Two Rifles For your State?

Status
Not open for further replies.
.223/5.56 for coyotes and deer, and 22LR for small game. Thats all i need for Maine hunts. Tho most of the time i take a 20 gauge or 410 for grays and rabbits.
 
When I lived and hunted in Montana, my answer would have been 7MM Rem Mag and a .22

Then lived in the Alaskan interior and was still good with the same two but had I hunted coastal bears, I probably would have bought a .338 Win Mag or better, a 375 H&H, and still, the .22

I don’t hunt anymore and now live in Texas. My 7MM will still kill most anything here I’d hunt. And the .22 would still work fine for small game.

Of course, I could swap the 7 mag for a 30.06 in any situation and still be good to go.
 
If we don't count a 22lr for things like squirrels or rabbits then my choice would be a .223, either an AR or a Ruger American with AR mag, and a CZ 550 in 6.5x55. If we do count the rimfire then it would be a CZ 455 22lr and a Winchester Model 70 in .243 Winchester.

If we expand the area from just Alabama to the entire Southeast, then I would change the 6.5x55/243 to a Model 70 in 30-06 and call it good. And, realistically that combo would cover the lower 48 fairly well.
 
7mm-08 and my .50 cal muzzleloader pretty much get all the "real" hunting use for me, in TX, but my Howa Mini 7.62x39 gets a fair amount of use for feral pig work - but I don't really consider that "hunting" anymore.
 
Buzznrose said:
When I lived and hunted in Montana, my answer would have been 7MM Rem Mag and a .22

Then lived in the Alaskan interior and was still good with the same two but had I hunted coastal bears, I probably would have bought a .338 Win Mag or better, a 375 H&H, and still, the .22

I don’t hunt anymore and now live in Texas. My 7MM will still kill most anything here I’d hunt. And the .22 would still work fine for small game.

Of course, I could swap the 7 mag for a 30.06 in any situation and still be good to go.
Click to expand...
Pretty hard to argue with that.
 
Chuck R. said:
For my state exclusively I'd pick .22LR which would be for practice & squirrels, and I'll stick with .270 for the rest.

Smallest things I hunt are squirrels, largest is mulies, varmint bullets in the .270 will take care of yotes.
Click to expand...
Same here in Ca. Biggest possible non-exotic ranch critter is a tule elk, the .270 will handle it all. .22 LR for the small stuff.
Stay safe.
 
Discounting the exotic game ranch offerings (yet including most of their animals), the .25-06 Remington and 7mm-08 Remington for me. Everything from antelope hunting at the top of the Texas Panhandle to the South Texas mesquite scrub and everything in between (East Texas piney woods, Guadalupe Mountains, Texas Hill Country, Balcones escarpment).
 
I'm in Kansas and Ive seen a couple guys say 223/5.56 was ok for coyotes/varmints, which is news to me ... I always heard to legally hunt in Kansas it had to be a .24 caliber or larger ... BUT, I don't hunt so maybe thats changed or maybe .223 has always been okay for varmints.

Now, if I had to choose just two I guess it would be my SiG 556-SBR (.223) and SiG SSG in 6.5 Creedmoor ... I would miss my SiG 522-SBR tho.

0458-E67-B-0-D5-D-403-F-94-DE-78-BF30-B897-B2.jpg
 
Last edited:
This brings up a secondary topic that I wonder if it's ever been discussed. Guys talk about the versatility of a single caliber, where you can go from a really soft plink load to a full load elk load and everything in between from just one caliber. While I understand that, to me the work involved just in developing each individual load, plus re-zeroing your scope after switching from one load to the next, it just seems so much easier for me to just buy more rifles in calibers dedicated for the power level I'm looking to achieve. Sorry, that was off-topic but it's always something I've wondered about.
 
Olympus said:
This brings up a secondary topic that I wonder if it's ever been discussed. Guys talk about the versatility of a single caliber, where you can go from a really soft plink load to a full load elk load and everything in between from just one caliber. While I understand that, to me the work involved just in developing each individual load, plus re-zeroing your scope after switching from one load to the next, it just seems so much easier for me to just buy more rifles in calibers dedicated for the power level I'm looking to achieve. Sorry, that was off-topic but it's always something I've wondered about.
Click to expand...
This is my all-around load.

https://www.underwoodammo.com/colle...osler-accubond-spitzer?variant=18785712242745

But I have rifles chambered for more than this cartridge.
 
For Alaska, 30-06 and a 22LR. Preferably some sort of co-witness rifle scope/iron sight on the 30-06 so as to be able to use it close-in in thick cover (moose, bears) and long distance on open tundra (caribou, muskox). The 22 I would probably just go with some low power scope.
 
WisBorn said:
Do you use a rifled slug gun to hunt deer?
Click to expand...
I own a rifled barrel for my shotgun, I hope to use it someday...
In my area you need to have a farmer or landowner allow you to hunt their property, public areas are few and are divided up by lottery and the woods are crawling with folks who will happily shoot at anything that moves.
I have a place I could hunt on the Illinois/wisconsin/Iowa border (galena, il) where a friend has a hunting property with a cabin but I only get an invite if his son can't make it - about once every 5 years.
I would love to hunt but I've only deer hunted one time, as a youth in northern Wisconsin and luckily I didn't get a shot because I was severely unprepared .
I have hunted squirrel and other small game but that's infrequently too, I don't come from a hunting family but I plan to raise my daughter's (1&3) to hunt when they're old enough, I need to learn more and experience some success before I can hope to correct the family tradition. It's a tough one but I am working on it.
 
Olympus said:
to me the work involved just in developing each individual load, plus re-zeroing your scope after switching from one load to the next, it just seems so much easier for me to just buy more rifles in calibers dedicated for the power level I'm looking to achieve. Sorry, that was off-topic but it's always something I've wondered about.
Click to expand...

Except that the "work" involved in developing both loads, is half the fun for some of us.

IMO, as much as I hate to admit it, the .308 is pretty tough to beat for a true "do all" caliber. I say that because I've loaded .308's with 125's clocking in at 3K, and with 180's running 2600, and there isn't much those two loads can't take care of quite nicely.
 
Obturation said:
I own a rifled barrel for my shotgun, I hope to use it someday...
In my area you need to have a farmer or landowner allow you to hunt their property, public areas are few and are divided up by lottery and the woods are crawling with folks who will happily shoot at anything that moves.
I have a place I could hunt on the Illinois/wisconsin/Iowa border (galena, il) where a friend has a hunting property with a cabin but I only get an invite if his son can't make it - about once every 5 years.
I would love to hunt but I've only deer hunted one time, as a youth in northern Wisconsin and luckily I didn't get a shot because I was severely unprepared .
I have hunted squirrel and other small game but that's infrequently too, I don't come from a hunting family but I plan to raise my daughter's (1&3) to hunt when they're old enough, I need to learn more and experience some success before I can hope to correct the family tradition. It's a tough one but I am working on it.
Click to expand...
I could say so much about this post...

I know Illinois fairly well. Lived there 6 years. My father grew up there (Chicago) and he retired in WI. Your post almost perfectly describes his mindset, and that of most folks I know from upstate IL. I lived in Southern IL, and the mindset there is quite different when it comes to hunting, because it's part of the culture there, mostly because of the abundance of places to hunt for the average person.

I'll cut to the chase... Hope ain't gonna establish a family tradition of hunting. Work will. If you want to raise your kids hunting, then you're gonna have to get off your rear, quit hoping and start doing your homework. Right now, it doesn't sound like much of a priority for you. If you want hunting to be a family tradition, then that has to change.

Sorry to sound so blunt. I pray you'll make it happen for yourself, and especially those kids.
 
Newtosavage said:
I could say so much about this post...

I know Illinois fairly well. Lived there 6 years. My father grew up there (Chicago) and he retired in WI. Your post almost perfectly describes his mindset, and that of most folks I know from upstate IL. I lived in Southern IL, and the mindset there is quite different when it comes to hunting, because it's part of the culture there, mostly because of the abundance of places to hunt for the average person.

I'll cut to the chase... Hope ain't gonna establish a family tradition of hunting. Work will. If you want to raise your kids hunting, then you're gonna have to get off your rear, quit hoping and start doing your homework. Right now, it doesn't sound like much of a priority for you. If you want hunting to be a family tradition, then that has to change.

Sorry to sound so blunt. I pray you'll make it happen for yourself, and especially those kids.
Click to expand...
Been working on it and I'm at the point of having most if not all the required equipment (for deer or turkey ) and the will. The things I'm short on are time and property. I'm working on getting permission for this fall and there is an experienced hunter willing to come with me. Don't know if it'll happen but I'm trying.
 
Obturation said:
Been working on it and I'm at the point of having most if not all the required equipment (for deer or turkey ) and the will. The things I'm short on are time and property. I'm working on getting permission for this fall and there is an experienced hunter willing to come with me. Don't know if it'll happen but I'm trying.
Click to expand...

Something else to consider which is much easier to get into is coyote hunting. Year round season, and there are plenty of farmers who might be hesitant to let you deer hunt in their timber that will gladly let you hunt coyote. Can help get your foot in the door with some people.

Another option to consider for deer to get you going is archery season. Alot more time to work with and easier to get into, not having to deal with the lottery and all that crap. If/when I start on deer, I'll likely pick up a crossbow (already have one picked out) since they're legal now and it'll be less of a transition from firearms, and go from there.
 
Olympus said:
This brings up a secondary topic that I wonder if it's ever been discussed. Guys talk about the versatility of a single caliber, where you can go from a really soft plink load to a full load elk load and everything in between from just one caliber. While I understand that, to me the work involved just in developing each individual load, plus re-zeroing your scope after switching from one load to the next, it just seems so much easier for me to just buy more rifles in calibers dedicated for the power level I'm looking to achieve. Sorry, that was off-topic but it's always something I've wondered about.
Click to expand...

You're kind of right. But once the work is done. It's like an investment. But I would wager that it is nigh unto impossible to have that one caliber that truly does do it all. I love to say that a Winchester Model 70 (any bolt gun really) in 30-06 is the Alaska do it all. And you can load a 110 grn bullet down pretty slow,b ut that still isn't terribly efficient at taking small game. I can load my 243 down to small game and varmints better than I can a 30-06, and I can use it effectively on caribou, especially with a barnes X bullet. Moose it's starts getting iffy. And no matter what, I'm always carrying a 44 magnum handgun for bears, so even then, it's not truly a one caliber solution for everything.
 
Obturation said:
I own a rifled barrel for my shotgun, I hope to use it someday...
In my area you need to have a farmer or landowner allow you to hunt their property, public areas are few and are divided up by lottery and the woods are crawling with folks who will happily shoot at anything that moves.
I have a place I could hunt on the Illinois/wisconsin/Iowa border (galena, il) where a friend has a hunting property with a cabin but I only get an invite if his son can't make it - about once every 5 years.
I would love to hunt but I've only deer hunted one time, as a youth in northern Wisconsin and luckily I didn't get a shot because I was severely unprepared .
I have hunted squirrel and other small game but that's infrequently too, I don't come from a hunting family but I plan to raise my daughter's (1&3) to hunt when they're old enough, I need to learn more and experience some success before I can hope to correct the family tradition. It's a tough one but I am working on it.
Click to expand...
It is amazingly difficult to start hunting with no experience. It sounds so simple, and it is really, but the little details hunters "just know" are many. My son is 12 and can get a mentored tag that the season starts really early. Maybe we will go run around like idiots and try to make something work this year. Best of luck
 
Obturation said:
Been working on it and I'm at the point of having most if not all the required equipment (for deer or turkey ) and the will. The things I'm short on are time and property. I'm working on getting permission for this fall and there is an experienced hunter willing to come with me. Don't know if it'll happen but I'm trying.
Click to expand...
Best of luck to you! If you ever make it out this way let me know, ill set something up.

I taught myself, picked up from reading those horrible gun rags, or learned from friends my age, pretty much all hunting/gun related stuff I knew.
Neither of my parents were really interested, or had knowledge. The bumbles Ive made could fill a encyclopedia of what not to do lol.

Still, I had some advantages. Primarily a large area to just wander around and make mistakes. An extremely large Axis population helped, so did a huge dove and other game bird population.

If theres two things I learned can make up for lack of experience its cover ground, and be very comfortable with your chosen hunting implement. Sheer luck will often reward you with SOMETHING, which is how it usually starts......

Newtosavage said:
Except that the "work" involved in developing both loads, is half the fun for some of us.
Click to expand...
I really envy you guys that like reloading. With as much as I like guns and shooting, youd think id really enjoy developing loads and stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

troy fairweather
  • Locked
Two rifle set for North America hunting, what cartridges would you pick.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Replies
175
Views
7K
T.R.
T
G
  • Locked
Advice:One rifle or Two? And what caliber?
Replies
19
Views
693
ThomasT
ThomasT
J
  • Locked
Newbie looking for a hunting rifle
Replies
10
Views
743
Cueball
C
D
  • Locked
Deer Hunting with rifles in New York State
Replies
6
Views
1K
GunGoBoom
G
C
  • Locked
Pick 3 rifle calibers.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Replies
243
Views
12K
jeridurine
J
Back
Top