Any Hunters or Bowhunters Here?

[calamaridog]

You'll have to forgive me for poking fun at your "little" whitetail I've seen a few pictures of monsters my buddy shot down south.

Most of the pigs I've seen harvested have been taken at 150 yards or more, which is a good shot with a lever gun. I've seen many taken out around 300 yards. The majority of the people I've seen using .308 and .30-06 but my buddy does use a .270. Different kind of hunting out here.

I'll say that up close, the .30-30 would be ok for pig. I went a bit far with my borderline "inhumane" comment

Shot placement is always key, as you have said, but a 200 lbs. hog is much tougher than a 200 lbs. deer.

The biggest problem with our wild pigs is that mountain lions don't eat them. They go for the deer of course, but ignore those hogs.

Like I said, the .30-30 has probably taken more game in NA than any other gun, but I think the average hunter would be better served with something a bit more potent.

I love lever guns, however, and enjoy the challenge of hunting with open sites. I'm hoping to pick up a .45-70 soon. There are tons of loads available from mild to wild.

 

[robert]

No problem- just different hunting environments. I don't think you'll find many folks who would recommend the 30-30 past 150yrds and most wouldn’t recommend it past 125. My furthest shot with mine was only around 75yrds. The new Hornady Leverevolution is supposed to increase performance but I’ve never tried it nor do I know anyone who has. http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=775263

The most popular rifle calibers here are probably .270, 30-06 and .308; the 7mm mag has a following too although I never felt the need for one (I like .308 and it’s always worked for me without being as heavy recoiling). While we have what the old timers call “bean field” guns (rifles designed for taking shots across large bean fields or down power lines of several hundred yards), most shots are generally less then 200yrds due to the amount of vegetation. Honestly, given the number of deer we have, there really isn’t much reason to take a really long shot and risk not making a killing shot.

If I lived out west or in the northwest/Alaska/Canada I’d probably buy a .300 Win Mag or .338. A friend of mine in Arizona has both and likes to take them out to the desert and shoot long distance targets with them. It’s even more amazing what he can do with his .50cal. target gun. :Wow1:

 

[91xlt]

Fairly avid hunter. Bow & rifle for those creatures on 4 legs, handgun for those on 2. FWIW a 30-30 w170GR nosler partitions WILL most definately take hogs, deer, black bear, elk, and more. do not underestimate this round.
:elkgrin:

 

[SOAZ]

Well lets see fishing; I was luckier than I knew. I got to do a lot of deep sea fishing on the parents boat out of Dana Point or Catalina. Some Hawaiian sling spear fishing over on Catalina. Now I take any chance I get to fish while out camping in a river of lake.

Guns are taboo in the OC so I started that fun when I got to AZ. I had a beebie and pellet gun since I was 6 and was excited to buy my first real gun once I moved out to AZ.
Ruger 10-22. LOVE that gun. In fact I just sighted it in at the range yesterday. I want to go and do some rabbit, coyote hunting. Within a knickel size pocket at 75 yards as long as I stay still.
AK-47 - Mostly a novelty, but it can be fun to shoot. I'm surprised by how accurate this yugoslavian knock off is. Expensive to shoot, but fun to make watermelons go boom! (I shoot paper or food only because it makes me sick how trashed the desert is looking from shooters)
My birthday present for myself is a Smith and Wesson MP 9mm hand gun. My first hand gun and I love it. Got it last Friday. I looked at them all and the MP just felt best in my hand and I'm accurate with it. With hollow points I'm not worried about not having enough fire power. The 17 in the mag and 1 in the hole capacity makes sure that if the 1st one doesn't stop them there are others on the way. Great gun! :smileeek:

 

[Dave]

I'm primarily a waterfowl hunter and will go after doves a few times a year. Calling in a wad of mallards from the stratosphere and then working them all the way into the decoys is one of the most exhilarating things I've ever experienced. I don't care if I even get to shoot, just watching the birds work and respond to the call is enough for me. When it does come to shooting time, I use a Winchester 1300 3" pump. Nothing snazzy, just an idiot proof workhorse.

We had a weird season this year. Big push right before the season opened and then the weather was real warm until just before the season let out. We had plenty of ducks, but we had the same ducks all season long it seemed like. They got real wise real fast.

The hunter crouches in his blind
'Neath camouflage of every kind
And conjures up a quacking noise
To lend allure to his decoys
This grown-up man, with pluck and luck
is hoping to outwit a duck

Ogden Nash

 

[big sky trapper]

That 170 grn load absolutly! Ive been playing with that load for almost tweenty year's now in a stock marlin 336. Ive cleanly taken every montana critter with it except a moose over the years.

But with that new fangled 308 marlin that due out any day, my minds a thinking awefull hard on it....(the SS is on the local shelf Im holding out for blued one)

 

[edgear]

new to bowhunting

So I just shot a compound bow for the first time yesterday, and I think I'm hooked! I went with a few friends to an archery range for target shooting. Even though their bows were sized to them, I was slowly able to get the hang of it and see what it was all about. That same day, I also found out that my wife used to do competition archery when she was a kid. So this just might be a fun hobby that we can do together.

I've been an avid bird hunter since about the age of 12 - mostly dove & quail, and I've tried duck & goose a few times. At 16, I got a Cous' whitetail deer (with a rifle). But at that point, I stopped hunting big game all together, and just stuck to birds. I've always enjoyed eating game meat, and defintely don't let the meat that I hunt go to waste. 12 years later, I decided to give big game hunting another chance. About a month ago I got drawn for a rifle elk hunt this coming fall.

I think if I get back into big game hunting seriously, I'd like to go the route of bowhunting. I think it would be more my style, since I enjoy backpacking & exploring so much. The scouting & stealth aspect of it really appeals to me. I read a few bowhunting magazines yesterday and learned quite a bit in a short time. Any other advice for someone new to bowhunting, like books, classes, etc.?

 

[7wt]

Well I am pretty much a bird hunter only, mosty woodcock and ruffed grouse in norther Wisconsin. Man, what a great time! These pics were two years ago in the cold rain up near the UP. The pics were post hunt, because there is too much walking through briars and other assorted rough stuff to take pics during. I am holing a pair of hard fought woodcock I got on a double. The only real flush of the day because Tali the gordon setter likes to run through the woods like smoke. She flushed stuff out of range all the time. Hearing a grouse flush and not being able to see it sucks. Not so much because you can't shoot it but you just want to SEE it. They are so beautiful and the sound they make when they take off is like distant thunder. Awesome! Woodcock are my favorite though because they are a little goofy. They have eyes near the back of their head so they can see their preditors when they are dilling the cold mud for worms. When they flush the make a peenting noise as they fly straigh up to the top of the cover then they are off like a flash, as the bounce off trees trying to get away from you. You can walk past 30 of them a day and never now it but when they do flush, they come up right at your feet. No joke, they scare the crap out our you as the ground explodes. You will almost step on the little guys. After you get one, or I should say IF you get one they are almost impossible to retreive. You need a good dog for sure because they are camoed so well. Amaising little guys. The golden is Haley, she is a treat to have in the woods because she just crashed through stuff. She will walk right over small saplings instead of around them like a normal dog just because she can. She also has incredible eyes. Tali will point them out and after you shoot one, Haley will find it, she only needs to see it go down and she WILL get it. Forgive me for the nasty camo clothes, I normally were proper bird garb but it just got done raining and it was the only thing I had that was water proof.

 

[7wt]

"Nothing like an Upland bird on the grill, except being behind one of your dogs on point in the field."

Ain't that the truth? When we get back to the cottage, we get ready for the real fun. We start an oak fire in the pit, put some corn and apples out for the deer, go inside get cleaned up and put on dry clothes then grab a beer (or six), head out side and put the grouse and woodcock along with some potatoes in foil and maybe a steak or two on a grate that is lowered over the oak coals. Generally after it gets dark it will start to slightly mist or lightly snow as we sit by the fire, watching the deer build up enough courage to come and eat an appple or too. There is always a bat that flies tight circles asround the old rickety light pole eating his dinner. We will stay out there until we run out of beer, food or just too damn cold. The dogs have long been fast alseep after working hard all day, you have to wake them up just to give them a peice of grouse or steak.

 

[sammy]

Hello I am new to the forum but I love to hunt and fish. I love hunting moose,caribou, ducks but best of all bird hunting over setters. Its a great excuse to travel wild country afoot. I enjoy getting to the backcountry by truck and boat and then getting out and go on a walkabout with a gun and my dogs. Nothing makes me happier.
regards Dan

 

[Scott Brady]

I look forward to the day that I can watch a trained dog hunt and a falcon hunt. Maybe both at the same time. It must be an incredible sight.

For me, I want a freezer full of Elk...

 

[edgear]

For me, I want a freezer full of Elk...

If you help me haul mine out this fall, I might share....
:steak: