The right deer rifle

I suppose a better description for our deer rifle would probably be the medium game hunting rifle. This is because just about all hunters that I know use their favourite deer rifle to take other game when the opportunity arises. The deer species that we have here in Australia vary a great deal in size from quite small with the little hog deer to very large with the mighty sambar. However, by world standards, they all fall into the same category of medium-sized, thin-skinned game and are all hunted with a myriad of different calibres.

Many years ago, before government restrictions were introduced in relation to calibres and bullet weights in some states, one of the favourite calibres for hunting sambars in the Victorian High Country was the .243 Winchester, and not necessarily with a 100-grain projectile. Those old hunters took plenty of sambars with the .243 and a lot of them recommended and used 80-grain bullets. Their reasoning was that a ‘well-placed’ 80-grainer killed far quicker than the 100-grain load, due to its higher velocity and increased shocking power. The key here being a ‘well-placed’ shot.

At about the same time in hunting history, another favourite calibre for fallow and red deer and other larger feral animals was the diminutive .222