How did you get there?

[TX_Mike D.]

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?

 

[Lionheart]

My first was the 30/30 Marlin my uncle let me borrow. My dad was only a bird hunter but my uncle leased a few hundred acres for deer. My cousins and I knew every inch of that ground. The first rifle I bought for myself was a Smith & Wesson 30/06 (made by HUSQVARNA). Beautiful gun with blond stock. Wish I still had it.
Another early gun was a Browning B-78 in 6mm Rem. That thing was beautiful but had a bad habit of going off unexpectedly!
Then the trail gets muddy as I enjoy trying new things.
.270, .280, .264WM, .300WM…and all the short mags…you name it I have probably owned one.
I settled on an Accumark in 7mmSTW..,most of the stuff on my walls fell to that rifle.
Thanks to you fine folks I am now officially down the TIKKA .223 rabbit hole lol.
Who says an old man can’t learn new tricks?! I do admit I was initially very skeptical but I’m a logical person…and the pictures don’t lie.
I was effortlessly ringing steel (in the heart) at 400 and 500 yds earlier today with
my 17” threaded, suppressed T3x (BHA 77gr TMK’s of course).
My buddy was incredulous…you are doing that with a factory gun and factory ammo he said with a look of surprise on his face.
And with a 3-9x42 $600 SWFA scope?
WITHOUT EVEN DIALING…just holding over?
Yup I replied a little smugly I’m afraid…wanna try it?
After I gave him the dope he proceeded to ring steel with a big grin on his face.
He could not believe how smooth the action was and how good the glass was on a scope he never heard of…
He is probably ordering from Europtic and SWFA as I type this lol…
Sadly, I can’t take that fine system to Kansas…so I am getting a .243 and .260 ready to go.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Edwin
Next is .22 CM ( should be together soon…Stocky’s VG, TIKKA action, Sendero profile 18” CF barrel from the folks who supply Weatherby)
Fast twist .243’s and .22-.250’s on the radar…or 6mm CM? Who knows?

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[Marbles]

Well, grew up in Arkansas and pretty much everyone hunted with 30-30s (my dad did not hunt). My first rifle I bought for hunting was a 30-06 because I believe that was the minimum to hunt Alaska and I knew I wanted to do that. It was a used Rem 700 and I decided it was junk and got a Rem 7600 pump in 30-06. When I did move to SEAK, I decided blued and wood was less than ideal at got a 30-06 Sako 85 black. The action and barrel were nitrided, but the DBM was blued and I got tired of dealing with that, so got a 30-06 Kimber Montana.

After reading the small caliber threads, and knowing my limit on game was only 200 yards, I got a 308 Tikka. I found this improved my shooting some and I liked the Tikka, so I got a 223 Tikka. Then I realized I had a bit of a flinch, so got a 243.

I hunt with both the 243 and 223, but I like the 243 best, I can shoot it well, and it is bigger than the 223 and just makes me happier.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I grew up in Southwestern Virginia and everyone hunted. I started off with a Marlin 39a “Mountie” and a pre-64 .30-30 Winchester. I gave that pair to my oldest nephew to get him started right.

I don’t think it was the best way to do it, but after sending my older brother out with us a few times, my Dad basically told us to “go hunting” starting around seven or eight. I got a wild turkey with the .30-30 when I was nine and a doe when I was 10. First buck at 11. Mind you… this was a kid just wandering around the woods by himself while Dad hunted on the other side of the farm.

Somewhere around age 12, I got a BRNO 7x57R over 12-gauge combination gun using money saved from gifts and good grades. I used that to take several more deer. It lives in the back of my gun safe now.

At 14, I got a .270 built on a Mauser K98 action. It was heavy and I never seemed to have any luck with it during deer season. I think it took me 20 years before I finally got a deer with it.

At 15, I got the love of my life, a long-barreled .25-06 built on a J.C. Higgins FN action. It’s accounted for more game than I can count. Memorable moments include two bucks and two wild turkeys on a Thanksgiving Day; two wild turkeys with one shot on another Thanksgiving Day (I was aiming at a running turkey, planning to blow its ass off. Just as I fired, another turkey put its head in the line of sight. Blew that one’s head off and the rear end off the other one.); and a summer where I shot 51 groundhogs with it.

It’s getting light out now, so I think that means it’s time to take her out to see what’s going on in the woods. Happy hunting!

 

[sierracharlie338]

Hell I’ll play. Shot my first deer around ten or twelve with my dads 243 that was given to him as his first deer rifle. I killed a lot of deer with that rifle.

Around 14-15 I was gifted my first rifle a 257 Roberts. To this day one of my favorite calibers and caused the deeply rooted love of the 25 caliber. It is currently rebarreled to a 257AI and waiting for new stock due to the wood stock being cracked and causing accuracy issues.

As years went by I ventured into every thing from 308 to 300wm/30 Nosler up to 338 Lapua, but spending the most time behind a 308 in different setups. If a 50 wasn’t the price they are I’d probably have one of those but I just refuse to pay that kinda money for something I can’t utilize to its potential. The 338 is border line if I’m being honest

Somewhere around my early 20s I got into ARs and concurrently ran them along side the bolt guns. This seemed to create a fondness for the 223/556 round. Cheap, easy to shoot and can shoot tons of it out of a single rifle.

As I’ve gotten older and now have an almost teenage daughter that loves to shoot I have found myself trending back to the 6mm/25 and 223s. Not getting beat up by recoil sure makes the process much more enjoyable and allows my daughter and I to even shoot the same guns making range trips much less of a hassle in terms of gear.

This year my daughter will hunt for her first animal with her Tikka 223 chopped to 18 with a DD wolf hunter and shooting BH 77 TMKs.