Midwest deer hunting tradition goes modern

SPONSORED CONTENT — Many hunters have taken a deer over the years using a rifle firing a straight-wall cartridge.

Today, there are more straight-wall cartridge options for deer hunters than ever, with multiple rifle options, and excellent suppressors ready to go to the woods after a big buck. It is where tradition and technology meet, and it’s a great time to be clad in blaze orange and chasing bucks.  

One of the first cartridges that kickstarted this development was the .450 Bushmaster. It came out in 2007 and was developed by Tim LeGendre of LeMag Firearms, who then licensed it to Bushmaster Firearms International.

There were others, but the frenzy didn’t last for long, and the .450 might have headed off into obscurity, but for one saving grace – several states that previously banned any deer hunting firearms other than shotguns or muzzleloaders within select zones started allowing straight-wall cartridge use. Suddenly the .450 Bushmaster was back in the spotlight for deer hunters who wanted a little more oomph to their firepower. 

It wasn’t long before new straight-wall cartridges were developed. The .350 Legend was an instant success, followed by the .360 Buckhammer, with more new additions coming all the time.

Alongside the rebirth of straight-wall cartridges came the growing need for a suppressor designed to reduce the bark of these big-bore thumpers. The latest and most innovative is the new BANISH 46-V2 from Silencer Central. It can handle up to a .46-caliber bullet and is lighter, shorter and quieter than the competition. It weighs just 15.3 ounces and is only eight inches long, keeping your deer hunting rifle maneuverable.   

The key thing to note about the BANISH 46-V2 is that it reduces the sound of the shot by 30-decibels, helping protect your hearing, and helping keep things quieter so as not to annoy the neighbors. Additionally, it also helps tame the recoil from your rifle and in most cases, it stabilizes the bullet, so you’re more accurate.   

One of the best things to come from all of this is that lever-action rifles are cool once again. Okay, for many of us, they have always been cool.

For a lot of Midwesterners, a lever-action rifle is the quintessential deer rifle. With more of the big-name manufacturers retooling production lines to come out with new lever-action rifles, this means more hunters across the country will be taking to the woods with some form of straight-wall cartridge rifle. 

Let’s face it, lever guns are fun to shoot and their generally compact design make them excellent choices for whitetails and other big game. An increasing number now come from the factory with a threaded barrel, too, making it easier to add a suppressor, like the BANISH 46-V2.