With the firearms season on deer rapidly approaching, some of you may be scurrying at the last minute trying to find a new deer rifle for yourself or family member.
Well the sad news is that you are kind of late, that all should have been done months ago so you or that someone else could have a chance to shoot, practice and familiarize themselves with that new deer weapon.
I was at a wedding last weekend and a guy asked me to help him find a .410 shotgun for his son. My reply was, sure, but I don’t recommend that little .410. I went on very gently, that sure, a lot of deer have been harvested with a .410 slug, but it’s a very short-range proposition and most are smoothbores (not rifled) and the accuracy in these types of guns is very inconsistent.
Because I think that the last thing anyone should do is discourage and handicap a new hunter by setting them up with less than adequate power and less than ample equipment, I also explained that there are much better choices and options available that more than likely his son could handle.
I’ve seen the sad scenario of youngsters wounding deer with inaccurate “pop-guns” and it’s not a good ending for the deer or the new young hunter.
A good set-up for a short dollar is the Handi-Rifle manufactured by New England Firearms Company. The company make youth models that are shorter in stock and barrel sizes and full size modes with full length stocks and barrels.
Cartridges I would recommend in the Handi-Rifle are the .243 Winchester, 30-30 Winchester, the .44 Remington Magnum and the 7mm-08 Remington. Any of these cartridges won’t kill the tender shoulders of young hunters and when a deer steps out at 80 yards, they have ample power to drop that deer in his tracks.
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