You guys sure give me inspiration. I got 95% of the meat & fur off of the skull & bleached it a couple of times with peroxide. It looks pretty cool. I'm planning to mount it over the front door of our home, which is a mountain cabin. I borrowed the rifle (a Remington 270) and need to buy something. I liked the 270 and they're only $300 at Walmart, but I'm considering buying a crossbow first. I'm thinking since the bow season begins earlier, and since they're quiet it will a good weapon. I don't know much about them, but it looks like the price starts at about $300 for one that powerful enough for deer. Do any of you guys know anything about them, like what would be some good ones to look at, or bad ones to avoid? I figure I'll probably save for a rifle too, and eventually buy a 270 like I borrowed. Unless you guys have advice on other low-end rifles to consider.
Consider a used crossbow. I picked up a used Barnett quad 400 from Craigslist that shoots 345 fps this year since I hurt my shoulder. Once it gets better I'm gong back to my bow hopefully though. But I paid far less for my crossbow than buying it new... It was effectively brand new.... As for a rifle avoid the rem 770 and 710 and the like. If you go bolt action get the Rem 700 or a savage ... It is well worth the extra money.... But always look at used first ... Especially in this economy you should be able to find a deal. But be ready with cash because good deals don't last long usually.
What's the maximum killing range for a Quad 400, about 60 yards? Also, how do you choose a caliber of rifle? Is there a good chart that compares the differences between them? Things like range, accuracy, cost, etc...
Go look in the I Love This Gun thread in Shiny Things. Here. It really depends on what you're hunting, obviously, but I'm assuming deer. Anything from a 243 to 30-06 is perfectly adequate and plenty accurate in a modern rifle.
The range really depends on the person. How far you can shoot accurately. 50-60 yards it out there IMO for an arrow.... It can be done just should be practiced a lot before attempting. And strive for way shorter shots... As for a gun caliber if your just hunting white tails the 270 is a great round... The 30.06 is another option... You can hunt anything with it ... I am sure it probably has been used for everything on the planet
Fe Boy took this one all on his own! Picked his own stand, Took the shot, Drug it out to the trail head and cleaned it on his own!
Ruger American in .308. I am a diehard Rem 700 guy, shooting a custom 700 Mtn. Rifle myself and I gotta tell you that for the money, this is one smoking rifle. It feels much better than the entry Savage and Mossberg offerings not to mention the Rem 770 turd. It is light, has an adjustable trigger, composite (plastic) stock, floated barrel. One of my favorite features is the detachable 4 shot rotary magazine. The boy has gun safety pounded into his head since he was first allowed to touch guns and the mag allows him to easily unload the gun, drop the mag in order to get in and out of his deer stand. I have fired the gun at 200+/- yards and it is damn accurate for an out of the box, mass produce, entry priced rifle! It isn't a "one holer" like some of the 700's I have owned but more than accurate enough for a hunting rifle.
I was hunting a ladder stand know as the Taj Mahal on December 29. It had rained all night and the weather broke right before dawn. The stand looks over a food plot and sits in valley between to ridges that are well used travel corridors. The ridge to the right is very steep with a creek running at its base. The ridge to the left is much taller and has a band of trees that run thru the middle. At about 8:30, a nice buck appeared to my left, about half way up the slope. Though closer to me, I couldn't gauge the width of his rack and didn't take a shot. As he moved down the ridge and away from me, I was able to see that his rack was just past his ears and was a shooter for this late in the season. Well, the deer never stopped; he wasn't spooked but it was clear he wanted to be someplace else. You can see from the picture above that there is no way to shoot into the mess he was traveling through. At the far end of the clearing, the trail he was running dips down out of the trees then enters impassible thicket. At about 180 yds there was a window of about 5 feet that I could shoot before the deer disappeared. I positioned myself so that when he came into the gap in the trees, I could pull the trigger. Long story short, I hit the deer way back. Fe Boy and I tracked him to the adjoining property line but were afraid to proceed because we had no way to contact the adjoining club and no idea if anyone was hunting. Now that season is over, we were able to go in and recover the deer. We spotted a buzzard circling about 500 yds in the thickest blow-down, snag imaginable, he was in the general area I expected him to be and was found lying next to a cedar rub that was as big as my leg.
Deer season is over in KS and I did not shoot a deer during bow season but would not say I had no luck. I set up two nephews and one niece, ages 8-12 and they all got a deer during rifle season! Now I have to wait until April 10th for TURKEY SEASON!
