I have an interesting choice to make come rifle season. My number one stand right now is a ground blind stand for bow hunting.. Its surrounded by super thick brush and the terrain makes it very difficult to walk much less drive an ATV through. If the deer runs anywhere but north its gonna be a challenge finding it and for sure dragging it out. Shot to feeder will be 30 yards and longest shot would be about 55 yards. The idea is to drop that sucker right in its tracks and if it does run it needs to be leaving a massive blood trail.

So here is the hypothetical part:
If you were to face this same scenario what gun in your arsenal would you use to get the job done?

I have decided on a Marlin 444P Outfitter. 18" ported barrel makes for quick handeling in a tight blind. Flat nose soft point will deliver a massive energy dump at a slow speed. Even if the bullet fails to open I still have a entry and exit as big or bigger than most high powered rifles. Massive holes equal massive blood trails. Going to do the ultimate meat hunter sin and break down both shoulders so hopefully he drops. I have seen what the 444 Marlin can do first hand and its impressive. This is the first time in the last 13 years I have seen a need for it though. Cant wait to get it back in the stand!!!!

45-70 open sights...Ruger #1

Yep. I was thinking .45-70 the moment that I read your post. But you should select what you shoot well.

That’s a good pick

I had a hunting spot last year w a similar delima...mainly one weird , tree hugging neighbor to the north...

Any other direction and I was fine. But was going after something I thought would really anchor a deer at close range

I bought a Ruger .450 Bushmaster for that purpose

Ended up shooting a deer on another place w a .308 but sure wanted to see what that .450 would do at semi close range. My feeder was at 95 yards but I’d regularly see deer at 50

I had one of those Marlins with the ported barrel and made the mistake of shooting it once without ear pro...
holy crap

I figured the 45-70 would come up. I am almost ashamed to admit that being a lever action fanatic I have never actually owned a 45-70. If I had one it would have been my first choice. I guess the reason the 45-70 never really caught on with me is I have always been partial to the Winchester 94 Big Bores and they never made one in 45-70. For a short while they did make a Timber Carbine in 450 Marlin but they are really proud of them things now!!!!

Yup I did it too. Shot a doe out of a stand we called the "Metal Mansion" because it was huge, tall, and all sheet metal. The concussion inside that stand was epic!!!!!!!!

My oldest killed his first with a .44 semi auto. I wanted a big bullet to make a big hole and leave a lot of blood. Great choice for that scenario, just make sure it doesn’t stove pipe on you.. lol.

So many good choices. Out of my arsenal, I'd probably use my Ruger 308 Full Stock with 18" barrel and old fashion 150 grain Speer Mag Tips.

Why not a 12 gauge with a slug?

35 whelen?
Just do the high shoulder shot

30-30 lever action.

almost any caliber - just do a cns shot - 50 yards just pick which eye /brain/neck

^^^^

Agree that the key here will be the shot placement. A high shoulder shot (properly executed) will drop the deer right there.

A shot though the center of both shoulders will break the deer down BUT it will probably do that nose plowing run until it expires. This can be anything from 20 yards to 100 yds.

If you are going to destroy meat....go high shoulder and pick up your deer right where you shot it.

Out of my arsenal, my 1895 guide gun in 45/70. If you don't have a 45/70, a 444 marlin is a good choice. I believe the ballistics are similar.

30-30 lever gun. It shines in that situation

I would carry any centerfire rifle I own and feel confident I could pull off a DRT with any from .223 REM to a borrowed 45-70 or 300 wby.

To me the DRT is much more dependent on WHERE you shoot them than WHAT you shoot them with. I almost exclusively neck/head shot for the first 10-15 years I hunted all bang flop at 30-50 yards its not hard at all. If you don't care for those shots a high shoulder or center of the shoulder will put them down. Never had a high shoulder shot do anything but fall straight down. Never shot one through both shoulders that went more than 10 yards or so.

If I was forced to pick 1 it would probably be my 270 win and 150 grain partitions, been my go to for too long to do me wrong.

I"m with the others that said 30-30. They're reliable, readily available,easy to carry, and many deer have felt their wrath.

Not sure why the rifle matters if you're hunting from a BOW blind. Just pick something and shoot him.

bow blind and up close I like pistols

Was my first gun and I dropped many a deer with the old lever action 30-30.

out of my arsenal it would be my Marlin 336 30-30. Or just stick with the crossbow

If you’re worried about not finding him using a rifle, you must be terrified of not finding him using a bow.

I would say you’re overthinking it. At that range placement is the key and caliber is secondary. An open-sighted .30-30 would be my pick. It’s just a deer.

Pretty sure the old 7mm Mag I have been carrying for decades would work. After all if it will cleanly drop a deer at 400 yards then it will drop one at 50 yards. As a matter of fact it has done that several times.

Overthinking it?? LOL!

Here is what triggered this thread:

Last Saturday afternoon I had a very nice 10 point come in to this very same stand. At 29 yards I flung an arrow at him and knew within seconds of the shot it was a miss. I still spent the next hour that night looking for any sign of a hit. The next day me and Dad returned to the spot at daybreak to continue the search for any sign of a hit and we did so for 2 hours and 20 minutes before we convinced ourselves I flat missed. After spending over 3 hours in that stupid thick brush (at times on our hands and knees) I decided I didn't want to do that again if I could help it. So I came up with a plan to drop the sucker next time or at the very least give me a trail a blind man could follow.

As far as being terrified using a bow, NOPE! Plan to do it again this weekend if I get the chance. A well placed broadhead bleeds every bit as well as a well placed rifle round on a deer. Pigs are a different story but im talking deer here anyway. That's the first buck I have missed with a bow in the last 26 years. Aint going to let it scare me though.