How did you get there?

[Xringer07]

I grew up in an average lower-middle-class PA hunting family where any gun purchase was a “big deal” and all firearms were based on utility and filled a role vs wants. When I was born, my dad owned a .22, a .270 and a 12ga shotgun. Covered all his needs from a hunting perspective and there was no room for anything extra.

My dad grew up essentially without a dad, and taught himself most of what he learned about guns and hunting. He had some influence from some neighbors and his father-in-law (my mom’s dad) and uncles, but was largely self-taught. He made it his life’s mission to give me everything he never had as a child; not necessarily from a material perspective, but from his presence as (one hell of) a dad and his desire for us to learn about hunting together. He made guns and shooting fun for us and encouraged my love for it with hunting rags, Shooters Bibles, and ammo.

He bought me a $10 gun raffle ticket in 1996 and told me if we won anything on that ticket, it was mine. I was 8 years old at the time. We went to the raffle dinner and lo-and-behold we got drawn for a Remington 700 BDL in .243 Win. A $700 rifle at the time. Worth more than all the guns he owned combined.

I have hunted with that gun for 25 years now and have taken many whitetails, a mule deer, a coyote and countless groundhogs. It will always have a special place and I will continue using it until my boy starts hunting with it.

I have had the itch for a semi-custom rifle for a good while and am now in a place where that is realistic. I finally assembled all the parts this year into a lightweight mountain rifle in 7 SAUM. I wanted something lighter than the 700 and with enough hp to shoot a decently heavy copper bullet further than I needed to shoot. No kills with it yet, but hoping to change that this year in PA.

 

[Nick4050]

When my dad moved to Alaska before I was born, him and a buddy bought matching Weatherby Accumarks in .30-378. I grew up watching my dad hunt with that rifle, as it was the only thing he'd use since upgrading from his Ruger m77 in .243 that he previously carried when he lived in Nebraska. When I was old enough to carry my own rifle, I got handed his old .243 but never ended up shooting anything with it. My first big game animal was a black bear that I shot with his .30-378, and I remember feeling a sense of pride knowing that I got to use my dad's "big" rifle to do it. From then on, I was hooked on Weatherby Mark V's.

As soon as I was old enough I got a job at Sportsman's Warehouse, where I got a killer deal on Weatherby through their dealer employee program. My first self-bought hunting rifle was a Weathermark LT. I spent months researching and self-debating on the chambering, as I really wanted to get it in a Weatherby cartridge just like my dad had, but couldn't afford the $100+ per box price tag of the .30-378. I finally decided on .300 WBY, and told myself that that rifle was going to be my "forever rifle". I ended up shooting my first moose and a couple bears with it, but it didn't quite shoot to my expectations. Between my novice reloading skills and lack of factory ammo variety, I got discouraged from the cartridge and sold the rifle. It was replaced with another Mark V, this time a Hunter "Live Wild" edition in .300 Win Mag. It was an amazing shooter right out of the box, and I still have it today.

Then I dove down the suppressor rabbit hole, and decided I needed a better suppressor host with a shorter barrel. When Tikka announced this spring that they were threading their t3x superlite models, I knew that would be the perfect setup and bought the first one that shipped to the local Sportsman's, again in .300 Win Mag. It quickly became my favorite rifle, and I used it to shoot my largest ever moose this fall.

There are a few other rifles in 7 Rem Mag, .308, and .338 that I own and hunt with, but the win mag is by far my favorite cartridge and the one I always reach for. However, every time we bring the rifles out my dad still likes to tease me about my puny rifles, and how his big bad .30-378 is a real man's 30 cal.

 

[TX_Mike D.]

I appreciate everyone's responses. I always find these stories interesting. Probably no surprise since I started a thread on this topic, but I was always the kid that would sit and listen to my grandparent's stories.

Y'all keep them coming.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I hunt big critters most of the time, moose and grizzly. If not hunting grizzly there is always a chance of running into one.
I like big guns with mono bullets that can break big bones and leave exit holes for blood to leak out in two spots.
Except when sheep and predator hunting make mine a .30 caliber or bigger and I'll be happy. Some of my current arsenal includes 300 RCM, 338 RCM, 300 Win Mag, 300 Wby Mag (2), 338 Win Mag, 340 Wby Mag, 9.3x62, 375 Ruger, and 375 H&H.
I been debating on building a left hand 458 Win Mag for over a year now. Still might do it.

 

[bnewt3]

For centerfire hunting, I started with my family's Win Model 70 in ".270 WCF" (early stamp for .270 Win) that my great-grandfather bought new in 1942. Thats what I used until 3 years ago when I bought my first centerfire rifle.

I chose 308 for a few reasons:
1) ammo is available absolutely everywhere
2) you can find dirt cheap ammo up to high end match and hunting ammo
3) it will work for anything in north america
4) recoil is reasonable
5) very minor point but its short action so rifles tend to weigh a bit less

To be honest: i never went big game hunting growing up, my dad went a few times when I was a kid. He and my uncle went with my grandfather in Nevada a few times who carried a Winchester Model 88 in 308. My great-grandfather was the big game hunter, having lived in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah: a couple of moose, some elk, antelope, & muleys.

Growing up we were mostly a bird hunting family. Dove mostly around Thanksgiving. Pheasant and chukar out west before my time. Good story: my great-grandparents visited my grandparents once. They decided to go see if they could find some pheasants. My grandparents had a weimaraner, Blitz, that had zero bird training. My great-grandfather said "leave the dog, he doesnt know what to do". My grandfather brought him anyway but he was forced to ride in the trunk. As soon as the trunk opened Blitz was gone. My great-grandfather was perturbed but they decided to get suited up anyway and see if they could find anything despite the dog. By the time they got ready they looked into the field and Blitz was on point. So they hurried up and got to him and flushed a ringneck. He worked that field all day long, multiple birds. Blitz rode in the front seat on the way home.
So shotguns is where I had most of my experience until a few years ago.

My great-grandparents on my dad's mom's side were legit shotgunners. My great uncle was a junior champion of the western states in trap or skeet, my great-grandmother was accomplished as well. In fact when my grandparents moved back east, she came to visit once and my dad took her to shoot some clays. He was pretty tuned up, dove hunting regularly and she hadnt shot in at least 15 years. She smoked him in a couple rounds of trap, giving him pointers as he was shooting.

My great-grandfather and my grandmother had horses. My grandmother was Miss Reno Rodeo in 1957 and won some endurance races with her horse. At 5 years old she would get her mom to make her a sandwich, get one of the ranch hands to saddle her horse and she would take off for the day.