NM Deer Hunting

Hemmingway · 03-25-2008, 06:54 PM

Well first off I'm new here and would like to say hello...

Anyway, I'll get to the point. I've hunted off and on for all of my life, but I've never actually hunted for deer. I've been with people but never hunted my self. I need some advice. First, what kinda gun would you all recommend? Keep in mind I ain't rich... Second what kinda tips do you have for a first time deer hunt?

MrsS · 03-25-2008, 06:55 PM

Well Hello there Hemmingway, and welcome to the site! Can't help you on deer hunting tips seeing how I don't hunt but you'll get plenty of advice here! Enjoy the forums.

Lng Rng · 03-25-2008, 07:29 PM

There are a lot of guns available for deer hunting, but a Savage package deal might work well for you. They come with a scope and are bore-sighted from the factory, which will help when sighting in.

For calibers, anything between .243 and 30-06 will work fine. Other than that, just make sure to pick a spot that you will see deer and spend as many motionless, quiet hours there as possible.

Keep in mind to have all the proper accesories, like knives, gutting gloves ect...

7mmremmag1995 · 03-25-2008, 07:42 PM

+1 on the Savage package rifles. also you might want some scent eliminator for the continously changing wind goes bad. also need some good binos or a rangefinder so you can scan the horizon for oncoming deer or the occasional sneaky coyote whos looking for a meal but finds a bullet

SwedeSteve · 03-25-2008, 10:24 PM

Welcome to G&G!

ArkansasHunter · 03-25-2008, 10:46 PM

Hey feller !!! tell me sumpin what kinda rifle style are you interested in ?
Leveraction, Boltaction, Semi-auto, singleshot ?
That would hep some.
Your profile says you live in New Mexico so due to vast open areas a Boltaction rifle would be my first choice.
When you hunted with others were the shots they took at Deer over 100 yards ?
Do you think you can stand a little extra recoil ? Then buy you a 300 win. Mag in a brand rifle that fits your budjet...A.H

Hemmingway · 03-25-2008, 11:13 PM

I'm defiantly looking for a bolt. I was thinking along the lines of a .243 or .308... a .243 so i could spend the off season looking for some coyotes and not mussing up their fur TOO much, but a .308 sounds like it would drop a deer pretty sufficiently. I think I'd like to go after an antelope sometime as well, so...

ArkansasHunter · 03-25-2008, 11:22 PM

If the 308 is the maximun caliber you'll consider than please buy a 308.
Thats what I started deer hunting with this past year.

Buy the way would you consider a Ruger boltaction ? Ruger did a complete make over of there boltaction rifles.
There named the Haweye, which is what I bought.
Now there's a lot of boltaction rifles on the market to choose from and the New Ruger actually has more to offer for what you would pay for one.
We'll save space here so I'll recommend you go to Rugers web site.
This rifle has everything a sportsman desires in a rifle now. Mauser type action, target trigger, Hammer forged barrels made by Ruger now plus several other features so check one out.
They should be selling well over a $1000.00 but mine cost me with tax included $601.00 and our tax is close to 10 percent...A.H

nathangdad · 03-26-2008, 06:46 AM

I like the 7mm/08 but note other cartridges do very well on deer.
One factor is the anticipated distance to the target. Naturally,
you cannot know this in advance but general knowlege of the terrain upon
which you plan to hunt and the experience of guides and/or hunters in the
area can be a big help. A little common sense goes a long way. If the hunt is in heavily wooded areas where 50 yards might be long distance shot you do not want a 7mm Remington Mag with a variable scope turned up to 9X. A .30-30 with a 1x-4x scope would be more in order.

As others have mentioned, the .243 through the .30-06 encompasses
a number of excellent cartridges. Due to mass production a good used
rifle in .308 or .30-06 might be easiest to locate.

Best advice - whatever you choose get in some major practice before the hunt as quick reaction to a good target opportunity is often the difference between success and failure.

Good luck and good hunting.

samuel · 03-26-2008, 07:27 AM

My experience in N.M. is,you should think in terms of a deer/elk gun and ranges between 50 and 350yds.Also,unless it has settled down out there,you will need one that handles wind fairly good.This in my experience ,means a rifle that will push a fairly heavy bullet out to 300yds fairly fast and flat.The .270/7mm,s starting with the .270win/7mm-08 do pretty good and the .30,s do better starting with the .308win.I dont know how recoil sensitive you are,but two of my favorites in your country are the 7mm rem. mag and the 300win.mag.The .308/.30-06 will do it in .30cal but I always liked that little extra in the .300win,mag.Still,you would be well armed with either of the others and less recoil.In your country I always used a fairly powerful hunting scope,starting in the 3x9x40 range and a 4x16x50 as max.A good,not cheap pair of binocs is almost an absolute necessity. Nathangdad and others gave good advice and all I read should be considered. sam.

AKHunter · 03-26-2008, 11:11 AM

Alot of good advice there ! Welcome and have fun!

turner · 03-27-2008, 09:52 AM

Hemmingway, You've already gotten a good bit of very good advice, I'll simply slide in another idea or two. Because you are going to be new to the sport of deer hunting, it could be wise to start out with a medium caliber, medium sized scope, and most of all, a medium budget for the scope and rifle! I'd like to suggest a relative newcomer for a rifle, a Marlin XLR bolt action rifle. I'll suggest one of these calibers...25/06 which has plenty of punch for any CXP2 game at ranges up to 300+ yards using 115-120 gr bullets or .270 a caliber legendary in it's effectiveness on deer-sized game. This rifle comes fitted with bases and you should be able to find it NIB for right at $300. It has a LOT of nice features, not a fancy rifle, but likely will last a good long time. As a scope choice, I'd recommend a Leupold VXI in either 2-7x33 or 3-9x40. There's not a lot of difference there in power for big game hunting and either is of sufficient magnification for shots at 400yds...a VERY long poke! Contrary to what some say/think the 7X or 9X is perfectly sufficient for sight-in at 100 and/or 200yd ranges and will produce groups as good as a 10, 12 or 14x will, I promise. Either of these scopes can be found for right at $200. These are not "economy priced" junk products. They are both products produced by companies with long and excellent histories in shooting / hunting arms and scopes here. Good Luck.

sell33 · 03-27-2008, 10:19 AM

I would suggest ruger as well, but check gun shops for used, they can be had much cheaper. Also remington 700 is a good gun. I saw one a couple days ago for 400. It was 243, bl/syn. very good for the price, if i had the money with me i would have bought it. Good luck hunting...

Phil Lozano · 04-01-2008, 10:59 AM

Personally, I would say, if you are limiting yourself to just deer, anything from the 257 Roberts - 300 Mags. would work well.

I would not choose a 243 (I own 1 and a 6mm as well) as they cannot be relied upon under all situations, IMO.

However, I would not hesitate in choosing darn near any cartridge between a 270 Win. to 300 Mag. for deer. I use a 280 and 7mm Mag. for deer and have no complaints. A 7mm '08 would make a nice deer cartridge, as well as many, many others between .277 cal. and 308 cal.

Best,
Phil
_____________________
Professional Hunter ~ Tanzania

Stay out of sight and down wind

Phil Lozano Tanzania Trophy Expeditions - Dangerous Game Specialists

03-25-2008, 06:54 PM	#1
Hemmingway Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Organ, NM Posts: 22	NM Deer Hunting Well first off I'm new here and would like to say hello... Anyway, I'll get to the point. I've hunted off and on for all of my life, but I've never actually hunted for deer. I've been with people but never hunted my self. I need some advice. First, what kinda gun would you all recommend? Keep in mind I ain't rich... Second what kinda tips do you have for a first time deer hunt?

03-25-2008, 06:55 PM	#2
MrsS Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Originally from the 26th state of the union; now living in the 16th. Posts: 1,414	Well Hello there Hemmingway, and welcome to the site! Can't help you on deer hunting tips seeing how I don't hunt but you'll get plenty of advice here! Enjoy the forums. __________________ Gun Control...is the ability to hit your target.

03-25-2008, 07:42 PM	#4
7mmremmag1995 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Kentucky Posts: 1,270 Images: 1 Blog Entries: 1	+1 on the Savage package rifles. also you might want some scent eliminator for the continously changing wind goes bad. also need some good binos or a rangefinder so you can scan the horizon for oncoming deer or the occasional sneaky coyote whos looking for a meal but finds a bullet __________________ Just LeDoux it

03-25-2008, 10:24 PM	#5
SwedeSteve Thor's Hammer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alaska Posts: 10,346 Images: 1	Welcome to G&G! __________________ Thank God we don't get as much Government as we pay for! -Will Rogers

03-26-2008, 06:46 AM	#9
nathangdad Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,466	Personal choice I like the 7mm/08 but note other cartridges do very well on deer. One factor is the anticipated distance to the target. Naturally, you cannot know this in advance but general knowlege of the terrain upon which you plan to hunt and the experience of guides and/or hunters in the area can be a big help. A little common sense goes a long way. If the hunt is in heavily wooded areas where 50 yards might be long distance shot you do not want a 7mm Remington Mag with a variable scope turned up to 9X. A .30-30 with a 1x-4x scope would be more in order. As others have mentioned, the .243 through the .30-06 encompasses a number of excellent cartridges. Due to mass production a good used rifle in .308 or .30-06 might be easiest to locate. Best advice - whatever you choose get in some major practice before the hunt as quick reaction to a good target opportunity is often the difference between success and failure. Good luck and good hunting.

03-25-2008, 07:29 PM	#3
Lng Rng Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 944	There are a lot of guns available for deer hunting, but a Savage package deal might work well for you. They come with a scope and are bore-sighted from the factory, which will help when sighting in. For calibers, anything between .243 and 30-06 will work fine. Other than that, just make sure to pick a spot that you will see deer and spend as many motionless, quiet hours there as possible. Keep in mind to have all the proper accesories, like knives, gutting gloves ect...

03-25-2008, 10:46 PM	#6
ArkansasHunter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 10,690	Hey feller !!! tell me sumpin what kinda rifle style are you interested in ? Leveraction, Boltaction, Semi-auto, singleshot ? That would hep some. Your profile says you live in New Mexico so due to vast open areas a Boltaction rifle would be my first choice. When you hunted with others were the shots they took at Deer over 100 yards ? Do you think you can stand a little extra recoil ? Then buy you a 300 win. Mag in a brand rifle that fits your budjet...A.H

03-25-2008, 11:13 PM	#7
Hemmingway Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Organ, NM Posts: 22	I'm defiantly looking for a bolt. I was thinking along the lines of a .243 or .308... a .243 so i could spend the off season looking for some coyotes and not mussing up their fur TOO much, but a .308 sounds like it would drop a deer pretty sufficiently. I think I'd like to go after an antelope sometime as well, so...

03-25-2008, 11:22 PM	#8
ArkansasHunter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 10,690	If the 308 is the maximun caliber you'll consider than please buy a 308. Thats what I started deer hunting with this past year. Buy the way would you consider a Ruger boltaction ? Ruger did a complete make over of there boltaction rifles. There named the Haweye, which is what I bought. Now there's a lot of boltaction rifles on the market to choose from and the New Ruger actually has more to offer for what you would pay for one. We'll save space here so I'll recommend you go to Rugers web site. This rifle has everything a sportsman desires in a rifle now. Mauser type action, target trigger, Hammer forged barrels made by Ruger now plus several other features so check one out. They should be selling well over a $1000.00 but mine cost me with tax included $601.00 and our tax is close to 10 percent...A.H

03-26-2008, 07:27 AM	#10
samuel Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 5,087	My experience in N.M. is,you should think in terms of a deer/elk gun and ranges between 50 and 350yds.Also,unless it has settled down out there,you will need one that handles wind fairly good.This in my experience ,means a rifle that will push a fairly heavy bullet out to 300yds fairly fast and flat.The .270/7mm,s starting with the .270win/7mm-08 do pretty good and the .30,s do better starting with the .308win.I dont know how recoil sensitive you are,but two of my favorites in your country are the 7mm rem. mag and the 300win.mag.The .308/.30-06 will do it in .30cal but I always liked that little extra in the .300win,mag.Still,you would be well armed with either of the others and less recoil.In your country I always used a fairly powerful hunting scope,starting in the 3x9x40 range and a 4x16x50 as max.A good,not cheap pair of binocs is almost an absolute necessity. Nathangdad and others gave good advice and all I read should be considered. sam.

03-26-2008, 11:11 AM	#11
AKHunter Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Alaska Posts: 899	Alot of good advice there ! Welcome and have fun!

03-27-2008, 09:52 AM	#12
turner Banned Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Tn Posts: 623	Hemmingway, You've already gotten a good bit of very good advice, I'll simply slide in another idea or two. Because you are going to be new to the sport of deer hunting, it could be wise to start out with a medium caliber, medium sized scope, and most of all, a medium budget for the scope and rifle! I'd like to suggest a relative newcomer for a rifle, a Marlin XLR bolt action rifle. I'll suggest one of these calibers...25/06 which has plenty of punch for any CXP2 game at ranges up to 300+ yards using 115-120 gr bullets or .270 a caliber legendary in it's effectiveness on deer-sized game. This rifle comes fitted with bases and you should be able to find it NIB for right at $300. It has a LOT of nice features, not a fancy rifle, but likely will last a good long time. As a scope choice, I'd recommend a Leupold VXI in either 2-7x33 or 3-9x40. There's not a lot of difference there in power for big game hunting and either is of sufficient magnification for shots at 400yds...a VERY long poke! Contrary to what some say/think the 7X or 9X is perfectly sufficient for sight-in at 100 and/or 200yd ranges and will produce groups as good as a 10, 12 or 14x will, I promise. Either of these scopes can be found for right at $200. These are not "economy priced" junk products. They are both products produced by companies with long and excellent histories in shooting / hunting arms and scopes here. Good Luck.

03-27-2008, 10:19 AM	#13
sell33 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,194	I would suggest ruger as well, but check gun shops for used, they can be had much cheaper. Also remington 700 is a good gun. I saw one a couple days ago for 400. It was 243, bl/syn. very good for the price, if i had the money with me i would have bought it. Good luck hunting...

04-01-2008, 10:59 AM	#14
Phil Lozano Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: June-Dec. Arusha, TZ~Dec.-June PSL, FL. Posts: 188	Personally, I would say, if you are limiting yourself to just deer, anything from the 257 Roberts - 300 Mags. would work well. I would not choose a 243 (I own 1 and a 6mm as well) as they cannot be relied upon under all situations, IMO. However, I would not hesitate in choosing darn near any cartridge between a 270 Win. to 300 Mag. for deer. I use a 280 and 7mm Mag. for deer and have no complaints. A 7mm '08 would make a nice deer cartridge, as well as many, many others between .277 cal. and 308 cal. Best, Phil _____________________ Professional Hunter ~ Tanzania Stay out of sight and down wind Phil Lozano Tanzania Trophy Expeditions - Dangerous Game Specialists __________________ Phil Lozano Phil Lozano Tanzania Trophy Expeditions Last edited by Phil Lozano; 04-02-2008 at 07:48 AM.