Do you hunt with an AR(15-10 whatever)?

Yeah, I hunt with a modern sporting rifle.....just not an AR platform.

I hunt with an AR-15 in 300 blackout. It makes follow up shots on the hogs much easier.

My primary rifle for calling predators is an AR15. The first deer my stepson shot was with the same AR15, and I have shot a few deer with it as well. My wife's primary calling rifle is an AR15. I am building 2 more in 264LBC/6.5 Grendel for my stepson and I, for him to hunt deer and for us to do some long range together.
All that aside I also hunt with a bolt action .260rem Savage that is my primary long range rifle.

These polls always strike me as foolish (for want of a better word) and here is why. I answered No and here is why. I was hunting long before any AR rifle platform was ever invented. I hunted with what we called a hunting rifle. I chose the caliber and rifle for the game I was hunting. I think most hunters do he same?

Do you hunt with an AR(15-10 whatever)?

Click to expand...

Hunt what? Deer? I hunt deer using a Ruger 44 Carbine because it is better suited for deer hunting where I hunt deer. I hunt rabbit using a 4/10 shotgun with #6 shot because it works best for me but also hunt rabbit with a 22 LR because it works well. Oh yeah, in some areas I also like a good 30-06 or 308 Winchester for deer hunting in a good bolt gun. On the bright side I guess if the only rifle you own is a AR type rifle then it becomes the very best logical choice as a hunting rifle.

Now for hunting people the AR platform is hard to beat. Lightweight and easy to raise on target. I found the rifle suitable in Vietnam but for general hunting here at home in the US I prefer a better choice. So what exactly are we hunting anyway? I hear the AR platform sucks for elephant.

Ron

I hunt varmints and predator with my Ar15. Haven t really ventured into hunting deer or larger game with it. Although I am building a .308 into a hunting rifle as my latest project

I built a dedicated varmint upper for a fixed stock AR15. It's a sub-MOA rifle when I do my part, more accurate with the bullet I like (60gr V-Max) than my Savage was. And that's something, the Savage wasn't exactly a slouch. So yeah, when i go out for varmints, the AR is the go-to rifle now.

9mm AR

For Coyotes and once in a while for the skunk pigs when they get uppity.

I've hunted deer with an AR-15 in 6.8 . Two shots, two dead deer, worked great. I'm hunting open areas now and prefer a bolt gun, but I think an AR works well in general for woods hunting of deer or hog.

20 inch .223 Wylde for prairie dogs and an 18 inch 6.8 SPCII for deer and hogs. Both barrels from a guy in Tenn. Both are more accurate than my 2 Rem 700's

Yes please!!!

I've been hunting with MSR's since the mid 1970's. The first was an HK91 in .308 - because at the time it was considered appropriate to use enough gun to hit a deer out to 300m or more.

After 40 years and 22 of that serving in the Army Reserves I noticed that most aimed shots were under 125m. Whitetail deer mostly stick to edges and broken cover, and as the rut commences they retreat into the deepest cover they can find. I plotted where I had seen deer shot over the years in one area where I have hunted, and where others claimed they had, too. In most cases the whitetail was in timber or cover, and shots weren't over 125m. Which is exactly the use and range our predecessors experienced with the .30-30. They nearly wiped out deer in North America with a short range .30 cal repeating rifle.

Not a bolt. Which I had tried to use after the HK was sold off, and which isn't a good match for whitetail in edges and patchy timber. I've yet to see a deer further than 200m.

And at that point I was substantially convinced that the entire public myth about the M16 was completely wrong. I hadn't ever had the problems claimed with it, but I did have issues with manual action guns.

I built an AR in 6.8 and now enjoy a rifle that is certainly enough gun, and one like I've handled 22 years for weeks at a time in the field.

Now I have a complete pistol lower and can use that in five more days for the Alternate season in Missouri. I have no doubt it will reach out using the 6.8 upper, and when I complete the pistol, it will be enough gun for deer at the ranges I've experienced seeing them for over 40 years. A 10.5" barrel shooting 77gr OTM bronze bullets will have enough punch.

What they both don't have is an intimidating amount of recoil trying to push a 180 gr bullet out past 500m - which I never see and don't need. In fact, most don't - again, the .30-30 was only effective out to 300m and most of us never see shots past 125 in broken timber.

I certainly use enough gun, and can certainly shoot it without worry that the recoil might create an issue, or that the manual action would interfere with a follow up shot. And I can hunt in the pouring rain - did this year - knowing my rifle won't be affected whatsoever by the moisture. Which can't always be said about a porous wood gunstock or carbon steel receiver with almost no anti corrosive treatments whatsoever.

Why would I use something else?

It took a while to get over the discomfort of hunting with an AR15 but I'm ok with it now. They are a natural fit for me and I've carried one a lot.

Cant use 223 in Virginia, must be over.24. So I use some flavor if lever action.

26", heavy barrel, 12 pound, 204 Ruger AR-15 is good medicine for prairie dogs.

For a bit over a quarter of a century now, 100% by choice even though I have plenty of other kinds of rifles. They already had been marketed and used as a hunting rifles since early 60's, before it was adopted by military, and while there's no such thing as be-all, end-all hunting rifle, a variety of AR:s have served me well.

Whitetail, moose, roe deer, capercaillies, black grouse, snow grouse, geese, hares... there's little I haven't hunted with AR:s. They're bona fide hunting rifles, allright. Not to everyone's tastes but they don't need to be and nothing is.

Poll is defective as two choices should not be mutually exclusive.

I had intended to hunt mule deer a few weeks ago with a bolt action but the laminated stock I ordered had the wrong barrel channel (their mistake not mine) and I ended up being forced to hunt with a S&W M&P10 in 7.62x51mm with a few modifications (better stock and free-float handguard). I was hunting very hilly rough terrain and the week I was out had frequent wind shifts so I was changing positions fairly often. I was very happy hunting with an MSR--with my cool weather gear, back pack, food and water it was still light enough and well balanced. The ergonomics were appreciated with gloves on and in the dark before and after. I hunt coyote with a very accurate AR15 as well as a bolt action each in 5.56x45mm. Whether AR15 or AR15, I usually use a 10-rd aluminum mag to save weight. We can possess self-defense arms when hunting (even with a limited type hunt) and use any mag capacity for state-regulated game. Both changes were made because it is not unheard of for hunters to encounter coyotes carrying AK47s.

I encountered 11 does and 2 fawns but my buck tag went unused. One group of 7 does I staked into the next canyon in order to lay glass on them looking for any stubs at all. I was able to scope 6 of the 7 at high mag and there were no stubs

Mike

Interesting though. And something Ive wondered about. For me, I dont hunt yet, but I will be using the AR when I give it a go one of these days. Just dont know if I have the heart to kill anything besides paper.

hq said:

Whitetail, moose, roe deer, capercaillies, black grouse, snow grouse, geese, hares... there's little I haven't hunted with AR:s. They're bona fide hunting rifles, allright. Not to everyone's tastes but they don't need to be and nothing is.

Click to expand...

do you have many Whitetails in Finland? Are they considered a nuisance species or are they managed to keep a huntable population?


I will build an AR for varmint hunting eventually and I am still thinking about one in 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC for deer

Does a FAL count?

I love ar15s for small persons who don't fit my other rifles. Collapsible stocks are great as is negligible recoil. Mine is a .223 and with the right load it puts deer down hard and fast. I've used it myself so that I'd know I was handing it to said small persons with confidence. They work, end of discussion.

Nope. I may go after coyotes with one, though. I just don't get as much time outside as I'd like and coyote season is also ski season.

I hunt with AK's, and if I ever get around to it, I'll be more than happy to hunt with a .300 BLK AR. I'd also hunt with .223 or 5.45 if I had to, but I don't, so I won't.

I could not vote because BOth was not an option.