Looking for a mentor in South Eastern Kansas
 

Hi all, new to the forum and to the sport. I grew up in a fishing household and no one in my immediate family hunts so I'm looking for a mentor to show a new guy the ropes. I live in South Eastern Kansas, roughly 2 hours east of Wichita. I do not have a rifle yet but I'm working on getting that. I do have some camo and safety orange. I am more concentrated on learning right now vs actually shooting something. I also have my hunters safety. If anyone can help or willing to be a mentor to a newbie, please let me know!

Welcome heartland, glad that you took hunters safety. I hope they're a few guys from eastern Kansas to help out? Your starting out good so far, stay in touch either way, and shoot, practice with your weapon, get efficient, and track blood trails till the end.

Thank you... I hope so too

I'm thinking you could use a good scope and a flat shooting cartridge, out there? I love my .300 it has shot deer from 10 yards to 580 yards. Anyway what gun do you have?

Or should i say what rifle are you thinking of getting?

In my part of the state, your opportunity to shoot past 150yds is very small so im going with a 243

Which I figured I could use for some springtime coyote hunting

Ok, that has worked for many guys, it's a flat shooter for sure, I just prefer a bit bigger caliber for Whitetail anyway. Just make your shot counts and account for the wind out there. I recommend a .308?

I feel that might be a little big for me...im a smaller frame guy

.243 is a great round for a deer and varmint hunter. Only thing I'd say is don't aim for the shoulder, directly, but behind it, since the bullet is small and might not punch through both shoulders to create an exit wound. I personally like being able to take shoulder shots with my .308, since it tends to decrease the margin of error when shooting offhand without time to use a rangefinder (shoot left=vitals; right=miss; up=spine/instant kill; and down=heart shot); I also believe it keeps deer from running as far. But that's up to you---shoulder shots are really just a convenience and not a necessity. Undoubtedly some on here would claim its unforgivable wickedness and a waste of meat, but to each their own.

I'm very thin and weigh 150lbs and my .308's recoil is not excessive. Doesn't hold a candle to the recoil of a .30-06 or even a .30-30.

Maybe? But give it a try, you prolly know someone with a .308/7.62x51? I bet you will be surprised if you hold it tight & go with the recoil. Either way go with the round you feel comfortable and accurate with heartlandnewbie88!

The .243 will work fine for whitetail. And it's a great choice if you're adding coyote as well. Can't help you on the needing a mentor thing. I would suggest possibly looking into some hunting clubs, outdoor clubs, etc and maybe through that you can meet people. Also, if you are on Facebook, look up groups in your area.... As an example... The group "PA Black Bear hunting" has over 3,000 members. And I have met people to hunt with through that. Bear hunting is a little different, in PA allot of people put on big drives so they are looking for people to come out and hunt, but a group like that may open doors for you.
-Jake

Thanx everyone... i really appreciate your help. Im taking everything you say and storing it. I'm here to learn

Thank you bud, hunting deer is a gift, get a GOOD mentor in your area.