New to hunting.
04-13-2014, 09:25 AM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
The Savage youth model would be a good choice. Fit is very important to managing recoil, as well good aiming form. Check with Savage. They were running a deal on youth rifles offering an adult sized stock for later at 50% MSRP.
As far as cartridge, I am not a fan of any 22 cal. for deer. eventhough many deer have been bagged with such rounds as the 22.250 Rem. and 223 Rem. I would advise to stay with one of the "old standards", such as the 243. Win., 260 Rem., and 7mm/08 Rem. as one of the more moderate recoil selections. Certainly the 270 Win. is an excellent choice. Ammo prices continue to rise and availability of some of the more exotic and less popular cartridges are poor in my neck of the woods.
As far as scope ... do not scrimp. Buy the best that your budget can manage. El-Cheapo scopes are just that "cheap" , not a an economical buy because you will sooon want to upgrade. These are bottom end glass, weak QA, little or no performance at low light, most often Chinese made and not durable. I have made that mistake. Stay with one of the proven lines ... Leupold, Burris, Vortex, Nikon, Bushnell (Elite), Ziess, etc. I am confident that if you can manage spending $300 or more, you will end up with a pretty good scope. I would expect that for typical Florida deer hunting, anything in a 1.5-6X40 mm would do great.
When to hunt? As already stated, any time that you can. Check with the Florida WGF info. They probably provide good, free information about the deer estrus cycles across the state. Those dates would be prime.
Good luck.
As far as cartridge, I am not a fan of any 22 cal. for deer. eventhough many deer have been bagged with such rounds as the 22.250 Rem. and 223 Rem. I would advise to stay with one of the "old standards", such as the 243. Win., 260 Rem., and 7mm/08 Rem. as one of the more moderate recoil selections. Certainly the 270 Win. is an excellent choice. Ammo prices continue to rise and availability of some of the more exotic and less popular cartridges are poor in my neck of the woods.
As far as scope ... do not scrimp. Buy the best that your budget can manage. El-Cheapo scopes are just that "cheap" , not a an economical buy because you will sooon want to upgrade. These are bottom end glass, weak QA, little or no performance at low light, most often Chinese made and not durable. I have made that mistake. Stay with one of the proven lines ... Leupold, Burris, Vortex, Nikon, Bushnell (Elite), Ziess, etc. I am confident that if you can manage spending $300 or more, you will end up with a pretty good scope. I would expect that for typical Florida deer hunting, anything in a 1.5-6X40 mm would do great.
When to hunt? As already stated, any time that you can. Check with the Florida WGF info. They probably provide good, free information about the deer estrus cycles across the state. Those dates would be prime.
Good luck.
Last edited by Mojotex; 04-17-2014 at 11:01 AM.
04-13-2014, 09:36 AM
#12
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: S/W Missouri
Posts: 54
I Agree i like 308's savage axis 308 is really good to. great starter gun
04-16-2014, 08:03 PM
#13
Spike
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1
Tips and Trick to Hunting
Hey guys visit this website http://learnhowtohunt.webs.com to get the ultimate guide to hunting whitetails. This website is full of info about hunting and has some gear recommendations as well. Check it out.
Al
04-17-2014, 03:56 AM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
You don't say where in the Gulf Coast of FL you're going to hunt. I was stationed in P/Cola for 4 years and did quite a bit of hunting there. It can be good or bad depending on how hard you want to work at it. A lot of the cover there is really thick and the shots can be very fast and very short.
Where I hunted there were a lot of old logging roads that were closed to vehicles. I found that it I moved along them really slow and kept a watchful eye on the cover I did well. Also sitting and overlooking the roads could be productive (Note, these roads were totally closed so this was legal. If a road is being used for travel by auto do not hunt them in this manner!) but I personally don't have the patience to sit and wait for hours so I mostly walked my game up. One thing, the state has gone to different regs for antler size in much of the Gulf Coast. When I hunted there if a buck had a visible antler he was legal. Now you have to check him out and count points so my old method would be more difficult now.
As to a feeder, I'm not too crazy about the idea of baiting deer so I never did it. It's legal and if it is your thing, go for it but I can't give any advice but unless the rules have changed, feeders are only legal on private land. Don't use one on public land.
FL deer are small. A 243 would be about perfect and so would a 30-30 since the ranges will be short. My favorite was a 6.5x54MS but unless you handload it isn't a round to go out and buy.
Where I hunted there were a lot of old logging roads that were closed to vehicles. I found that it I moved along them really slow and kept a watchful eye on the cover I did well. Also sitting and overlooking the roads could be productive (Note, these roads were totally closed so this was legal. If a road is being used for travel by auto do not hunt them in this manner!) but I personally don't have the patience to sit and wait for hours so I mostly walked my game up. One thing, the state has gone to different regs for antler size in much of the Gulf Coast. When I hunted there if a buck had a visible antler he was legal. Now you have to check him out and count points so my old method would be more difficult now.
As to a feeder, I'm not too crazy about the idea of baiting deer so I never did it. It's legal and if it is your thing, go for it but I can't give any advice but unless the rules have changed, feeders are only legal on private land. Don't use one on public land.
FL deer are small. A 243 would be about perfect and so would a 30-30 since the ranges will be short. My favorite was a 6.5x54MS but unless you handload it isn't a round to go out and buy.
04-17-2014, 04:24 AM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,926
Can't help you
Can't help you. Even if I wanted to. A lot of my hunting equipment still works but much has been discontinued. Either that or the company was sold or folded. A lot that will help a new guy.
Never had a feeder. Never saw the advantage of sitting in one place for a whole day. Just sitting there staring at a feeder. Some hunting ! Waiting until you have to go and fill up the feeder.
Never worried about rifles. Just got one of fifteen kinds or so that works good. Everyone's got a favorite; the one they use a lot.
Lots of electronics these days for hunters. GPS's, iphone, distance finder, and a whole hassle more.
One of my electronic pieces is an old Timex watch. Have to get a new battery for it. The old one just went dead.
That and batteries for a flashlight is all I really need. Try to sell that idea to a new hunter.
And I never quite grasped that over eating and hunting went together. My compass is too old for that. It's use to the long hikes I've made. So much for helping a new hunter. Don't have to walk much if you're guarding a feeder.
Never had a feeder. Never saw the advantage of sitting in one place for a whole day. Just sitting there staring at a feeder. Some hunting ! Waiting until you have to go and fill up the feeder.
Never worried about rifles. Just got one of fifteen kinds or so that works good. Everyone's got a favorite; the one they use a lot.
Lots of electronics these days for hunters. GPS's, iphone, distance finder, and a whole hassle more.
One of my electronic pieces is an old Timex watch. Have to get a new battery for it. The old one just went dead.
That and batteries for a flashlight is all I really need. Try to sell that idea to a new hunter.
And I never quite grasped that over eating and hunting went together. My compass is too old for that. It's use to the long hikes I've made. So much for helping a new hunter. Don't have to walk much if you're guarding a feeder.
Last edited by Valentine; 04-17-2014 at 04:27 AM.
04-17-2014, 07:42 AM
#17
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Buffalo, WY
Posts: 992
The best time of day to hunt is between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. I recommend phoning the local game warden and informing him of your hunt location so you are not mistakenly reported as a poacher. You will need a spotlight, the Q Beam one million candle power is a good choice for this work.
A good bait is honey nut Cheerios. A dozen or so boxes should do.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
A good bait is honey nut Cheerios. A dozen or so boxes should do.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
04-17-2014, 07:47 AM
#18
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
The best time of day to hunt is between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. I recommend phoning the local game warden and informing him of your hunt location so you are not mistakenly reported as a poacher. You will need a spotlight, the Q Beam one million candle power is a good choice for this work.
A good bait is honey nut Cheerios. A dozen or so boxes should do.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
A good bait is honey nut Cheerios. A dozen or so boxes should do.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
***In other words, the best time of day to hunt them is at night!
04-17-2014, 11:09 AM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
Bullcamp82834 speaks truth. I have a gazzillion trail camera photos to prove him right about the best times to come across a good, old buck. Not sure about the Honey-Nut Cherrios though. Shell corn is probably a lot cheaper and probably works about as well. Only drawback I can see is that if there ain;t no action them kernels would be tough on my old toothies.
