Your first deer rifle?

[F51 LRS]

My first is still the one I use - 1977 Marlin 336 in 30-30. Been more than sufficient in my Appalachia woods.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

A Marlin 30-30 lever action got me my first mule deer here in Nevada.

 

[Johnnybobcat]

mine was a husqvarna .243

 

[riversidejeep]

Winchester 94 , 30 WCF. I hope my nephew still has it and has taken care of it.

 

[igethangry]

My dad bought me a Ruger American Standard in .30-06 10+ years ago when I was getting started. I don't come from a hunting family and we just went off the recommendation of the clerk at the Bass Pro. Knowing what I know now that would NOT be the cartridge/rifle combo I would choose for a new hunter LOL. I have never really enjoyed shooting that rifle and it just sits in the safe now. I've thought about selling it, but can't bring myself to do so. Thought about getting a B&C stock for it, but struggle to justify the purchase now that I have other hunting guns.

 

[OlderGobbler]

Remington Model Seven in .243

 

[JRay]

Single shot 243 with a redfield scope that holds a solid 5” group at 100yds LOL. I still managed to kill my first doe with it.

 

[Dogone]

Shot my first deer with a win 94 in 25-20 cal. Was one of many rifles around farm left by a deceased uncle. I didn’t know what a patheticly weak calibre it was. But it was legal at the time. Any cf over .22 cal was good to go. 55 years later most cf .22 are legal but the 25-20 is specifically not legal.

 

[Amos Keeto]

First rifle I killed a deer with was my grampa's Marl8n 336RC .30-30 Win.
The "first" rifle I bought (traded for) was a Parker Hale .270 Win. Swapped even up for a Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Mag.
Swapped the PH later for a brand new PH in .270 Win. That was 1977-78(?). It's in the safe with a 3-9×40 Leupold.

 

[monsterbucks]

Savage 110 .270

 

[Jon C]

H&R single shot youth model 20 gauge. Shot a doe and next year was a 35 Remington pump

 

[Rich M]

Remington 742 in 30-06 that I bought when I was 11. Shot at 98 deer and ate 97 of them.

My success w 740 & 742 was exactly opposite. Got exactly 1 deer w that rifle. Missed a multitude.

 

[KenLee]

My success w 740 & 742 was exactly opposite. Got exactly 1 deer w that rifle. Missed a multitude.

I talked to an old gunsmith before I bought it. He said "you either get a good one or a bad one. If it's bad, don't bring it for me to work on." After a few years, I told him I had a good one

 

[SouthernHunting85]

Model 70 243, dad knew what he was doing that thing killed a lot of deer

 

[b.murph308]

I had a New England Firearms single shot 30-06. Felt like it was 40 lbs to my 11 year old self and it kicked like a mule. Hunted with it for about 5 years.

 

[Flben]

ruger mini 14 with a red rag taped to the stock for a cheek riser.. then a browning a bolt in 30-06 for my 12th birthday in 1992. Still got the a bolt and carried it all over Kodiak in the early 2000s

 

[corey.keen]

First, and the rifle I use most often, is still one of the cleanest Remington 742 in 30-06 that I've seen. A gunsmith did an excellent job turning it into a carbine, glass bed the stock, and bead blast the finish to a matte. It shoots about as good as a semi-auto rifle can shoot and looks the part. It's done it's part on many a whitetail, and it's not going anywhere.

 

[BPT0586]

Shot my first deer with a borrowed Marlin 30-30. The next year dad got me a 700 stainless/syn DM in 7mm-08 that I proceeded to stack deer up like cordwood with for the next 15 years. Still got it, but I use other rifles mostly. Just because I became a rifle nut.

 

[Boarmaster]

If I was getting my first deer rifle in 2025 instead of 1985 I believe I would have ended up with a much different rifle. In 1985 there were not as many inexpensive bolt rifles that performed well as in 2025.
The used market was limited to your local gun shop or someone you knew. No internet back then. Information was hunting mags or your pappy. For me my choice was limited due to finances or lack of them. Most guys I knew started with a 30/30 lever gun or a single shot Like a New England if they didnt get one handed down. Because those worked pretty good and were inexpensive. And even then the hand me down was likely to be a lever 30/30 unscoped rifle. So much more info and choices these days.

 

[Ringbill27]

Agree with you. My first rifle was a handed down Winchester 30/30 which in my deer woods works great. But today the levergun, pumps and semis (other than ARs) seem to be fading away.

The local gun shops have bolt guns with a lever or two.

The days of the one rifle for everything seem to be behind us, since the budget guns are cheap and out shoot the high end models of yesteryear.