Big woods rifles are brute in performance and ballerina in design. The best rifles will fit like a shotgun so that you can shoot fast, using instinct as much as the sights. They are light and fit the ...

The author's Winchester Model 70 with a maple wood stock hanging from, fittingly, a maple tree. Let’s get this part out of the way first: I am not a Fudd. I own lots of rifles and shotguns with ...

Just start a conversation about deer rifles and state emphatically that your opinion on which caliber and which make is the best. Other hunters will willingly oblige you. Most everyone who reads this ...

Every generation of deer hunters has its turning points—moments when a new rifle shows up and quietly rewrites the rules. Sometimes it’s lighter weight that changes how far you’re willing to hike.

This story, “Classic Deer Rifles,” first appeared in the September 1997 issue of Outdoor Life. What is classic? Mainly it’s a description we apply to just about anything we happen to like. Which is ...

Over the years, my idea of the perfect deer rifle has evolved. When I was young, I had two whitetail rifles that, to me, were perfect. One was my Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, and the other was my ...