Bad Karma

I have nearly zero experience with whitetail deer but I’ve killed elk and mule deer with the government bullet. This from a Borchardt rifle many years ago. I don’t know what velocity it was shooting but that rifle wore a 32” barrel and the results were short to no tracking required at all. Good luck with your pursuit. It’s good to see the old guns out there making meat.

Those Hawkens sell for 3-500 bucks pretty regularly. I’m not sure I see where you’re “soon going to have more into it than it’s worth”. They are dandy hunting rifles and spending 500 bucks for a “better” rifle would be a folly in my opinion. I’ve yet to find very many better rifles for the job. Reliable as a rock and easy to look at, what more could you want?