TX_Mike D.
FNG
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2025
- Messages
- 16
This is a question on your preferred cartridge to hunt with. It is not meant to get into a contest of which is better than the other, but more of what got you to choose that particular head stamp. I'm curious about how you chose the first rifle you personally picked out all the way to how you got to your current go to based on how/what you hunt.
My brief (probably too long) story: I didn't grow up in a family that hunted much, but I always had an interest in it. My stubborn mother actually told a family friend that he would take me hunting with him when I was around 12. Thankfully I wasn't a total pain in the @$$ for him to drag around, and he took me multiple times. We're still pretty close and I invite him to hunt with me to this day. His grandkids keep him busy these days, but he's always welcome in my hunting camp if he's able to make it. After that first trip I wanted my own rifle. I was set on a .300 Win Mag. Then more research got me to a .300 WBY mag. My mother agreed to chip in for my first rifle as long as I do all my chores and make good grades. The family friend explains to both of us that each of those cartridges are more than needed for white tail deer where we usually hunted (hill country Texas). I start reading every hunting magazine I can find between studying to keep my grades up for "my" rifle. I stumbled upon an article on the 7mm-08, and how the author had been picking up brass from his kids shooting everything in the lower 48 effectively with it. I was sold and decided it was what I wanted. At the time it was being factory manufactured but was still not the easiest round to find (this was in the mid 1990's, so you more seasoned guy's that knew it's potential were probably already playing with it).
Turned out to be a great pick. That rifle is still my go to for Texas whitetail. Probably a lot of that is due to sentimentality. I own a handful of different calibers now and enjoy them all. The journey that got me to my first was something I have fun reminiscing on. Especially since there wasn't much family history hunting.
How did you choose your first? What is your next?
My brief (probably too long) story: I didn't grow up in a family that hunted much, but I always had an interest in it. My stubborn mother actually told a family friend that he would take me hunting with him when I was around 12. Thankfully I wasn't a total pain in the @$$ for him to drag around, and he took me multiple times. We're still pretty close and I invite him to hunt with me to this day. His grandkids keep him busy these days, but he's always welcome in my hunting camp if he's able to make it. After that first trip I wanted my own rifle. I was set on a .300 Win Mag. Then more research got me to a .300 WBY mag. My mother agreed to chip in for my first rifle as long as I do all my chores and make good grades. The family friend explains to both of us that each of those cartridges are more than needed for white tail deer where we usually hunted (hill country Texas). I start reading every hunting magazine I can find between studying to keep my grades up for "my" rifle. I stumbled upon an article on the 7mm-08, and how the author had been picking up brass from his kids shooting everything in the lower 48 effectively with it. I was sold and decided it was what I wanted. At the time it was being factory manufactured but was still not the easiest round to find (this was in the mid 1990's, so you more seasoned guy's that knew it's potential were probably already playing with it).
Turned out to be a great pick. That rifle is still my go to for Texas whitetail. Probably a lot of that is due to sentimentality. I own a handful of different calibers now and enjoy them all. The journey that got me to my first was something I have fun reminiscing on. Especially since there wasn't much family history hunting.
How did you choose your first? What is your next?
