Fishtaconc, Murdy, and Country1, and all others:
Thank you all very much for this valuable information. After reading your solid posts and thinking it over further, I have decided to follow Country1’s advice to start hunting next season. I have made a note to check out sporting good stores as well as online vendors for clearance sales for equipment, namely hunting clothing. My state, New Jersey, gets extremely cold in the winter, and I don’t think I will want to be outside in January and February to hunt even with proper gear. I can withstand snowy days, but here we get sub-zero temperature days on end.
I’ve also made notes on the cantilever scope/optics rail attached the rifled slug barrel and the scope. I am still leaning towards that Mossberg shotgun I showed you guys – but with holiday expenses upon me, I am probably better off buying this weapon later on.
Once again, thank you. I will still take my hunting education course and get a license for my state, which can be renewed annually. At the very least, I will have the basic knowledge for safe hunting and state authorization to go hunting come the fall of 2012. By then, I will have a weapon and the gear needed for hunting, and I will definitely keep my eyes open for sales after hunting season ends, as you pointed out.
Thanks yet again. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hunting!