Rifles for Hunting Big Mule Deer

[2Stamp]

My favorite mule deer rifle is my X-bolt in 25-06. Light to carry, quick bullets. I love to hunt with it.

 

[Article 4]

I have a 6CM running 115s that has never let me down. So far its an Antelope, Whitey, Coues rifle - with some LR javelina and coyotes mixed in.

If I know I am headed into big body buck country - e.g. 200lb plus and the potential for longer shots, I up to a 6.5 or 7 running bigger bullets. Prefer a 135+ grain for it.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Shortest range buck kill 80 yards
Furthest buck kill 300ish

Elk/bear/pronghorn seem to be a different story ranging from 230 to 595.

I have been using a chassis for the last couple years and I think it cost me a close range cow elk while tracking in the snow through deadfall. I had it strapped to my pack (uncomfortable and awkward to hand carry) and i felt as though the terrain was open enough for me to see a decent ways ahead. Well I was wrong, elk stood up at 60ish yards and gave me a second to get a shot off....I wasn't ready. It has me rethinking the chassis gun. I love it for alot of reasons but there is times a reasonable weight stock that is comfortable in the hands can be beneficial.

 

[robby denning]

Shortest range buck kill 80 yards
Furthest buck kill 300ish

Elk/bear/pronghorn seem to be a different story ranging from 230 to 595.

INTERESTING difference ^

I have been using a chassis for the last couple years and I think it cost me a close range cow elk while tracking in the snow through deadfall. I had it strapped to my pack (uncomfortable and awkward to hand carry) and i felt as though the terrain was open enough for me to see a decent ways ahead. Well I was wrong, elk stood up at 60ish yards and gave me a second to get a shot off....I wasn't ready. It has me rethinking the chassis gun. I love it for alot of reasons but there is times a reasonable weight stock that is comfortable in the hands can be beneficial.

Those hurt^

 

[Tmac]

The 5 biggest MD bucks I’ve taken: 8, 415, 80, 30, & 350. Avg. 177 yards. Two shortest shots taken still hunting. The others in fairly open high desert/mountain type terrain. The 415 remains my longest shot at a big game animal. I do dial and practice to 600 occasionally. On 3 of the 5 I had just a few seconds to get set and shoot, the 8, 30, and 350 yard shots, sitting, offhand and sitting with sticks, respectively.

Generally shooting fairly mid to light weight rifles in 25-06, 270 Win, or 280 Rem. The 35 yo 25-06 happens to have taken all 5 above, it wears an old Leupold 3x9. Scopes are a mix of set & forget and dialable scopes, but I’ve yet to dial for a shot.

The 25-06 is getting a Trijicon mounted this winter, a 3x9 Huron that has the elevation bdc style hash marks, only because that reticle type was on sale. I will also mark the turrets to 600 in case I want to dial.

With all my guns hitting about 2” high at 100, they are all 6” ish low at 300, 12” ish low at 350 and 21” ish low at 400. With an approx. 18” deep target, I just hold my crosshairs where needed for a given range. A couple scopes have hash marks, but I’ve yet to use them on an animal.

 

[RaggedHunter]

My favorite deer (everything) rifle is my 6.5-06 Ackley Improved. Shooting 140 Berger Elite hunters @3075fps.
Scope is NF SHV with turret.
All in rifle weighs ~8.25lbs.

Average shot on deer specifically over the past handful of years is ~460 yards. Closest being 75, furthest being 650.

I practice regularly to 1,000 occasionally beyond. Rifle is zeroed at 200. I typically dial anything past about 300. Dialing is very rapid, I put a piece of white electrical tape on my turret with ranges marked with sharpie to make for very fast dials out to the first full revolution of the turret. This gets me to about 650 quickly without having to calculate drop. So unless the shot has to be very fast, I typically opt to range and quickly turn the dial to the yardage I like holding dead on and not have to think about any holdovers.

I have also shot elk and antelope with this rifle ranging from 200 to 900 yards and had excellent results.

This has been a great all around hunting rifle. I wouldn't change a thing with regards to performance. My only complaint is since I've started using a suppressor, the overall length is a bit more than I would like. If I ever spin a new barrel on it, I will likely switch it from the current 24" to something in the 18-20" range.

Shot a buck this fall with a muzzleloader at 120 but that is a different ballgame all together.

Currently setting up my wife with a 6mm creedmoor. Final weight depending on scope should be ~7lbs. depending on scope selection.

This rifle will be a little shorter and lighter. I can definitely see myself taking it in place of my Ackley in certain situations.

This was my closest buck @ 75 yards.


This buck was shot at 450 yards.


This was my furthest buck taken at 650 yards.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

Im

INTERESTING difference ^

Those hurt^

I had killed a bull 4 days earlier so it didn't hurt AS bad but my first thought that went through my head was, "what if that had been a big mule deer buck?"

 

[6mm Remington]

My Ruger 1B in 6mm Remington is my deer/antelope/black bear/ and killed one elk with it so far. I really love the 6mm Remington and feel it's a great cartridge. I shoot 100 gr. Nosler Partitions at 3170 fps. I could probably find a powder that would even increase on this velocity, but it sure shoots nice.

My son has a Ruger MKII in 6mm Remington also. For his rifle I load 90 gr. Nosler E-tips at 3140 fps. He's taken antelope, deer, and a big cow elk at 350 yards. All were one shot kills. His MKII has a Boyds nutmeg laminate stock we put on it which was pillar bedded, glass bedded, and the barrel was free floated. We also had the stock checkered and it's a looker for sure.

 

[Plainsman79]

For quite a few years I carried around a land cannon with the mindset of bigger was better. One year I was hunting a really good Colorado buck in some thick, rolling country. Although I never killed that buck, there was a very quick moment during that hunt where a smaller buck in the same area gave me an opportunity to fill my tag. I quickly realized if that would’ve been the bigger buck I wouldn’t have had enough time to put my ear plugs in and get my gun on him. Something needed to change.

I ended up with a CA Ridgeline in 6.5PRC topped with a Maven RS.1 2.5 x 15x 44 in the MOA-2 reticle. Shooting either Berger 140’s or Nosler AB’s 140. I haven’t fully committed to one yet. My personal longest range is 600 yards, even though the rifle setup is capable of much more.

My best 7 bucks have an average lab age of 5.28 years old with an average shot distance of 182 yards. Farthest shot was 435 as he was just about to disappear forever and the closest was 42 yards still hunting the Aspens. I can honestly say I’ve never missed a shot opportunity because it’s been to far, I suppose a lot of it has to do with the country I choose to hunt.

 

[robby denning]

…

My best 7 bucks have an average lab age of 5.28 years old with an average shot distance of 182 yards. Farthest shot was 435 as he was just about to disappear forever and the closest was 42 yards still hunting the Aspens. I can honestly say I’ve never missed a shot opportunity because it’s been to far, I suppose a lot of it has to do with the country I choose to hunt.

you’re speaking my language.


And that’s what Corey and I have decided and I talked to Dioni about it too that the country you hunt does determine a lot of it.

Dioni was saying he had some big mountain sides in central Idaho that just call for longer shots and I think Corey and I spend more time and brush your rolling country on average.

Anyways, thanks for chiming in, and with numbers.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I’m currently holding out for a 30” wide Sonoran genes Arizona buck as we speak. I’ve passed on 5 really nice 4x4s, several small bucks, and a really cool one-eyed 5x5 that I probably should have killed haha.

Rifle I have with me is the same gun that’s killed 13 big game animals this year, a Tikka 22 Creedmoor. This hunt will wrap up a very fun 2024 hunting season.

The gun has been very reliable this year from 20 yards in thick woods to 636 yards on a nice public land 4x4 in the California sierras. I am confident in both my ability and the gun/chamberings ability to reliably kill in what I’ve seen so far.

 

[robby denning]

I’m currently holding out for a 30” wide Sonoran genes Arizona buck as we speak. I’ve passed on 5 really nice 4x4s, several small bucks, and a really cool one-eyed 5x5 that I probably should have killed haha.

Rifle I have with me is the same gun that’s killed 13 big game animals this year, a Tikka 22 Creedmoor. This hunt will wrap up a very fun 2024 hunting season.

The gun has been very reliable this year from 20 yards in thick woods to 636 yards on a nice public land 4x4 in the California sierras. I am confident in both my ability and the gun/chamberings ability to reliably kill in what I’ve seen so far.

Good luck on that 30” buck

We wanna see that deadly 22 in the pic when you post up

 

[Plainsman79]

you’re speaking my language.


And that’s what Corey and I have decided and I talked to Dioni about it too that the country you hunt does determine a lot of it.

Dioni was saying he had some big mountain sides in central Idaho that just call for longer shots and I think Corey and I spend more time and brush your rolling country on average.

Anyways, thanks for chiming in, and with numbers.

I think it’s worth mentioning, that archery hunting the thick rolling country is tough. But if a guy can get good at it, it’s makes him an incredibly deadly gun hunter.

 

[robby denning]

I think it’s worth mentioning, that archery hunting the thick rolling country is tough. But if a guy can get good at it, it’s makes him an incredibly deadly gun hunter.

Agreed

 

[venado mula]

Congrats on your buck this year Robby! I didn't come across anything worth taking and only two that might have a chance next year. I'm in the same crowd, small caliber mountain rifle I built for 0-500 yards. Interesting, I calculated my average kill shot on my last three bucks and it is 88 yards. I agree with Corey that it's the terrain and the weather. Where I hunt (you've taken a buck from MT) you can't see far and it's straight up and down timber and the really big ones are laying in stuff my horses won't go through. Kirt always said he didn't want to take a buck too far because you don't know if there's a bigger one just in front of you. I got more info on some big buck behavior I found both bizarre and interesting, I will PM you.

 

[robby denning]

Congrats on your buck this year Robby! I didn't come across anything worth taking and only two that might have a chance next year. I'm in the same crowd, small caliber mountain rifle I built for 0-500 yards. Interesting, I calculated my average kill shot on my last three bucks and it is 88 yards. I agree with Corey that it's the terrain and the weather. Where I hunt (you've taken a buck from MT) you can't see far and it's straight up and down timber and the really big ones are laying in stuff my horses won't go through. Kirt always said he didn't want to take a buck too far because you don't know if there's a bigger one just in front of you. I got more info on some big buck behavior I found both bizarre and interesting, I will PM you.

88 yards!!! I think you get the award for shortest average distance with the Rifle on this thread. Thanks for chiming in man and I’ll watch for that PM

 

[ianpadron]

In the past 5 years I've killed 7 muley bucks between 11 and 525 yards, avg of 225 yds. Ironically, the first 2 deer I killed after picking up my first "long range" rifle were at 11 and 22 yards, including calling the 11 yard buck in tight with a Primos "The Can". 140 grain bergers are somewhat messy at close to 3300 fps FYI

After those two flukes, shot my two biggest bucks back to back at 262 and 161 yards, same rifle.

Then 425 in '22 and 525 in '23. All but 2 were with the same 270 WSM. The longest shot was with a lowly 6.5 Creedmoor, 147 ELDm delivered via my trusty Kimber Montana that I bought during the ammo shortage since WSM brass didn't exist. I had "upgraded" from a previous 6.5 CM to a 270 WSM for more speed...and low and behold my longest shot comes with another 6.5

This season I carried a .25-06 most of the season, flinging 110 ELDXs at 3200 fps. 7 pounds all up makes a handy do-all rig here in NW MT where shots can obviously be very far and very close. Never saw a buck worthy of trigger time unfortunately

 

[robby denning]

In the past 5 years I've killed 7 muley bucks between 11 and 525 yards, avg of 225 yds. Ironically, the first 2 deer I killed after picking up my first "long range" rifle were at 11 and 22 yards, including calling the 11 yard buck in tight with a Primos "The Can". 140 grain bergers are somewhat messy at close to 3300 fps FYI

After those two flukes, shot my two biggest bucks back to back at 262 and 161 yards, same rifle.

Then 425 in '22 and 525 in '23. All but 2 were with the same 270 WSM. The longest shot was with a lowly 6.5 Creedmoor, 147 ELDm delivered via my trusty Kimber Montana that I bought during the ammo shortage since WSM brass didn't exist. I had "upgraded" from a previous 6.5 CM to a 270 WSM for more speed...and low and behold my longest shot comes with another 6.5

This season I carried a .25-06 most of the season, flinging 110 ELDXs at 3200 fps. 7 pounds all up makes a handy do-all rig here in NW MT where shots can obviously be very far and very close. Never saw a buck worthy of trigger time unfortunately

this is a good "case study."

LR rifle hunters used to botch those close shots (not dialed back to zero) but coming less common.

Fellow 270WSM fan here.

 

[HONEYBADGER]

Yeah, Hornady 143 ELD-X. Great accuracy.

My 300 win mag Tikka shot well with the Barnes 165 TTSX and that bullet crushed mule deer.

I’m going to try the Barnes TTSX on the 6.5 PRC again. That was the first box I shot through the gun but felt the Hornadys had better groups so I went with that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Someone did an experiment awhile back testing copper bullets for accuracy, YouTube or Instagram, I can't remember which but Barnes scored really well. Boutique brands like Cutting Edge Copper and McGuires also did well. I have had success with the 127grn LRX, shoots good kills like all other Barnes. The 125grn Lazer from Cutting Edge has also performed well.

 

[Moosehunter]

Well under 100 yards me.
I think it's roughly 70 yard average for me.
I hunt tight timber only and love it.
3 bucks over 5 years I think