New Hunter, Deer Season Sat. HELP!
 

Hi Gentlemen (and ladies), my name is Sam, I'm from south Louisiana and Deer season opens next saturday. I just came up with some money for my first rifle, but im new to the sport, and Rifles.. I do know a good deal about hand guns, but hunting gear is somewhat new to me.

im going to be hunting deer in the 2-400 yard range, and would like a rifle and scope combo accurate to 600 yards. I need to stay under $2000.00. Please give me some suggestions as to where the best places to price out online would be.. and i do have a bass pro half hour away if need be. thanks for the help, looking forward to hearing back.

I was looking into the Remington Model 700 XCR (.300) good choice?

I have a 243wssm and love it. It drops then long distance.. Hard to find the wssm anymore, they didnt last.

If I were to go buy a rifle tommorow it would be a 25-06
Are you going only for whitetail or maybe or some other big game one day with it? 2000k is alot.

Eventually i'd like to go bigger. I travel a lot, and all of my buddies would love to go up north and hunt moose or caribou.. But most of the time it's just gonna be your basic whitetail here in La.. nd ideally, i'd like to stay around 1500.. 2000 is just in case theres something i fall in love with

spend as much if not more on your scope as you do on your rifle.

any suggestions? for both? Something easy to find locally would be ideal.

Sako montana in 300 wsm if you are a 1 gun kind of guy. you cant go wrong with a leupold 3x9 vxll or a ziess conquest scope. whats available near you? go shopping. give us more details.

That would be a great rifle for the ranges you are going to shoot. But so would the 270 or 7mm mag. I owned a Remington 700 XCR in 300 WSM. Beautiful rifle and handles quite well if your not recoil shy. Only reason I sold it was I never used it in the woods all that much and ammo was $40.00 or more a box. The other reason was I just cant seem to find anything that handles better then my Remington 7600 for the type of hunting I do. Head to your local gun shop and pick up a bunch of rifles bringing them to your shoulder as if you were going to shoot, pointing at the ceiling or wall obviously, and find what fits you best. Then decide on caliber.

Go with the .300 wsm or the 7mm rem mag if you are looking to shoot way out there, I just bought the 7mm rem mag browning a-bolt myself and love the gun, the recoil aint to bad neither I guess thats because the gun is a little heaver than my others. Far as scopes Id go with the nikon or the leupold, both are very nice scopes.

I use the Rem 700 in a 300 win mag with a Leupold 3-9X50 VX1. The rifle is a little heavy but I can handle it. The scope brings in soooo much light when its gets dark. I could hunt all night on a full moon if it was legal.

But really, dont buy a cheap scope.

I have a 300wby mag, and I know You could drop deer with it at 600yds. It has incredible knock down power, and is big enough to take anything in north america. The only draw back is price of ammo. Weatherby factory ammo around here is anywhere from $50-$80 a box of 20 I personally would recommend a Weatherby Vanguard in Sub MOA 3shots under inch at 100yds factory, or just a plain Vanguard (3 shots under 1 1/2 inches at 100yds. They have extremely smooth actions from the factory, and have an accuracy guarantee. 300Win Mag would be my next on list ammo is pretty cheap, and its velocities are only about 200-300fps under the wby mag. As for a scope, I've had a bushnell banner on mine(300wby) for 5 months and it holds zero time and time again. You dont have to spend $500 to get a scope thats going to perform as Youd like. I would recommend a nikon, but whatever you get, make sure its mounted properly, and recheck rings(tighten) before sighting it in. Also, I sight all my rifles in at 100yds exactly, 1- 1 1/2 inches high, that way out to 300yds I can pretty much hold right on where I want to hit and know it will be there. Practice Practice Practice!!!!! Ohh and Good Luck huntin!!!!!!

thank you sir! some good info in there.

$2000. is quite a lot so you can get whatever you want pretty much. My choice a long time ago was the AR-10. Mine is in 308. but there are many others available now with all the SSM's out there. You can watch all kinds of video's on you tube of people shooting the distances you want to shoot and even old 1950's and maybe 60's video's about the AR-10 308 in military testing. You can buy a DPMS version of the original Armalite for around $1000., or the original Armalite for a few hundred more, which would leave you plenty for a good Shepard scope, set for a 308.
This scope uses a crosshair and then a series of circles below it. You use the crosshair out to say 300 yds or so and after that you center the circle that best fits the deers chest, top to bottom and squeeze! Not only will you be able to estimate the range if you want, by sizing them up, but you can also kill beyond 600 yds. The scope is set up at the factory for the trajectory of your chosen caliber. So bullet drop is no problem. I hear very good things about the effects of these rifles and scopes on Afghan rebels, so I know they work well. I just can't afford the scope yet. These rifles are very accurate and low recoil, and have a ton of features for soldiers, that work just as well for hunters. Of coarse you won't need the three round burst and won't get it in a hunting rifle, but semi auto is better anyway. They are built for rugged use in extreme weather so they make very good hunting rifles indeed. Mine has a collapsible six position stock which is great when you're wearing a t-shirt or many layers or coveralls. Adjust the stock in seconds and hunt! All the controls on the weapon are oversized so they are easily handled with gloves on with either hand. I chose the 16 inch barrelled carbine, thinking accuracy might suffer at long ranges but I was wrong! It shoots way better than the one minute of angle guaranteed by Armalite, and I see no reason to worry about the need for longer sniper rifles, even though you may chose one. I know I am spoiled by ten years of using one, but I really do not think you can do better for accuracy, range, ease of use, low recoil, or dependability. And did I mention that with the Armalite there is a lifetime guarantee for the original purchaser?

Unless you are a naturally gifted marksman, I wouldn't worry too much about long shots your first hunting season. If long range hunting is really in your future plans, then it may make sense to buy a capable rifle now.

This year and for the next few, I'd focus on learning to hunt, and practicing with your new gun. Good hunters get closer to game, and have the ability to place their shots. I know some folks hunt from shooting houses with rifle rests, but other than that, there aren't many shooting benches out there in the woods. Making shots on game is not the same as target shooting. I'd rather kill a deer at 100 yds than 400 yds. To me, getting closer to game is what makes a hunter, not long range shooting ability.

For 2k you could go with 2 rifles.. A good choice for deer out to 400 yards would be the 243 or 7mm-08.. The 7mm-08 would actually be a good mule and elk gun and would suffice on Moose as well..

go to www.czusa.com look at the centerfires. the cz550 american in a 300 win mag or a 7 mag would really do the trick and if you really want an all around rifle for close range and reeeeeaaly long distances the ol' 30-06 does its job. i personally like the 6.5x55 swede. but thats just me. id try the cz's they wont let you down. oh and by the wayy...243wssmslayer is right the 25/06 would be perfect. especially if you get it aclly improved. good luck.

308 does pretty well too

$2000 sounds like a 2 gun setup to me. I would go with something like the 25-06 for your whitetail hunting, then go with something larger, like a 338 for your other adventures. My setup is a 7mm mag Browning A-Bolt with a Leupold 3x9 VXI, which cost me about $750.

I'd echo the sentiments of others when they say don't cut costs on the scope. For me the Leupolds are the best value out there.