Gearing up for deer in Oz...

[thewillweeks]

First off, I'm new here, so thanks for having me! I've been reading the archives and posts for a months on an almost daily basis and decided I might as well register if I was going to be here so often.

My scenario is as follows, it's deer season soon in Oz, or soon enough we need to start getting ready. I come from a family that hunts winged things only, so I learned to deer hunt from my brother in law, and I in turn taught my sister the basics. We used my brother in law's rifles (due to not owning any at the time), but now he went and moved to Canada, and the rifles are gone too. This is the first year I'm top gun essentially, and I've got two new hunters, one of which also qualifies as a new shooter.

We're planning to bag at least 4 deer this year. Our set up is current as follows.

Me + Mason (non-family, minor, new shooter/hunter)
SKS
122gr JHP
Iron sights, Techsights equipped

Callie (sister, hunting experienced to a degree) + Adam (brother, new to hunting but not shooting) + Dad as spotter (for safety and deer)
Colt AR
Burris red dot
62gr Federal Fusion or 60gr Hornday TAP

My main questions are...
1) Am I disadvantaging Mason by forcing him to learn to shoot/hunt with iron sights first? I learned on irons, and think its better, but I learned on a .22, and we don't have time for a proper primer in .22 and the SKS before December, plus I'm not sure how much good shooting a blade and leaf .22 would help you with a peep and post SKS. Or peep and post AR.

2) On the same note, how many of you hunt red dot only? Meaning, zero magnification. I just had it for plinking and my siblings thought they shot better with it than irons... err, polymers I guess is what I have on the AR. Personally, I think everyone should be qualified with irons before they go punching tickets with optics, am I crazy? They also favored the recoil on the AR...which, I don't get either, I barely feel the SKS.

3) Ammo choice for the AR, not used to slinging anything smaller than 100gr at a deer, will both of those work? Does one have an advantage over the other? The Colt is rocking a 1/8 twist so I should be able to push the weight up a little if I could find heavier/better ammo.

4) Any suggestions on seasoning for deer jerky? This will be the first year we jerk it ourselves..so it'll be interesting.

5) Oh, and one more, what'd you guys think on neck shots? I keep running in to people who swear by them. Personally, I always go for the lung, knowing if I miss I should at least take the shoulder. This year, since I'm shooting a doe I'm planning for a head shot though, save the shoulder and not risk ruining the heart.

Wish me luck guys, between my brother, and Mason, I'm in for quite a bit of range time, which normally is fine, but if I don't get to pull the trigger...

P.S. Mentioning you're training deer hunters is like a magnet around here...I've got at least one college student ready to sign up...

 

[MCgunner]

Welcome to the board. When I read your title, my thoughts were, "I didn't know they had deer in Australia."

No experience with the other subjects, but I went from blade and open sight on a rifle to a peep/aperture rather naturally when I was a kid. I think the reverse would probably be harder. As for red dots, just not for me. I'm sure they work fine, but I prefer a low powdered scope. BUT, my eyes are not young, anymore. I used to be wicked accurate with my iron sighted squirrel rifle. Yes, I think most of us were better in the day, right?

As for jerky seasoning, just salt, garlic powder, and pepper works pretty well. I bought this jerky gun thing, making jerky with a calking gun. You load it with ground meat, pretty easy to do and I do it with a dehydrator now days. The old charcoal smoker thing is a pain for just a bit of jerky. I might go back to that, real jerky, if I had a huge smoker and make multiple pounds at a time, but just for snacks, the dehydrator and jerky gun work. The gun came with some decent seasoning and cure, but there's a little store near me, 35 miles anyway, in Frelsburg, Texas that sells jerky seasoning/cure as well as all sorts of sausage seasoning. The place is FANTASTIC for the meat preparer. http://www.texastastes.com/ Just looking it over, though, I only see a link to the sausage seasonings here. I just got some of the jerky seasonings over there yesterday, but they must not sell online, but maybe if you call 'em. i got some mesquite flavor mix, figure it'll be better than the liquid smoke for the dehydrator. I mix cure seasoning, let sit in the frig over night, and dehydrate the next day. Doing it in a smoker takes every bit of 24 hours. It's a pain, but it's REAL jerky. What I'm doing in the dehydrator is more just "meat snacks", but they keep like jerky and they're good. For older folks with false teeth, it's a heck of a lot easier to chew and bite off, too.

Everyone here knows I shoot for the shoulder, take out the landing gear, no tracking. Might lose a little bit of meat, but not the whole thing.

 

[MCgunner]

Ah, your jerky seasonings are down this page....



http://www.texastastes.com/p852.htm

 

[thewillweeks]

Welcome to the board. When I read your title, my thoughts were, "I didn't know they had deer in Australia."

No experience with the other subjects, but I went from blade and open sight on a rifle to a peep/aperture rather naturally when I was a kid. I think the reverse would probably be harder. As for red dots, just not for me. I'm sure they work fine, but I prefer a low powdered scope. BUT, my eyes are not young, anymore. I used to be wicked accurate with my iron sighted squirrel rifle. Yes, I think most of us were better in the day, right?

I just get a lot of the jokes about Oz, and the witch and all so I figured I'd open with it. Good to know, we might work on the .22 a little then. Thankfully, I'm still "in the day"! At 20 if I'm not "in the day" I don't know when it was!

 

[courtgreene]

I have no idea where oz is, but I guess that doesn't matter. Your 62 grain fusions will do fine. As for the sights, black sight posts are hard to see when it's dusk or daybreak and the light isn't that bright. That's where optics are advantageous. If you get a red dot, get one that allows easy adjustment of the dot's brightness. If you have it too bright in darker conditions you won't see your target behind the dot. I love my eotech but I couldn't afford one when I was twenty. Bushnell and primary arms make decent red dots though. Burris has some good ones too, but also some very bad models. I'm sure there are others.
Neck shots work, but so do lung shots and shoulder shots. Accuracy is what matters, and don't try for a head shot unless you're really sure you can hit it in the brain. REALLY sure. I would choose the fusions over the TAPs because I know they work from experience but someone with a different experience may be along.

 

[Carinfrank]

Hunting is an interesting adventure that gives us more energy and maintain our body, along with it deer hunting is so difficult but it's best compare to other for it should old experienced and licensed hunter.

e liquid chicago

 

[thewillweeks]

I have no idea where oz is, but I guess that doesn't matter. Your 62 grain fusions will do fine. As for the sights, black sight posts are hard to see when it's dusk or daybreak and the light isn't that bright. That's where optics are advantageous. If you get a red dot, get one that allows easy adjustment of the dot's brightness. If you have it too bright in darker conditions you won't see your target behind the dot. I love my eotech but I couldn't afford one when I was twenty. Bushnell and primary arms make decent red dots though. Burris has some good ones too, but also some very bad models. I'm sure there are others.
Neck shots work, but so do lung shots and shoulder shots. Accuracy is what matters, and don't try for a head shot unless you're really sure you can hit it in the brain. REALLY sure. I would choose the fusions over the TAPs because I know they work from experience but someone with a different experience may be along.

Oz, the Wizard of Oz, the wicked witch of the west. Etc. It's just what many people call Kansas after watching to much TV. Red dot is already purchased, had it on the shotgun when I was slinging slugs. It's pretty slick for a cheap one, and adjusts well. Mine's a Burris.

I'm confident that if I get in the range I'm comfortable with, I can make a brain shot, and I won't take that unless I'm in that range. This year is all about the challenge for me, the past years with a scope and 6mm its just been a harvest, no hunt required. Point and shoot. This year I want a challenges, so irons it is for me.

 

[brainwake]

I will give you a tip for jerky. Go the the marinade isle and pick up some Allegro...choose your flavor. if you are just getting started and don't want to experiment with trying to come up with your own, the Allegro is very good and consistent.