New To Hunting, Need Some Guidance

Hello All,

I am 38 year old black male and currently live in Houston Texas. I recently getting into hunting deer, mainly from watching alot of Outdoor and Sportsman channel and working in a chemical plant. It seems like everyone I work with hunts for deer every year and I would like to go hunting as well and harvest a deer and bring some meat to family members for our first time eating deer meat. Also, this can be my hobby as life continues on.

My cousin and I are planning a guided hunt this year or next year. Right now, we are just trying to practice shooting so we get comfortable with our aim and we do not hurt/suffer the deer and get a good reliable shot.

Well, I am not sure where to start, so I figure I start with a rifle and purchased this https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/mp-15-sport-ii.

Q1. Do you recommend hunting deer in Texas with AR-15? If not, what rifle you recommend for me? Most guys I talk to state a 30-06 will work well for me.
Q2. What scope do you use with AR-15?
Q3. How do I practice my aiming? I go to an outdoor shooting range in Houston where I target shoot from 50 to 300 yards. http://www.amshootcenters.com I can go to 600 yards, but I have qualify for that range.
Q4. Can you recommend a rifle stand? I was using that bean bags attached, but I want have that stand when shooting deer. https://www.amazon.com/CVLIFE-Inches-Tac...K1KGFYBHSQGHPXD
Q5. Should I continue practicing with the front sights or buy a scope and starting practicing with scope at different ranges?

So far I learned how to clean the rifle. And also went shooting today at 50 yards range with just the front sights. My aim sucks. I was sitting on a bench with some bean bags to hold the rifle still. It was fun. I figure I might as well get use to the sights. i will go up to 100 yards after I master 50 yards with the front sights.

I am sure these questions are easy for some, but I am just starting out and never hunted before or really shot alot with rifles. I have took a safety training course. I am not in a rush, I am sure I have alot to learn, just have to be patient and enjoy the process.

Thank you all for the time.

http://prntscr.com/jbthca

http://prntscr.com/jbthpr

http://prntscr.com/jbthv8

You can hunt deer with the AR15. It would not be the first rifle that comes to mind, but it is doable. I have several that I mainly use on hogs but deer as well. For first time rifle shooting, it would be easier on you with a bolt action rifle and scope. This type of set up is easier to learn to shoot accurately at 100 yards.

If you decide to get this setup I would recommend a Tikka rifle with a decent scope in the 2-12x44 power range. There are many adequate calibers for deer. If you want a caliber that covers most big game in the US 30.06 would be a good fit. 270 is my favorite for starting out. Shooting 130 grain bullets would be great for white tail without a lot of recoil to get used to.

The problem with your AR is its difficult to mount a scope on that version that would give you a good scope height and cheek weld on the stock. These requirements are real important to make things easier to learn so you are proficient at 100 yard shots. Also the .223 caliber is very capable of killing a deer, but your room for error for lethal shots is smaller because of the smaller caliber limitations.

You are also trying to learn to shoot with a mil spec trigger in the AR. That is much more difficult to shoot accurately at distances past 50 yards. I recommend a drop in trigger like a CMC. You will find it much easier to shoot accurately with a trigger change.

Ask the rifle range that you shoot at if they have any shooting instruction that they offer. This could be of great help to you leaning the basics. Also, YouTube has lots of great instructional videos on proper shooting technique and how to hunt just about any animal your interested in. Going on guided hunts is a great way to start once you learn gun safety and how to confidently shoot what your aiming at.

Good luck and have fun.

You might check with the NRA for some training on the shooting aspects. http://www.nrainstructors.org/search.aspx There are instructors all over the state that can help you learn to shoot your rifle and to shoot it better.

Welcome to the family and have FUN!

If you were born on or after 09-02-1971, you will need to take a hunter education course:

Hunter Education

I echo what PP said.
I believe you will find a bolt action rifle much easier to be accurate with. There are lots of good bolt action rifles and quality scopes on the market today that won’t break the bank. I also believe you would benefit from a larger caliber (.243, 7mm-08, .270, .30-06, etc.).

Learning the basics of proper shooting form is paramount, just as it is in anything else. A good foundation makes everything else come easier while a poor foundation makes everything harder than it needs to be.

Good luck!

Step 1- Get a Tikka .30/06, with a nice Leupold or Nikon scope (3-9)
Step 2- Go to out door range & practice this Summer with knowledgeable guys to help
Step 3- Take some guided hunts this Fall for deer
Step 4- Enjoy your hunting success & tasty deer meat

ta HF.

Welcome. Probably more than you want to know.

https://becomingriflemen.wordpress.com/

https://azrifleman.com/basic-rifle-marksmanship-brm-series-for-your-ar15-intro/

Thank you for response . Great steps.

So everyone here recommends higher caliber rifle then AR15. And some riflexibility training. Ok I will start looking for training class so I get the basics right.

What does 3-9 mean?

If I buy a scope for AR15, can I use it on the .30/06?

Thanks

Thank you very much for the good advice.

A few questions please:

1. What does cheek weld mean?
2. Can the .556 caliber with AR-15 take down a deer too?

When discussing scopes, they are identified by a series numbers. The first set of numbers is the magnification. A 3-9x40 is a very common hunting scope. It has a variable magnification of 3 to 9 power, meaning at the low end, it magnifies things three times, and cranked all the way up, it is magnifying the image nine times. Something in this range works very well for hunting as 3x is low enough for up close shots, and you can get out there pretty far with 9x. 2-7 or 4-12 would also be good choices.

The second number is the size of the forward lens, in millimeters. A 40mm lens is the most common. Bigger lenses let in more light, creating a brighter image in the scope. However, they are also physically bigger and bulkier making them more difficult to mount and creating the illusion of more arc in your bullet trajectory. Bigger is also more expensive. 40mm is a good compromise.

You can get one scope and use it on both your AR and a bolt rifle. However, it is a pain as you have to re-sight it every time you move it. Most people buy a scope for each rifle so they don't have to fool with re-sighting all the time.

3-9 refers to a variable power scope as opposed to a fixed power scope. For example, in a 3-9x40 scope, the 3 means three power, or 3x. This means that the image you see through the scope appears three times (3x) closer than it does with your naked eye. The 9 means nine power, or nine times (9x) closer than it appears with your naked eye. The forty (40) is the objective lens (closest to the muzzle) diameter in millimeters.

Barring some specifics, in general terms a scope for an AR will also work with a 30-06.

My first suggestion would be to buddy up with someone that has hunting experience and start picking his brain. If that person gives you a hard time about asking what to him would be simple questions then find another buddy. Secondly, if you are financially challenged like I am then I would look at something other than a Tikka- never owned one and never shot one and not knocking them but I do know they are expensive. You can get a very reasonably priced Savage or Remington in .270, .308, or 30-.06 to fit your beginning needs. Top with a quality 3-9x40 scope and start practicing. I have been shooting a Savage Model 110 in 30-.06 for close to 40 years and has never let me down. If you stick to the three calibers I mentioned you can generally find them in any mom and pop, middle-of-nowhere store if you get in a bind for ammo.

The cheek weld is the part of the rifle stock that your cheek lines up with to properly align your dominant eye through the rifle scope. That's the problem with most AR's, the stock has no place for a cheek weld, like a stock on a bolt gun has. You will find out what I mean if you put a scope on it that's designed for deer hunting. You can add a different stock to your AR that will give better cheek alignment than the one you have on it now.

Yes, a .556 will kill a deer, you just have to be very accurate with your shot, just like the .223. You can use the same scope on both rifles. You will find it difficult to change from one to the other because the point of impact will be quite different from one rifle to the other.

As mentioned above, there are lower cost rifles in bolt action like Savage, Ruger and Remington that would hunt deer just fine for about $300-400 less than a Tikka would cost you. I believe in crying once for lifetime purchases and spending a little more for a great factory trigger and bolt. Once you determine your budget, go to each section of this website to get opinions on best rifle in the rifle section, scope in the scope section etc... and you will be able to make an informed decision about what you need and purchase.

Welcome and great advice so far. I'd definitely go with a bolt action rifle with a quality 3-9 or 4-12 scope. Your budget will determine exact options for each. While I love a 30-06 I would lean more towards a short action cartridge like a 6.5 creedmoor or 7-08. Both will handle all the medium game hunts and are perfect deer rifles. Once you get more time under your belt and want to hunt bigger game then step up to a larger caliber better suited for those animals such as a 7 RM or 300 WM. I'm in Houston so feel free to shoot me a pm if you have any other questions.

Ask one of your buddies at the plant or range to help you. You can’t learn to hunt and shoot on the internet. Im busy and don’t have a lot of time when I go to the range but will always help someone if they ask. I believe most shooters are the same way. I would also recommend buying a 22 rifle and learn to shoot with it, like most people did that grew up hunting.

Have your buddy demonstrate how to properly use the rifle. If he can’t hit what he aims at on the range every time move on to a new buddy until you find one that can shoot and learn from him. 22 ammo is cheap and much more accurate than a lot of the ammo you buy in bulk for your AR.

Study up on ballistics and recoil before you purchase a bolt rifle. There’s always someone at the range that wants to help other people, don’t ask the guy dressed like Rambo. Shoot some different rifles and decide what you want before you buy one. Good luck!

I second this guy above.


I think you are on the right track and thinking properly. 1.Start with the proper rifle and learn how to shoot it. Your first guns should be a bolt action and once you get used to that and learn that gun your second rifle will be an AR15 or AR10. As you learn more about guns on this forum and others you will figure out what best suits your needs. 2. start piecing together your hunting equipment little by little. Good waterproof boots camo clothing and some binoculars should get you through the first year. Buy the best stuff you can afford especially when it comes to guns. The more expensive the gun the better the resale value.

To buy a decent gun just look for one on the classifieds section here. Visit it twice a day if you need to. My personal preference for a good hunting round is just like the guy stated above. look for a bolt action rifle with a decent 3-9 scope for a cheap price and when you see the gun that you like in one of those calibers then make an offer and get it. Thats how I bought my rifle and I saved a fortune that way. I ended up with 30-06 but if my gun were offered in 270 or 308 I would have jumped on it also. Other calibers to look at are 243, 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08. Once you get your gun dont worry about a bunch of fancy rests or benches. You wont be hunting off a bench so learn to go with the minimum and think that you are training yourself to shoot for hunting. Always keep that in mind at the range. Buy you 2 sand bags and go shoot. The more you shoot the better you get. Nobody can tell you how to become a better shooter you have to spend time at the range. Once or twice a month from now till november and you will be fine. Book a cheap doe or hog hunt and get after it. Nothing teaches like experience. You can also go hunt in the sam houston national forest for deer and hogs with a $48 APH permit. Lots of rules to know so you will need to study the rules to go. But thats how every body gets started including myself. You have to put in the time to be successful.

Your first year or 2 you will stumble through it and then eventually your experience level will go up and keep going if you are a true hunter that is.

good luck

Thank you all for the great replies and advice.

It looks like everyone recommends a decent rifle, scope (3-9), and some practice/training shooting. So that is what I will do. I will still look for a scope for the AR-15 and some training class in the Houston area. I will do some reading over at the Rifle section.

Thank you all.

You can buy a Savage "Axis" bolt action rifle at Carters Country for under $300. The rifle has a 3X9 power scope included that has been factory mounted and boresighted. Several deer hunting calibers are available, I recommend a 6.5 mm Creedmoor.

Do not waste your time or money on shooting 500 yards, go to a local rifle range and learn to keep your shots in a 3" circle at 100 yards.
When you can do that EVERY time you shoot, you will be ready to hunt.

Deer "meat" is called venison.

Good luck and good hunting.

as others have stated, there are a lot better choices of rifles over an AR platform for deer. But with that said, there are a lot of people that successfully kill deer & hogs using an AR. If you opt to stick with that rifle, just be sure to get very proficient shooting it.

Also you can keep an eye on the classifieds here on the forum for deals on used rifles and scopes......Welcome also.

Many have said you can deer hunt with an AR, but as a newbie I wouldn't suggest it to start out with. Get a good, solid bolt action rifle with good optics and get good with it first.

X2

I'm sure you have noticed already on this forum but the hunting world is just one giant brotherhood. Never be afraid to ask somebody a question. I also recommend the savage rifle/scope packages for starting out. Don't get caught up in the gimmick stuff either. A guy could spend thousands on scent control this and camo pattern that. If you're hunting from a blind the main thing is just be comfortable and prepared for any weather and have a gun that you are confident in. The key thing in being successful though is just to HAVE FUN!!

If you are really looking to pull your hair out though try snow goose hunting...

Thank you DH3 for the rifle recommendation. Good advice.

How can I learn to keep my shots in a 3" circle at 100 yards? Do you recommend some type of rifle accuracy training? And lots of practice.

Thank you PMK for the comments

I would also recommend a 22 rifle for plinking, a semi auto or a bolt action. A box of 22 shells goes a long way and are a lot cheaper than 270, 308 0r 30-06. Using it is not the same as a deer rifle, but experience on using either a scope or open sites is using the same principle. A box of 500 rounds can be found for less than $25.

I appreciate it. It seems like everyone is recommends a rifle instead of AR. I will hold off on AR for now, but still buy a scope for it for fun shooting and practice, and red dot or home defense or whatever defense.

my first deer rifle was the .45 Kentucky cap & ball. Todays in-lines way more acurate.

Thank you for the good advice.

be very very quiet

be very very quiet

I love my Browning 270 A-Bolt with a Leupold 3 X 9 X 40 I use a 130 grain bullet and I have killed several animals past 200 yards. Also have killed several hogs over 250 lbs with one shot.

If you plan on only buying one rifle for eventually hunting all types of game including large game like Elk, I would buy a good 30-06 and make sure you put a good scope on it

Thank you for response and clear explanation in and helping me.

Yess, I am not ready for hunting at all. I want to get better at shooting.

Here is my plan to prepare for hunting hopefully by November.

Please everyone let me know if agree with my plan. I'm just starting out so I need help.


1. Get a bolt action rifle. I will choose a 270, 30-06, 308, etc. I will only hunt with bolt action rifle because from what I read and talking to others it’s just easier for me and I get a clean accuracy impactful shot. http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7161983#Post7161983

2. Get Scope for the rifle or buy one with scope already attached. 3x9 scope

3. Hire instructor at American Shooting range to teach me how to accurately shoot up 50-200 yards or higher. They charge like $75 per hour and will help me sight the rifle as well.

3. Practice twice a month at 50 to 200 yards til to make sure I am consistently accurate. I will practice just how I plan to sit in the deer/hog blind. Just keep on practicing.

4. Hopefully by August I be somewhat accurate.

5. Continue learning about hunting.

6. Hopefully go hunt this year or next if and only if I am shoot consistently accurate.

7. I will add a scope and red dot to the AR-15 and use as home defense or just practice as well or to allow family and friends to safely shoot at the range. But I will not use it for hunting.

Thank you all so much.

Please let me know if my plan make sense and offer your comments please.

In my opinion you are doing things backwards. It is almost like you are bound and determined to begin with the AR because it is what you have. Get a good, solid bolt action rifle in either .308 or 30-.06- both shoot .308 bullets and they probably have the widest range of bullet sizes for anything in North America you would conceivably hunt. Of course you change bullet sizes you will have to resight in your scope.

Thank you Russ79,

You are correct and I agree with you, and I changed my plan above after some thoughts and reading. I will equip the AR later for home defense needs and practice targeting as I stated in my last post.

I was not aware the .308 and 30-.06 can use the same caliber and a resight is required if I change the bullet size. Why is this?

Thanks

i apologize if i offend anybody..but this post just doesnt sound right..?????

If you shoot a 30-.06, like I do, you can change bullet weights depending on game. For deer I shoot 165 grain bullets, but say you want to hunt elk or maybe Nilgi, you might want to go to 180 grain bullet or heavier. You will have a different point of impact so you will need to resight your gun in. I do reload, or rather used to quite a lot, and learned that you can play with amount of powder and bullet weights, to a certain extent, thru trial and error and come up with loads for different grain bullets that will have same point of impact. But you aren't going to get that from factory ammo.

a .308 and 30-06 are both considered 30 (.308) caliber and the projectile (bullet) is the same diameter. The casing is different between those two calibers and will not interchange between rifles of the different calibers.

Thank you Russ79,

What do you mean by " I do reload, or rather used to quite alot and play with the amount of powder"? Does this mean you try different grain of bullets?

Thanks

I would probably stay away from an AR for a first/main rifle. Nothing against them but you're probably eventually going to want to hunt big game other than deer whether it be exotics or out of state for Elk, etc. So I'm big on the idea that the first rifle should be a "do it all caliber" that can do pretty much anything you'll ever want to hunt, that could be anything from one of the 6.5mms on up. Those are available in AR's but usually you can get a quality bolt gun a lot cheaper than you can an AR in one of the larger calibers. Also ammo will usually be cheaper for a .270/30-06, etc. if you're not going to reload (saw you're post above and reloading is basically where you make your own cartridges by resizing a previously fired shell case and adding new primers, powder and bullets)

As to practice shooting, practice dry firing your rifle can be an excellent tool. Make real sure its unloaded and then practice aiming and pulling the trigger at some target across the room, a thumbtack in the wall works well. Also get a decent quality pellet rifle and shoot it alot, usually they are quiet enough the neighbors aren't going to complain if you use a pellet trap to catch the pellets and while it isnt' as good as a centerfire or even a rimfire its better than nothing and you'll be able to do it more often.

Also, just get out in the woods and learn about nature, animals and stalking. You're probably within 2 hours of a couple national forests and other public land, get out there on a day off even if you're not hunting and practice moving slowly/quietly from the woods just like you're stalking something and observe what you see (what tracks are where, what can you piece together from the tracks (what's it eating/moving, etc).

I also work at one of the plants..... just keep talking to the guys at work.

Yes, I am in a plant as well. These guys Know ALOT ALOT about guns and hunting.

Thank you kk66 ,

Excellent advice regarding going out to the local forest and observing. I enjoy the outsides anyway and walking. My AR will only be used for hog hunting, I will not be using that for hunting deer.

Few questions:
Would you consider a 243 or 270 a "do it all caliber"?

A .243 will be a little light as a do all caliber. A .270 is fine but you will find a wider range of bullet weight ammo if you go with .308 or 30-.06 for different sized game. Many use a 7mm Magnum for deer hunting but I was always of the opinion that is a little too much gun for our little old east Texas whitetail.

As with any caliber, shot placement is huge. You can make a bad shot with a big caliber and not be able to recover your game.