Hunting and Primal page 2

[Scott F]

Yeah, I'm a hunter. I didn't shoot a deer this year. I wasn't trying too hard, though, since we have have 300+ pounds of gf beef in the freezer. I wanted venison breakfast sausage but I wasn't sure were we were going to put it short of buying another freezer. My son got a deer and he took most of that to college.

[meloroaster]

I don't hunt myself but live in a small northern community with lots o hunters and fishers! i get a lot of venison and fish from friends and colleagues...very lucky! this year will get out fishing more and set my crab trap using my SUP. i was able to grab a few crab at very low tides last year.

last week i went for an ocean swim (in wetsuit of course!) and free dove for a dungeness with my bare hands. lunch!
i also forage for sea asparagus, kelp (dry, then crush and put on salad), chanterelles and berries.

best way to live!

[whitebear]

It dose not get any more primal than hunting,period. Everything else is kinda just pretend. I'm guilty as well as I don't hunt and gather all my food but some of the stuff I read around here is just ridiculous.

[Orannhawk]

I've hunted since I was around 7, although I grew up following either my Mom, my Dad, grandparents or uncles prior to that, and they all taught me to "read" sign, how to track, smells, habitat, gun safety, and by the time I was 8, I was crawling up into the cavity of a buck to make the final cut and pull the entrails out and later at camp, doing my part of the skinning.

I learned how to rattle from my Dad and my grandfather and still carry my grandfather's favorite rattling horns ... and they still have a wonderful sound to them too. My son was sitting with me when he was only 3, and he has grown up the same way and hunts with me quite often.
I freely admit that buying meat in a grocery store pushes a lot of buttons for me, and I still don't understand the cuts of a beef. But, I can skin a deer with minimal hair ever touching the meat, and little if any misguided cuts on the hide and remove the forelegs without the use of a saw or hatchet. My old biology teacher still teases me if he sees me during deer season because he remembers the A he gave me during the class on dissecting frogs, because I skinned mine, and it was the only one in class with the backstrap laid neatly on the table alongside the rest of the frog meat.

I love to hunt, to be out in the brush, I love that I bring meat to my table and I do it as my Ancestors did. It's a way of life, a part of who I am and I wouldn't change it. Plus, it's just damn tasty !

[whitebear]

I've hunted since I was around 7, although I grew up following either my Mom, my Dad, grandparents or uncles prior to that, and they all taught me to "read" sign, how to track, smells, habitat, gun safety, and by the time I was 8, I was crawling up into the cavity of a buck to make the final cut and pull the entrails out and later at camp, doing my part of the skinning.

I learned how to rattle from my Dad and my grandfather and still carry my grandfather's favorite rattling horns ... and they still have a wonderful sound to them too. My son was sitting with me when he was only 3, and he has grown up the same way and hunts with me quite often.
I freely admit that buying meat in a grocery store pushes a lot of buttons for me, and I still don't understand the cuts of a beef. But, I can skin a deer with minimal hair ever touching the meat, and little if any misguided cuts on the hide and remove the forelegs without the use of a saw or hatchet. My old biology teacher still teases me if he sees me during deer season because he remembers the A he gave me during the class on dissecting frogs, because I skinned mine, and it was the only one in class with the backstrap laid neatly on the table alongside the rest of the frog meat.

I love to hunt, to be out in the brush, I love that I bring meat to my table and I do it as my Ancestors did. It's a way of life, a part of who I am and I wouldn't change it. Plus, it's just damn tasty !

Marry me! Just kidding I'm already married.

[Piebald Buck]

Kata,

You have the right attitude. In order to be an ethical hunter, you have to have a very deep respect for the animals you hunt.

As for what type of gun, a bolt action is typically preferred for hunting. I would recommend either a .243 or .270 caliber. Both are widely available and ammunition is easy to come by. Brand of gun is not as important in my opinion, most modern guns are more accurate than the average modern shooter.

As you learn more about it and start getting out in the field, you'll find that your understanding and appreciation for the animals you hunt grows.

[not on the rug]

big hunter here. i started when i was 10. i bow and shotgun hunt deer in nj, rifle hunt deer in PA, and also hunt ducks, geese, pheasants and rabbits.

@kata, what gun to purchase depends on what you will be using it to hunt and also depends on what your local/state regulations are. check out your state's fish and game website for regulations. you'll probably have to take and pass a hunter's safety course, and you'll need to apply for a federal firearms ID card through your local law enforcement agency.

some good options for decent and affordable guns are a remington 870 or mossberg 500 combo. for about $400, you'll get a shotgun with 2 barrels (one smooth bore for bird hunting etc, and one rifled barrel for shooting slugs) and 3-4 chokes for the smooth barrel. this is a great way to have a solid all around gun you can hunt with year-round.

if you only plan on hunting deer, i think georgia allows rifle hunting. a .270 or .308 would be a solid choice. i'd actually say the .308 or even a 30.06 would be my choice. there are quite a few i believe some testing was done recently and it was found that the marlin x7 (in .308 caliber) was the most accurate shooting bolt action rifle under $500. something like that. my go-to calibers for rifle hunting are 30.06 or .35 remington. i love my marlin 336 (in .35 remington) for the brushy mountain hunting of PA (probably similar to georgia terrain) and i know my uncle (who is a gun collector) favored his marlin 336 for deer hunting when he lived in south carolina.

[justyouraveragecavemen]

Hunter here. I use a .270 and I'm pretty happy with it. I accidentally hit a doe down past her ribs and she was still dead in less than 20 seconds (spine shot).
I also missed one this season, but I think it was the fact that I was shooting at the biggest buck I had ever saw (while hunting) and my shaking and the urine running down my leg was a distraction.

[solstice]

My husband hunts for us---yeah! As of last year I've become the primary deerskinner in the family---I actually really ENJOY skinning a deer..it's methodical and not all that bloody. I do all the butchering myself and hubby bought me a new meat saw for Christmas (is that love or what?!)

I keep saying that I want to get my license and go, but I kind of like my place in the line up right now...skinning and butchering (and cooking!)---it takes a village, right?

[sbhikes]

I have not gone hunting but I backpacked with a guy who hunts and takes people on guided hunting trips. I want to go with him sometime.

I have seriously thought about surf fishing but I don't know where to begin. There is so much to learn about reading the water and I don't have any equipment or even know what equipment I need. There are a lot of rules about the fish you can take and I wouldn't be able to identify the fish at the end of my line if I caught one, unless it was a shark, and then all I could tell you would be "that's a shark."