New Deer Rifles

By Tom Kelly

Personally, I would not spend a lot of money on a new hunter’s first rifle. Many start out with a hand me down from grandpa or Uncle Zeke and that is great. However, today, many new hunters do not come from hunting families.

I frequently share my opinions in this column, that doesn’t mean you need to agree with me. I would, however, ask that you at least consider my point of view based on the reasons I am about to relate. If you have an opposing opinion, so be it. This is still a free country, and you are entitled to that opinion.

When teaching young hunters/shooters about our sport, it is important to understand that they need to learn the fundamentals of shooting before the hunt. I have been a firearms and Hunter Education instructor for many years. I have taught both novice youngsters and veteran police officers. What I have learned from this is shooting skills should be taught using a building block method. The first block always being safety. The second block, sight alignment. The third being proper stance and grip. The next being trigger control and consistency. In my opinion, these building blocks are best taught with a single shot firearm, or one loaded one round at a time. If you give a 15-year-old a semiauto, it becomes much harder to master those basics. It also eats up a lot of ammo.

Shooting Basics

The other opinion I would like to share is if the shooter has learned the basics of shooting, there is no reason to not shoot an adequate big game caliber. If you believe that someday your novice shooter will ever hunt a bear or moose in addition to whitetail, choose an appropriate caliber. I mean something like a .30/30 as a minimum, but preferably more like a 7mm/08, .308, .30/06, .270, etc.

Personally, I would not spend a lot of money on a new hunter’s first rifle. Many start out with a hand me down from grandpa or Uncle Zeke and that is great. However, today, many new hunters do not come from hunting families. In these cases, a new rifle is in order. I can assure you this first rifle will not be the same one they are hunting with in 10 years. It will however be a fondly remembered spare rifle, and hopefully passed on to the next generation. Further, the next gun should be their choice. One they have researched and talked about and saved their after-school job money to get.

First Hunting Rifle

So where do we start with a first hunting rifle? Fortunately, there are several excellent choices. There are single shot rifles from a number of good manufacturers. Henry has a new single shot that looks interesting. Thompson Center is back in the game and at the top of the line would be the Ruger #1. These are all great choices, but not exactly low-cost options. There is another option that has become one of my favorites. It is the CVA Scout. This rifle is rich in features and on the low side in price. It comes standard with a removable muzzle break. A picatinny rail for optics mounting and a hammer extension to cock the hammer with a scope on. The triggers on these guns are excellent. Both crisp and relatively light. The barrels are excellent and very accurate. They are available in .350 Legend, .300 Blackout, .35 Whelan, .450 Bushmaster, .44 magnum, .444 Marlin and a.45/70. CVA has been purchased by Bergara corporation, makers of the outstandingly accurate Bergara barrels. I would add a note here.

Single shot shooters generally choose a caliber at least one notch above their normal calibers. This, as a result of the absence of a follow up shot. To that end, these also have an excellent recoil pad. For those of you who are recoil sensitive, it’s mind over matter. My daughter, who is now well into her 40’s was shooting .44 magnum handguns at the age of 7. She now hunts deer with a .30/06 and bear with a .450 Bushmaster. She is about 5’6” in height. So, the basics pay off. Practice pays off. No matter what they shoot, let’s all get those new shooters and hunters to the range.

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