As an addition to my pool players thread, I was wondering if there is any hunters in our circle of friends?

I've never been legitimately hunting before (AKA: Waiting) But I have stalked, had some deer wander onto my property, things like that.

But I want to go legit. Now I'm a firearms guy (competition handguning, 3 gun tactical, etc.) own several of all kinds of weapons, but no real "Hunting Rifle", I have rifles that would be WAY too heavy to carry through the woods, and would provide 0 usable meat with a kill haha. I have small arms that I can unload an unholy amount of lead at the target, but over 150 yards it's more of "accuracy by volume" lol


Now, remember I'm in Florida, small deer, thick brush, longest shot will be 300 yardsish, average will be 50ish. So I'm leaning to a 30-30 or a 7mm-08 for rifle.

But I'm REALLY getting hung up on bows, I want to get a bow. It seems like an amazing amount of fun (providing you don't fall asleep and fall out of your stand) and bows are so techy now they really appeal to my geekyness lol.

SO! Any hunters?

~Rich

My two favorites

Basic Remington 700 ADL in .270
or if you want a fancy load .280 Ackley

I would say no to the 30/30 although they are one of the coolest carbines. I'd rather have a ruger .44magnum carbine than the 30/30 but neither are very accurate at anything greater than 150 to 200 yds out. Its been a while since I had my rifles out since I now live where a water gun can get you in trouble.

.308 or 30-06. Good hunting rounds.

You will want a carbon fibre or composite stock... the only problem is the kick!

One of the guys I play poker with got a 15 point Sunday morning. He is a bow guy. The most common rounds around here are .270, 30/30 and 30-06. If you want to get crazy a few use a 7mm. It is mainly about the cost anymore. With deer season I know so many that will shoot a deer off their back porch or while they are walking to their stand. I like turkey hunting, because they require a little more skill.

We actually have so many deer they have opened up an "Urban Hunt" which means you can shoot a deer within the city limits with a bow.

That "Urban Hunt" is fantastic... I'm jealous

.308 is fantastic, but with my average shot's being between 50-150 yards, there is no need for the extra size and kick.

30-06 is about perfect for this area, and is very high on my list.

Lots of guys here use .270, But its just not in my mind that it's a hunting round lol.

My dad used a 7mm wby mag, and that was one of the nastiest, flattest shooting things I've had the pleasure of. But I'm not reaching out 500-700 yards, so it's just too much.

The 7mm-08 seems like the perfect balance between .308 and 30-06 based on ballistics, and stroke length.

Quote:

Last year there were 1200 taken during the Urban Hunt, this year there were 900. My cousin had bought a 7mm, in his words "Its like a sonic missile".

I would have to agree with the 308 or 30-06, both are excellent rounds with the 30-06 having a slight edge in velocity.The 30-30 round is more of a brush gun and looses alot of its knock down power after 100 yards, plus the other 2 rounds are more accurate.Both the 308 and 30-06 are military rounds ,have been used in sniper rifles and are still used in competitive shooting.These 2 rounds also have a vast amount of bullet weights and styles available to hunt everything from groundhogs, to as large as bear,I personally know 2 men who have killed Brown Bears with the 30-06.Once you start getting into the exotic rifle rounds then you may have trouble finding ammo if your not in a populated area with full blown gun shops,308 and 30-06 rounds can be found almost anywhere that sells ammo..Now, if you want a real challenge go the way I go. I use a 44 magnum Ruger Redhawk pistol with a 2 power LEUPOLD quick release scope for my hunting here in West Virginia.I have killed over a dozen deer with this pistol, with the longest shoot being right at 100 yards and I've never had to shoot twice.This pistol will put 6 shoots in a 2" group at 100 yards from a sandbag rest,with my handloads. Good Luck..WW

[IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc281/rkfee/44Mag.jpg[/IMG]

Here is a pic of the 15pt. I had to copy the picture, so it may not load proper.

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.308 is a very consistant and predictable round. In recent months I had a chance to use the Lapua Round in .338. Great round, runs flat with a 250 grain FMJ. A lot more knock down power than the .308.
I have fired hundreds of rounds in .308 the Lapua is a significant improvement. Recoil is not that severe.

I did pretty good at a turkey shoot Sunday with my newly completed .32 cal. halfstock.

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Quote:

Wow even came packaged!

In the eastern United States most deer are honestly killed between 25yrds and 100yrds.

It's not often that a hunter here gets the chance to take a shot beyond 100yrds. When I lived in GA I used a .270WIN (Winchester Model 70) and never lost a deer. The longest shot I ever had was 150 yrds... easy meat on the dinner table with the .270 or any of the favorite US hunting rounds for that matter.

I would have used a .243WIN or maybe even a .223REM but the deer are often 150lbs or larger in the North GA mountains and I just didn't feel like I would be able to make a clean killing shot with the smaller calibers in 100% of hunting situations.

It's a tad different in Coastal areas (Like when I was stationed in eastern NC for instance) where they use dogs to run the deer out of the swamp and wet lands. In most cases we head them off at road crossing and shoot them with buckshot or slugs but occasionally we get a nice 75yrd-150yrd shot from a blind across a tree cut. If it was my day to be in the blind I always used the .270WIN or my 30-06 (CZ 550 Premium). If it was my day to be on the road I always used a 12gauge with 2 3/4 1OZ slugs. On occasion I also used an old milsurp SKS in 7.62X39 to good effect (great hog round too).

I did some still/tree stand hunting in ENC with a .223REM -as the deer rarely get over 150lbs... Most are around 100-125lbs. Again I never made a shot beyond 75yrds still hunting there and my little .223 with the Winchester 64gr Power Point put them down perfectly with very little meat damage.

Currently living in northern VA and I don't get to hunt much. I bought the GF a Remington 7400 chambered in .270WIN (gas operateed Semi Auto really cuts down on the recoil) to hunt with a few years ago when we went on a hunting trip to Ga with my brother. That is the only "Deer Rifle" I have in my safe up here... My others are still sitting in my dads safe in GA where I left them when I deployed to the war the first time in 2003. I really see no need to bring them home with me as her .270 will do anything I need it to up here. Hell - Jack O'Conner hunted every game animal on the planet with a .270 and 130gr bullets.......

As for what you should buy I suggest you look at ammo availibility in your area. Go to Wal Mart, Dicks, Gander Mtn, ect and see what they have the most of on the shelf. The favorites ie 30-30, 35REM, 308, 30-06, 280REM, 270WIN, 243WIN, 7-08, 6mm REM ect will all get the job done on deer sized game at the ranges your going to make shots in FL. If I were buying a new hunting rifle tomorrow - I'd buy what's easiest to get ammo for these days as long as I felt I could handle it properly.

Like wise any modern rifle should be more than accurate enough. Buy what you like and what you can afford.

The Remington 700, Winchester Model 70, CZ 550 are all top notch bolt guns in the $600-$900 range. Lesser $$$ guns like the Savage 110, Marlin XL7, Smith I Bolt, Mossberg 4X4 will also get the job done.

For my $$$ the Marlin 336 or 1894 are the only lever actions going.... but you can still find a Winchester 94 on the used market and Mossberg now has a new lever action out - but I wasn't impressed with the one I handled.

Semi's are dominated by the Browning BAR and the Remington 7400 series guns... both are good guns but very "gun care" intensive to keep running 100% and pretty expensive. I've actually seen the fairly new Winchester SX rifle but don't know anyone who actually has one and have not handled one enough to form an opinion of it.

Don't forget optics... you really do get what you pay for here and I only use Leupold or Burris. The Leupold VXII and Burris Fullfield II are good optics for under $350. 3X9X40 is the most popular variable power scope in the US I think.... hard to go wrong with one even thou a fixed 6X would be fine for shots out to 300yrds.

As for bow hunting... I've never been drawn to it and know nothing about it.
Will