seattlesetters

Of course the .243 Win will take any deer from Canada to Mexico. I concur. It will also wound any deer from Canada to Mexico and anywhere in between. I' ve seen it with my own eyes far too many times to admit, and I care for the game I hunt far too much to do them the injustice of using a varmint round to hopefully try and kill them.

My aunt shot the crap out of deer with a .243 and never, ever lost one. My uncle, however, shot many deer with a .243 and I remember all too well trying to track those poor, doomed, wounded animals well past dark. I guess anyone who chooses to shoot the .243 Win must have the mindset that the coyotes have to eat, too. That must be it.

TREEDOG

starboy using a 20 gauge ive never seen the pelts damaged unless it was a CLOSE shot. only time u would notice it is after u skin it and turn it upside down but u wont see it through the side with fur. I never could hit a running rabbit with my .22s so i had to take a shotgun along

Starboy

I don' t think I want to buy a 20 gauge, as I' d just use it for rabbit anyway. It seems like kind of an unnecessary expense. I' m thinking that with the bow, I can use it for rabbit and use it before firearms season for deer. With a careful enough shooting, I won' t have to worry too much about hide/pelt damage.

Oh, and I wasn' t planning on shooting moving rabbits. It wouldn' t be necessary. They just stand where they are and chew on whatever is growing in my grandmother' s garden. I hope that doesn' t count as baiting though, as I think it' s illegal in CT.

paulyseggs

LOL starboy the laws do get a bit over the top, but the only thing thats kinda crazy is how the deer tags get let out, suppressors aren;t legal for hunting in ct, and a good quality pellet rifle will take out a rabbit, i use a benjamin sheridan 22cal, with some pointed pellets, the rifle is dead accurate and i;ve been practicing all winter (wooden matchsticks at 30ft),

vt is a great place to hunt, i lived there for a year, i;m thinking about makin a few trips up so i can hunt with my handgun, never been hunting in Nh, but i have hunted the northern region of ny alot, if your into good backwoods stuff, check out the adirondack park, lots of land good hunting, and great fishing. i;m really thinking about gettin my bow permit so i can hunt my back 40, i;ve got enough land back their for shotgun/muzzleloader but i;m a saftey conscience guy and their are a few too many houses for me to be comfortable...

honestly your best bet is to find a local gunstore, they;ll help you out and if they can;t they' ll send you somewhere that can. i personally try to stay away from kmart or wallmart except when theirs ammo sales, but they do have some good buys on guns too. they just don;t know their buttocks from the elbow on hunting

Starboy

What do you mean? Is that that lottery thing I read about because that makes absolutely no sense to me. I saw all the " zones" for hunting too and it' s just odd. There' s almost no hunting land and some of the zones are in really weird spots. For example, Area 18 is just a bit north of where I' m from (north of Willimantic) and I never have seen a deer there, not to mention there' s a lot of residential area.

I also lived in VT for a year (first year of college). Actually the first time I ever shot a firearm was there. A friend of mine and his father were hunters so we went camping and his dad took a .22 rifle. It was a lot of fun.

I' m going to look into the bow idea. I should have thought of this sooner, but a friend' s family owns an archery range (and I think shop, too). It' ll be a good opportunity to try out some bows and maybe go that route. Besides, bowhunters get a longer season. Any tips on that?

And thanks again for all the advice.

Deleted User

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clearanceman

I just ordered a NEF handirifle superlight in .223.. pretty neat, the poor man' s TC Encore kind of... you can get .22 hornet, .223, .243, 7mm-08, .308, 30-.06, .410, 20, 12 gauge, rifled shotgun barrels or smooth bore, even a .50 cal muzzleloading barrel. Extra barrels are cheap too, $58-$80 plus $10 shipping. The superlight is only 5 1/4 pounds and 35 1/2 inches long with a 20 inch barrel. Most barrels are 22 inches though.. The trigger is not supposed to be very good but the trigger can be lightened...

TREEDOG

Let us know how it shoots when u reicive it, my friends .223 handi rifle had a 20' ' barrel and was pretty accurate.

clearanceman

Will do. I was going to get a Marlin 83TS but for the same price as a low end bolt action rim fire, you can get a centerfire. I still can' t believe it is shorter than my 10/22 with 18 1/2inch barrel. Of course, there is no receiver. The 22 inch optional barrels would still make it barely longer than the 10/22... Might be a nice first deer rifle for my one of my sons when they get older with an extra .243 barrel or something..

TREEDOG

ive got a 22' ' barrel on my 30-06 and it dont weight much and kick isnt bad for a little gun, the 243 should be easy to shoot and a great first gun, or the 7mm-08 if they offer it. i dont know where my paper is to check for available barrels.