# Your first Big Game Weapon



## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

We were all novices at one time. Seems like that is common ground, no matter what type of hunter you are. I have 12 year old who will be going on his first big game (deer, elk, antelope) hunts this fall. He will be packing either a Rem Mtn Rifle in 257 Roberts or a Win FWT in 257 Roberts topped with Leupold scopes. I think I might be spoiling the kid, so I thought it would be interesting to hear what your first big game rifle or ML or Bow was and if you were successful with it. I'll start--

My first rifle was a Savage over-under. It had a 222 Rem on top and a 20 Ga on the bottom. It wore (still has) a 4x Realist scope. I killed the only 2 deer I ever shot at with that little gun.


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

Great post. I saved and saved my lawn mowing money to buy a 30-30 winchester model 1894. Once I finally had the money I had my dad take me down to K-mart and we picked it up. I shot my first 2 point using open sights. I will never put a scope on that gun. It will always serve as a good back up gun.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

My first buck was a spike at age 16 and I used my Grandpas 30-30 Winchester(open sights) w/ a 180 gr. bullet. It was only about 50 yards away and I missed it 4 out of 5 shots. It fell over dead while I was trying to get more bullets into the gun. The first rifle I bought was when I was 19 and it was a Savage left handed bolt 30-06, which kicks like a mule. It came with a 4x scope but I changed it out for a Leupold 3x9, which I now have mounted on my Weatherby 7mm mag. 25 years later. My first shotgun was a 16 gauge single shot with the stock cut off short. Those single shots will make you a good shot in a hurry.


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2011)

i was also spoiled as a youth with my first big game rifle. i shot my first deer using a .30-378 wetherby with a 6.5-20x Leupold scope on it. might have seemed a little big for a "kid" but i felt cool packin that big fancy rifle around for everyone to see and dad isnt a big believer in using smaller rifles to shoot at animals you wanted to kill. to this day i still hunt with it and love that gun! sure glad dad was willing to part with it cuz from the day i started using it, i never planned on giving it back


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks exciting about your boys first year.. I hope he gets one.

I bought my first rifle when I was 15 yrs old. Bought it with my own hard earned money that I made working during the summer and after school. It's a Winchester Model 70 30-06 and I still have it to this day. My first deer with this gun was a one shot kill at around 250 yards. One my my favorite guns.


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

Winchester Model 70 .243 Winchester topped with a 6x Weaver scope...killed a doe on the King Ranch when I was 12 years old...I can play that situation over in my head still...one of the happiest days in my life. My dad had me go thru the entire North American Whitetail magazine and show him where I was supposed to hold the crosshairs on any given deer photo. I wasn't spoiled with nice guns, but I was definitely spoiled with hunting opportunities being the son of a Texas State Game Warden.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

First big game weapon.......I never gave it much thought, but it would have to be a bow because archery was open before firearm.

First weapon for big game - 45# Shakespeare Necedah recurve.

First firearm on big game - 12 ga. shotgun with deer slugs

Illinois - 1964


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

I was not spoiled. The first big game rifle I hunted with was a sporterized Remington Springfield 03/30-06 that my grandpa picked up somewhere along the line. My dad hunted with it for many years until I started lugging it around. It seemed like it had about a 36 in barrel and weighed over 10 pounds. Sometimes I think that my perception of it was skewed in the mind and body of a skrawny 16 year old kid, but then I look at it today and it is confirmed.....that old gun is a beast to handle. It had open sights with a rear peep. I shot my first buck with that thing and it still holds a lot of sentimental value to me.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I shot my first two bucks with an old, open-sights Winchester 30-30 that I had borrowed from my grandpa. I didn't get my first rifle until my third hunting season. By then I'd wanted one for so long and so much that I think my dad knew I'd take good care of it and appreciate the gun like I should.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks for the memories. Fun thinking back all those years. First deer was with my fathers Pre-64 Winchester Mod 70 in .243. My first deer with my own was with a Remington Mod 788 w/ 18.5.in. barrel. First Shotgun was a Win. single shot .410. I was 8 when he bought me the .410. I turned 12 and I got a Remington Sportsmans Mod 48 in 12 guage.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> First big game weapon.......I never gave it much thought, but it would have to be a bow because archery was open before firearm.
> 
> First weapon for big game - 45# Shakespeare Necedah recurve.
> 
> ...


No it was 1965. 1964 I went with my dad but wasn't old enough to have a deer tag (had to be 14). My dad shot a Herter's recurve bow; top of the line back then.

And the bow may have been a Tioga. I had 3 Shakespeares: Necedah, Tioga, and a Kiabab.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

A Weatherby Vanguard in 30-06. One of the old shiny ones with nice wood and a stock like the Mark V. Dad paid half after I earned my half as a summer hire at a small military installation in Germany. Bought it at the Rod and Gun Club at Rhein-Main Airbase in 1976. I still have the recovered bullet from that first little buck at Vernon when we got home in ’77.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

I killed my first three deer with my dads pre 64 winchester mod 70 in a .257 Robberts. Only had a little 4X scope on it, but it didn't matter much. Everything I killed was within 100 yards. For my high school graduation I got an Interarms 30-06 Put a nice Burris scope on it, worked up a load that shoots five shots in a dime at 100 yards, loaded three hundred shells, and that's about where it sits to this day. Being as I've only busted three caps on big game animals with that gun in the past 25 years...

First shotgun was an old Sears & Roebuck JC Higgins 20 Ga. Bolt Action. Smoked a lot of ducks and pheasants with that old gun.

Bought my first bow when I was 9, a 45# Shakespeare Wonder Bow. Sill own it... Saved up my pop can money for the whole summer and paid $29 American for it a JC Pennys. With the leftover money I bought seven new wood arrows to go with it. I was set! Brought it home, strung it up, and shot every arrow I'd bought into a straw butt we had in the back yard. After I fired the last arrow, the butt tipped forward and broke every single arrow. DAMMIT!!! 

:evil: :x :-| -O,- **O** O|* _/O  

I had to save for three more months to buy more arrows.

Good thread, good memories...


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

I got my first deer, a doe on the archery hunt, while road hunting in monroe. The bow was a pse polaris that I got for christmas the year before. Still have it. Years later I got my first buck with a cheap little traditions black powder gun. A sidelock percussion gun with a synthetic stock. A year later I picked the old polaris up, put on a new style sight and some carbon arrows and killed my first elk, a cow that was part of a large herd that I had snuck up on. I have only shot two big game animals with a rifle. A doe and a cow. The gun is one of my greatest treasures due to sentimental value. My grandfather gave me the gun for graduation. I carried it around on deer and rabbit hunts in the west desert of box elder for most of my teenage years. Its a sako vixen and I still use it today.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

My first and only big game weapon was my dad's Winchester 30-06 (not sure what model, but probably early 1980's). I shot my only big game animal to date, a cow elk, at 250 yards with it a few years ago. The two of us had to haul that whole elk back to the truck 3 miles away. I've never been so sore in my life as i was that next day.


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## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

My first big game weapon was a Bingham archery bow that I carved out in 9th grade wood shop. praticed all summer shooting it but never killed anything with it. Came back from hunting late one night and left it in my truck...some sob stole it.
First big game rifle was a winchester model 70 lefty in 270 ,love that gun.


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

Great post my first gun was and is a custom made 30.06 which at first had a no name brand 4X scope since then I have up graded to a 6X Bushnell I have shot somewhere around 30 deer-20 elk and a cow moose and I am still using it after all these years. 8)


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## huntnbum (Nov 8, 2007)

fivexfive said:


> My first big game weapon was a Bingham archery bow that *I carved out in 9th grade wood shop*. praticed all summer shooting it but never killed anything with it. Came back from hunting late one night and left it in my truck...some sob stole it.
> First big game rifle was a winchester model 70 lefty in 270 ,love that gun.


I made two back in 9 grade at Sandridge Jr. high, I still have one and my brother has the other. what memories


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

My first rifle was a hand-me-down early model Marlin 336 in 30-30 from my Great Grandfather. The first one I bought was a Remington 721 30-06. Wish I had that one back, sometimes we do dumb things in our youth, thought I needed something fancier. Still have the 30-30 though and the horns on the first forkie that I killed back in 1990. Oh well, great memories.--------SS


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

My first was a 1964 Browning BAR in 7mag. Shot my first elk with it, a spike, from about 30 yards away. My dad bought it when he was about 20 and let me use it until I bought it when I was 18. It is a heavy mother and does not eject well, so it is only a single shot essentially. Has a lot of sentimental value. it had a 3x Redfield that I replaced with Nikon 3x9.


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## rdoggsilva (Apr 6, 2011)

My first big game weapon was a 1957 Savage M99 in 308 Win. Got tired of borrowing my granddads 300 Savage M99. I still have both and still hunt with them.


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## mack1950 (Sep 11, 2007)

winchester pre-64 model 70 that my older brother gave me for my 16 th b day still have it and its still killing things for me everything from buck deer to my buffalo sure i got others but its my favorate.


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## Huntoholic (Sep 17, 2008)

Great topic....

Winchester 670 in a 30.06. Dad traded for it before we left Guam. Put a Redfield 2x7 on it after we got to Utah. Have lost track of all the rounds that have been fired through this gun, but it still shoots MOA. if I don't have to many coke's before I go.

H&R Topper, 16ga, single shot. Navy buddy of my Dad sold it to him for a dollar, because he knew how much I loved that gun. Didn't have enough strength at first to pull the hammer back with one thumb. Had to put it between my legs and use both thumbs, while the rabbits would run. I think they did it on purpose just to watch me struggle.

45# recurve. Not even sure any more the make. Ceder shaft arrows with M3 broad heads. My uncle was an Ass. Store manager at Skaggs and sold us two cheap, because they were getting out of sporting goods.

EDIT:
Almost forgot:
.45 Cal Kentucky Rifle. Bought as a kit and put together myself. Sitting the butt on the ground the barrel hits me in the armpit. 

And I still have and cherish them all.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

My first deer was in Vernon using a borrowed old Winchester 25-35 with a saddle ring. Kind of a neat old gun. Never shot it before but got a two-point with my first shot. 

Then....a Ithaca 16 gauge single and a .22 Colt Peacemaker from Duce on State Street when I was 14 years old. My sister had to purchase them for me with my hay hauling money. 

The first week Dougs went in business I bought a Browning Single Shot, 25-06....which got me a couple of elk and a few deer. I'm kind of partial to those Brownings.


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## telston78 (Dec 5, 2009)

My dad left me a Browning 30-06 single shot. Its almost to nice to use but I take it out every year. I've taken 3 elk with it so far with one bullet a peice. Bet I hunt elk with this gun forever.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

First deers...borrowed dad's Win 94 in 30-30

First gun I bought from the Western Auto Store in So. Ogden was a Savage 99 in .308 win. Great gun. Killed my first elk and many-a-deers with it. ****, why'd I go and sell that gun??

I've killed deers and elks with: .308 win, 30-30, 32-40, 38-55, 45-70, 45-90, 44-40, 30-06, .270, .257 rob, 257.rob improved, 243 win, 6mm rem, 444 marlin, 25-35, 223, 50 and 54 cal BP....not necessarily in that order. 

Favorite rifles: Rem 700 in 6mm and Marlin 1893 Saddle Ring Carbine (vintage) in 38-55, both guns were called "Mr Meat"...


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

When I was 14, I didn't have my own rifle yet, and neither did my brother. So dad let us borrow his open sights 30-30 and his .270 win. We would take turns each day using the other gun. I shot my first big game animal with that .270 - an Antelope in Wyoming area 89, then a few weeks later - a 3 point buck, and a few weeks later we were elk hunting, and I had the 30-30. We found a herd of elk and I wanted to shoot one, but they were a ways off, so dad handed me his 300 win mag. He thought it might be a bit too much of a gun for my small framed 14 year old self, but it worked and I killed my first elk - a calf bull.

That christmas Dad suprised us with Ruger M77 Mark II .270's. I have used it ever since. I don't think I've killed anything with a rifle since 2006 though.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Somehow I pictured Wyogoob  and Al hansen's first weapons as being an atlatl. :mrgreen:

My first was an old 03A3 30.06 with peep sights. I shot my first deer, a doe, down on Abaho Peak at the age of 14. My dad gave me that gun on that trip and I had it up until my ex wife stole it and three other guns.
When my dad got cancer, we went on one last hunting trip up in the Wellsvilles. He shot a buck opening morning and as we sat there talking, he said "we both know this is my last hunting trip so I'm giving you this gun to give to your son". So when my son killed his first biggame animal, a Wyoming bear, I gave the gun, (a custom Mauser) to him.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

1st weapon I hunted big game with--a .50 cal muzzleloader I borrow from a friend (missed a buck). 
1st weapon I bought for myself--PSE Stratoflight and Gamegetter II's (missed a big, tall 3x3 twice)
1st weapon I harvested a big game animal with--Winchester Model 70, 7mm Mag (a cow elk)

And no, Packout, I don't think you're spoiling your kid.


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## Igottabigone (Oct 4, 2007)

Remington 7mm BDL with Leupold 3x9. Having good equipment in hunting, fishing, sports, etc. makes for better memories.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

Nice stories there. Memories of the good and bad is what makes life for me. The better ones make it the best, but only if I had the bad to compare to....

Just to clarify, I am not going to give my son the gun just yet. He'll have to earn it. I just think that he is spoiled to carry such a gun afield when I was stuck with a heavy rifle/shotgun combo that had no sling. haha

A Rem Mtn Rifle in 280 is the first gun I purchased (when I was 16). It has killed lots of animals and is still a pleasure to shoot.


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

First deer was when I turned 16. Grandpa handed me down his Winchester lever action .308 with a POS weaver scope on top. I would have been better off with open sights...lol. I was so nervous on that first deer I punched 5 holes in him, poor guy. Still have the antlers and the rifle. Love that old .308.


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## MuleyCrazy (Jun 6, 2010)

My first big game weapon was a .270 Remington, great shootin gun. My dad sold it, wasn't really happy at first, but ended up getting me a 7mm Remington that we ended up actually sharing for a year. Still have that gun.


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## tapehoser (Sep 10, 2007)

Had to give this baby up for adoption shortly after the purchase. Never do THAT again.










Ruger M77 MKII chambered for .300 WSM and a Nikon Buckmaster. Makes me sad to think about.


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

My first bow was given to me by my grandpa. It was his bow. Early in the spring of my 16th year, we were out to my grandparents house for Sunday dinner. After dinner, my grandpa came upstairs carrying his then relatively new compound bow. It was a Ben Pearson 50-60 compound bow. He told me that if I that if I were going to be able to hunt deer in the fall for the first time, I would need a bow. I loved that thing. I spent all spring and summer shooting it, dreaming of chasing deer in the coming months.

Opening morning finally came. I found myself in an old burn that was just starting to regrow quakies. I snuck into the middle of a bunch of small bucks. Buck fever set in....in a big way. I started flock shooting. I shot every arrow in my quiver. The only thing I hit were tree stumps. Meanwhile the bucks slowly walked away. When my dad found me, I was trying to dig arrows out of dead trees. We spent the better part of the morning looking for arrows and digging them out of trees.

When my grandpa gave me the bow, he told me the day would come when I would want something bigger and better. I promised him I would always hold onto that bow and treasure it always. I still have that old Ben Pearson hanging downstairs. Even though I will never use it again on a big game animal, I will never part with it.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

My first rifle was custom-built by my dad. A WWII Arisaka re-barreled in 30-06. Beautiful Bishop stock.

It was stolen years ago, 1975 or so.


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## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

My first gun I bought was a Savage pump 12 gauge when I was 12.

Next up at 15 I bought a Savage 110 in 30-06. Probably way more gun then I could handle, and I shot it poorly. I did kill 2 does with it.

At 18 my eyes were opend to the world of archery. Sold the '06 to buy the bow and have not bought a rifle deer tag since '93.

This year will be my son's first year of hunting and I was going to let hi use the .243 or .270 until he can get his own gun. Well back in April, the lucky little turd won a Remington 700 stainless barrel, in 7mm-08. He paid for the new Redfield scope (at least that's what we told him), so hopefully this year he'll get his first animal with his new rifle.

He also won his first bow (PSE Chaos) 3 years ago, so he might just get his first deer with that. I just wish his luck would bring us a LE elk tag!!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

My first big game rifle was a 1935 Savage Super Sporter .30-06 that a uncle gave to me when I was 5 years old back in the 50's, I even shot it that same year but I doubt that I even hit the target or if it even knocked me out. He gave that rifle away to so many of my relatives for bailing him out of jail that it was ridiculous. They would all come around to the house and ask my dad about the rifle and he would tell them that it was mine and that they would have to talk to me about it. I never heard the stories about that until I was in my teens. 50+ years later I still have it and will never sell it, but it will go to one of my nephews when I decided to get rid of it.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

My first was given to me by my grandfather. He handed down a Enfield 03 30-06 with open sights that was still in the milatary configuration. I still have it but now the grandsons are using it.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

tapehoser said:


> Had to give this baby up for adoption shortly after the purchase. Never do THAT again.
> Ruger M77 MKII chambered for .300 WSM and a Nikon Buckmaster. Makes me sad to think about.


I had a similar experience in selling my first shotgun to upgrade and I have seriously regretted it since. I should have waited to save it all and kept that :evil:


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## ddhunter (Jul 17, 2011)

I started with a savage 1899 22 high power. Best gun I could have asked for. I still use it when I go back to WI and my 2 year old daughter will use it when she can.


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## 300 Wby (Aug 14, 2008)

1st big game weapon- pre 64 model 70 featherweight 308 Winchester, used that gun for everything until 94 when I switched to Weatherby. 1st shotgun a single shot, Winchester model 37A Youth 20 gauge. Still have both guns, hope to pass them on someday.


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## huntinkid (Aug 19, 2009)

Browning Micro midas 2 bought off of ebay for 100 bucks... shot 212 fps and loud as heck hit a 3x4 right in the heart and the arrow didnt even get half way through waited an hour and it was dead as a door nail awesome...got me hooked on bow hunting for life.


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## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

Winchester mod. 94 30-30 that my Dad bought in 1945. Still have it. Notice how many posts mention the Winchester lever action 30-30. With all the advances in modern firearms, I wonder how many deer have been killed with that gun?


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## WasatchOutdoors (Sep 26, 2007)

My first big game weapon was an old winchester lever action 30-30 that was much older than I was, loaned to me by my grandfather. He was the whole reason I ever started hunting. I was given that gun shortly before the big guy passed on, and it's the one that my moose tag will be filled with some day. 

The first weapon I was succesful with - a 12 guage winchester model 1200 with slugs on a doe tag.

First buck - an old browning compound bow, that totally tweaked to it's limits chrono'd at a whopping 202 fps. I took that buck at 12 yards. It was a little 3 point, but to this day that's still my favorite big game hunt, right behind the first goose hunt with my grandfather for best hunt of all time.


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## ram2h2o (Sep 11, 2007)

My first whitetail weapon was a 12 Ga. L.C. Smith double that was my grandfathers. Shot my first Whitetail buck with it hunting in the Homochitto swamp in Wilkinson county Mississippi in 1957 when I was 11 years old. Still have that shotgun.


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## loneelkhunter (May 19, 2011)

When I was 14, I borrowed two rifles, a Browning A-bolt 7mm Mag. and my grandpas funky old 30-40 Krag. I missed a 2-point point-blank with the 7mm as I couldn't find him in the sccope turned up to 9 power.

When I was 15, I used my newspaper money to buy a sporterized Enfield 30-06, date 1945 stamped on the barrel. I got it for $99 from Smith & Edwards during their gun sale/auction. Then I spent $180 on a Simmons 44 Mag 3-10 power scope. Fifteen years later, it's still the only big-game rifle I own. It's killed several deer and 2 bull elk.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

First big game weapon was an old carrols compound bow. Never took anything with it though. I then got a Ruger M77 243. I have taken a few deer with it. 
My first weapon was a 20lbs fred bear compound bow.


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

Here is my first....a 30-30 Marlin.


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## kailey29us (May 26, 2011)

My first for big game was a 30-30, when I was 16 years old my dad was talking about how he always wanted a lever action .308. I found one and traded straight across and gave it to my dad. My dad promised me the .308 when he passes. It's a pretty cool old gun Savage I think. I borrowed it 3 years ago and took a nice 3 pt deer with it.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

I trapped muskrats and saved my money for several seasons to be able to purchase my brothers Marlin .35 Rem saddle gun. That rifle killed my first two point that year with one shot. Several deer have gone in the freezer with that rifle.
My first shotgun was also purchased from the same brother, Mossburg 20 ga., bolt action. I later sold the shotgun to one of my nephews, who later (3 years) sold it to someone he worked with. It took me two years to trace that gun down and re-purchase it for $75 (3 times what I originally bought it for).
I still have both weapons and I love shooting them. They pretty much just stay in the gun safe and maybe my grandchildren will use them.


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## SteepNDeep (Sep 11, 2007)

My grandpa's lever action .30-30 brought down my first monster up South Fork of Provo Canyon. Was up in Water Hollow on the far east side climbing up with my dad. We saw a few doe, and I told him one was a buck. He didn't think so, which tells you how big my monster was. As we climbed it became clear it was a 2 point, and we managed to get a broadside shot at somewhere around 175 yards or so. I aimed for the neck, looked through the iron, and fired. I saw something, thought I had hit it, and he ran a ways from us. We looked and it seemed as if a flap of skin was hanging from his neck. Shot again a few times and missed. Finally, dad raised his .270 and dropped him at 250 or 300 yards.

good news was I had definitely killed that buck with my poor choice of shot and lucky connection. Bad news was, I had blown right through his jaw, right where it might hinge. The skin flap we thought we saw was jaw dangling around. My mom was never a fan of hunting, so my dad told me we had to make it look presentable in an attempt to help ease her into the fact that we had connected. So, he cut the jaw off and we would look at it from different angles to try to convince ourselves that we had somehow improved the look of the end result. 

It makes me laugh writing about it and remembering it as we pretty quickly decided we had either made it worse, or there was just nothing to be done. I'm glad my dad was with me that day as I wouldn't have been ready to lose an animal after having wounded it like that. Though, I suppose I wouldn't have known, but that poor deer was definitely a goner from the moment I took that shot. 

Love that gun. Love the memories. Good thread.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

My first big game rifle was a .303 British with military stock and sites I bought used from a guy my Dad worked with. I paid $35 and it came with two boxes of ammo. What a crappy rifle that was! The only thing I ever shot with it was a pine grouse, and I hit too low and exploded the dang thing. 

I took my first deer with my Dad's sporterized Mauser 30-06 with a 4x Weaver scope - the hunting rifle I use now, though I've upgraded it with a 3x9 Bushnell. The first "good" rifle I ever bought was a Smith and Wesson model 1500 in 30-06 I got brand new at the Sunset Sports Gun Show way back in the day. I put a 4x Leupold scope on it and used it until I needed cash to pay for my wife's wisdom teeth. Then my Dad retired from the hunt and gave me his old Mauser so I'm good with that. I took a few deer, pronghorn, an elk and bear with the S&W. But I've taken a dozen + deer and one elk with Dad's Mauser. Now that he's gone, I doubt I'll ever hunt with anything else.


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## Roperlt (Dec 6, 2010)

My first rifle was a Savage model 110 .308 win. I mowed lawns all summer to pay for it. Shot my first buck with it in 1974...I know I'm old...I traded it for a Browning BAR .270 in 1978 used it until 1985 that was when I got the Pre-64 Winchester bug now I have more than I will ever be able to shoot...My favorite is my .264 Win Mag Pre-64... Later, L.T.


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## Andymansavage (Sep 19, 2008)

I killed my first deer with a knife. No it was not injured first, I thought it was one that we were tracking for a buddy, but it was just a random deer. I never want to do it that way again.....


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

My dad gave me one of his Remington Model 700 30-06's when I was 16. I actually remember pulling that gun out from under his bed when I was 8 or 9 and thinking how cool it would be to have something like that someday. Never thought it would be mine, and I'll never get rid of it. As a sidenote, I got into some serious trouble when my dad found out that I'd been in his room messing around with his rifles.

Shot my first deer (whitetail) when I was 18 back around 1990. It was a button buck at about 50 yards. I remember studying the deer for a long time at 9X power trying to determine if it was a buck or not. It took me about 10 minutes to decide that it was indeed a buck; however, I didn't know that it actually had to have horns above the hairline. My brother had killed a small 7 point (eastern count) earlier in the year (his first deer too), and since I'm 5 years older than him, I REALLY wanted to get my deer. So, I finally shoot this deer and just about yack all over the place while gutting it out. I go back to get my dad and brother, and when they looked at it, they both looked at me and told me that I'd killed an antlerless deer during the antlered portion of the season. I was beside myself, and knew it was a buck...I even used the line "but it's got nuts!", and they both just started laughing. Needless, I learned my lesson, and have never lived it down - the "it's got nuts" quote still gets thrown around to this day.


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## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

Remington BDL in .243 was my first rifle, but before that I wsa using a Hoyt Gamegetter bow.


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## Charina (Aug 16, 2011)

I used a gun passed down to me via my mother that used to be her father's gun. A lever action Winchester .32 Special with open sights. I took two deer with that during my highschool years as I taught myself how to hunt. For the very brushy areas of Western Oregon where I hunted, it was a GREAT gun - compact to carry through brush well. I still have that gun. Refinished all of the original wood and cherish it as a family treasure. It truly is a gem. Certainly not a long-range gun, but for out to 150-200 yards, it's great on deer or elk. I wish the .32 cartridges were easier to find. Fortunately I don't shoot it too much any more. Perhaps I'll get a photo of it this weekend when I take the kids shooting to post a photo here.


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Mine was my grandfathers 194? model 94 30-30 Winchester that he handed me on his death bed when I was just a boy of 12 years. It was pretty painful to see it sitting there for another 4 years before I could use it. Yes there was a time you had to be 16 to hunt big game in this state and lord knows there would be fewer dead horses, sheep and cattle if that were still the case. 

Have never been able to find our the actual year due to the lost records in the fire they had back in the day. Ive been told anywhere from 1942 - 1946. Still have it in the ole safe, bluing is pretty much gone but it shoots straight as ever.


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## flyfisher20 (Aug 5, 2011)

Its good to look back. My first rifle was a Winchester .308 lever action topped with a Weaver 3x scope. My grandpa gave me this gun, but I never killed anything with it. A few years later my other grandpa gave me a Ruger M77 .30-06 that I have used since and done all my killing with. That old .308 serves as a great backup though.


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## Muley73 (Nov 20, 2010)

Killed my first buck in CO with a Browning BAR in 243. Mowed lawns all summer to save money for the tag. $120.00. The following year they changed the age in UT to 14 and I killed my first UT buck with a Martin Lynx set at 50 pounds, Easton Gamegetter II arrows and Wasp broadheads!


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## FishNaked (Apr 15, 2009)

My first big game weapon was a Model 94 30-30 handed down from my grandpa. It was an old gun but basically brand new...never hunted with. I still have it. Growing up in Idaho we could hunt big game at 12. Elk season that year opened Oct. 12. My 12th birthday was Oct. 13th. We sweet talked the nice lady into selling me my hunting license on the 11th...and I killed a spike that opening morning with the 30-30...day before I turned 12. I've killed as many elk with that old lever action as I have with any scoped bolt action rifle I own. 

When I was 15 I saved up enough to buy a Remington 700 ADL in 30-06. My parents gave me a Bushnell 3-9x for my birthday to put on it. After sighting that rifle in I killed a fox, 3x4 buck, and 5x6 bull...5 shots.


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