The perfect deer gun which would meet these specifications would need to be light with little recoil or muzzle blast. The bullet must be able to cut through brush and kill a deer in the next county with a near miss and do the job without destroying the meat. Such a gun may be developed about the time that the last deer has been killed or has died from natural causes. In the meantime, the hunter must make use of some of the many guns which are available, find out the one which suits him best, learn what that particular gun will and will not do and adjust his shooting to that gun.

New hunters enter the field every year and many of these men select their gun with little or no knowledge of what they are buying or what they need. Some companion has recommended a certain make of gun in a certain caliber as being a good deer gun and they spend somewhere in the vicinity of a hundred dollars for a weapon which may or may not suit their hunting conditions and shooting ability. Perhaps they have read some article dealing with technical information and, being impressed with foot-pounds of energy, with velocity, with flat trajectory and with other terms which they do not really understand, they buy a gun on the strength of the article. Sometimes these guns turn out to be just what the man needs, but buying guns in this manner is mostly a hit-or-miss method.

Before buying any gun, the hunter should try out guns of different makes and calibers'in the woods if possible'to see how they shoot and handle. Some people adjust to the automatic while others should use a bolt or lever action for best results. The company which manufactures the gun is not too important, as most of the domestic manufacturers supply a dependable product, but the type of action and the caliber must be right, or considerable time must be spent in adjusting to the gun before the hunter can make fast, consistent kills.

My personal preference is the lever action, but I have used other types without trouble, except on extremely fast shots. I tried out one make of automatic at one time, with the intention of buying a similar gun. It seemed to be just the gun I wanted until I took it into the woods.

Before buying any gun, the hunter should try out guns of different makes and calibers'in the woods if possible'to see how they shoot and handle. Some people adjust to the automatic while others should use a bolt or lever action for best results