Hunting Rifles - Need a new one

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Shadowrider

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That may be true, but the SW Okahoma elk just do not grow as large as Rocky Mountain elk. In 20 years of hunting down there I have never seen one dressed over 550 pounds and that was rare. I have seen them in Colorado where they only get the high meadows grass above say 8,000 feet and they dress well over 700 pounds. Just don't think they have the genetics SW Oklahoma. I have seen huge racks come off the refuge and the deer may only weigh 135 pounds. I also hunt far NW Oklahoma and those same racks would be on 200 pound deer. And Ft Sill actually does plant all types of farm crops, in fact they have farmers who actually lease the land and plant crops, so the elk do get supplements. If you drive down I 44, just past Hwy 49, on the north edge of Fort Sill you can often see elk grazing there. I think it is planted in alfalfa now, so it may be genetics as much as food source. FWIW

IMO it's probably some of both. If you look at most species the farther north and the colder the climate you get, the heavier the animal. Look at deer in Mexico, they're tiny compared to the northern U.S. I saw a 220lb pound doe checked in Indiana, that was field dressed. It was considered a nice doe, no doubt, but not breathtaking to the locals. I saw a fawn from that spring that would probably go 90lbs live, it looked like a little cow that one! Granted we were hunting farmed land, very predominately corn, but down here or in Texas you just don't see that happen.
 

LBnM

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I agree that for deer caliber matters little. But for elk I highly disagree. .257 always was a favorite deer cartridge of mine, but it was .257 Roberts or for long range shooting .25-06. I killed a rather large bull elk with the .257 Roberts but passed many shots until I got the perfect head shot at about 45 yards. I would not hunt elk with it or the .25-06 again. There is a reason .257s are not legal many places for elk. Caliber does matter for them. The biggest problems I saw in a couple of decades hunting elk is that too many people with big magnum blasters didn't shoot them well. And frankly, that was more common as you got into the larger calibers because of the blast and recoil. Based on my experiences I would never recommend any caliber less than 7mm. Does not have to be a magnum unless your style of hunting is to sit on one hillside and snipe them off on another. A good clean shot, at whatever range you opt to shoot and a large enough and properly constructed bullet is what's important. The elk is such a majestic animal it deserves no less than a quick and efficient dispatch. All my kills have been on bulls but if I were to hunt them again it would be for meat (love elk meat.) I would probably opt to a fairly young cow or spike, if legal.

Enjoy your BLR. My choice for an all around deer cartridge in Oklahoma and occasionally an elk would have been the 7mm-08 because it balances out the rifle so well but my choice isn't for anyone but me (by the time you are a geezer you are pretty opinionated - lol.)
 

slas

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Late to chime in but...I've hunted with my Tikka CTR 308 the last several years and have loved it and been successful in taking deer out to 250 yards without issue. I've since traded the 308 caliber in for a Tikka Forest 260 and really love that rifle and caliber, after several upgrades of course. I'm sure I could have used it for my elk hunt last year but to be safe I did buy a 300 win mag. I prefer the 260 to the 308 personally, but I also reload so that helps with the 260. Great ballistics and low recoil.
 

GUN DOG

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They are a modern high pressure lever rifle that has a rotating bolt head. I have an older all steal receiver with the straight stock

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
 

criticalbass

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.270! Flat shooting, plenty of knock down, and readily available. Manufacturer depends on what you're wanting to spend.
Alright my fellow OSA folks, I am in need of a new hunting rifle. I have a Remington 700 in .308 and a Winchester 94 in 30-30. Black rifles in 5.56/7.62x39 and .300BLK. Looking to hunt anything in Oklahoma from Yotes to Elk, on my farm as well as Fort Sill. I am open to all information on calibers and brands. Help a fella out will ya. What would you buy if you wanted a new hunting rig?


You'll get all sorts of recommendations. If you are interested in a nice 7mm mag commercial Mauser I have one I'd like to sell. Spanish made, nice wood, good scope, and oddly, not a big kicker like most 7 mags. PM me if you are interested. Also have reloading dies and some components.
 

DarwinWasRight

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Alright my fellow OSA folks, I am in need of a new hunting rifle. I have a Remington 700 in .308 and a Winchester 94 in 30-30. Black rifles in 5.56/7.62x39 and .300BLK. Looking to hunt anything in Oklahoma from Yotes to Elk, on my farm as well as Fort Sill. I am open to all information on calibers and brands. Help a fella out will ya. What would you buy if you wanted a new hunting rig?
Late to the game - but since you said you want, or are thinking about a NEW rifle...
First I think what you already have will handle anything you'll find in Oklahoma. The .308 for larger animals, that 5.56 for varmint out to around 300 yards.
Disclaimer: I'm not a hunter, if I need meat I head to the butcher shop, but a few times while out in the boonies shooting I have stumbled across the odd wild hog or two. Which is a PITA after the shot, 'cause then I have to deal with the carcass.

But for new, I'd vote for a 6.5 Creedmoor chambered rifle. For hunting I think about things like weight and repeatable cold bore shots. I have a Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker. Until recently I had a Leupold 4.5-14x50 VX-3L mounted on it - but thought I'd try out the Burris Eliminator III that I hear good things about, but haven't hunted with yet. With either scope it's light enough to haul around through the brush and on up the hill. With Prime 130 grain loads (most consistently loaded I've tried) it consistently puts the cold bore shot less than 1 inch from point of aim at 100 yards and can consistently shoot 5-shot groups sub-MOA with almost boring ease out to 500 yards. The bullet in the Prime load is a hunting round of match quality: it's basically a Norma open tip boat tail with same specs as their Diamond Line. Hornady makes several 6.5 Creedmoor loads, from a 129 grain "American Whitetail" up to their new 143 grain ELD-X (Precision Hunter) that's match grade and designed to expand properly across a wide distance range.

When you compare a 6.5 Creedmoor to a .308 you'll find that the 6.5 shoots flatter and has less wind drift at all distances, and at longer ranges is definitely retains more energy. The Prime 130 grain should easily take deer out to over 700 yards. The Hornady 143 ELD-X will take game up to 1,500 pounds according to Hornady.

Some will still ask "is a 6.5 big enough?" and I'd just say they've been using 6.5 for years in Europe and "back in the day" W.D.M. Bell took literally hundreds of elephants (yes, elephants) with a Mannlicher-Schoenauer in 6.5x54mm. As for using it as a varmint rifle, I found a few sources for a 103 grain Precision Hunter load from Hornady, but can't actually find it on the Hornady site. I think the Prime 130 grain load provides me with the best balance of cold bore shot consistent accuracy and power - and while a little overkill for groundhogs and prairie dogs, would be great for coyotes and wild hogs - and deer.
 

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