New kid from Tucker with some new kid questions

[Guitar Guy]

Hello from Tucker. As a guy in his 40’s who wants to become a hunter, I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for asking a LOT of newbie questions. Though I have done a good bit of fishing and a few bird hunts here and there, I’m really starting from the ground up. I don’t come from a “hunting family” so to speak, but as someone who wants to be more connected to the meat I eat and less connected to factory farming, I am willing to take my time, put in the work, and earn the opportunity to harvest my first animal. I would start with deer for my first “real” hunting experience.

A couple of preliminary questions:

• Which forum is best to pose questions regarding rifle and optic choice? I assume Firearms, Reloading and Scopes?
• Which forum is best to inquire about shooting technique and instruction? I am cross-eye dominant, so I’m going to need some instructor led range time, preferably close to Atlanta.

Thank you and I look forward to the journey!

Steve

 

[Semi-Pro]

Welcome

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

Welcome to the campfire. You should be able ask both questions in the firearms forum. Or do a search for your specific topic. Good luck with your endeavor!

 

[4HAND]

Welcome to the campfire!
Lots of knowledgeable folks here.

 

[The Original Rooster]

Welcome!

 

[Batjack]

Welcome to the Campfire. You found the best place on the net, with the best folks on the net.

 

[JustUs4All]

Steve[/QUOTE]
Hello Steve and welcome.

Questions regarding rifle and optic choice will get answers in "Deer Hunting" and in "Firearms, Reloading & Scopes". There is some fooling around allowed in most forums. If you need a no nonsense answer to a question, there is one fourm where serious answers only are allowed, "On Topic Questions and Answers".

Questions regarding shooting technique and instruction will get answers in the same places.

For anyone new to deer hunting I would recommend looking over the following threads:

Deer Hunting 101 - http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=69253

Oak I.D. - http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/pages/compare-oaks.htm

natural foods - http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=367792

These threads and other similar ones are linked to from the thread "Short cut to misc threads to help your hunting, safety, tracking dogs list etc, etc" -
https://forum.gon.com/threads/short...ing-safety-tracking-dogs-list-etc-etc.639344/

Again, welcome to Woody's and good luck with your hunting experience.

 

[Cmp1]

Welcome, I'm no deer Hunter, but you sure have a great place to get a big one,,,,I sure wish that I could be there fishing,,,,

Lots of great guys and gals here,,,,

 

[35 Whelen]

Are you planning to hunt public land? If so start by reading Charlie Killmaster's "Beginner's guide to hunting public land," it is a sticky in the Public Land thread.

 

[Tight Lines]

Hello from Tucker. As a guy in his 40’s who wants to become a hunter, I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for asking a LOT of newbie questions. Though I have done a good bit of fishing and a few bird hunts here and there, I’m really starting from the ground up. I don’t come from a “hunting family” so to speak, but as someone who wants to be more connected to the meat I eat and less connected to factory farming, I am willing to take my time, put in the work, and earn the opportunity to harvest my first animal. I would start with deer for my first “real” hunting experience.

A couple of preliminary questions:

• Which forum is best to pose questions regarding rifle and optic choice? I assume Firearms, Reloading and Scopes?
• Which forum is best to inquire about shooting technique and instruction? I am cross-eye dominant, so I’m going to need some instructor led range time, preferably close to Atlanta.

Thank you and I look forward to the journey!

Steve

Welcome. My son, brother, and I are all cross dominant. We found it easier to shoot left handed instead of mess with trying to deal with the cross dominance. I can shoot either hand actually, but all my rifles and shotguns are left hand now...except for a few that just make it hard to get left handed like ARs...if you can do it, it is a nice option...I shoot with both eyes open all the time, lefty, left eye dominant...so does my son and brother...

 

[NE GA Pappy]

welcome.

a firearm selection will be best considered after you are set on the type land you are hunting. Up here in the hills, we rarely have shots over 100 yards. A bigger slower moving bullet serves our purposes just fine, and a short gun helps moving thru the brush. In the flatter land down south, you might be looking at a 250 to 300 yard shot over a clear cut or power line right of way. There you would want a flatter shooting cartridge with a higher power scope and probably a bolt action.

Let us know where you intend to hunt

 

[Guitar Guy]

Thanks, guys. Really appreciate the input. I guess that what I'm working towards as my "pay off" goal - and I'm probably talking more than a year down the road, would be to do a guided trip to hunt free range, spot and stalk Axis deer in Texas. They have just about reached nuisance status out there. As an avid cook in addition to an aspiring hunter, axis meat has been on my radar for a long, long time now. To hunt it under challenging conditions and then have a freezer full of it would feel like quite an achievement. Plus, guided axis hunts aren't too out of reach in terms of cost. A number of years down the road, after I have some real experience, I would like to do a guided elk trip out west.

In the meantime, I have ordered a Tikka .30-06 and a Leupold scope, and my first priority is getting marksmanship instruction and lots of trigger time from various shooting positions. I plan to shoot lefty, so I'm going to put in the work and shoot for as long as it takes until I can handle a rifle well and consistently put shots where they need to go.

Some of the guys I was chatting in a Texas hunting forum recommended that as a novice hunter, I think about getting some hog hunts under my belt before I come out to hunt axis - mainly because hog hunts are an easy and affordable way to get "on the job" trigger time and get acclimated to taking an animal's life vs. shooting a target.

So here's a question for you guys - when it comes to GA hog hunts, are there any hunts where I can get 100 yard shots, for instance? It's important for me to get trigger time on my same setup for axis, and even if taking long shots on hogs is "the hard way" or the weapon I'm using is not as ideal as blasting away with an AR from 25 yards, I kind of want to do it the hard way. Are there any hog hunts that have more of a stalk and long shot?