PA whitetail deer; ammo type & caliber ???'s

[kmrcstintn]

I am hunting with a smaller party (4-5 guys to include my dad, 2 good buddies, and myself) on private property that is mostly hardwood covered with areas of thicker briar patches and underbrush; my dad and I are planning to share a 2 man ladder stand that is 12' high that will be surrounded by briars and underbrush; the treestand area is @ 75 yards off a deer trail that leads to a clear cut area @ 2 acres large (originally meant for a home); the clear area is basically waist high brush and weeds; I am hoping that some of the trees/brush will be shedding leaves in the next 3 weeks...

that's the scenario for the hunting area; here's our weapons, calibers, and ammo selection available...please give me any feedback so we can narrow down or tweak what we use...

dad's primary:

Remington 760 Gamemaster pump action rifle in .30-06 (scoped w/ see thru mounts over open sights) shooting Remington CoreLokt REDUCED RECOIL ammo w/ 125 gr CoreLokt softpoint; Smith & Wesson 686 Power Port revolver in .357 magnum (red dot scope) shooting Remington CoreLokt ammo w/ 165 gr CoreLokt hollowpoint

my primary:

Savage 111G bolt action rifle in .25-06 (scoped) shooting Remington CoreLokt ammo w/ 100 gr CoreLokt softpoint; Ruger GP100 revolver (open sights) in .357 magnum shooting Federal American Eagle w/ 158 gr jacketed softpoint

shared backup resources (if a longgun develops a malfuction that cannot be remedied in the field):

Marlin 1894C lever action rifle in .357 magnum (scoped w/ QD rings & open sights) shooting Federal American Eagle ammo w/ 158 gr softpoint; Browning BPS shotgun in 12 guage (hi viz bead on rib w/ screw in rifled choke) shooting Lightfield Lite REDUCED RECOIL sabot slug ammo w/ 1 1/4 oz solid lead projectile;

dad would use Marlin Lever action rifle and I would use the Browning shotgun; rifles are sighted in @ 75-100 yards; handguns and shotgun are sighted in @ 35 yards...

with this information in hand, what do you think???

[knight0334]

75-100yards might be on the outer edge for the 357mag, but if placed well it should work. If leaves and twigs are a big issue, the 25-06 might have slight problems.

Your dad is set pretty good.. no need to change anything.

The BPS = goodness in brushy areas Given the ranges you provided, it should perform quite well.

[sureshot43]

You both seem to have adequate equipment. I myself prefer a 44 to the 357,but a good shot with knowing its limitations,you'll be just fine. I would also prefer a heavier bullet in the 25/06,but thats just me.

[andrewmyers]

i guess your question is whether to bring the shotgun or the marlin right? personally if you have if your carrying a .357 with you, then bring the marlin, seems like a small nice little back up gun. but on the other hand id love to punch a slug thru a deer. but the recoil, even with light loads will be fearsome in comparison the .357. bring the marlin. shouldnt need it, even though savages are known to have ejection problems with their shells, shouldnt matter, mines never failed me. oh and as someone said , the 25-06 might have issues with brush when using the 100 gr. if that is a concern to you as well, which it might not be if your hunting over a field, id see about getting 120 gr softpoints. the round nose design has good sectional density which will actually do better in brush than a short stubby bullet bullet, which is contrary to popular belief, but something ive read up on several times. i like marlins, so im telling you to bring the marlin.

[Buckmark.35]

Yeah I wouldn't worry too much about the bullet weight for the .25-06. Seems to me no matter if it's 100 or 120gr or 200gr the bullet will be deflected and mangled if it hits brush.

The marlin would be a little quicker to handle in a dense habitat though. I wouldn't try punching holes in brush with it, but it'll be shorter, faster to shoulder, and the action is shorter so shots can be faster. All of which you might need if you're working with 75 yds of visibility.

My opinion in order

.30-06
.357
.25-06
12 GA

I think your dad is making out in this deal.. haha.

[kmrcstintn]

I think your dad is making out in this deal.. haha.

you're not far off the mark...before I got the Savage, he 'handed down' the Remington 760 to me as my primary hunting rifle since he was planning on moving to Virginia near my sister after my stepmom died; I had some 'updating' and tweaking done to the 760; in the meantime, we discovered the cost of living outpaced his retirement income and we changed the plan;

he was going to move close to me, but we decided to share an apartment since I'd be over his place with him more than living on my own would benefit...he found out about the group of guys I hunt with and where I hunt and I got permission for him to join me this year...he felt more comfortable with his Remington 760, so he claimed as his own again; I finished the modifications to the shooting combo by getting him some Remington Managed Recoil ammo and he took to it like a fish to water;

I purchased the Savage in .25-06 with the primary purpose as a groundhog gun next spring and would develop some handloads for it; I started breaking it in with the 100 gr Remington CoreLokt when all the house sale/dad's relocation/my move into a new apartment happened and I don't have time to resight it with heavier ammo this year; I also wanted a dual purpose caliber in case I found out that groundhog plunking wasn't for me (I didn't want to spend $$$ on a .22-250 only to have to resell it at a loss and get something else);

the Marlin was originally for recreational shooting and camp defense; I scoped it on a whim and whammo...now we have a viable deer gun in case the Remington 760 & Managed Recoil ammo still had too much recoil for my dad; we both have .357 magnum revolvers for bear defense and secondary hunting sidearms; I had alot of sabot slugs bought for a Remington based combo before I found some barrel quality control problems and dumped the entire combo since I was switching to rifles; I bought a screw in rifled choke tube for the Browning BPS that I bought so I could burn up the sabot slugs...beauty is that 4 out of 5 slugs in my group were touching each other at 35 yards with the 5th being a 1/2" outside as the flyer...not bad for a hi-viz bead on a ribbed barrel for use as a backup weapon