me to the link.
Thank you!!