This weekend a friend showed me a picture of his sons first deer, a little 4 point buck that dressed our at about 120 lbs. . It was a facing shot at a measured 111 yards with a Traditions Deerhunter rifle shooting RBs. Said he had to track the deer about 35 yards but it was a solid hit. His son is 7 years old! Needles to say I think his son is hooked on ML hunting at this point.
I guess even ugly rifles can make meat.
- Thread starter WalnutRed
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Sweet!
Deerhunter is a decent rifle. Might be production made but they deliver. Traditions guns are good entry level guns and will put meet on the table as well as any other.
Deerhunter is a decent rifle. Might be production made but they deliver. Traditions guns are good entry level guns and will put meet on the table as well as any other.
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I never knock a man’s rifle. It’s him pulling the trigger. Glad and Congrats to him and his son!
Cowboy, some rifles are utilitarian tools and some are works of art. Most are somewhere in between. I don't think the Deerhunter tries to be much beyond a utilitarian tool. However obviously it can be a very effective tool in the right hands.
The ugliest rifle I own is the most accurate in the whole collection.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/my-quasi-target-rifle….89636/
The first target while working up a load it likes.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/my-quasi-target-rifle….89636/
The first target while working up a load it likes.
justinoldguy
32 Cal
I got a couple of Traditions/CVA DeerHunter rifles. Paid $59 at Walmart for them back in the early 90's. Great rifles for what they are. I've killed 9 bucks with 9 shots from mine, my son killed his first deer ever with one, and my Dad killed his one and only muzzleloader buck with mine. I have also taken a bunch of kids out during Youth Season, and the DeerHunter has never failed to perform. I use only one load, 60 grains of Swiss 3f (back in the 90's and early 2000's, Pyro P), a .490 RB, and .015 linen patch. The little rifle kills deer dead.
longcruise
70 Cal.
I used a 50 deer hunter one season a few years back when I was recovering from a smashed femur. It was perfect, could carry in my left hand and use a walking stick in my right. One grouse, one coyote (147 yards) and one fat mulie doe (78 yards) all with 60 grains of 3f and a 495 ball.
It's a grandson's now and he wins or places high in every match he shoots with it.
It's a grandson's now and he wins or places high in every match he shoots with it.
How does that song go? "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with". That young deer slayer probably wouldn't trade that rifle for anything in the world now. Congrats on a good shot and meat for the family 
bpd, did you intentionally mangle the inletting on that lock to troll us, or did it really come that way ? You could pan gold in those gaps !
I knew there were pool sharks, but that rifle is a real sleeper. With it, I'll bet you show up for matches with a patch over each eye.
Hopefully, the prize for the next match you win will be a proper screw driver.
Hats off to you man, that thing is fugly ! SW
I didn't do anything to it except clean the bore and lock also made a little shim to go under the rear sight. It is as the builder did it. Did you look at the thread I linked, it explains a lot about the rifle? I happen to have a full set of Brownells gunsmith screw drivers too.
Hope you didn't misunderstand me, I do love stuff like your rifle. It is the best remedy for gun snobbery ever. As the late, unmentionable rifle expert, Townsend Wheeland once quipped, "Only accurate rifles are interesting". Shoot on ! SW
Ugly rifles need lovin too.
Mountain man Joe Meek's rifle - Old Sally. Gets my vote for ugliest rifle. Looks like a CVA in some regards.
beware of the man with one gun and knows how to use it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
yes!!!! those deer hunters kill deer. so did the frontier's from CVA comparing the 2 is like comparing the original CVA made in USA mountain rifles to the current ones from Traditions
My minor gripe about the Woodsman is the glossy finish. I can't see how a simple oil rubbed finish could cost more. And it would sure be an improvement and far more period. I have a St. Louis Hawken put together very nicely like that by a member of the Forum. He also rust blued it and then overlaid it with regular bluing and gave the brass a light antiquing. It is quite elegant imo. And it shoots great. He wiped out all the barrel stamps and tacked up the stock too, so it kind of looks like a 'one off'. I hate all the lawyer marks and instructions stamped on everything these days. That nonsense was not on Joe Meek's rifle.
My Woodsman stock and brass is getting the 'treatment' when I get bored. SW
I felt the same way tom, but the one I described already had them, and after shooting and hunting with it, I realized that the builder had placed some of them in quite ergonomic places and they were helpful in gripping the rifle for carry and the shot. Now they don't look so gaudy to me. Maybe some of the old timers had a purpose for studs that was more than show. SW
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Handsome is as handsome does!!! Love it! I have a not well done CVA .54 Hawken kit gun that was given to me. Ugly, but a little spiffing up and it outshoots my Renegades in the same caliber and I don't have to baby it in the woods.
