Deer Rifle

[treble]

Just wondering what everyone uses for deer hunting and how many use the same gun for hunting coyotes. I have a Remington .270 slide action with a crappy 4X scope on it. I love the gun and I have filled my tag every year that I have used it. I will be upgrading though some time in the near future and I will be getting a bolt action with a better scope, but as far as I can tell there is no apparent reason to change calibers. Any thoughts??

[harvey lee]

For deer hunting I use mostly a 7mm or a 300 and thats a little overkill.I have also use a .06,30-30,270.All these guns work well for deer.If Iam shooting long range then I usually use the 7mm,or the 300 mag.I ahve also used the 270 until I got the 7mm and the 300.

For coyotes I will use my 22-250,243 or a 17.Usually the 22-250 as this rifle has the better optics.I have shot 2 yotes with my bow but that was during the archery season.I would not attempt this just for coyotes as this would be to short range but fun to stake em.

[Rost]

The .270 is probably the most popular caliber gun for deer in SD. And yes, you can shoot coyotes with it. (They aint worth diddly squat anyways, so go ahead and rip'm in half).

However, if you want a gun that can swing from a true deer gun in the fall to a pure coyote gun in the winter, check out a 25-06.

With a 25-06 you could shoot Fed 117 grains at deer in the fall, then switch to 85 grain ammo to shoot at coyotes in the winter.

Next time you are in a sporting goods store, take a 25-06 and .270 bullet out of the box and compare them. Suprizingly, they are very close to the same size. It's like the difference between a .222 and .223.

Ballistics wise, this gun is know for being fast and flat. My ballistics chart does not include the stats on the 81 grain, but I'd imagine it's smokin! The fed 117 will shoot about like a .270 shoots a 130 grain.

The only bad thing I will say about the gun is the fact that you can't find ammo in every Tom, Dick, and Harry gas station like you can the .270. So if you go on a trip, make sure you bring enough ..

One last note. From what I hear, the .243 is a great deer/coyote gun as well. However, I don't have any first hand exp with that gun.

A gun smith would point you in the right direction on this subject as well.

Good Luck! Let us know what you get.

[percherman]

Ditto with Rost, I sure love the ballistics of the 25/06. I personally shoot a 280 and love it for deer and yotes, but I prefer to shoot my 22/250 at yotes, much more bang for your yote. I have seen my buddy put quite a few deer down at extreme distances with the 117 grain loads and I am always amazed at the graphic damage that the bullet does. He always spent the extra money for the partition or silvertip or vital shock cartridges.

I don't know if he is just a crack shot? but he has never had to use another round to finish a animal while he has been using that gun and been hunting with me???

I have seen what the 25/06 does to Prairie Dogs.

I would really hate to see what poor Mr Wiley would look like after running into a shredder like that.