I am new to this forum, but been an active deer hunter since 1971. Several good rifles have passed through my rifle rack but my favorite is a Mossberg 30-30. It always does the job for me. A few years back, I hunted within the vast Black Hills Nat'l Forest of western South Dakota for mulies. My friends urged me to buy a .270 but I brought my 30-30 instead. I downed a big buck after a long stalk in rough country. I will post a photo when I locate it. -TR
Pennsylvania hunter
- Thread starter T.R.
- Start date
Welcome to the forum! I always wanted to hunt the Black Hills region...have been there many times but only as a sightseer...
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I hunted in PA when I was growing up. My first gun was an H&R single shot with interchangeable 20 gauge and 30-30 barrels. The 30-30 was plenty of gun for the big woods of PA that I hunted in when young. I eventually moved to a .30-06 when I graduated from college for hunting more open farm land. A few years ago, I got a TC Encore in .300 Win Mag in case I hunt larger game after I retire. I've been using it for deer here in VA, but it is more gun than I need for 98% of my shots.
This is the photo from my hunt within the Black Hills Nat'l Forest. I spotted this buck from several hundred yards away with my binoculars and planned a stalk. As most of you know, not all stalks turn out as planned. But this one did and I closed the distance to about 125 yards or so. At the shot, this big bodied muley bounded away but toppled after just a few jumps. My 170 grain Power Point bullet did its job. 30-30 is a keeper! TR
