Hey Jow Forums I am a califag who wanted to hunt deer. My dad never took me hunting unfortunately so I’ve never known any of the basics. I understand you need tags and stuff but I have a few questions: 1. What rifle should I get to go hunting, I have a budget AR I bought a few years ago, but should I get a bolt action? 2. Where can I hunt? Is public land and private property like ranches fair game? 3. Give me some tips on starting out if you guys could, I don’t really know much about what to do or buy for this, I probably won’t be set up totally for a year which works because season doesn’t open until September or whatever.
tell me your class tell me your yearly wage tell me your area you wish to hunt in.
Jayden Evans
>1. What rifle should I get to go hunting, I have a budget AR I bought a few years ago, but should I get a bolt action? Depends on the area. Your hunting laws may not allow certain rifle calibers/not allow rifles at all. .223 can generally take smaller varieties of deer.
>2. Where can I hunt? Is public land and private property like ranches fair game? Lots of states have public land designated for hunting. Check your local area for a WMA (wildlife management area) or a state forest or state park. They usually have websites that give you all the hunting rules. As for private property, a lot of people hunt this way by either asking for permission or by getting a deer lease.
>3. Give me some tips on starting out if you guys could, I don’t really know much about what to do or buy for this, I probably won’t be set up totally for a year which works because season doesn’t open until September or whatever. Go join a hunting class. They'll teach your local laws and other things. If you've got an uncle/grandpa that hunts, ask them too. Many hunters are delighted to be able to teach someone how to hunt, especially if they're family.
Julian Ross
get a 30-30 theyre cheap now and i want you to tell us if marlin has got all the kinks out finally.
Carson Hernandez
For deer and most other medium sized game, a .30-30 lever action would do you just fine. Plus I don't think there's anything in cali law that would keep you from owning it. They're light, small, and have a quick action. It'll take a deer easily. Whatever weapon you choose, make sure it's in a good caliber and that you practice with it.
Where you can hunt is pretty easily found online. Just search up stuff like "Public hunting land california" and what not. Also, if you have friends or know people with a bunch of land, you can always ask them. Just be respectful and don't trash their land. Helps if you give them a share of the meat as well.
You don't need a lot of gear for hunting. Just make sure you wear comfy, soft layers of clothing that help keep you warm and don't make a lot of noise. You don't need to buy stuff like deer piss or musk or scent stuff (though it can help), I found that just washing my hunting clothes with only water and leaving them to air-dry outside helps out enough. Bring a snack or a small lunch, a water bottle, a sharp knife, and a decent pair of binoculars and you should be set (unless you plan on doing a multi-day camping style hunt.)
Honestly hunting isn't super complicated. It's just a quiet walk in the woods where at the end, you hopefully shoot an animal.
Jaxson Robinson
>Deer 7.62x39, .30-30 Win and .300 BLK are all roughly equivalent and will work fine for deer. If you want to take shots from a bit further, go for something in the .308 family. 7mm-08 is pretty nice, .260 Rem is pretty popular, too. Even .243 Win is pretty nice, but those have a pretty short barrel life, so ehhhhhhh.
Savage Axis is the best dirt-cheap option out there when not on sale, though I hear you can get a Thompson Center Compass for peanuts these days.
Jason Turner
Not OP I got a 2017 336W and it has been g2g for about a dozen innawoods excursions. I dig the matte parkerized finish.
Luis Evans
>Compass You are correct sir OP- 243 is a great durr cartridge. Don’t worry about barrel life. If your $300 rifle only lasts 5000 accurate shots compared to 8000 for a 308 so what? Plus, as you continue to progress you may decide to move up to something like a 308 or 30-06. If you do, then a cheap 243 will serve as the absolute perfect loaner rifle to teach novice hunters with and you can give them that mentoring that you never got.
OP here. Thank you so much guys. This will do the trick. I really like the look of the 30-30 with a scope so I will probably go with that. It’ll probably be some time before I actually get out there. But this helped immensely. Thanks again.
John Jenkins
For deer , especially bigger north CA deer you want 308 as a minimum. 30.06 or 300 win mag will drop deer and moose alike. 7mm or 6.5 is like a medium deer and doubles as a long range target rifle. 30.30 and 300 blk (SUPERSONIC) will be good up to 250 yards 300 max. 270 will be a great reloaders hunting rifle. Can be sighted at 200 and its an inch high at 100 an inch low at 300. But takes shot placement.
I own all calibers listed. You can ask questions if you have any
Joshua Flores
A very good family friend has a large chunk of hunting land and he has a single shot 243 that he lets people use if they are nogunz. I bet 15 people have all shot their first deer with that rifle. The one at linkrelated is tough to beat for a light, nimble accurate rifle + scope for $230 academy.com/shop/pdp/cva-hunter-compact-243-break-action-scoped-rifle#repChildCatid=994856
What is the most cost effective rifle I could get? I like the lever actions cause they look cool and I would feel like a cowboy but is that what I need? Especially since I’m in california.
Grayson Morris
Probably a single-shot rifle like the guy above you. For repeaters, Savage Axis.
Jayden Watson
I don't know if you can get an SKS in Cali; but if you can it's probably one of the best all-around rifles you could ask for
Thomas Bell
I appreciate the info user.
Tyler Turner
Ruger makes a fantastic rifle for fairly cheap. I bought my Ruger American Predator with a Vortex Crossfire II for a little over 700. It's a short, light, handy .308 bolt gun that I feel like I can take everywhere.
Out here in the west, we have to deal with fairly long shots. More so when you go inland a bit. It'd be hard to recommend 30-30 unless you are a very good shot with it. Just about any spitzer rifle cartridge would do well. Though since I have a PTR, I opted for .308 so I don't have to have as many calibers sitting around.
Michael Diaz
The honest answer with centerfire, when you have to be picky and select your ammo for target or hunting, is to look at the cost per round average. Gunbot.net price per round If you get into reloading it will be cheaper , and you can make it super accurate. But honestly you’ll end up shooting more and break even.
Luis Myers
Just poach. What are you scared? Bet you won't faggot.
Evan Powell
Someone pls tell me how to hunt
Live in western WA What do I need What do I do
Xavier Jones
Wut u want to hunt, user? Stupid birds is big difference from cyoot durr How many dollarydoos in your bag of holding?
Jordan James
Take a hunter education course. It may even be required in your area.
Cooper Turner
Do loads of research on where when and how you can hunt, and ignore about 90 percent of technique you see touted online. Every location is different even within 100 miles of each other. once you know where and when you can hunt figure out what works by doing it and asking locals.
I'm cheap as fuck my biggest hunting expenditure by far is gas.
