Comfortable minimum number of guns for effective hunting?

[Tytalus]

Hi All,

I'm very new to gun ownership and hunting in general, as well as this site. All I have so far is a S&W 5 shot revolver that my granddad that is 99 years old. As I'm in Canada, this gun can't be used for hunting

So part of the selling of the hobby to my wife was that I would NOT get into gun collecting, which several of her male relatives have been bad examples of leading to marital strife. (i.e. Running up credit card bills, buying guns instead of getting something for the kids, impulse buys that they couldn't afford etc)

I life in BC, Canada, and so have a very wide availability of game that I can hunt here. I'd like to be able to hunt everything that I legally can at least once, from small game/varmints all the way to big game like Moose. Preserving meat & pelts is a priority, as is getting bullets easily. I'd like to get some fur rugs, jackets and blankets from various critters out there. At the same time, I'd like to keep my options open for long range hunting down the road once I master shooting things close to me. I'm not sure what caliber mix is really necessary for this, from what I've read a guy can get by with maybe 3-4 guns comfortably, but which calibers? Any advice/suggestions would be great.

 

[royinidaho]

Hmmmm, for nearly 35 years I had only two guns. One a 12 gauge and the other a 270 Winchester. I hardly used the shotgun for anything and used the 270 Win for everything from rock chucks, fox, coyote, deer, elk and moose. It served me well.

I now have only 4 rifles. 3 bolt action single shot and one gas gun.

I take two rifles on a hunting trip but can only carry one.

Any of my rifles will cover the spectrum of game but some are major over kill.

I'd say that if you got something like a good shooting 300 WSM one would be sufficient.

 

[D.ID]

I would second the 300 mag or wsm for big game and long range but would suggest a smaller round for fur bearers if you want to save the pelts and keep some real long range option. I personally think ideal would be two guns a 6br for varmints even out to long range and a big 30 or 338 for large game at long range.

 

[hglucky13]

i think if i had to have only one ,it would be my 7mm rem mag. but generally throughout the year i use a 10/22, .223 gas gun, .44 mag pistol, 7 rm, 30-30,.22 revolver.....

 

[HighKnob]

If I had to have just the least I could, since you already have a pistol, I'd add 3 more. 10/22 Ruger, 12 gauge 870 Remington, and a older 700 Remington in 308. That should cover almost anything and you could use the 700 to build you a long range rifle in the future.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I second the 300 WSM (or WM) for a good all around rifle. It's really all you need. If you wanted to get something smaller for smaller game and fur critters, a 243 or 25-06 would be great and fun to shoot and your wife might like it too. For a possible 3rd, a 223 (I'm looking at a Savage Varmint) would be a great target rifle or even fur getter and cheap to shoot.

There ya go...

Have fun and good shooting!

Mark

 

[IdahoCTD]

For me it would be 3-4 rifles and a shotgun if you wanted to hunt birds. I would do a 10/22 Ruger, either a .223 in a AR type platform or a bolt gun in .223, 22-250, or 243, and a .300wm or .300 Weatherby (substitute any of the long belted mags and even a RUM). If I lived there and wanted to hunt grizzly/big black bears a lot I would also pick up a .375 of some flavor (.375 Ruger, .375 H&H, .375 Weatherby, etc.). I only added the 10/22 because they are cheap to plink with and are fun to shoot.

 

[KurtB]

30-06 with Leupold 3.5-10x40
22 long rifle, prefer older ones
12 gauge pump or semi-auto

I could hunt everything in North America with those. Have some others in the safe, but those would cover it all easily for me.

 

[Tytalus]

Thanks for all the help guys, this gives me lots to ponder and think about.

 

[diriel]

Wasn't so awful long ago some one said "Fear the man who only owns a 300 Savage" Ahh yesteryear.

 

[roninflag]

I would second the 300 mag or wsm for big game and long range but would suggest a smaller round for fur bearers if you want to save the pelts and keep some real long range option. I personally think ideal would be two guns a 6br for varmints even out to long range and a big 30 or 338 for large game at long range.

DID- I have a 6mm br. i would not reccomend it to someone who has 0 guns. who does not reload and lives in canada. neither a 6mm -250.

 

[roninflag]

30-06 with Leupold 3.5-10x40
22 long rifle, prefer older ones
12 gauge pump or semi-auto

I could hunt everything in North America with those. Have some others in the safe, but those would cover it all easily for me.

KURT - i second this ! TYT- a lot depends on what and HOW much you hunt big game / small game and birds. another suggestion would be a 308 varmint/5-r 700 and a .223 varmint/5-r 700 ( in place of the 30-06). stainless if you are going to hunt in fowl weather.

 

[trebark]

I think we can all agree that one of the guns you NEED to have is a 12ga. shotgun - pump or semi-auto. I personally have a Remington 11-87 (semi-auto). If you like the pump guns, look at Remington 870. While there are many other brands out there, Remington is a great platform because they are so popular that everyone makes aftermarket accessories for them.

As for hunting rifles, I would agree that everyone should have a 22lr. Personally I prefer a semi-auto for quick follow-ups on scurrying varmints.

Now lets move to the 'big' guns. There are three in my personal battery:

Carry Rifle:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-280-updated-32771/ Since you want a rifle(s) that are easy to get ammo for, I would recommend a rifle like this in 30-06.

Longrange/prone guns:
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-260-mcr-59628/ Here again, 260rem ammo might be difficult to get. So if you had a rifle like this in 243win or 308win it would be easy to get ammo for it. Matter of fact, this rifle started life as a 308 http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-308-1k-rifle-evolution-continues-43510/

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-300rum-mcr-70809/ Finally, everyone should have a big cannon for shooting at BIG critters and waaaaaaaaaay over there. While 300rum is a beast, you might consider a 300winmag as 300winmag ammo is quite abundant.

This makes my personal answer to your initial question: SIX

In the alternative, you could cover this in FOUR: 12ga shotgun, 22lr semi-auto, carry rifle 30-06, prone gun 300winmag.

 

[D.ID]

DID- I have a 6mm br. i would not reccomend it to someone who has 0 guns. who does not reload and lives in canada. neither a 6mm -250.

Good point and thanks for pointing it out. I often forget some people try long range with factory ammo. I guess I assume folks are going to reload. With that in mind the 22-250 and 300 win would be a better two gun recommendation.