The official Deer Hunting thread.

[JET]

I am going to look at new hunting spots for my son and I. We might head up north another 20 miles so we can get in rifle territory, Cambridge area. I would love to hunt with the AR-15! I got a nice buck last year, but need to get Mav his first deer.

[mike55112]

This year is the first year hunting for me, I've been bow hunting. I'm hunting some property up in isanti and have yet to see anything worth taking a shot, I'm hooked. Even not getting anything yet, I have really enjoyed my expirence so far.

[goodhart]

Remember rifle is north of 95 in Cambridge.

[niterydr]

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/29304656.jpg

[A//// Guy]

Hahahaha love it!

[JET]

My son and I found our new hunting spot last weekend and we are in rifle territory. I am using my AR-15 and I have been doing research on the best hunting rounds for .223 since it is a smaller caliber and I want to be able to hit decent out to about 300 yards. My son is shooting a .243, but where he is at he will have closer shots, so we can always switch if we have issues or I may just buy another .243 since that is a great deer rifle cartridge. We are in an intensive harvest area, so 5 deer each! :D

[A//// Guy]

Nice! Id like to find some public land to hunt on near the cities like that. Are you just using national forest?

[JET]

We are hunting on a Wildlife Management Area, there are tons of them around. Here is a slick tool from the DNR: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/compass.html

We hunted on one just up from us last year, but that is shotgun territory still. This one is about 35 minutes away and I talked to a guy that lives right next to it and he said nobody really uses it. He and his son go sometimes, but that is usually it. 40 acres of land on this one. Another one just up the road is the backup plan and that one is 61 acres. Only downside is that you can't drive in them so everything has to be drug in and out.

[niterydr]

40 acres can get tight in a hurry. If there are more than a few vehicles when you get out there, I'd suggest not going.

.223 can be a small round for deer. Ensure you have enough powder and the bullet is designed to expand. Muzzle velocity will be much higher than my .30-30, but I would suggest to keep your targets within an effective 150 yards or closer, due to the rapid slowing down of that round.
Same goes with the .243 your son is using, could be small, shot placement is key. Why not a 7mm?

Good luck out there, and I am not trying to insult you. Just want to ensure you get a good and humane kill shot with your weapons of choice.

[asshanson]

Yea 40 acres seems really small. If it's somewhat of a square shape, that means your .223 can easily shoot the entire length of the hunting spot in any direction.

This thread really makes me want to go deer hunting, it's been a really long time since I've hunted.