I never could understand the no-rifle thing. But then again, there’s hardly a hill or a tree in the entire state . . .

 

That is not true in the southern half of the state, where the most deer are.

 

And there are plenty of rules/regs. Rifle must be single shot, or modified to only hold one cartridge. Now you can use a rifle with a removable magazine, but you can’t have the magazine “accessible “. The calibers allowed are about the same as for legal pistol deer hunting, here the list..

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Documents/IlSingleShotRifle.pdf

Unfortunately, my Marlin 30-30 isn’t on the list, so I can’t just plug it. I’d like to go to center fire next season so I can accurately shoot 100 to 150 yards.

My main concern isn’t so much the caliber, but the availability of ammo for the caliber I choose. If you get the time to look at the above calibers, can you give me your opinion of which ones are easily, readily available. Thanks in advance.

350 Legend has gotten good reviews and I see ammo frequently.

 

Factory Ammo... available and suitable
.44 Magnum. A for available and A+++++ for suitability. You mentioned 30-30 and .44 Mag is flat out better until you get past 100 yards but will hang in there to 150.
.357 Magnum A for Availability and B+ for suitability. It will go out to 150 yards, too but just lacks the oomph of the .44.
Some folks will offer that .357 is plenty but I am only a little north of you and a 180 pound buck is nothing to write home about. Down south the white tails are much smaller. If you ever are tracking a deer ruefully, you'll regret not having the .44

.45 Colt/ .454 Casull .. these are like .44 Special and .44 Magnum sort of. Easiest thing to start reloading, it's like reloading cannon shells they are so big. Ballistically the same as .44 Magnum or just plain too much for white tails. Full house .454 casull in a lever action rifle made my teeth rattle and I smelled blood in my sinuses... and did no better than a toned down load.

Honestly, get the .44 Magnum.

I have shot deer with: .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .357 Magnum, .357 Maximum (it's nice in the old Contender but lordy what a fireball), 30-30, 7.62x51 R (family heirloom... the brass is for all practical reasons 30-30 but as a single shot I used a plastic tip 30 cal bullet and a very light load as the gun was over 100 years old) and 30-06. A friend had land where the DNR was requesting deer be shot and turned in as pests and we shot a LOT of deer for a few years there.

If I had to used straight wall, I would absolutely go with .44 Magnum, Hands down, no doubt about it. It's a no-brainer.

 

We got limited rifle in Ohio about 5 yr ago. I’ve always hunted deer and bear in other states with rifle.
Was always trying to build super accurate slug guns and slugs. If you have a common slug gun that isn’t accurate enough for deer at 100yds you need to get rid of it. A good gun should do 3” and run of mill gun 6” at 100yds with standard Foster Slugs.
I don’t blame guys for wanting a deer rifle. I looked for what I thought was most accurate and long range cartridge. Even though I had several in my horde I had never carried a pistol caliber carbine hunting. I have killed at least one deer with about anything you can think of. This is 357 story, I deer because it’s marginal for deer. I have killed several with 44mag and 45Colt. These are practical killers at 150yds, they will shoot further but I said practical killer. I settled on 375Win. I got a Leupold 2x7 on Ruger #3 and I’m confident of kill at 200yds. I sold my Marlin & Win 375 and use the Ruger with Spitzer bullets which the lever guns won’t handle OAL or tube magazine syndrome. Gun does under 1” at 100yds with Spitzers. With FN it does about 1.25”. Never carried a straight case cartridge hunting. Had to many other rifles that were much better. My PB on deer shot is only 250yds with 308 and 6x glass.

 

I moved back home to southern IL (Pope County) in 2018 after over two decades in MO. I put a canti-lever rifled barrel on my 11-87, and picked up a dozen or so boxes of Hornady sabots. And of course, they change the rules. After alot of reading, I'm sticking with my 11-87, and I admit part of that is the price of starting over. I know you didn't ask about all that, but I did do alot of research and if I do make the change, I'll probably go with .44 mag. I didn't really seen a whole lot of difference between the .44 and the .350, but I did rule out the .357 on the low end and .454 Casull on the upper end. My .357 would work, but I wasn't sure about 100 yds plus. The 11-87 put a sabot right where it needed to be last year at 120 yards, it's just hard to justify a change.

And yes, down here in the Shawnee National Forest area, it is as woody and steep as the Missouri Ozarks.

 

I will stick with a 3 shot slug gun. If I want a single shot, I will shoot an ultra slug hunter. I have confidence in what I have for how I hunt. Slug guns should be up for sale to finance guys new deer gun.

 

In my area SE Ohio there is no shortage of used Slug guns. Everyone is looking to finance a rifle. The 44 mag is good choice for 99% of shots. 45/70 is way to much gun for deer.

 

I live in a straight wall State. I have a .350 Legend and two 45-70s. Have adequate ammo here for both. All our quite accurate, way more than deer adequate. Certainly good for 150 yards for deer and really some more.

 

 

I would probably do something like that… fits all the categories into one cheap package..

 

You guys might find whatever it is you're looking for at www.shootingbot.com. Good luck.

 

Shotgun or rifle, how many times have you fired more than one shot? Before Ohio passed the 3-shot regulation ( this was back in slug only days ) you would see guys with bandoleers and belts with 25-30 slugs. It sounded like a war zone and you could track the path of the deer by the shots.
The bulk of todays hunters in my area are in tree stands. They are going to be shooting at feeding deer at less than 100yds, with a 4x12 scope off rest.

 

Shotgun or rifle, how many times have you fired more than one shot? Before Ohio passed the 3-shot regulation ( this was back in slug only days ) you would see guys with bandoleers and belts with 25-30 slugs. It sounded like a war zone and you could track the path of the deer by the shots.
The bulk of todays hunters in my area are in tree stands. They are going to be shooting at feeding deer at less than 100yds, with a 4x12 scope off rest.

I can't say for certain.

In 2020 2 shots, 2 deer.
In 2021 4 shots, 3 deer. Deer #1 2 hits and a miss. Deer #2 1 hit.
In 2022 3 shots, 2 deer Deer #1 2 hits, Deer #2 1 hit

I shoot until the deer is down or no longer offers a safe shot opportunity.

 

Hey CK, we’re neighbors. Thanks fellers for the recommendation. I got a pretty good setup with my Mossberg 500. I just want better consistency at 100 yds + than I can get with Sabots. I’ll be checking out the 44. I want to find a rifle that has a detachable magazine, that way I can use it for deer legally and still use it with a mag at other times/places.

 

That is a ridiculous list. They don't bother to look actual hunting accidents They think that big slow bullets =less range =less accidental shootings.
I am very sorry that your state is run by idiots, I mean that sincerely. 45-70 single shot might be the way to go.

 

 

Henry already has trouble meeting demand for their existing products. Not the wisest choice in a partnership.