Hunting Thread

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Springbok

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Dead, the taxidermist said it was the biggest low fence axis he’d ever seen. Pic doesn’t do it justice. Now, some of the high fence axis’ get quite a bit larger...
 
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Hoss

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Last axis I killed was a beast too. We didn't weigh her per se but 150 lbs of man could only get about half its body up off the ground with a simple pulley. He was swinging from the rope like Tarzan. That was before any field dressing. We guessed she was about 225 on the hoof.
 

Guurn

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Looks like I'm taking up hunting again. I used to hunt quite a bit until I was around 40 then I gave it up for... No reason? I still have a hunting type dog and all of my old stuff but now I'm tasking myself with fixing the things, equipment wise, before I head out again. So here goes.

My gun is still the 870 I got for my 16th birthday. I hate the weight. That's first, plus shooting practice. Gotta finish training the dog, that's every day. Lastly I have to fix up the hunting shack. That's next summer. If you guys are interested I'll post occasionally with updates on my progress.
 
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Hoss

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How old are you? People who hate the weight of a gun when they get older often find they hate the recoil of the lighter guns even more.

I wish I still had my that 870 I got when I was 15. Some dopehead stole 20+ years ago. The damn thing constantly failed to feed because a little bar in the action kept slipping out and 3 gunsmithss were unable to fix it. But I still wish I had it. I got pretty good at clearing that jam.
 

Guurn

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I'm 55 but in very good shape. I hear you about recoil and I was considering a 16 or 20 for that reason. I used the smallest loads I could buy for hunting in the past. I'm not sure if I'll be after duck and geese this time but I can use the old gun if I choose that route. I'm expecting mostly grouse and pheasant. I know a 20 with bigger loads will kick just as much as a 12. My more pressing issues atm are used vs new and over under vs auto. I'm going to start fitting guns this weekend.
 

Lenardo

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NICE i'm 53 and just started archery hunting this season, will do archery and shotgun next season(provided i get my FID card)..no luck this season on a deer , my brother in law got 2, one in NY and one on the 2nd to last day of shotgun season- he uses, i think a mossberg 930.

next month i'll be taking the required gun safety course for the state (120 bucks, 4hrs of class time & it ends with live shooting of a pistol at their range)and getting the application filled out after i get the Certificate.

since i just do deer, gonna do 12 gauge and am probably gonna do semi. but when shopping i'll be trying several different ones to see what feels "right" might splurge on a benelli.
 
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Borzak

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I've owned every gun mentioned so far, but I never hunted deer with a shotgun. I preferred the Benelli by a pretty large margin of those listed. I have a couple of 870's including a few before screw in chokes. Two mossbergs. I know the mossbergs are used a lot with a slug barrel. In fact I think I have a slug barrel for mine. They'll all kill a deer and for shooting a non moving target there's probably not a big difference in shooting a slug. The difference in feel comes in on shooting a moving target. Hell get an over under and you could shoot twice 0.01 seconds apart. No seriously don't lol. When I was about 6 my great gradfather had a stevens double barrel 12 gauge that I shot. It shot off both barrels at once. Lucky I ever recovered. I still have it, maybe one day I'll let some other idiot shoot it.

I'm a huge fan of Benelli but seems kind of overkill for deer hunting.
 

Guurn

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I've taken deer with a shotgun (my 870 and an Ithaca) and actually prefer it over my 30-06 since oil never get a shot over 70 yards where i live. If things go smoothly I'll expand back to large animals later.
 

Hoss

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I'm 55 but in very good shape. I hear you about recoil and I was considering a 16 or 20 for that reason. I used the smallest loads I could buy for hunting in the past. I'm not sure if I'll be after duck and geese this time but I can use the old gun if I choose that route. I'm expecting mostly grouse and pheasant. I know a 20 with bigger loads will kick just as much as a 12. My more pressing issues atm are used vs new and over under vs auto. I'm going to start fitting guns this weekend.

If you're recoil sensitive Winchester makes AA Featherlites that are lower recoil than any 20 GA. Even the Featherlite 20ga doesn't have any less recoil than the 12ga. Federal makes a metro load that's meant to be suppressed that some say is even softer. I don't know what size shot you use for pheasant and grouse, but all of those loads will be 7.5 or 8. The biggest drawback to them is they won't cycle a semi auto reliably. I imagine it's possible to tune a gun for them but I've never tried it.

If you are worried about weight, why would you get a double? Isn't that going to be heavier than the 870?
 
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Guurn

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My mid 70s 870 is around 7.5 lbs. A low end o/u like a Stevens 555e is around 6.5. If i go with a 20 you can add the weight difference of the shells as well. You could make the argument that i could just lose 2 pounds of fat and voila! I hate having that weight on my arms in deep grouse woods or in massive pheasant fields.

I've honestly never noticed recoil unless i was hunting geese with BB Magnums. I spent some time reading about cycling this weekend. It's what eliminated autos from the discussion. On grouse i usually use low brass trap loads so a pump or o/u or s/s it is. I freed up the cash this weekend so off to check fit i go. I'm a lefty so that eliminates a ton of crap right away.
 

Hoss

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That surprises me. I thought there was a lot more weight in a shotguns barrel. But apparently not as much as is in the action and mag tube of a pump.

Coulda won money off of me.
 

Borzak

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My O/U feels more balanced toward the back than my semi autos and they have 2 barrels. Lot of weight in the action.
 

Picasso3

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If a 20 or so is all you can handle for health reasons that's one thing but I can't see not using a 12 for waterfowl especially for geese.

I would accept the fate of needing 2 guns. A synthetic 12 ga that'll do 3.5" you won't mind to sit in the shit with and a wooden upland heirloom to shoot skeet. I wouldn't get pump for either.
 
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Picasso3

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Think I've settled on vx3i 4.5x14 for caribou hunting. To me the CDS option only seems helpful for 300wm if you're shooting 400+ yds which.. i shouldn't.
 

LachiusTZ

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Hoss

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You're weird. Being cold always makes me want to kill shit. If the boog happens during the summer I might not show up.
 
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LachiusTZ

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I like cold weather, but to old for sitting still, in the dark, in 35 degrees with 50% humidity or whatever the good forsaken humidity is, freezing my ass off.

The total cost of my current hunting gear is roughly 50$ (excluding gun).

I want some decent shit.

Also I won't be coming to the boog if it's in the summer and outdoors. Esp after dark when the mosquitoes come out
 
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