For deer hunting in PA a iron sighted rifle is not the best choice. Now some here claim that one has to have hunted for a particular game or in a particular area to know what to suggest. I am not of that group. I feel that if someone has good information as to what the country and it's game and rules are like then by deductive reasoning one can make a valid decision.

However I have hunted in PA and in fact my batting average, in fair chase, is 100%.

First of all one does not have to hunt in the brush in PA! There is plenty of land, although forested, that will allow views of seventy yards or more. But it's possible that one owns or has permission on a laurel hillside and no tree stand is practicable.

The bottom line here is that PA requires that most of the deer have antlers. If you shoot a doe by accident it's going to cost you either a hassle or worse. A scope on a rifle is no big expense these days and it aids in the correct identification of the target and just as important the aiming to avoid hitting twigs, brush and trees.

Now if one is on a guided hunt or behind some closed fence and has all week then of course a lesser rifle will be fun, cool or even argue a little more sporting.

In the Northeast USA the hunter success rate for deer can range to as difficult as 20/1. There are all kinds of hunting and hunters in PA. Some of the nations finest riflemen are there along with the Monday morning crowd that's only there because there is no school on opening day.

While conditions vary a lot I suggest a rifle with a 4X scope or a variable that covers that magnification range. It will be to your advantage.

All of these rifle discussions are very fine points. One can just use what they want. But to increase your chances and enhance safety I sincerely feel my suggestion is the way to go.

Hunting in PA. A short story.



The second year I hunted deer in PA I had some idea, from memory, of what the wood lot was like but I did not have a topo map. On top of that while we were not late getting into the woods in the dark I found that when I got to where I thought I wanted to be that hunters were already leaning on trees or sitting on a boulder looking over the area I wanted to hunt. This was somewhere in the NE corner near Oil City.



At day break the blasting started. Some guy right below me shot a buck and he was all happy. So I moved a few trees further away but after he gutted it out he wanted to drag it by me. I did not want to leave this area as my friend owned this wood lot and I was not driving. So the hunter dragged the buck past me and stopped to catch a breath as it was uphill. He showed me his rifle which was a 308 and had pressed in checkering. He gave me a short lecture that this was the rig to get if one wanted to score.



Now it was 9 AM and the shooting had calmed some. All of a sudden a fork horn (legal at the time) came trotting by me. It was only about 40 yds away. I hit it in the ribs with my 7mm RM that had a 4X scope on it by the way. As I prepared to gut it a twelve point buck came limping by me. This forest land was quite mature and one could see in some lanes over 200 yds. The big buck had been shot in a rear leg and was on the other three. It was going very slow but still alert. I pondered what to do but the right thing was to let it go. The 12 pointer made it to a hemlock tree and stood under it as it was darker there and harder to see it.



I started dragging my forkhorn up the hill. As I neared a steep part of the hill I saw a hunter on the crest so I left my buck and walked up to him and told him that there was a big buck right down there under that hemlock. This hunter must have been blind or legally blind at least. He was sitting with a Savage 23 in .22 Hornet that had an old 10X Weaver on it. He could not see the hemlock let alone the buck which was about 100 yds away.



All I could do is go back and take my time dragging the buck out as I had to wait til dark for the others.

Sounds like some good times Ray!

Ray,
I've read about those times. Were you down there chasing Poncho Villa

No I wasn't chasing Pancho villa, he was chasing me!!

If not for Penns semi-auto restrictions mentioned this one would be a no-brainer. I like my Model 81 woodsmaster in 300 savage loaded up with 180 grain cast bullets. But the 336 Marlin in 35 Rem is just as fun to shoot.

My brush gun favorite is my marlin 1894 44Mag topped with a leupold 1x4 20mm scope.This gun rocks!