What size of gun?
 

What size of gun do you guys shoot? Is there a certain caliber that you prefer to use for a certain animal?

You'll get lots of different suggestions. I don't think there is any one right answer. Not only do you have to match the gun to the game, but you have to match it to whatever statutes are in force in your area. (For example, you can't use a centerfire rifle for deer in Southern Lower Michigan.) Also equally important is to match the gun to yourself, relating to your size, strength, etc.


:sheep: But welcome to the forum

20 gauge is waht i get deer with but last night my dad bought a inline so ill be hittin dat up fosho

Oh, I know that. But I was just seeing what everyone liked to use. I know that I have a .30-30 and I shot my Dad's 7mm last year when I was moose hunting and I don't wanna use any gun lower then that, I use it for all my big game hunting and for waterfowl I prefer 12 gauge.

My favorite is .50 caliber Hawken style muzzleloader. It's heavy so I don't feel hardly any recoil. It's also legal for deer in Southern Lower Michigan. I like the .30-30 also. It's a Winchester 94. My husband put a scope on it because his vision doesn't work so well with the iron sights anymore. I use a single shot .22 for woodchucks. (We eat them. They're just a big squirrel.) And a 20ga. for rabbits, single shot. I can't use a 12ga.. Too much recoil. (I'm really small.)

My husband has some relic Mausers and I like to shoot them a lot. The weight again dampens the recoil some, but I can take about 8-10 shots. I shoot them from a sitting position supporting my arm with my knee. I'm a better shot than my husband, probably because my vision is better. He's just as good with a scope as I am.

We can't get out to hunt as often as we might like to because we have to get my mom to watch our daughter. We take her with us when we go scouting though.

Trust me, I know all about being small! I am only five feet tall, it runs in the family. But I manage to shoot just fine. I like using the Benelli Super Black Eagle 2, its the duck hunting camo version. I was scared at first but once I shot it, it become my new partner. I'm always up for trying new things.

Do you think that your daughter will become a hunter because we need more girls out there to show those guys that hunting is not only for them. ;)

I agree! Get the ladies involved! My sister and little cousin hunt with our camp now and its exciting to see the girls getting deer. I shoot a .30-06 or .30-30 for deer. I use a 12 ga. or .22 for small game. and the rest of my guns are just for enjoyment. I shoot something from my "collection" almost everyday haha but for hunting I stick to the basics.
-Jake

My go to gun for any situation from deer to pigs to Audad is my .300 win mag. But I still like to take my .30-.30 out occaisonally and shoot a pig with it, or use my .357 Mag revolver. For dove hunting I switch back and forth between my 12 gauge pump and my NEF 20 gauge Single Shot (its just fun to shoot).

Other than those guns I really don't use my other ones for anything other than occaisonally shooting for fun.

Tobe

you name it nd i probably have one. my personall favorite as of late is a mod 7 350 mag that i have been carrying the last year or two but if it gtes down to the wire and its time to get serious and kill i always go backi to my iron sights remington pump carbine in 35 whelen or 06

i agree i have one of those nef single shot 20ga i love to plink squrirrals and other small game with it and oh yea its fun to shoot

You have a little bit on me. I'm 4'7" and 73 pounds. I keep seeing those billboards that say I should be in a booster seat in the car. :s1:

Miriam will be two-years old on Oct. 22nd., so she's too young to hunt. But we take her with us scouting and we take her with us fishing too. In fact we take her everywhere we go. :s4: She enjoys crawling through the woods, sneaking up on the animals. (We stalk, we don't hunt from a stand.) We're hunting woodchucks now and she goes with us. She watches me skin and clean them. (We eat them. They're just a big squirrel.)

I prefer to use my 30-06. Its accurate, fun to shoot and little recoil.

DPMS AR-15 in .308

Welll, i am usually the shortest lol. I bet those billboards are super annoying, being short drives me crazy on most parts let alone having that up there.

Yeah, she is pretty little. It's great that you are starting her off young though. It's good that she is willing to come with and is interested in everything. I know most two year olds get bored easily.

We were stopped by a cop once who thought I should be in one of those booster seats. I showed him my driver's license and introduced him to my daughter in the baby seat in the back. He just said. "Sorry, you could have fooled me," and laughed.

We take her almost everywhere with us. We want her to see us all as a family unit and identify with what we do. We also take her with us when we go out for nachos, etc. I'm not old enough to drink, but she enjoys going up and "dancing" with daddy if the band isn't too loud up close.

She really enjoys going out in the woods with us. There's always something different to see. And we try to show her stuff and tell her about it. My mom babysits for us but only if my husband is working or I'm in school. Otherwise she's with us.

We get really irate when we go out to the range and never see any kids there. How do people expect to pass shooting and hunting along to their kids if they don't let them take part in it?

I could go on with this rant, but I had better stop. :s1:

:sheep: Stephanie takes mommying very seriously

I shoot Remington 1100's for waterfowl and turkey, but am upgrading to the 1187 supermag this year. Also i love my 7mm and .300savage

12 gauge for ducks, grouse ,pheasant, goose
30-30 for deer

I have a Savage .270, and a Benelli M2 12 gauge....I can kill anything in North America with that combo.... :s1:

wth...it says that I posted that last one at 4:39am...I WAS NOT up at that hour....lol. I wonder why it says that....:pcwhack:

and now it says that I posted that one at 1:50PM...and it's 8:50AM here....my time settings must have gotten screwed up.....oh well, I'll go fix it :D

i shoot my .243 i like it and i shoot 120 grain federals out of it

i dont think you do.........

ya I gotta agree with sky I don't think you shoot 120 gr feds out of a .243. Sorry
-Jake

Unless your reloading, then I agree with Sky and Bocajnala, federal doesn't even make a 120 gr for .243 win, the highest they go is 100 gr.

i shoot a .308 for deer or a .50cal inline muzzleloader
and i shoot a 12 gauge for everything else

I love a 30-30 lever

<----------13 year reloader and the heaviest ive ever loaded any of my .243's is 110 gr

That would have made me so mad, this one time i went out for supper with my older cousin and my two aunties and some of my younger cousins . My older cousin and auntie's are super tall, so I looked tiny and the kids were smaller then me and the guy who was working, wasn't all there and i am sure he was on something but anyway, he said, 'three kids and three adults!' My mouth dropped instantly, I was very offended. Yeah, i agree. Around where I live I have a very hard time finding girls or even guys who hunt as much as i do. I know guys don't like girls who hunt lots because they can't go out with their buddies without us wanting to go but that's not the case. We need someone to go out hunting with too and if i hunt more then the guys do around here what am i gonna do? Be stuck by myself hunting, I do agree everyone needs their time alone. But you have to respect the females who are out here hunting just as hard or harder then the guys. After all, we need hunting to keep passing down for generations.

I don't know if it's just me but if you want to set me off or make me mad all you have to say is hunting is cruel. Those people drive me insane, with all this hunting is bad stuff. It irritates me so much and I just wish they would understand our point of view. After all, if our ancestors didn't hunt they wouldn't have been alive and either would we. Also, hunting keeps the population down which helps maintain diseases that could get spread and it helps farmers out a lot because here you always get farmers calling you to come shoot geese off of their crops or farmers looking for someone who hunts elk because they are trampolining the crops.

I've gotten used to the size thing. I look exactly like a ten-year old and you need a sense of humor when you're still wearing a training bra in high school. :s2: On the plus side, children's size clothes are cheaper. On the negative side, they don't make maternity clothes in children's size 10. :p

I haven't found too many people who are actually opposed to hunting, lots of people who aren't interested but think it's okay if someone else does it. Some people are shocked that I hunt (and fish) because I'm an extremely girly girl. But I love it and blood doesn't bother me. I have a kind of Shinto attitude so when I kill something, I always thank the spirit of the animal for allowing me to take its life.

We practice shooting a lot. I'm always appalled that I see so many men at the range, but no kids. I think these guys are incredibly selfish. I'm sure most of them have sons and daughters that they could bring to the range. But it seems like it's more fun for them to come out, shoot and hang with their buddies without being annoyed by having to share the time with their kids.

Miriam goes to the range with us, she has her own set of earmuffs, and she loves to watch daddy and mommy shoot and then inspect the targets with us. AND SHE'S NOT EVEN TWO.

Vegetarians/vegans annoy me. I grew up with the typical Japanese diet of predominantly rice and vegetables, but we ate red meat, chicken, eggs, etc., although probably not to the extent most Americans do. Our family still does, although my husband is not Oriental. In fact he's making biscuits and gravy for breakfast and Miriam is "helping." Hunting is an important part of American culture and animal products are an important part of a healthy diet.

Okay, so that's my rant for the day.


:sheep: Please remember that mutton tastes terrible

Hahah. Well, I don't have the size problem. I may be short but I am curvy. My jeans all need to be hemmed though, they are all super super long! And of course, everyone needs a good sense of humour. But I never really did have problems in that area, training bras were over for me early lol. :$

Yeah, i know what you're saying. This guy I know once stated, "I thought I would like a girl who loves hunting and fishing as much as I do but then I realized that when I have a girl like that she always wants to come with and I can't have time with my buddies." It was kind of insulting for me but I guess that's their opinion. I am not the type of person to take away guy time because I do like spending time with my friends too. Plus guys don't realize that there's not a lot of girls who hunt a lot and sometimes it's hard finding a guy around your area who hunts just as much.

When I have kids they will be involved in everything I do, I am pumped to be able to teach people about what I love and enjoy doing. There's no better feeling then when you teach someone about hunting, you are always learning no matter what. I learned a lot from all of the experienced hunters, always have your ears open. They always have advice for you.

My husband and I both have friends but we don't hang out with them really. We just hang out with each other. Anytime people see us, they see the three of us. Mostly we are in the woods, fishing, doing chores, hanging out in our favorite bar, or just sitting and talking. I spend some time here on HNI, but I usually tell him what I'm reading and we discuss it. Sometimes he suggests a comment if the topic is something with which I'm not familar.

I'm pregnant again so my tummy will be getting curvy once more. They don't make maternity clothes in my size, but remember when those really low cut jeans and skirts were in fashion? Well my mom went to Goodwill and bought up some for me. I'll top it off with one of my husband's shirts and I'll be all set. (Your butt doesn't get bigger when you get pregnant, unless you let it. So the lowcut stuff fits below your tummy.)


:sheep: Just sitting and talking eh?

i use a 12 gauage for just bout everything. al we are allowed to use to hunt rifle with in illinois is coyotes, and squirell. so a .22 works well for all those. i have a 12 ga. remington 870 with a 30 inch barrel for rabbit and pheasant. a 12 ga. ithica deerslayer, model 37 for deer.

Yeah, when you have kids things in life become more important then going out all the time and you actually have to be responsible and put them first. And congrats, that's awesome! :) I still wear those low cut jeans lol.

I use a .270 but a 30-30 makes any big game just as dead.

I have a .30-30, it was my first gun actually. It was my birthday present, but last year when i got drawn for moose my Dad told me that I should use his 7mm and ever since I took down my moose, I fell in love with it. Now it's a fight over who gets to use it lol. I love it, it has a lot of power for someone my size but I get way more distance with it. I shot my last whitetail with it too, so it's a pretty good gun. I prefer it over the .30-30 but it's all a matter of opinion.

.........but my opinion is the right one, and the 350 rem is the ultimate big woods caliber. and better yet its chambered in rifles that are short light and can you believe it, still are manufactured w/ iron sights!! perfect for deep woods work