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Greetings all from myself here in Ashburton. Newbie hunter with small experience currently waiting for FAL to show up in mail. Got my first game last November, two Tahr out of Mesopotamia station. Looking forward to this seasons roar and buying my first hunting rifle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Welcome to the forum. You will receive no end of advice on here.
Welcome to the forum, goodluck for the roar
Welcome.
Welcome.
Welcome aboard Heisenburg, you've found the right place!!
Any of the main calibers will do. Welcome to the forum. You're in a good spot.
Yes Mid Canterbury is very close to many good hunting spots. Looking to buy my first rifle in the next couple of weeks, at the moment I'm looking at Ruger American 270. Have already bought my scope, Leupold Vx2 3-9x40 with the LR duplex reticle.
Can anyone suggest were the best place to buy good priced binoculars?
Have a search on here, must be a few binos threads.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heisenburg
Welcome Heisenburg.
Rule 1: Don't ask for advice. Ever. It won't stop. But seriously here's my 5 cents worth.
Your scope seems a step up from the Ruger American - not sure what you budget is but I'd look at something a tier above- maybe a tikka or remington. Or go another step up and get a Browning X-Bolt. (i will be biased as crap because I own one in .270).
The Ruger Americans are not bad rifles but for good South Island Tahr hunting I'd want something as accurate as I could afford as the ranges will often be higher the bush/valley/gut hunting for Tahr.
in terms of calibre I love the .270 for all hunting - I can't fault it but .308 and 7mm08s are equally as popular down here. For longer stuff ie. Tahr on the tops get something that shoots nice and flat like a .270, .270wsm or something with similar trajectory. .308's are still good but I've outdone my hunting buddies many times over with the .270 over their .308s - it's up to the shooter.
300mags and big boomfuh calibres are great fun and perform superbly but consider the ammo cost.
As for Binos - again depends on price. Guncity, as much as I love to hate them, often have fairly well priced specials, otherwise check out shooters supplies in riccarton adn get him to get you some in if he doesn't have the ones you're after in stock. 10x40 should be your minimum IMHO.
As for Christchurch hunter friendly places I reckon Shooters Supplies in riccarton are the best to deal with being smaller and will beat any price Guncity or H&F have. Think you have a Hunting and Fishing down in Ashuburton but if you're in town prices can be better here.
That's my semi-filtered/semi-biased advice to you.
Your money and your call though.
Welcome to forum
WelcomeQuote:
Originally Posted by Heisenburg
I'm fairly new on here myself. I'm looking at getting another rifle, my preference is .308, but everyone is different so find out what each is good for and choose what you think will suit your style, at the end of the day none of the calibers you're considering will make any difference to the animal at the other end if you're good enough to hit it!
I've currently got a Howa 1500, I really like it but it's probably about 1/2 kg heavier than a lot of the others. At the end of the day you'll never regret paying a $1,000 for a remington or $1,200 for a tikka, but you could very easily regret owning cheaper brands.
My own personal preference now that I've annoyed a lot of people in gun shops, taking into account price v quality, is the Remington 700, then the Tikka, followed by the Howa 1500, and the cheapies are way down the list. If I had the money I'd go up the scale. That's just my own personal opinion for what it's worth.
Cheers Michael
There is a 270 Browning Abolt with rings in the for sale section for a decent price, maybe have a look at that if your not dead set on new.
Oh and Welcome.:)
Well if you're a kiwi I think the quintessential rifle you'd have to consider would be a Tikka T3 Lite 7mm08 with a VX-2 3-9x40 or something like that!
I reckon there is a shitload of 308 owners that would dispute that. There must be something wrong with me as I don't own either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bavarian_Hunter
I've been helping out a young fella whos 17 get into hunting, before I met him he'd bought a Browning A bolt in .270 and he hates it. Kicks like a mule and for all his load development cant get anything better than a 2" group. He swears my 300WM kicks less than it too.
Might be just his though
I think we all know there is something wrong with you Rushy ;) dont worry there's something wrong with me too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rushy
The 270 kicks like a rhino but shit it's been good to me. All preference.
Sent from my Browning
Welcome. The biggest advice I can give regarding hunting in Canterbury, is you need to learn to spend more time sitting and glassing than running around the hills. I came from a bush hunting background, and when I ended up in Canterbury it took me a couple of years to figure this out. While I managed plenty of animals by trekking around the hills, my hunting time became much more efficient and I saw heaps more animals when I bought some 10x40mm binos and learnt to stop and look.
My advice is to spend as much as you can afford on a good pair of binos. Good glass is something you generally pay for. European optics are considered to be the best, but you pay for them. Brands to look into are ones like Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss, Steiner, Kahles, Zen-Ray, Nikon, Leupold, Bushnell etc etc. For big open country in Canterbury, buy some 10x40's. Shop around, hunting shops aren't the only place that sell optics.
Your VX-2 will be fine for type of hunting you are starting to do. Any of the calibres from 243 up will be suitable. Don't look past a decent 2nd hand rifle, as a good one can easily be found for under a $1000. Sight your rifle in properly and learn to shoot properly, from different stances. Some find punching paper boring as shit (I do), but there is no substitute for learning what you and your rifle is able to achieve accuracy wise.
As a learning hunter you will seldom be shooting out past 300 metres (which is not a shot distance to be scoffed at under hunting conditions). In my experience, most animals shot in the NZ hills would be shot within 150 metres. In my opinion you should learn how to stalk animals, and learn their behaviour before learning how to shoot long range and shooting at them across valleys.
A sharp knife is essential. A decent jacket should be an investment. Good boots (and socks) are worthy of a mention, no good ending up somewhere a long way from the car with f*^ked feet. A warm sleeping bag is very important in Canterbury at this time of year and heading into the winter, especially if you plan (or don't plan) a night out on the hill...a good one will save your life.
All of the other stuff is not so important. You can hunt very successfully with normal everyday gear. Having the flashiest and best gear, or the gear some other "hot shot" has will not make you a successful hunter. Time in the hills will. Join your local NZDA to meet local hunters and make friends with like minded people.
Not quite, if you are a JAFA, this applies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bavarian_Hunter
All of my A-bolts (have owned a handful now) shot well, and certainly wouldn't boot any more than a tikka t3! My .280 shoot brilliantly with several loads. I'd say the young fell needs a bit of practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bavarian_Hunter
He's not new to hunting or reloading, just been a varminter. And he has the skills (as far as I'm concerned anyways), filmed him shoot a fallow doe at 385m about a month ago with my brothers 300WM sako A7.Quote:
Originally Posted by JoshC
Since my last post i have purchased my binos and boots. Leupold BX2 cascades 10x42 for glass and Meindl Perfekt 10" boots from Cabelas, got a great price from out of the states off the website. Very happy with both tbh.
Appreciate the advice from you guys.
Im quite happy with my cascades.
One thing to watch tho is the objective lense caps can come off and get lost.
Yep they were my first pair of binos too, nothing wrong with them. Spotted plenty of animals with them and had no problems with them over several years use.Quote:
Originally Posted by veitnamcam