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You may have notice that Liberte Austin has joined the TTAG team, posting about hunting stories and producing her weekly hunting digest. To help her know what kinds of topics you’d like discussed, please clue-us-in on your hunting habits. How often do you hunt, where do you hunt, what gun and gear do you use and when do you hunt? If you don’t hunt, would you be willing to learn? Much obliged.

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82 COMMENTS

  1. Due to my limited finances, I haven’t been hunting in a few years. A lack of affordable hunting grounds in Texas would be a prime reason. Preferred game would be deer, hogs and small game. I’ve never hunted birds although the stories I hear about Texas dove hunts make me wish I did.

    • Same problem I have. Would love to go do more hog control, but from what I have been able to find online, it’s so expensive that I couldn’t justify more then once a year as both myself and wife are grad students.

      My friends dads ranch and we do some limited hog hunting there.

        • Sounds to me like those guys are staying away from the headache of hunting public land. I’ve had such bad experiences in the last 5 years, I really can’t blame them. Other people can ruin a good thing.

  2. I hunt deer and elk mostly, in the woods of Northwest Montana. I can hike 20 minutes from my door and be on public land that is only open for archery, black powder and handguns. I can drive about 30 minutes and be on public land open to all rifles. Worst case scenario I can just cull one of the deer on my property, though I don’t really consider that hunting.

    Our archery season starts in September, and I use a 2011 Hoyt carbon fiber Element with a Spot Hog sight.

    Our rifle season starts in October, and I will use my Ruger Gunsite Scout synthetic stock with Leopold 2.5 Scout Scope for general hunting, or my M77 International .270 if I know I am going to have longer shots.

    Sometimes for deer I will carry an M1 Carbine if my shots will be less than 100 yards, or a Stevens 840 30-30 bolt action just because it is light and handy.

  3. Squirrels, my back yard, pellet gun. Love to hunt, just don’t have the time or land to enjoy the sport like I would want. I find it funny that so many land owners complain about hogs but they want you to pay more than the cost of pre-packaged sausage to go out and try to kill one. Much of hunting,for me at least, is economics, if I can buy meat for cheaper than I can kill it, I will.

    • squirrels, back yard, pellet rifles.
      doves, zion, 16ga.
      deer, wisconsin, michigan, southern ill., pennsylvania, .308 10fcm 4x leaupold.
      teal, kankakee, 12ga.
      mustela kathia, nepal, .444 marlin.
      also some humane insect modding. when the yellow and white sulfurs swarm the butterfly bush i paper punch their wings with .177 pellets from an air pistol. when they light and fold their wings vertically it’s an easy shot from 3meters or so. it doesn’t affect their ability to fly as they continue flitting about.
      i can only hope that this may cause alarm in lepidopterist circles.

  4. I hunt deer and varmints. I plan to get into Elk and hog hunting soon. I hunt with rifles. I would like to see articles on affordable hunts around the nation, things the average Joe can tackle.

  5. Deer and elk hunting in Eastern WA in the fall, either off the back porch or other local areas. Mostly get deer, rarely get elk as I tend not to go very far from home (much easier to transport home in the bucket of my tractor than any other way). For field hunting I use a 6x.223 (6mm AR) or 6.5 Grendel as I need to cover wheat field distances (200-400 yards). If I’m hunting forest I’ll use a .300 BLK or .50 for muzzleloader season. I’ll also collect 2-3 ‘yotes throughout the year courtesy a truck AR (10″ 5.56 silenced SBR) at ranges of 200-400 yards. I’d love to head over to E Montana/Wyoming and hunt for pronghorns or down south for hog hunting. The thought of having killed my own bacon is just *soooo* appealing.

  6. Mule deer, elk, antelope, for big game, and a whole lot of time coyote calling, I have literally spent probably half a year in hours hunting the wily coyote. Lots of prairie dogs and other assorted varmints. Some bird hunting. For the big game a 30.06 or a 300 win mag. Been working up a 264 win mag. For Varmints 220 swift for coyotes or a 12 gauge, lots of assorted .22 for smaller stuff. Plinking? just a model 60 marlin. I love the challenge of hunting, the great outdoors that it brings me into, and the peace of God one encounters in nature. I live in Colorado and have landowning cousins, (couple thousand acres) I have also seen this state explode in population since around the year 2000, Areas we used to go are now covered in houses. Makes me sick.
    I am interested in learning about hog hunting and maybe finding good places to go hunt some hogs. Sounds like fun.

  7. Live in Southern AB. Duck and dark geese season runs September 1st to December 24th. Every – Single – Saturday – and – Sunday. That is how often.

  8. Groundhogs invading Midwestern grain storage facilities.

    A .22LR will get the job done but a .223 is more fun.

  9. Moose, deer, caribou, bear (of the black and brown varieties) sheep, goat, bison, grouse, ptarmigan, goose, wolves. Whatever opportunities present themselves in a given year. All over the state of Alaska.

    Remington 700s in .270 Winchester and .35 Whelen, coupled with a Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum.

    This year sounds like it’s gonna be black bear, moose, deer, and mountain goat.

    • Russ- I’m assuming the Deer hunts are down south east way?
      I’ve always wanted to go to Sitka for a hunt down there, but never made it happen. I usually end up poking about around either the minto flats area or up in the white mountains near and north of Fairbanks for moose…
      Any good tips you’d be willing to share for a deer hunt in Alaska? I was raised in Anchorage, but am pretty clueless about where good starting spots are in south central or south east. I’ve more or less done all my hunting except for duck, in the interior, within a few hundred miles of Fairbanks.

  10. I hunt for incongruities 😉

    Just a silly side note, Liberte seems to have that shirt on upside-down. It should read:
    HUNT
    PRAY (for success)
    EAT

    Just sayin’.

  11. I used to hunt many years ago, but age and disability – not to mention poverty – put an end to it. I have the guns and the know-how, just not the strength and endurance anymore to hunt myself.

    Used to be that folks around here would gladly give oldsters like me a package or two of their game, but it’s been a long time since that’s happened now. Hunting “license” and the tags are far, far more expensive than buying meat in the store, so fewer people can afford it at all. Damned shame.

    But there are still some people who hunt and donate the meat, especially where the hogs are such a problem I’d think. There should be a bounty on the darned pests, and organizations set up to distribute the meat to those who need it. But I suppose there are too many “laws” against that to make it practical. Another damned shame.

    If there are exceptions to that… I’d sure like to read about it.

  12. Waterfowl and small game in MO; deer, upland birds, and coyotes in KS.
    Interested in cap and ball muzzle loader hunting in addition to pistol hunting.
    No real opportunity for hogs in this area, but it sounds like fun!

  13. pray then hunt then you will eat if you prayed good

    “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” JAMES 5:16

  14. For me, here in SE Pennsylvania, it has been mostly whitetails (slug gun, rifle, and xbow), Canadas, and squirrels. Done some dove hunting, and maybe I’ll try out yotes and groundhogs sometime. I didn’t take up hunting until my 30s, after I moved here. Mostly I’ve hunted on private farm land through connections I’ve made through friends and work. Now that I’ve got a family, my hunting time and funds are more limited than ever, so when there’s an article or video on some “destination hunt”, canned/ranch hunt, exotic hunt, etc., I usually skip them because they have zero relevance for my situation. Similarly, reviews on expensive equipment, oddball cartridges, etc., may not grab my attention much, either. Honestly, the more mundane the hunting topic, the more interesting it’ll probably be to me.

  15. I guess Eva Shockey turned down your offer? Dare I suggest that Liberte stick to the topic of hunting without meddling into her broader political agenda? But, I suppose that would require greater editorial oversight. Something that TTAG has failed miserably at accomplishing. If I want politically tainted hunting news, then I’ll go to Ammoland.

    I’d personally like to see more topics that cover western style hunts; backcountry/backpack hunting, DIY hunts, spot/stalk hunts, etc. I’d like to see more articles that cover public land. Honestly, I think the topic of hunting is outside the wheelhouse for TTAG. There are far better sources that provide much better information, with writers and contributors that have tremendously more experience. Thus far, TTAG has offered little value with respect to the topic and information on hunting.

    Perhaps your target audience is the uninitiated or the inexperienced hunter? But, you’ll be hard-pressed to grab the attention of a person who’s been actively involved in hunting (both in the field and in the politics) for any amount of time.

    • DonJoe, be aware that to some (me) it is completely unclear what you find “politically tainted” or objectionable in any way here. But now that your post is up, if, as it seems from here, there was none before, we clearly have some kind of political taint in the thread now.

      • If you fail to see the political/republican undertone that supersedes the topic of gun rights on this site by many of its contributors, then you’re not a critical thinker. Gun rights, for which this site was originally intended, is becoming more partisan (republican). If you’re not republican (and all the political ideology it carries), then you’re against gun rights. This alienates many who are liberty minded, support gun rights, and don’t subscribe to the republican dogma. Ironic that her name is Liberte.

        Liberte’s writing is brimming with republican ideology that goes far beyond gun rights, and is without any original thought or composition. For example, Liberte’s lead-in on a recent post, “The best thing to get thrown out the window after ObamaCare is Obama Hunting….”. Aside from the atrocious use of grammar, why even bring up ObamaCare, except for reasons to smear anything having to do with Obama. It’s petty!

        Secondly, she doesn’t even address the issues with the FWS ruling that limited certain kinds of hunting of predators (i.e., aerial hunting, live trapping/baiting, etc.). She makes it obvious… ObamaCare bad = Obama-Hunting bad. Does she even understand or even attempt to articulate the issues?

        The state and outfitter lobbyists didn’t like the ruling because hunting is big business in AK, primarily from out-of-state hunters. Liberte uses Palin’s argument that reducing predator populations are for the benefit of “rural Alaskans” who depend on caribou and moose.

        The FWS ruling didn’t ban predator hunting entirely. It restricted the means used to take predators (can’t hunt them from a helicopter, can’t live trap them, can’t bait them).

        Caribou populations aren’t declining because of predators. Hunting has had a far greater impact than wolves. But, rather than the state reduce its big game quotas (and its revenue) they prefer to decimate a predator species. The fact that she tries to equate hunting wolves in AK with invasive feral hogs in the south is laughable.

        Republican underpinnings (that have no association with gun rights) have been creeping into this site for some time now. You’re just too naïve to recognize it.

        • Don. Pro gun sites, pro gun people, are just about forced to have Republican leanings. The democrats have an anti gun, anti civil rights policy as a plank of their party platform.

          I don’t much care for the gop. But I voted for Trump and will continue to vote gop til a viable alternative that is pro guns/pro civil rights shows up.

        • Don, show us an elected Democrat who supports our civil rights and we’ll cheerfully salute them. Didn’t we do that before? Pretty sure there was that one guy… from… somewhere…
          Hmm. A democrat who supports civil… um, nope, no one really coming to mind.
          Anyone?

        • The 2016 Official Democratic Party Platform officially stated clearly that the party is committed to a) a new “assault weapons” ban, b) closing the “gun show loophole, and c) repealing The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Their vision for America is one where the government gets to decide what kinds of guns we can own, we can’t buy or sell them without government permission, and gun manufacturers, distributors and retailers can be sued out of existence because of a single customer’s criminal use of their product.

          There is only one way to prevent a Democrat from getting elected, and that is to support good Republican candidates. Don, you’re either with us, or you’re against us.

        • A long winded diatribe filled with personal insults? Clearly the average Democrat politician wouldn’t dream of infringing upon gun rights!! And clearly Republican underpinnings “have no association with gun rights”!!! Man, talk about sound logic!

          If only every reader on this site except DonJoe wasn’t so “naïve”, unable to “understand or articulate”, was “uninitiated or inexperienced”, were without “original thought or composition”. So “ironic that her name is Liberte”, I mean, look at all the freedoms she’s stolen AND of course there’s the ones she’s advocating that we lose!!! Man that DonJoe is so amazing. Just look at how much better he is than everyone else by comparison!!!! Don’t believe me? Just ask him, he’ll tell you how horrible you are.

          Color me convinced.

        • Thank you all for proving my point! I never once said democrat, or even libertarian, liberal, classical liberal, etc. You color every gun rights supporter with the broad republican brush. Therefore, everyone not a republican is your enemy, since ONLY republicans value gun rights. Us vs them…

        • I bet all of you complain about identity politics within the democratic party. Do you see the irony.

          Tell me again how the republican party is the champion if civil rights? Aren’t the majority of republicans for expanding the use of the surveillance state? Aren’t the majority of republicans on board with the war on drugs, and the resulting asset forfeitures and 4th amendment abuses that compliment this so called “war”? Aren’t the majority of republicans perfectly fine with using the state to tell a woman how she should treat her body, but at the same time don’t want to state to tell them to bake a cake for a gay couple or pay for insurance that mandates birth control? Let’s not even begin to address the absolute failure of republicans on fiscal conservatism, war mongering and trade isolationism. But, hey, let’s just vote for any candidate that loves guns! …because the second amendment protects all the others, right?

          Let’s elect the WORST representation of a conservative because he said he likes guns for everyone, even though his history would say otherwise. His history would say that he’s only ever cared about himself, but he says he’s for the people. He’s probably the worst abuser of imminent domain and strong arm tactics against the common person. He’s filed for bankruptcy and run numerous businesses into the ground, but he’s going to bring prosperity back to America. Hell, he’s going to drain the swamp in DC. UTTER F’ING BULLSH@T!

          And, what have the republicans accomplished thus far? GOP Obamacare repeal bill? Travel ban? How about that wall Mexico was going to pay for… but I guess we’ll now pay for, and then somehow get compensation from Mexico over the long haul? …maybe by repealing NAFTA? Hey, but at least we’re kicking all the Mexicans out of our country, right? It seems the only competency this president has is his ability to type 140 characters and provide alternative facts. What’s funny is that you’ll probably attack me for being pro ObamaCare, against national security and a naive open borders globalist. None of which I am.

          What of the past? Didn’t the debt and size of government double under Bush? And, how did the US economy fare under Bush?

          By the way, wasn’t it under Obama that gun rights in this country expanded at a pace far greater than any time in recent history, in spite of his anti-gun agenda?

          Oh, and how original, “you’re either with us, or you’re against us”. Do you hear how stupid you sound?

          By conflating the entire republican agenda with gun rights you alienate the other half of the US population. The comments section of TTAG has become an echo chamber for republican dogma, and the published content is beginning to reflect this as well.

          My critique of Liberte is accurate. It wasn’t a personal attack. She, just like many other contributors on this site, contaminate the issue of gun rights (and hunting) with unrelated political issues that have a distinct republican agenda. Though you may not believe it, there are classical liberals, libertarians and even democrats who support gun rights, but would be turned off by comments like, “The best thing to get thrown out the window after ObamaCare is Obama Hunting….”. And, if gun rights is a war about winning minds rather than obliterating our opponents, then the editors at TTAG have a responsibility to ensure the content is non-partisan.

          My other critique is that her writing lacks original thought or composition, and point to a specific example in her recent post. Funny that none of you came to her defense on this matter. I read TTAG for its original content and ideas, whether that is a gun/gear review, interpretation on the issues, etc. I’ve not read anything original from Liberte so far.

          I suspect that as gun rights fall from the public conscience TTAG is looking for other means to draw viewers to this site. Naturally, they are looking to build content from women and hunting. But, whomever these women are they need to be evaluated on the content they provide, and not merely on their gender and glamour shots.

          But, you’ll just end up attacking me for not totting the republican line. Vote for the candidate, not the party.

      • ” If you’re not republican (and all the political ideology it carries), then you’re against gun rights.”

        Wow. Just…wow.

        Yeah, that’s pretty much a fact.

        Are you aware that the last (D) candidate for president, when speaking to her base, stated the Heller decision was decided wrongly?

        You know, the one that decided the 2A actually meant citizens had an actual right to own a gun?

        Without having to ask ‘permission’?

        Do you think a car company is liable if someone drives drunk and kills someone?

        Because that is *exactly* what Progressives want to do to gun companies.

        A little ‘Inconvenient Truth’ for you to ponder…

  16. Deer, Elk when I can, critters. Hunting is the anchor, or reason, for a lot of other activities, all of which I enjoy. Just being in the woods, whatever. Shooting. Scouting. Erecting and maintaining stands. And, not that I’m especially devoted, but I pray more in a deer stand than anywhere else. Time, wonders of nature.

  17. I haven’t hunted since I was a kid. Squirrels in upstate New York, mostly. Deer, too, but not in New York. Living in New York City, a deer hunting trip was like an expedition to a faraway fairytale land where the air was pure, the forests deep and verdant, and the game was abundant.

    I think it was called Pennsylvania.

  18. I neither hunt nor want to, but I have no problem with those who do. Except for the out of town jackwagons who litter up the woods and roadways, that is. However I may be forced to take up actively hunting coyotes and wild hog before long, given their proliferation in my neck of the woods.

  19. Deer and feral pigs in Queensland, home state. Sometimes hares and rabbits for local fruit growers and the occasional fox.

    Kangaroos professionally back in the 80’s & 90’s

    Deer, feral goats and pigs in southern states.

    Use .22, .223 or 30-06 as appropriate

  20. I’m typical in some sense, 12 gauge over and under for dove and turkey.

    30.06 bolt gun for deer and nilgai.

    And in very atypical fasion, an m16a1 with .300 blackout upper for hog control.

    Texas Hill Country.

  21. I am blessed to have family property in north LA. Not a lot but 68 acres is plenty for 2 people to hunt.
    Squirrels with my brother, but passion is whitetail with bow, muzzleloader, or long gun in .308 or 25-06.

  22. Just came back from a crow hunt with my son. We got crows in CA that are big as terrordactels. Claws like fishhooks and beaks like…….really big beaks.

    I hunt rabbit, crow, squirrels, dove, quail, yotes, pigs, deer. All on public lands in CA. Probably will not hunt pigs any more cause of the stupidity of the state and likely won’t hunt deer again, for different reasons.

    Really looking forward to the openers for quail and dove. I had a ball chasing quail around the hills this year.

    Biggest problem hunting here in CA, aside from a-hole public officials, is the distances. A short drive for us is 90 minutes. If you’re trying to get there before sunrise, it’s a get up in the middle of the night thing.

  23. I hunt more days a year than I don’t, although many of those day are nights. Hogs and coyotes mostly at night with suppresses ARs and NV gear. Most years I kill well over 100 pigs, but this last year was really light. Foxes and varmints by call at night with a supressed M&P 15-22, with NVG. I only take a couple foxes, but a ton of other varmints. Deer in October with a stick and string bow. By rifle, flintlock, bolt gun and pistol though early January, and then cull does and spikes eith a supressed 6.8spc through February. I take a couple dozen deer a year. Turkey by pump action 12 guage both spring and fall. I usually take my limit. I go on 2 proper duck hunts each year, paid but unguided, and I pond-jump them the whole season long. I usually do one paid sheep hunt every other year, and one other paid exotic hunt per year. I also hunt exotics catch as catch can while I pig hunt a neighbors land, with some luck. I usually go on a public land hunt in Wyoming for antelope each year, taking 2, all does so far because that’s all I’ve ever drawn. I’ve done that with a bolt gun, bow, pistol and flintlock. I hunt dove all season long, usually with a single shot 20g, just walking around my land. I do one wildly fun swamp rabbit hunt each year with dogs, and I gator “hunt” down on lake Jackson one long weekend a year.
    I mostly hunt my land and my neighbors’ land, as well as a few friends’ land.
    Black bear is next on my list, and my wildest dream hunt is a BC or Yukon moose, both the bear and the moose have to be flintlock.

  24. I’ll be putting in for big horn sheep, antelope, and mountain goat again. I’d like to go for a Marco Polo sheep but I keep blowing money on trips to Africa. .375 H&H for that. The .416 Rigby or the .470 NE if buffalo is on the menu.
    Looking forward to a horse and mule pack trip into Hells Canyon for elk this fall. I’ll use my trusty .300 short mag.
    Deer will hopefully be with good friends in central Oregon. Dads .243 will be put back to use.
    Pheasant, Chukar and grouse. Those are reserved for the beretta o/u silver pigeon 12 ga.
    Fall is going to be busy with a side trip to Alaska for moose. I’m thinking the .300 WSM or the .375 for that trip.
    It’ll be turkey time in about a month. That means it’s Benelli super 90 time using flechette darts. I’m gonna get one if its the last thing I do!

    • Lots of experienced hunters have told me that moose don’t require as much gun as people would think, that a .270 is plenty and the .30-06 is more than enough. I was thinking they were more like Elk, and I was concerned that a .50 caliber flinter wouldn’t be enough gun. But all the regular hunters and guides I have spoken to tell me they require a little less bullet, and that a .50 caliber ball would be fine as long as I did my job, 100 yards and under. Even so, I’m building a smoothbore 20g in rifle style, and if it is anything like my previous smoothbores, I will likely be able to put a .61 caliber ball in a 6″ circle at 75 yards. I’m sure that would do it.

  25. For me, hunting = meat. Hunting for trophy = not my thing.

    As much as I would like to go after wild hogs, being a suburbanite = its a major effort/costs to do so. Doesn’t help that the wife freaks out over my last hunt, but is OK with store bought meat.

    Now it Texas farmers were serious about hog reduction and wouldn’t charge a small fortune for hunters…. I would be interested.

  26. Mostly paper, though with a few aluminum cans and various sized water bottles for variety when up on the BLM range. I was born and raised in Chicago, where I knew no one who hunted or even owned guns, so I never learned. Which is kind of surprising to me, since my father was born and raised in the Allegheny National Forest in North Central Pennsylvania where everybody hunts, yet not in his entire life did he ever speak of it. Went once to the skeet range when I was 17, and other than that, only ate venison when a neighbor (after we moved to the burbs) shared a couple of times.

    Up here in Northern California, plenty of people hunt, but mostly the abundant waterfowl it seems, since the deer herds are sparse, the deer small, and the mountains very steep. I’ve seen hogs, but from what I’ve been told by a ranch owner I know, their diet is mostly acorns and the meat is not at all flavorful. People do hunt bear (not sure why), but the state outlawed using dogs, so that business will likely have fallen off significantly.

  27. I’m an upland game hunter, bird dog owner and duck hunter.
    I hunt quail and ducks here in Florida and I go up north every year for grouse, woodcock and waterfowl.

  28. I hunt whitetail deer in the KCMO area. Archery season I go out with an older compound bow. Firearms season I’m in the woods with a Savage Axis II in .308, topped with a Primary Arms 4-14FFP mil dot scope.

    The private property where I go had zero deer activity this year, so I’ll be knocking on doors this summer for a new spot. Public land around here is very crowded.

    I would love to hunt more but time and money are lacking. Hogs, ducks, coyotes (if I could figure out what to do with them), elk, moose, bighorn sheep, turkey and rabbits are all on the wish list.

    • A few questions, then sir.
      How is a trophy dirtbag determined?
      Are they rated on size? Age? Length of their rap sheet? How far below their waist their pants hang?
      And then, how’s your season going so far?

  29. White tail deer hunting in Michigan. I hunt crossbow and shotgun/rifle depending on if I’m below or above the rifle line. (mossberg500/Remington 742 30-06) . I hunt a mixture of friend/family small (10-50 acres) wooded plots-mostly stand hunting, little to no bait) and some state forest hunting in late November by camper.

    Looking to do more stalk hunts this year, also may do coyote hunting if the opportunity arises. Would love to hog hint but it’s a long commute since there are no wild populations near me.

    I’m a weekend warrior with a family and a full time job which makes everything more difficult- but I usually get the job done at least once a year when I’m not falling out of tree stands. I’m definately a meat hunter but have to respect property owners wishes at times.

  30. Whitetails in Western NY. Bow and rifle , on wife’s family farm , 3,000 acres , it’s divided up among family and friends , we pass on young bucks . Bucks taken have ranged up to 170, body size is really good due to great AG, corn , beans , alapha tons of oaks in the woods.

    Our 1 1/2 old bucks have 8 points and dress out at 120. It’s really not bad at all .

    No fences , or baiting ,cabins up in the air with chairs , scout, figure out patterns, learn the wind but just as important the thermals and hang a stand .

    As a fireman I have tons of time to hunt , but really a few days in the rut is all I need to take a decent buck, does are an almost any day if I want . My daughter needed 3 1/2 hours ( over two days ) to take a fat doe .

  31. I was an avid deer hunter in high school and college. Then I resumed avid deer hunting again from 2008 through last season 2016.

    I have hunted and harvested deer with:
    compound bow
    crossbow
    shotgun (12 gauge Ithaca smooth-bore bird gun no less!)
    rifle (.270 Winchester)
    rifle (.44 Magnum)
    muzzleloader (CVA Optima 50 caliber)

    I have also hunted deer with a .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum revolver but have not harvested a deer.

    Unfortunately, I think I am going to give up deer hunting for several seasons. The last three seasons have been beyond frustrating as I somehow manage to encounter LOUD people (as in screaming, honking car horns, throwing 50 pound logs into large dump trucks) which sends any deer within 1/2 mile into the next county.

    And that is the single greatest challenge in my opinion: finding locations where you can hunt where you have a reasonable expectation of being successful. In my part of the country, such locations seem to always vaporize.

  32. Coyote
    Private property in rural areas of Hendricks and Putnam counties
    AR-15 pattern rifle in 300 Blackout

  33. I was an avid hunter when younger. Now, mostly just a couple of times a year to get in the woods with my son and nephews. Whitetail in South Alabama. Remington 700 (timneized) in .243 win for open areas and Marlin (pre-freedom) 1895 in .45-70 for the brush and forest. I put a Tasco 4-12x on the 700 in 1981 and it is still there. Clear as a bell, adjusts perfectly, and holds zero; one of their models that was made in Japan. Their products made in japan were decent back then.

  34. Western Washington, deer, bear, elk, central wa, turkey. Bow, rifle, muzzle loader, shot gun, coyotes in both places with an AR, all on public land. I also hunt deer in Michigan sometimes with a rifle.

  35. Ducks, geese, deer, pheasant, turkey (unsuccessfully), squirrel, dove, rabbit… If there’s a season I’ll chase it.

    Most of my hunting is in Connecticut or New Hampshire. The exception is dove; due to our lovely “Blue Laws” I head home to Illinois for the tasty grey fighter jets.

    My implement of choice is often a shotgun as I’m often hunting public land.

  36. The last few years, my hunting has sadly been restricted to hunting on my in-laws’ property. I hunt primarily whitetail deer, but some duck and quail on occasion, seasonal schedule permitting. It’s always open season on coyote and hog, but we haven’t seen any hogs on the property in over a year. There is occasional rabbit and squirrel hunting, but we tend to leave that for the nieces and nephews.
    A good friend of mine has an open invite to do some aoudad and hog hunting on his ranch out in Utopia, but his and my schedules haven’t aligned just yet to take advantage of that.

    • Get on that Audad hunt. And don’t believe anything people say about the meat, it is great, and the loins are absolutely delicious, some of my kids’ favorite meat.

      • We’re tentatively scheduled for next month, and I have every intention of processing the meat. Pretty much the only game I won’t eat are the big boars.

  37. Whitetail hunting is my passion and a year-round endeavor on my property in rural Tennessee near the Kentucky border. Primary tools are my Mathews Z7 in archery season, the Browning Medallion 30-06 in regular gun, the TC Contender during muzzle. I also occasionally set out with my Marlin 1894 .44 lever action, the Savage 300 WSM, and the DPMS Sportical in .308.
    I also turkey hunt on the homestead, primarily with my Mossberg 835 ultimag but occasionally with my trusty H&R 10 ga. single shot. I bust coyotes when I can. And fish and frog gig my ponds.
    I do pretty well; since moving out there two years ago I’ve kept the freezer full and harvested the three best deer of my life (40 years hunting), and tagged out both turkey seasons with big, fat gobblers in the 25 lb range. I continue to improve the property, and my deer and turkey populations are actually increasing (if I can keep the coyotes at bay).
    When it comes to hunting, I’m interested in learning more about property management strategies, habitat improvement, and new outdoor gear. I don’t come here for hunting info. I come here for gun info and mostly the vast knowledge of readers and posters here….about guns. The gun articles here and especially the responses to them are both entertaining and highly informative. The site is a go-to GUN resource.
    If I want hunting info I go to hunting sites. Frankly, I find very little of worth in Liberte’s posts. I see what you’re trying to do here, and I’m always open to learning new tactics and viewpoints. I am not arrogant enough to think I know it all, but Liberte’s limited experience just has little value to me. There’s tons better out there and it’s a waste of space on this site.

  38. Deer, Pheasant, Turkey, ground hog, prairie dog, Mule Deer, rabbit, and whatever trips my fancy. Bucket list includes buffalo in South Africa and Black Bear in Alaska. Mostly Iowa, the Dakotas, Kansas, and Minnesota is where you will find me.

  39. I’m a complete nOOb to hunting. I would enjoy articles about how to get into hunting, what types of firearms, optics, and other equipment to consider for different types of hunts, what to wear, what to bring, etc. How does this list change as the weather does? What would be the ultimate load-out to cover most of the bases for a lower-48-state hunt? What’s the best way for someone without any hunter friends to find a group of friendly, decent folks? How about some recommendations on good pay-to-hunt companies that could provide a hunting guide to help me and my son learn from a subject-matter expert while we are out in the field? How about some tips on how to bring your son/daughter into the fold with you?

    Best of luck to you. I’m looking forward to your future articles.

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