Need a good rifle for hunting multiple animals?
by admin on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | 4 Comments
I live in Nevada and have decided to take up the sport of hunting. I have shot many weapons before — rifles included, shotguns, but mainly handguns — so I am proficient. I would also practice with any weapon before I go out. But, basically, I need to buy a rifle that will serve me well for multiple types of hunts. I am applying for a deer and antelope tag this year, and have been considering a mountain lion tag. I will not be using dogs if I get a mountain lion tag. So, what type of rifle should I get, with what type of scope, to hunt all these types of game. I am not necessarily looking for the best gun for each, but one that is multipurpose. Thanks
I would recommend any good bolt action rifle in either 30-06 Springfield or a .270 calibers. They are some of the best hunting cartridges out there, very versatile and very effective. There is an abundance and plethora of different bullet loads that you can use to hunt anything from groundhogs with light loads till bear with heavy bullet loads.
The .30-30 lever action is PLENTY enough for deer and antelope. If my memory serves, you can even take mountain lion with hot .357 loads, so .30-30 should be enough. Distance makes a difference if you want optics, but if I were to pick a rifle with these parameters, it’d be a Winchester 1894, some sort of Marlin, etc. If you were feeling cheaper, the 7.62×39 has similar ballistics to the .30-30 cartridge, so an SKS or an AK would be fine as well. You probably don’t need optics for them, but you could easily mount one on any of the above. Good luck!
I’ll agree with George. A .270 will do the trick. I have a bolt action Browning i use on deer, that works nice.
Welcome to NV! A .270 is the perfect cartridge for 95% of the state. It shoots flat over long distances and plenty of power for our larger Mule deer. Antelope are small and easy to bring down, and mountain lion generally hunt you long before you hunt them, and the .270 is fine if not overkill. I would strongly advocate a .357 revolver as a sidearm in addition to your rifle. I always carry a handgun with snakeshot (and .357′s), or a .410 bore derringer to deal with snakes, which are prevelent in most of the state.
I love .30-30′s, but they are not great here because of the longer ranges most shots are taken at. There is very little cover in most hunting areas, so camo and good stalking/tracking skills are a must. I would also go with a moderate power scope, something better than the average 3-9x. Hunting here is just a little different from most places in the US, and until youve done it, a lot of folks just dont understand.