New Hobby: Help me pick the right cartridge

[gjk5]

If you hiked 20 miles with no blisters, load or no load, those are decent boots in my book! Stick with them for now, gives you plenty of time to shop.


I am partial to the Badlands packs myself, but there are lots of good ones. And as said, the MOLLE packs are very versatile, don't skimp though, some of the crappy ones have bad straps and poor load distribution.

Don't go too big either, as you will be tempted to fill it. I had a Badlands 2200 and ditched it, too darn big for a day pack and not big enough for a hauler. I now strap my Superday to a Cabela's Alaskan Guide frame hauler, carry that in to a "day spike camp" so to speak and then take the Superday from there.

 

[iknowftbll]

Those packs that Trebark linked are pretty nice. I'll give them a long hard look before I decide which one is right for me. I am going to see if they sell them here on base first because I want to try them on before I buy. I wouldn't want to spend the $$$ only to find that it didn't fit the way I want it to. Most of those have adjustable straps anyway, so it's a matter of tinkering until you get the right fit, so even if I have to buy online, it shouldn't be a problem.

What are everyone's hunting knives of choice? I have a nice Gerber but I don't know that it is suitable for field dressing.

 

[davkrat]

am leaning toward a Remington 700 with a Nikon scope.

That would be my vote! I have a 700 SPS in .308 that I love. For too long I've been planing to replace el-cheapo scope I have on it with a moderately priced Monarch in 4-16X50mm. Like others have said the .308 covers most everything I ever intend to do. Elk is a once a decade proposition for me in California (if I'm lucky) and our coastal deer are about the size of the smaller white tails I assume you have in VA (compared to the monsters further north of you). Most of the other big game here is feral hogs which can be plenty tough but the .308 is perfect for them and bear. .243 is a popular cartridge out here but I don't really see any reason to get one over a .308 for a one gun hunter other than perhaps varmit shooting but then I'd rather shoot the .22-250. A .30-06 would probably be better for the really big stuff but I think some of the copper solids have sort of leveled the playing field a bit as far as comparing the .308 with 150-168 gr. bullets and the .30-06 with 180's, .300 Win Mag with 180-200's is a whole nother story but the .308/.30-06 debate is pretty close in my book. That last statement will probably open up a can of worms but I would have no problem shooting an elk at reasonable distances with a .308 and 150 gr. ETips.

THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!!!

 

[gjk5]

as cheesey as it may sound, the Swingblade has been the best field dressing knife I've used in years. The Havalons are nice too

 

[Biggs300]

Although I don't currently own one, if I could have only one rifle for deer, black bear, and even elk it would probably be a 30-06. While I have a 25-06, a 358 Win and a 300 Win Mag, I think the 30-06 would perform as well for the game you are looking at hunting.