thewillweeks
Member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2014
- Messages
- 285
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...
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...