Hello,
This is my first post here, so i will get right to the point. I used to deer hunt with my father from the ages of 10 to 17. Since I was 17 however I have not been hunting (about 15 years ago), largly in part to moving away from the country were i grew up, to the city were I work and live and I just never have time. Now my oldest son is about to turn 10 and its time for him to learn to hunt.
My dilemma is that during my teenage years of deer hunting I killed many whitetails with either a ruger .22 or a winchester lever action 30-30... depending on wether we were hunting in the brushy river bottoms or in the wide open peanut fields around were I lived. I was young and my dad was a scoundrel and we did not follow many of our states guidlines (using a .22 obviously) but now im older and like to stay out of trouble and want to teach my son the joys of hunting, but at the same time to follow the rules as well.
Other than the 30-30 (legal in Oklahoma) and the .22 (not legal in Oklahoma) the only other experience i have with firearms are the 12 and 20 gauge shotguns (skeet shooting) and the m16a2 from the marine corps(Served four yours during the first desert storm). The area were me and my son are going to be hunting are the same peanut fields where i grew up at as the whitetail there are still numerous and still fat and the same farmer still owns and operates them and has given us permission to hunt.
The average range shot there is about 200-300 yards but i would like to be able to hit accuratly at 400yards and I am reading on allot of interent sites that the .223 is not the best calibre for deer hunting. I know the 30-30 isnt effectivly accurate at 400 yards just from my teenage days of hunting with it. Since I only have experience with a couple different firearms Im hoping that someone here can help me out with finding the right type of caliber that is effective at 300-400 yards and will still take down a whitetail fairly easily.
The only real considerations here are that my 10 year old son is going to be the one doing the shooting so rifles with massive kicks probably wont be a wise decision. He is fine with shooting an ar15 and doesn't complain about the kick of it. Additionally I only have about 700 dollars to use for the gun so i guess price is a concern as well.
Any help in this selection would be greatly appreciated.
This is my first post here, so i will get right to the point. I used to deer hunt with my father from the ages of 10 to 17. Since I was 17 however I have not been hunting (about 15 years ago), largly in part to moving away from the country were i grew up, to the city were I work and live and I just never have time. Now my oldest son is about to turn 10 and its time for him to learn to hunt.
My dilemma is that during my teenage years of deer hunting I killed many whitetails with either a ruger .22 or a winchester lever action 30-30... depending on wether we were hunting in the brushy river bottoms or in the wide open peanut fields around were I lived. I was young and my dad was a scoundrel and we did not follow many of our states guidlines (using a .22 obviously) but now im older and like to stay out of trouble and want to teach my son the joys of hunting, but at the same time to follow the rules as well.
Other than the 30-30 (legal in Oklahoma) and the .22 (not legal in Oklahoma) the only other experience i have with firearms are the 12 and 20 gauge shotguns (skeet shooting) and the m16a2 from the marine corps(Served four yours during the first desert storm). The area were me and my son are going to be hunting are the same peanut fields where i grew up at as the whitetail there are still numerous and still fat and the same farmer still owns and operates them and has given us permission to hunt.
The average range shot there is about 200-300 yards but i would like to be able to hit accuratly at 400yards and I am reading on allot of interent sites that the .223 is not the best calibre for deer hunting. I know the 30-30 isnt effectivly accurate at 400 yards just from my teenage days of hunting with it. Since I only have experience with a couple different firearms Im hoping that someone here can help me out with finding the right type of caliber that is effective at 300-400 yards and will still take down a whitetail fairly easily.
The only real considerations here are that my 10 year old son is going to be the one doing the shooting so rifles with massive kicks probably wont be a wise decision. He is fine with shooting an ar15 and doesn't complain about the kick of it. Additionally I only have about 700 dollars to use for the gun so i guess price is a concern as well.
Any help in this selection would be greatly appreciated.