I could use the 3X9 scope that is on my 30-06, it's just that I might be faster to aim at close range through iron sights, all I have to do is put the rear sight back on and adjust it and it's good to go. 1X, that must be a very wide sight picture!

Last November Firearms deer season I set up in a pasture where some wheat had been planted, I sat in a bulldozer that had been left there for over a year. I had a doe only tag, and it's about 5:45 AM, still partly dark, and two deer walk by about 50 yards away. I had my 7 Mag, had three Core-Lokt 150's in the gun, and since my scope filters light, I could see cleanly through it, so I shot the bigger of the two. I could have just as well used a 30-30 right there in that open pasture. To this day, I still have that box of 150 grain Remington Core-Lokt, with a single round missing. Next year I'm invading the cedars. I'll get a nice little lever-action 30-30 to use for that.

It's refreshing to hear that someone is interested in using a 30-30. It's an old round but, every bit as efficient as one of the super mags when it's used at it's potential. Same goes for the 300 savage. Both rounds still bring down their share of deer, around these woods.
I'm a big fan of the 30 cals. in these lower 48. Just need to pick the right one for the job at hand.

NONYA, good herd management dictates that you should harvest does as well as bucks. It's called maintaining a good buck/doe ratio. That's why all these game ranches that feature trophy whitetail hunting yield so many Boone & Crocketts. Private landowners do it too. The Drury Ranch, owned by Mark Drury and family, holds many bucks that will score 170, 180, 190 or more Boone & Crockett points. Harvesting does is essential. My cousin in-law hunts over there and he also has his own land and they take 160 and 170 class bucks about every two years, with lots of 140's and even 150's in between. All bigger deer than you have shot, or will ever shoot, for that matter.

The 30-30 is just a load of fun to use, in general. With the right bullet, you can even go for varmint and furbearer, and where rifles are legal, you can do close-range turkey hunting with one. They're also just as easy to clean as a bolt-action rifle. I think I've read that it has downed more deer than any other modern rifle cartridge. Good number of black bear, mule deer, and elk, too.