New member checking in.

[Dhammer]

We are getting ready to follow my wife's carrer which means a move. Possibly AZ or Texas right now are the top contenders from the Midwest. Hunting is my passion be it bird or deer. For the most part I've done it all with shotgun other then a few trips out to Nebraska hunting with a buddy from the miltary on his families and friend's land. I've got over 30 years of hunting experience. I have a 7 year old. I have been preparing him to start hunting once he gets a little older. Right now, he loves sitting in the blind, in the stand or working (his) dogs in the field with me.

The whole moving to a rifle state has me excited and worried. I got hurt a little 5 years ago. I suffered nerve damage and scar tissue to my lower spine. It plays hell on me. Activity of course aggravates the hell out of the nerves. My stalking up close and personel days are over. I physically cannot pack an animal out. So there's a whole bunch of details I haven't figured out since it all depends on where we end up. My end goal it to buy some hunting land to make it easier on me.

I've been trying to find that rifle/caliber which will be a good fit for me. Flat shooting, more accurate then me , easy on the recoil since it's something else that aggravates nerves. Plus who doesn't like new toys. I've thought about getting into some form of competition to give me something to do since I really miss shooting as much as I use to. I've worked up to 3 rounds of trap last year with a real light recoil load I loaded. 4 is just to much and makes for a few miserable days afterward.


As I was doing searches about rifles and calibers I kept ending up here. After a little bit of lurking I figured it was time to join.
Thanks for reading.

 

[WyoElk2Hunt]

Welcome aboard. My suggestion is a 6.5x284 and you are good to go for flat shooting, low recoil gun that will work on most anything out west up to 1000 yards.gun)

 

[wackinandstackin243]

Welcome and sorry about the injury. I have been drifting away from big game hunting myself in the last few years due to lack of time and limited amount of days one can hunt. You might want to consider varmints and predators. They can be hunted year round in most places and are not physically demanding. You also get more use of a high quality rifle because you can use it more than 1 week a year.

For caliber choice I just cant help myself from mentioning the 243 win. Low recoil. Fairly good long range capability. Versatile on varmints and deer or antelope should you be able to find a hunt that suits your level of physical condition.

Good luck

 

[rdsewell]

+1 for 6.5 x 284 or the .243

 

[Dhammer]

Thanks all,
Deer hunting is my passion... If all goes well, I will have my little slice of heaven within the next year or two. Hopefully, I'll be able to hunt some of other big game as well.

Before I got hurt, I would literally pheasant hunt mornings, my hunting partner would take my dogs home with him and I would be off to a tree stand for the afternoon. Literally, 5 days a week all season. I figured out I did that for something like almost 15 years straight. We'd usally head out to North Dakota or Nebraka for a bird hunt at least once a year too. I would start in early summer, working as much comp time as I could so, I literally had to work 2-3 days a week tops during fall and winter.
I miss hunting that hard and often. Of course my wife doesn't miss that part nor the big dog comming home all tore up. That dog fell in love with wife the first time she saw her. They have a very uniqe bond. Funny thing is, I figured that dog to be a woman hater. That dog as puppy hated my ex. She woundnt let her touch her ever. subsequent gf's she wanted nothing to do with either. When my wife came into the picture I became chopped liver. Hahahaha.

So many caliber options, it's like a kid in the candy store thinking about it. I've got one more AR build to complete when cash flow is better and after were all moved. I've been hooked on the AR's since I was 17 and Uncle Sam issued me my first one. I'm thinking the next one will be a 6.5 Grendel (have upper/lower and most of a lpk kit left over from extra during previous builds). I know there's supposed to be some big changes comming with the one 6.8 this summer and the newly designed pmags allowing a longer aol. Depending on how that pans out, we will see what happens for caliber choice.

I know I want a custom bolt rifle. First one I'll buy built. Seeing what they cost any subsequent ones in other calibers, I'll have to build to keep costs down. I've toyed with building one for a few years on a rem 700 action before I realized how many more options are in the custom bolt action world. I like a challenge and building things. Now, I need that more then ever to keep my brain active. Once we get all moved I want to set up a mini machine shop. I've got the mill, a surface grinder, bench grinder and kilns already. Many moons ago I was in school learning to be a machinist/tool & die making before the industry totally tanked. I miss working with metal.

The one question is do I make em backwards (lefty), I'm a south paw or right handed thinking of my kid someday using em. I don't sell guns so I'm not worried about resale.
Varmint hunting is on my list of things to do. I also want to bring the one precison ar, I built and put it through it's paces on some p dogs at it's maxim range. Before switching to something that can reach out further. I yote hunt a little bit, but it's never really bit me like deer, or pheasant. A little less then ducks and geese but I've never had a good duck/goose spot either.
Again thanks all.