Thread: What Rifle Set Up are you using over your Deer Dog?

Hi Everyone,

I'm about 6 months out from putting Kahu onto redskins and need to think about which rig I'm going to run.

My go to is a 270 shooting 130 Fed fusions or 150 Partitions good to 400m. I use it as more of a medium range to open country gun.

I have a Win M70 243 featherweight which I'm toying with the idea of chopping down to 20inch with a can & using 100 grain federal blues or Winchester X, job done maybe??

or get a new rifle something in the lines of short barrel/suppressed 308 or 7mm08 and lob heavier pills. I have no idea?

( I have Marlin 336 Texan 3030 too but not sure I can bring myself to chop her and can her up - lever abuse? I guess that could work )

That lead me to wonder what people on the forum here are using in this application.

I'd be keen to know what set up forum members are using over their dogs and why you chose it and how its going.
Pics of guns and dogs always welcome.

Cheers.

No reason the 243 with a can won't work.... Unless you are looking for an excuse for a new toy

Have been using my t3 in 308 with full length barrel and can, dog hasn't gone deaf yet.... I think as long as you have it suppressed and not shooting a massive calibre you should be fine

I'm running a boring old 16'' Tikka 308, wearing a Hardy can. Have used it over two different dogs so far and neither seem to be worried by it even tho its a quite big bang!

I was careful while training them to get them comfortable around gunfire first tho. I Built them up from a .22 to the 308.

I like the setup, very handy in the bush and can still reach out a fair way if I have to. Running 150gr Nosler BTs @2800fps

Good luck with the dog, great fun when it all comes together!

I’m running a 300blackout using Lehigh 168gr controlled fracturing subs for deer, good for 300m and a Ballistic app is a must. Very quiet killer if you’re firing lots of shot like I do. The dogs had thousands of rounds shot over him. You don’t really need 3000+ FPS and a massive supersonic crack to kill a deer. Last week we got onto this stag 500m from camp the dog was very impatient waiting for me to pack to gear up and finish my morning coffee.

Deer number 207 the wanted to carry on hunting as he could smell more farther up the valley but 30+ degree days is hard yakka humping meat. We bombed up 9 more goats on the walk out.
[/url]

I hunt over Harley with a Kimber 84 in 7-08. Barrel is 14" with a DPT suppressor. I shoot 150gn corelokts at 2250fps as a bush load and 162Amax @2285 for up to 500yds.

Meg doesnt give a hoot which rifle I use as long as I dont miss...the x39mm and .308 share a gunworks spartan...the .223 also a spartan the poohseventy a DPT NONE are excessive noisewise,90% of the time your dog shouldnt be in direct line so will be off to side and wont cop much blast. I cut n caned the x39 for bush work etc,the deer fall over and it is a pussycat to use.....it doesnt really matter too much which one I use.

Was a 7mm08 with 20” barrel and dpt suppressor. Now it’s a 284 with 17” barrel and dpt suppressor.

Originally Posted by tikka

I’m running a 300blackout using Lehigh 168gr controlled fracturing subs for deer, good for 300m and a Ballistic app is a must. Very quiet killer if you’re firing lots of shot like I do. The dogs had thousands of rounds shot over him. You don’t really need 3000+ FPS and a massive supersonic crack to kill a deer. Last week we got onto this stag 500m from camp the dog was very impatient waiting for me to pack to gear up and finish my morning coffee.

Deer number 207 the wanted to carry on hunting as he could smell more farther up the valley but 30+ degree days is hard yakka humping meat. We bombed up 9 more goats on the walk out.
[/url]

@tikka did you shot that this year?

do you take a fishing rod hunting

@Sideshow
Yeah 5 days ago, the bigger stags are stripping velvet now. It’s a good time to be in the bush as you can hear them trashing trees about if it’s calm conditions and no wasps. Mud fat back steaks and rumps, veni schnitzel for tea tonight yum yum.

Have a can over my 308 Tikka, just make sure that Jazz is out of harms way before I shoot.

Hey GSP Hunter,
All depends on how much shooting you will be doing over your dog and what degree of deafness your happy with i guess, If your going to be firing <50-100 shots a year over your dog then you are probably fine with most calibers suppressed, i started out with a 16inch .308 with a DPT lobbing a 168g AMAX which was very effective but have found my main dog (5 year old) has lost a noticeable amount of hearing, shes far from deaf but cant hear my softer commands as well as she used too. Have gone back to shooting .223 full time to save whats left of her hearing and avoid the same situation with my young dog. 73g ELD-M is going very well on the deer, plus its a dream to shoot. Keep in mind thats several thousand rounds over her in that time. Hope thats of some use to ya

Originally Posted by berg243

how far have you used the 73g eldm .what sort of penetration and expansion are you getting @kbrebs

Majority of my hunting is bush stalking so not many shots further than 50m, wouldn't be able to tell you expansion as majority of shots are pass throughs- good penetration. Happy with how they perform in the bush. I've only shot a hand full of deer off slips and flats further out-between 250 and 320m with the ELD-M and it has performed fine, never autopsied the animals to check performance but it seems to kill well. Just have to remember its not a .308 at the end of the day so shot placement is key.

I'm running a 20" suppressed 308 over mine.

She loves it when I get the 308 out because she knows we are going on a adventure.

I've heard a few "theories" over the years with guys wanting to know about shots and dogs etc, ranging from braked rifles with the dog a few feet behind as it's not as bad etc but I'm no expert on that only what people have said( I tend to think shooting a braked rifle with a dog close by is cruel).