What is your favorite tree stand rifle?

[allstajacket]

I hunt Michigan whitetail from a tree stand on state land. Longest possible shot from my usual spot is under 200 yards, and most shots are between 15 and 80 yards.

I currently mainly use my model 70 EWMB in .308, with a SiCo Harvester Evo.

The 22” barrel plus can is manageable, but I also wonder if something shorter would be nicer.

This year I added a Browning Xbolt 2 speed in 7PRC with a 20” barrel, but honestly the 2” difference really isn’t all that noticeable. I know 7prc is a bit overkill for my use, but I also wanted something in the arsenal for other future hunts out west.

A good friend uses an old Ruger 77 “carbine” in 30-06 with an 18” barrel (I think?) and that thing just feels amazing and seems like it would handle amazingly well in a tree stand.

This has got me thinking of all the different possible ways a gun could be “better”for tree stand use. So, what do you use?


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[wind gypsy]

Usually 18” 6 creed tikka, similar circumstances to what you said. Might start with a 14.5” AR though. Main concern there would be noise loading/unloading.

 

[RWT]

Chop that barrel on the 308 to 16”. You will be much happier hunting with it. You should have good terminal ballistics for any bullet weight to at least 400 yards.

If I wanted a new gun I would look at 6.5 Grendel or 6 ARC with a 16” barrel for you use case. No recoil and more than enough speed to 300 yards.

 

[CMF]

For hunting MS, mine is an H&R 45-70 single-shot with a short barrel. It's good for our primitive season too.
I don't have to look for deer. The furthest I've shot it is about 200yd, but all of the other 15 or so deer I've shot were under 100yd. I want to put a suppressor on it.

 

[Snowwolfe]

When we lived in TN my favorite was a Mossberg 30-30 lever action with a 16 inch barrel. It killed my biggest personal best whitetail, one shot. Hard to argue with what worked for the last 100+ years.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I have a tikka 16” 308 with an AB raptor 8. I don’t get to use it much but love it, super handy and would be perfect for tree stand/still hunting thick timber.