How does a newbie pick a deer gun?

[Pygmy]

25 minutes ago, left field said:

Thanks, fellows. Appreciate all the solid advice.

I am also looking at a 20G shotgun. My preference is probably an older Wingmaster with tradition and aesthetics being the drivers. I'm assuming the gun functions well for my needs. 

 

Hmmmmmmm....I'm beginning to LIKE this guy....

[Dinsdale]

24 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Hmmmmmmm....I'm beginning to LIKE this guy....

He buys a fixed power scope and you can be boy friends.

[Pygmy]

18 minutes ago, Dinsdale said:

He buys a fixed power scope and you can be boy friends.

I'm hoping "he's"  a GIRL !!

[squirrel slayer]

All a matter of personal preference. As for myself. I just recently got a 30-06 from a buddy who was hard up for cash. (Lost most of my guns in first divorce) that's for another thread. Lol having previously used a .308 I like the 30-06 way better. It is a heavy rifle but seems as if there is no recoil. My wife hunts with a .270. She loves it. And in her defense it's a nice gun. If only shooting at deer or small game consider a shot gun if you have shorter shooting lanes. A decent slug gun with a shot barrel combo will run you as much as a single rifle and serves dual purpose. Just thought. But now I'm the guy that opened an entire world of more stuff to look at.


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[gfdeputy2]

Come up to NH you can shoot everything I have

I agree with the .308 it has a light recoil, very common ammo to find & is a good caliber for an array of game

[left field]

Thanks. It's a challenging or fun dilemma to be in, but I'm probably suffering from a little analysis paralysis. 

If someone comes to me for fly fishing advice on trout rod selection, I could say "here are 15 9' 5wts, pick the three that seem to "fit" you." (Conventional wisdom says 9' 5wt for trout, though I almost never fish that configuration.) Once they have their three, I'll put 10 different 5wt lines on each and have them pick the two rod and line configurations they like. Between those two, advise them to buy one they can afford.

But I typically just say, "take this generic whatever rod and line, and let's go to the river and I'll show you where the trout are, how to cast 20' and how you can best catch them."

Need to take my own advice and just get on with it.

[DirtTime]

There are so many options to us these days it be daunting to choose. The only other advice I can add that hasn't been said is, many times the right gun will pick you. The weight, feel, and caliber will line up and the next thing you know, it's in the cabinet or safe. Remember also, guns are like potato chips, one will never be enough.

Good luck and let us know what you buy.

[LJC]

On Monday, September 12, 2016 at 9:13 AM, left field said:

I have very limited experience and have only really shot a few rifles one afternoon. I have a basic understanding of calibres at best and no experienced hunters to advise me.

I don't plan on deer hunting this year though I have been going through the motions of clearing stands on my Catskills property, cutting shooting lanes, putting up cameras and scouting just to get my head around what I will need to do for next year. I may let a bow hunter use my stands this year.

So, how does someone with no experience or mentors wade through the multitude of options? Gun shops are great, but they seem limited in what they have on hand and I don't want to get it wrong. Are there ranges that let you rent a wide variety of firearms?

Thanks.

Get a 3 inch mag shotgun smoothbore is fine us rem rifled 3 inch slugs  like the Remington 1187 1100  or one of the pump actions. 

Then you with that one gun can hunt deer and small game if you want to 

 Blue Mountain is the range  On the way out of NYC to the caskills

If you want a rifle get a bolt action 30-06 good for anything up to a moose .

 

 

[LJC]

On Monday, September 12, 2016 at 8:33 PM, Pygmy said:

Hmmmmmmm....I'm beginning to LIKE this guy....

 

Buy a shotgun it can be the first and the only gun you ever néed .

Yea a 20 ga is fine if your worried about recoil if your not get the 12ga and if your really not get a gun that can handle 12ga  3 inch mag  shells  when your hunting  with heavy close u probably will not notice recoil anyway . 

Edited September 14, 2016 by LJC

[HuntOrBeHunted]

Get a 30-30 there great guns cant go wrong 

[Jaeger]

On 9/12/2016 at 9:13 AM, left field said:

I have very limited experience and have only really shot a few rifles one afternoon. I have a basic understanding of calibres at best and no experienced hunters to advise me.

I don't plan on deer hunting this year though I have been going through the motions of clearing stands on my Catskills property, cutting shooting lanes, putting up cameras and scouting just to get my head around what I will need to do for next year. I may let a bow hunter use my stands this year.

So, how does someone with no experience or mentors wade through the multitude of options? Gun shops are great, but they seem limited in what they have on hand and I don't want to get it wrong. Are there ranges that let you rent a wide variety of firearms?

Thanks.

I am writing this without having read any other posts(no offense guys, just want to give it to him fresh).

First off, relax.  It is almost impossible to "get it wrong" when choosing a rifle for NY deer hunting.  Any thing between a .243 winchester through a 45-70  and in any pump, lever, semi-auto or bolt is "right".

For a new hunter who's shot a few guns, get what appeals to you as far as the type of gun, lever, bolt, etc.  You'll practice more if you like the gun.

For a caliber, .243 on up.  Again, don't worry or panic, if you're like the rest of us this will not be your only or last gun, it's just a start.

Pick you gun style, then pick a caliber you are comfortable shooting recoil wise.  When in doubt go lighter.  Say the .308 family, .243, .260Rem, 7mm-08 or 308.  And, by the way, a 30-30 is not wrong and an excellent choice to start with, ammo inexpensive and available everywhere.  Practice, practice, practice.  

Leave the longer cases 30-06 for later, they are great and you'll probably wind up with one but get started comfortably first.

Scopes are recommended as most new hunters didn't shoot when young and didn't grow up with open sights.  Any good quality (read ~ $150+) scope will do, stay away from $49 bargains.  Low power 2-7 or 3-9 or a simple straight 4 power will set you up nicely.

 

So there it is, my advice to a new deer hunter.  Keep it simple, and don't sweat getting it "right" or perfect, there is no such animal.  Get a comfortable gun that fits you and buy as much ammo as you can afford (try different brands and bullet weights, some guns are picky and prefer a particular load).

 

Then practice, practice, and practice some more.  And get it off the darn bench after you're sighted in.

 

Oh yeah, have fun, good luck!

 

Jaeger

[chas0218]

I am a remington and tikka guy. I have talked with numerous reps and shooting enthusiasts and they all have said you can't go wrong with the Remington 700 platform or Tikka T3. Now for a deer caliber I recommend anything from .243 winchester to 30 caliber non magnums. I have nothing against bigger, smaller, and/or magnums calibers these are sizes I have used. IMO the magnum calibers are overkill for whitetail deer in NY. I haven't personally taken a shot over 355 yards and in NY it would be tough to get a shot much longer than that and still be safe.

With that being said what kind of hunting are you looking to do? Stand, stalking, ground hunting?

What kind of cover? Hardwoods, overgrown swamps?

What would be your longest shot? 100 yards, 200 yards, further?

Without the above information we can just throw a random caliber in hopes it works for you. I hunt swamps and open fields with a Remington 770 in .243 winchester and a Tikka T3 with .270 winchester. You need to pick and choose your shots no matter what gun you decide. 

I saw you were looking at the remingtion 870 you can get the express magnum just about anywhere and are good guns. My first deer gun was a 20ga. remington 870 and it killed a lot of deer. Get the gun that best suits your needs.

Edited September 14, 2016 by chas0218

[Rattler]

Buy the Remington 870 Wingmaster, but get a 12 gauge that has screw in chokes.  Then buy a slug shooting rifled barrel with a cantilever scope mount on it.  Put a good 2x7 scope on it and you are good to hunt anything on your property.  You won't need anything else until you decide you want to take longer shots, or have a gun that holds more shots.

A 3" mag 870 allows for more range on turkeys and geese, but you can make do without one if you wait for closer shots.  Slugs do not need to be 3" shells.  The difference is negligible, but the recoil is more.

[Core]

Shotgun. Cheap, can use it for other things. Smooth bore slugs good out to 100 yards and foster, in a rifled barrel, 150. There are often deals on combo packages with a smooth bore field barrel plus a rifled cantilever barrel to mount a scope. I could use my mossberg 500 for hunting but I actually shoot a lot of trap (clay) with it. As for brand, mossberg 500 or Remington 870. Don't bother researching any other in the intro category. 500 is cheaper, 870 in my opinion feels a little nicer to cycle. I have a 500 btw.


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[LJC]

10 minutes ago, Core said:

Shotgun. Cheap, can use it for other things. Smooth bore slugs good out to 100 yards and foster, in a rifled barrel, 150. There are often deals on combo packages with a smooth bore field barrel plus a rifled cantilever barrel to mount a scope. I could use my mossberg 500 for hunting but I actually shoot a lot of trap (clay) with it. As for brand, mossberg 500 or Remington 870. Don't bother researching any other in the intro category. 500 is cheaper, 870 in my opinion feels a little nicer to cycle. I have a 500 btw.


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I agree smooth bore  remington like the  870 is a great gun for deer and other things  it's probably should be one of the  first guns anyone getting into hunting should get  in fact that's all you really need in new york state 

[left field]

Again, thanks. 

After laying out my preferences to an experienced acquaintance: traditional wood and blued steel, bolt action, no shot really over 100 metres, some stalking through typical Catskills woods; he recommended a .270 Browning A Bolt 3 Stalker with a 22" barrel and a 3-9x40 scope. I may take a harder look at that.

I spent a little time at Davis Sports the other day looking at shotguns. Surprised at the quality difference between a new wingmaster and one from 40 years ago. What is the consensus on buying a used unknown firearm? 

[chas0218]

.270 is a great caliber and with a nice bullet you can easily take a bear or deer. I love my .270 winchester and it is hard to take any other gun into the woods. With that being said I have no experience with the Browning A bolt. I do however like the TIkka T3, Remington 700, Thompson center (now that smith and wesson owns them), Ruger M77 (haven't shot the american to comment on it). I don't like Savage but they have a large following. I have saw and shot 3 different Savages and I can not stand the accutrigger and one of them can barely keep them in a pie plate at 200 yards. They are everything that a trigger shouldn't be. I would recommend running the actions on all 4 brands I mentioned along with the A bolt and get the one that feels the smoothest and has the best trigger feel for you. I will say that for me the Tikka T3 trigger has a better feel than any rifle I have shot (excluding the high end brands).

Edited September 15, 2016 by chas0218

[ryan]

anything from savage is great.. they are American made and on paper straight out the box I have it in 30-06 and I love it.... not too expensive also comes with Nikon bdc scope accu trigier depending on what combo you buy

[Doewhacker]

1 hour ago, left field said:

Again, thanks. 

After laying out my preferences to an experienced acquaintance: traditional wood and blued steel, bolt action, no shot really over 100 metres, some stalking through typical Catskills woods; he recommended a .270 Browning A Bolt 3 Stalker with a 22" barrel and a 3-9x40 scope. I may take a harder look at that.

I spent a little time at Davis Sports the other day looking at shotguns. Surprised at the quality difference between a new wingmaster and one from 40 years ago. What is the consensus on buying a used unknown firearm? 

Only one issue, Browning's AB3 Stalker doesn't come in wood stock and blued and left hand. You will want to see the X Bolt which does come in Left hand wood/blued.

 

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/72288/Browning+XBLT+Hunter+270+LH

[left field]

He wasn't sure.

Curse of the southpaw, I guess. 

If the AB3 Stalker is more of a workhorse, maybe I should pass on the wood and just "settle" for a synthetic stock.

Damn, I wish I had a grandfather who just handed me a gun at 16 and said, "Here. Have fun and don't kill any mockingbirds."

[thphm]

This is a long story , it should be helpful in picking out a Caliber that you would want to use .

http://www.chuckhawks.com/myth_busting_calibers.htm

 

[Doewhacker]

13 minutes ago, left field said:

He wasn't sure.

Curse of the southpaw, I guess. 

If the AB3 Stalker is more of a workhorse, maybe I should pass on the wood and just "settle" for a synthetic stock.

Damn, I wish I had a grandfather who just handed me a gun at 16 and said, "Here. Have fun and don't kill any mockingbirds."

I have never been able to settle for a ugly tupper ware stock. Sure it will cost a little more but its worth it to me. Sadly I have spent @6 times what a Savage Axis cost on a gun before. Never regretted it for a single second.

 

Edit to add I never had a gun given to me either and I came up in a hunting family, plus I was the first lefty so if I wanted anything I was on my own. I started out with a 870 Wingmaster, gloss wood stock real nice and then went on to rifles and more shot guns.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Doewhacker

[left field]

25 minutes ago, thphm said:

This is a long story , it should be helpful in picking out a Caliber that you would want to use .

http://www.chuckhawks.com/myth_busting_calibers.htm

 

 

A quick glance shows me that I may not have the knowledge to ken that. Give me a few days.

24 minutes ago, Doewhacker said:

I have never been able to settle for a ugly tupper ware stock. Sure it will cost a little more but its worth it to me. Sadly I have spent @6 times what a Savage Axis cost on a gun before. Never regretted it for a single second.

Edit to add I never had a gun given to me either and I came up in a hunting family, plus I was the first lefty so if I wanted anything I was on my own. I started out with a 870 Wingmaster, gloss wood stock real nice and then went on to rifles and more shot guns.

 

5

You found a LH Wingmaster? I've had no end of people tell me to just get used to a RH eject. Love to find a decent used one from a few decades ago.

Used vs. new ... any thoughts?

Edited September 15, 2016 by left field

[Doewhacker]

13 minutes ago, left field said:

 

You found a LH Wingmaster? I've had no end of people tell me to just get used to a RH eject. Love to find a decent used one from a few decades ago.

Used vs. new ... any thoughts?

Yes, close to 18 years ago. I do not care for the newer ones in the looks department with the dull matte finish. Absolutely nothing wrong with a used gun.

 

They make 870's in lefty now, just the matte finish though. Mine came with a 30 inch full choked bird barrel, later on I got a 21 inch rifled sights barrel with screw in choke. I use that now for deer and turkey with their respective chokes. Love it.

[left field]

I appreciate that you love her, but does she still love you? Let's be honest, no relationship can be expected to last for 18 years and stay fresh, and she knows you've been stepping out on her with other guns. It's a hard fact to face, but maybe it's time to set her free and see if she can find love with another. 

If she loves you, she'll come back. If not, I will treat her with the respect she deserves and she'll never want for anything.

Signed,

Lonely in Delhi