First deer rifle

[OneNightAtDeerCamp]

We talk a lot here about what guns are right for our kids, what caliber, model, etc.   Many of us, though, when we were kids, used the hand-me-downs from others.   What was your first deer rifle or first rifle you shot a deer with?

I started with 20ga with slugs.  Shot my first deer with an 8mm Mauser 98 with iron sight (yea, the goofy sliding range finder sight) that to this day couldn't hit the broad side of a barn twice.  Not sure how the bullet ever connected.

What was yours?

[Shootmoore]

Model 99F in 243.  Nice little lever gun.  Used it for 2 years took 2 bucks with it.  Switched to a bolt gun and took a buck at age 10 and at age 11 started bow hunting never shot a deer with a rifle since.

Shootmoore

[Wazukie]

Mine was my dads old winchester mdl 94 30/30 and now my son is useing it today

[Woodchuck]

old Remington semi auto 30/06, kids still usin today, great ol gun

[coop2424]

old Remington semi auto 30/06, kids still usin today, great ol gun

Same here.  Remington 7400 30/06

[turkey buster]

remington model four 270 is the first rifle I killed a deer with.
chuck

[Buckmark]

Remington model 742 chambered in .244, was my first centerfire and my first blacktail was taken with it.
Passed down to me, was my Grandpa John's last rifle he bought/shot before he passed away.
He had lost his left arm in a mill accident, bought the little .244 (6mm) because it had little recoil and the round forend sat nice in his hook.
I still have that gun and years ago i thought about refinnishing it becasue the stock and forend got pretty beat up from his hook, but i decided to leave it the way as a reminder to me of him.

[jackelope]

Remington 742 woodsmaster in 30-06. I still have it and will have it forever. It was my grandfather's gun and now it's mine.  It has extra high scope rings on it and the first deer I killed I shot via the iron sights looking through the rings.

[C-Money]

Grandpa's Marlin 30-30 is what I killed my first two deer with. They sure did not go very far with well placed shots tight behind the shoulder.

[Pathfinder101]

Model 94 Winchester Lever Gun in 30-30.  I am from Kettle Falls, I think Stevens county issued them to all male children at birth...

Killed my first 2 deer with it, then as soon as I was old enough to earn a little money mowing lawns (and understand what "ballistics" were ), I did like Jack O'Connor advised and went and bought me an old used .270 Win. 

[6x6in6]

Ruger M77 in 7MMRM.  Old school tang safety bought new in 1979.
Semi-retired since 1995......it just hides in the deep dark depths of the gun safe 11 months of the year.  It goes with as the back up in case of problems to either the 270 or 338WM.
Best, most accurate/consistent gun I've ever owned. It took down 26 deer/elk in it's 17 years.  I never missed a hit with it and only a handful of times I had to back it up with a 2nd shot.  Never needed to adjust the Leupold on it after '81 or '82.  If I would ever do a gun sale, this gun would NEVER be sold.  It's just one of those rare one's I can honestly is perfect!

[AWS]

My first deer gun was an old Belgium made hammer double with slugs, it worked just fine.  My first deer rifle was a very nice Herters J-9 presentation grade in 243Win that I bought after I got out of the service 1969. Since then I've killed deer with 25 different calibers/guages/cartridges and  40+ different rifles/shotguns.  You always remember the first one.

AWS

[Jamieb]

My first deer rifle was a old savage bolt action 30-30. I only hunted one year with it and got a rem 700BDL 7mag for Christmas.
I never killed anything with that old 30-30, it was my grampas and sits in my gun safe now.

[NRA4LIFE]

Model 98 Mauser in 8MM Mauser, iron sights.  Killed a little 2X2 whitetail in Norhtern Wisconsin.  It was my grandad's gun, then my dad's and then mine.  I still own it and take it with me on occasion.  Haven't killed anything with it in 25 years though.  More sentimental than anything.

[bowtech721]

my first was a 1917 enfield in 30-06... I managed to kill my first deer with it and plan on hanging onto it

[superdown]

I started with a rem mod 700 bdl deluxe in 243win hunted with that for a couple of years never killed anything with it. the first rifle i got a deer with was rem mod 700 mountain rifle in 270win that i shot a whitetail doe with .

[WildfireArcher]

ruger m77 in a .243 win. Shot about 8 does with it and 2 hogs. great little rifle

-Wildfire

[wadu1]

MK 1 Number 4 Enfield in .303 British, muley spike on Quartz Mountain SE of Republic in 1966. Still have the gun and rack  if you can call a spike with eye guards a rack.

[mossback91]

Marlin 336 S.C  30-30 with a weaver k4 on it that was my dads first rifle. I shot a few bucks and grouse with it....then went to model 700 30-06 that was my grandpas that I use for elk hunting but would often still use the 30-30 deer hunting unless Im in open country just cause i like it......light and quick handling.

[KimberRich]

Winchester Model 70 XTR Featherweight in 30-06. 

My Dad had the floor plate engraved with my initials and topped it with a Leupold VX-II 3-9..  Nice Christmas present when you're 10.  Didn't know how nice of a rifle it really was until years later.  I will say it's not a fun first gun to sight in when you're a youngster..  Not much for a factory recoil pad and it's got a little punch.  I remember getting pretty flinchy after about 3 rounds.

[Pathfinder101]

Winchester Model 70 XTR Featherweight in 30-06. 

My Dad had the floor plate engraved with my initials and topped it with a Leupold VX-II 3-9..  Nice Christmas present when you're 10.  Didn't know how nice of a rifle it really was until years later.  I will say it's not a fun first gun to sight in when you're a youngster..  Not much for a factory recoil pad and it's got a little punch.  I remember getting pretty flinchy after about 3 rounds.

Holy cow.  Your dad actually must have LIKED you...  The rest of us had to start with something that had the ballistic equivalent of a dirtclod fired out of a coffee cup..

[whacker1]

shot my first deer with borrowed (from uncle) savage 110c in .243 and then my parents bought me a .270 in the same make and model for the following christmas.

[Curly]

I started out w/ .30-30 but the only thing I shot with it was grouse......never got a shot at a deer with it.

The first deer I killed was with a Winchester Model 100 in .284 Winchester.

[KimberRich]

Winchester Model 70 XTR Featherweight in 30-06. 

My Dad had the floor plate engraved with my initials and topped it with a Leupold VX-II 3-9..  Nice Christmas present when you're 10.  Didn't know how nice of a rifle it really was until years later.  I will say it's not a fun first gun to sight in when you're a youngster..  Not much for a factory recoil pad and it's got a little punch.  I remember getting pretty flinchy after about 3 rounds.

Holy cow.  Your dad actually must have LIKED you...  The rest of us had to start with something that had the ballistic equivalent of a dirtclod fired out of a coffee cup..

    Thats funnt right there..  Yeah I had no idea how good I had it for a long time until I got old enough to start buying my own guns. 

[Maligator]

My first deer rifle was a Marlin 336 30-30. It was a birthday gift from my grandfather the day I turned 14. Which by the way was a week before rifle season!  I shot a few very nice deer with it. Still have it and would use it in a minute if the hunting area was dense and shorter range shots were expected.

[bobcat]

My first deer rifle was a Remington model 700 in 264 Win. Mag. My dad bought it used and gave it to me when I was 15.

[Hunterman]

My first big game rifle was a Winchester Mod. 94 30/30.  I killed quite a lot of deer with that rifle. Used it both on the west side and east side..

Hunterman(Tony)

[Huntbear]

The first rifle I carried for deer was my mom's Rem. 760 in .300 Savage with a metal butt plate.   

I killed my first deer with my BLR .308 the first fall after I bought it.

[Axle]

Mine was a Beretta BM 59 (308 cal). I bought it when I was 12 and had it for many years. Harvested many deer with it along with other big game. Shot many digger squirrels in Oregon too.

There were only 200 of those guns imported and if I had known that, I would not have sold it.

[Deep Forks]

Holy cow.  Your dad actually must have LIKED you...  The rest of us had to start with something that had the ballistic equivalent of a dirtclod fired out of a coffee cup..
[/quote]
  My first deer was shot with a savage 99e in 303 savage.  I was 10 yrs. old and remember holding behind the shoulder on the muley 2 point and hit him right in the head, my dad said you dang near missed.  Still got the gun and always will.  

[MissinCaliBlacktails]

Bow and Arrow!

[Emptyhanded]

Remington Model 7 in .243 Win for me.

[walt]

I too was issued a Winchester 94 30/30 when I graduated from elementary school and killed my first buck with it that year.  I still have it and just started shooting it again last year.  I think I might carry it for whitetail this fall.

[firecrotch]

mine was a remington .700 adl .243 youth model open sights. i saved up for 3 summers prior picking strawberries to buy a motorcycle RM50, and sold it to buy the gun for my first year of deer season. i killed my first 4 bucks with the gun and 2 spike elk, all with open sights.

[Red Dawg]

model 721 30-06. Shot many deer with that rifle. It is now retired in the safe for all eternity.

[Skywagon_185]

Model 71 Winchester .348!!  Hell of a gun for an 11 year old in 1957.  It was the only spare rifle my dad had,   Killed 2 bucks with it the first day out!!  Northern Calif. where you got 2 deer tags.  Hunted with it for many years and probably killed 20 bull elk in my younger years.  Got 2 bulls my first day of elk hunting back in '62 when party hunting was normal.  Keep shooting til the tags are filled!!  I still have it but haven't used it for many years.  
Mike  

[Angus]

When I passed my hunter safety course @ 10 my dad said I could deer hunt when I saved enough money to buy my own rifle, I mowed alot of lawns and did cleanup work on some of his construction sites and by the following season had saved enough to buy a Savage .308 model 99c off a friend of his. He made me a good deal on the gun and I earned every penny($125), dad didn't loan me a dime.

[Ridgeratt]

First rifle was a Husquavarna crown in 243. My dad cosigned for it so I would learn what they were worth!!! (1966)
    Paid 127.50 tax,license,shot's LOL

Oldest son's was a Browning A-bolt in 06 with a 3x9 Leupold from the closet.
Youngest son's was a Ruger # 1 270  with a 2x7 Leupold compact from the closet
Haven't figured out what the grandson get's yet!!!
Rules are simple  " I'm the pawn shop" If ya need mony come see me. Period!

[madmack76]

sks thru the neck one and down

[docsven]

First deer rifle was a savage 99 in .300, missed two bucks and used my mom's interarms 22/250 to kill my first deer.  My son shot his first buck at 10 with a 1917 Enfield 30.06, still have all but the 22/250.

[NWBREW]

The first rifle I hunted deer with was my moms first rifle. It is a Savage in 300 savage. Killed my first few deer with it and my first bear. One year for my birthday.....many, many years ago, She had a small plate engraved and put into the wood stock of the gun. They also had the stock refinished and new scope mounts put on it. The engraved plate just said...Love Mom. Gave it to me for my birthday. I love that gun but after having the work on the stock and mounts done I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it. I have'nt killed anything with it since....20+ years. I have not hunted with it since my mom passed and that has been 12 years. I love the gun and will never get rid of it but man I can't hit crap with it. So I geuss it is kind of a Love-Hate thing.