Need some help from experienced hunters please
05-29-2009, 08:55 PM
#11
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Livonia,new york
Posts: 564
RE: Need some help from experienced hunters please
30-06 is a great round and you won't be sorry
but a 12 gauge with a smooth and rifled barrel will give you the most bang for your buck
i hunt with a rifled 12 back home in new york and sabots these days are good out to 200 yrds in a 12g with a scope
no joke
but a 12 gauge with a smooth and rifled barrel will give you the most bang for your buck
i hunt with a rifled 12 back home in new york and sabots these days are good out to 200 yrds in a 12g with a scope
no joke
05-30-2009, 03:47 PM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Coralville, IA. USA
Posts: 3,802
RE: Need some help from experienced hunters please
If you're looking for a PRACTICAL one-gun-for-everything deal, then you're only real choice is a 12 gauge shotgun. Of course, this choice has drawbacks too, but a shotgun offers the flexibility to be at least adequate for any game animal within it's limitations due to the variety of shells from light birdshot to heavy monolithic slugs.
If you've got your heart set on a rifle, I'm afraid you're just not going to find a one-size-fits-all solution. A lot of people have suggested and you've considered the .30-06 Springfield, and for big, non-dangerous game it's a great choice. The problem lies in that it's WAY too much for any small game. Pests and varmints it'll do fine, but if you're hunting small GAME animals like rabbits and squirrels, it's EXTREME overkill. I body hit on a rabbit will leave little to no usable meat, so there's not point in shooting them with a .30-06 (or really ANY centerfire rifle, for that matter) unless it's purely for pest control. If you're serious about small game hunting, you're DEFINITELY going to want to forego a CF rifle for a rimfire or shotgun.
If you're primarily focused on big game hunting of animal that won't typically try to kill you back, the .30-06 is an excellent choice.
You also mentioned that you'd like something for hunting, or at least self-defense against, the great bears (like the grizzly). Now, while the .30-06 is certainly better than nothing in a pinch, I sure wouldn't be going out LOOKING for a brown bear with a .30-06 in hand. Even if a close encounter with such a bear were likely I'd want to be packing more firepower than an -06. For that I'd recommend looking at maybe a lever-action big bore like a .45-70, .444 Marlin or .450 Marlin. All three pack plenty of wallop to stop a charging bear, they are guaranteed to make at least a .45 cal hole, and a hard cast lead or copper monolithic bullet will penetrate much better then any .308 cal bullet. Such a rifle would also make an excellent rifle for all N. American big game within the somewhat more limited practical ranges associated with big slow bullets, and again it'd be major overkill for small game.
So my suggestion would be to either consider a big-bore CF rifle for all big/dangerous game, and a rimfire or shotgun for small game use, or go with the .30-06 (and I would NOT go with an auto-loader if my life might depend on reliable operation in extreme conditions, BTW) and the said shotgun/rimfire and use heavy, stoutly constructed bullets that will penetrate well like Barnes, and make darn sure you can hit a charging right where it needs to be hit to stop it.
Mike
If you've got your heart set on a rifle, I'm afraid you're just not going to find a one-size-fits-all solution. A lot of people have suggested and you've considered the .30-06 Springfield, and for big, non-dangerous game it's a great choice. The problem lies in that it's WAY too much for any small game. Pests and varmints it'll do fine, but if you're hunting small GAME animals like rabbits and squirrels, it's EXTREME overkill. I body hit on a rabbit will leave little to no usable meat, so there's not point in shooting them with a .30-06 (or really ANY centerfire rifle, for that matter) unless it's purely for pest control. If you're serious about small game hunting, you're DEFINITELY going to want to forego a CF rifle for a rimfire or shotgun.
If you're primarily focused on big game hunting of animal that won't typically try to kill you back, the .30-06 is an excellent choice.
You also mentioned that you'd like something for hunting, or at least self-defense against, the great bears (like the grizzly). Now, while the .30-06 is certainly better than nothing in a pinch, I sure wouldn't be going out LOOKING for a brown bear with a .30-06 in hand. Even if a close encounter with such a bear were likely I'd want to be packing more firepower than an -06. For that I'd recommend looking at maybe a lever-action big bore like a .45-70, .444 Marlin or .450 Marlin. All three pack plenty of wallop to stop a charging bear, they are guaranteed to make at least a .45 cal hole, and a hard cast lead or copper monolithic bullet will penetrate much better then any .308 cal bullet. Such a rifle would also make an excellent rifle for all N. American big game within the somewhat more limited practical ranges associated with big slow bullets, and again it'd be major overkill for small game.
So my suggestion would be to either consider a big-bore CF rifle for all big/dangerous game, and a rimfire or shotgun for small game use, or go with the .30-06 (and I would NOT go with an auto-loader if my life might depend on reliable operation in extreme conditions, BTW) and the said shotgun/rimfire and use heavy, stoutly constructed bullets that will penetrate well like Barnes, and make darn sure you can hit a charging right where it needs to be hit to stop it.
Mike
