Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey guys, so ill be getting into alot more hunting soon.
I dont have alot of hunting / gun expierence. I like shooting hand guns, and i know alot about those.I'll be hunting elk, and deer. What would be a good rifle choice? I was thinking a .270...

Thanks !

I just wroet a similar reply for another gentleman, but since I will be near the top of your replies I will get my opinion out early. If you plan on hunting the area where you live you are not really worried about long range shooting, plus the fact that 90% of animals taken are under 100 yrds, you don't need a 300+ yrd gun for the coast. I use a 45/70 for any brushy/close quarters type of hunting. I grew up on the coast and west sides of the mountains, while their are some long shot opporttunities in some clear cuts, it is more than likely going to be up close. It works on all game and wont tear up a blacktail deer like a 300 mag or 338. You can get a 45/70 in lever action or single shot. The lever action aloows for a quick follow up shot and the rifles in a guide model are small and easy to manuver through the brush. The damage the rather large bullet does to game makes tracking the animal alot easier which helps with game recovery and speed especially when the west side weather makes blood trailing animals difficult. I have taken elk, mule deer and blacktail with my 45/70 and have had no meat loss and and both deer dropped where they stood and the 5x6 Roosevelt elk only made it 40 yrds. If you are going to venture east for deer and antelope, I would recomend a 25/06. It is a fast flat shooting round. Alot of people do like a 270, but I think it is to light for elk and if you are going to have a seperate rifle for deer and elk there are alot better suited rounds for deer than a 270. Their is no one rifle for all situations.
Look at where and what you are going to be hunting, and choose accordingly. For my money on the coast it is a 45/70. Hope it helps, you will have no shortage of opinions on this matter, and this is mine, hope it helps and good luck.

Sweet, thanks!

I really like my .270 for deer, especially east side muleys. I have no issues using it for east side elk as well, for unless you get pulled for a special hunt, your quarry will be spike only. The 25-06 is a sweet shooting rifle as is the 7mm-08, both are nice deer slayers. For west side deer, you might just want to try a muzzle loader. You'd rarely find yourself out of range and you can use it in firearm restricted areas. If you want to try the muzzle loader season, be sure to pick up a firearm that complies with our State's requirements. You can use any kind of muzzle loader during modern firearm season, however for muzzle loader season, you can't use the 209 primer ignition units and they can't have glass optics either.

Good replies My personal fav. for deer is a 257 weatherby mag straight flat shooter more for distance shooting. great for deer and Lopes. (smaller) big game for elk I break out the 7mm mag great for deer also but I like a faster bullet for my deer... I don't like chasing my animals down... I honestly never shot a 270 but I do know it will take down a elk and deer my Nephew shots it. has been since he was 13yrs old now 20 and he gets a deer a year.

300 used to be my elk and deer rifle, But it is a bit much for deer at least for Mule deer I imagine black tail and white tail would be worse damage lol

7mm mag would be a great choice also being I don't know the kick of the 270...

I am not sure if you drive but when I get my rifles ready for hunting you are more than welcome to tag along you can shoot my 7mm 243 257 and all my pistols that I bring also.I normally head out to green water to do my shooting but when setting the scope I go to Renton fish and Game in Renton as I want to be dead on at 100 and 200 yards

My hunting group is pretty religous on .30-06, great all around gun for deer and elk and never had any issues when using either(other than shooter error) , my cousin shoots a .243 for deer, 300 win mag for elk, my buddy has a .270 for deer 7mm for elk, you can use whatever you feel comfortable with, but the fact of the matter is i agree with coyotacrazy, you rarely will shoot an animal that far away if your hiking around, i have never shot an animal farther than 50yards from me, probably closer to 30yards, im actually looking to get a .30-30 for a new deer gun, my last few deer have been 20yards from me. Just my opinion, 270 is a great gun, .243 will take an elk with a good shot. 30-06 will take a elk with a good shot. I would suggest getting a gun you like shooting, find some buddy's to go shoot with and try their guns out. my 1982 30-06 shoots just as nice as my buddies new 7mm, so also remember age doesnt always mean anything, you can find some real nice rarely used guns at pawnshops or cabelas, mine was in the family so just something to think about. (My buddies dad is a gun smith, and my 30-06 looks brand new with the woodstock with 8 coats of wood stain/sealer, gun looks beautiful)

I vote .30-06/.308. You can find great cheap guns used and even new they are extremely affordable. The range of loads (without even considering hand loads) is second to none and the ammo is priced right. Recoil is extremely manageable even for younger or inexperienced hunters. With good bullet placement you can take any game that walks North America. For a single jack-of-all-trades rifle it can't be beat.

Here is my take on it. have you thought about a 20 gauge shot gun, here are my reasons: Versatility, there are many different types of game that can be hunted with a single weapon. Price, I have found several used guns near my house in great condition for under two bills. If you want to add distance, order a rifled barrel the cost of the new barrel and the gun still come in under the price of a used lever action chambered in 30-06, which I also found for around three bills, and you now have in effect two weapons for the price of one. Hunting access, with a shotgun this allows you into areas where centerfires aren’t allowed. Lastly in order to keep recoil down do not get the youth models as these are lighter and this equals more kick interestingly enough.
The down side of this is it isn’t the preferred weapon for Elk; however, I have read people taking Elk with it but they say you have to treat it as though it is a muzzleloader.

A 20ga with a slug is questionable on anything over deer sized and limits you to a much shorter range shot. You also lose quite a bit of accuracy due to the inefficient aerodynamic design of the slug and quicker energy drop off as well a a lot of bullet drop. Also compare the average 3" 50 yd group with smooth bore slug gun vs even a poor shooting rifle and you see bullet placement also favors the rifle. You can step up to Brenneke or "BuckHammer" style slugs and they do perform better. Sabot style rounds in a rifled barrel are definitely the most efficient but are on par power wise with a .50 cal muzzle loader.

Good article on it here http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_slugs.htm

BTW you can get a brand new Savage Axis synthetic stocked rifle new without optics for $300 @ Cabelas and it'll shoot rings around the 20ga.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Savage17 ... l+Products

Just my 2 cents, but I began hunting with a .308 then switched to a .243 then switched to a .30-06 and now finally I've found my love, a Winchester model .270 short mag. It shoots like a dream and cycling the bolt is super quick. its extremely light and very little kick. but down side is ammo is real expensive. Also you can't beat the versatility of the .30-06.

Thanks for the reply guys ! A .308 was my 2nd choice. Im going to look at .270, .308, 7mm,

How much kick does a 7mm have? hanks for all the great replies !

7mm is a pussy cat for kick. my kids love it my son shoots that one all the time. he is 13 he has been shooting it for 4 years now.

but compared to the 270 I couldn't say I never shot a 270...

you can handle a 300..

Shotgun also would be good for the wet side of the mountains where low visibility.

7mm/.30-06/.308 relatively the same recoil IMHO. IIRC the .30-06/.308 is realistically identical performance wise. I think the case is like a couple thousandths difference and the shoulder angle is different, but I've had older guns where both rounds would chamber and fire(not that I recommend that). The .30/06 generally has a bit more muzzle energy, but the .308 is more accurate. The .270 win (non-mag) would be fine for everything up to deer. The .308/.30-06 is still more widely chambered and available in a larger variety of loads.

If you are a light framed person, like myself, you will notice the kick of a 7mm when loaded with 175 grain bullets. I thought that I'd give them a try and I was surprised at the difference from the 160gr rounds I normally pump through my Savage. Also, 308s generally kick a bit more that you'd think, though I wouldn't rule one out because of it. They all work well, just look for a good deal and make sure you can test fire it if you are buying used. I wasn't all the hot on 270s until I shot my used Browning. It is a tack driver and became my goto rifle after my first season using it.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/prod ... s_id/14607

Best Buy rifle out there. MOA accurate out of the box, full locking lug Savage 110 action, tons of off the shelf upgrades( custom drop in match triggers, etc) for all $320. Add a nice 3x9 40+mm objective scope and you don't need anything else. This is pretty much universally regarded as the best built and performing budget rifle made. They do sell it in .30-06, .270, and 7mm as well.

Just picked up a Savage 30-06. Will let you know what I think after my trip to the range on Monday.

You guys are alot of help ! From everything ive read here, and on other sites, doesnt seem like a .270 would be a good gun for both deer and elk. Im narrowing it down to a 7mm, and a .308 buy still open to more options and anything else you guys would like to tell me ! Im going out shooting with the guy whos going to take me hunting, he has a .270, a .308, .243, and some other guns he wants me to try out

I started my big game hunting career with a Winchester .32 special. I was lucky enough to find one during World War 2 when guns were almost impossible to buy. It was a so-so rifle but I went to a .270, which I hunted with for many years. I bagged many deer, a few elk, a moose and an antelope with that gun. I did finally buy a .338 Winchester mag to hunt elk and moose with but never did really hunt with that gun very much. It was a great gun with all the knock down power you could ask for but I finally settled on a 30-06. It is probably the most popular hunting rifle of all time. Ammo is always available and it re-loads nicely. Bottom line is - if I were young and just starting hunting big game and could only have one rifle, it would be a 30-06.

44 Mag isn't a bad western Washington hunting rifle either! Its what i will use this deer season!

I was going to mention the Ruger 44 carbine. If you can find one at a reasonable price, it would be great for Western Washington deer.