I have never been hunting

I had a dad that hunted... I was interested as a kid & even took the hunter training program with my stepmonster (she was in a good mood & wanted something we could "bond over")...

That said, when it came time to hunt, did I get asked to go? no. My brother did. NO course, no clue & I was left home. Typical macho BS.

So I hunted on my own. Sling shot as a kid, graduating to bow & arrow as I grew, eventually up into my first .22, then .303 & now I'm up to a .308. And easily 90% of what I learned, I learned by doing. As the old man didn't have time to teach a girl how to hunt.

Now I outhunt him EVERY time. I didn't like going hungry...

L
 
My buddy had never hunted until he was 25 or so.
I was living in Calgary at the time and I was telling him I was going to apply for antelope, he decided he would apply as well.
Long story short, after some shooting he was hooked.
He took a nice antelope with my 338.:D

Next thing you know he was applying for his FAC, phoning me up and asking me a million questions what to buy.
20 years later he's still hunting.

I think his wife hates me!:evil:
 
I assume you live in P.A. so I would recommend getting a membership to the Sask Wildlife Federation and a membership to the Bow Benders club and shoot indoors at the club this winter to hone your skills. They also have an excellent outdoor range. You'll meet more than enough people willing to help you out and give you advice unless things have done a 180 degree turn in the last few years.
 
This thread has been one of the best I have ever started. Tons of useful info and encouragement. I will definitly check out the Bowbenders ,I met a few of the guys already when I worked at the surplus store.
I have been getting out to the bush on my quad and practising some of my bushcraft skills. I still need to learn more about animal behaviour and calls.
I think this fall I will do some scouting and try to learn as much as I can like some of you suggested. One of the reasons I wanted to start hunting was to get more time in the bush and to feel more like a part of it rather than just a tourist.

The idea of practising my bow skills indoors this winter has some definite appeal.

Calling predators like coyotes sounds really interesting.

I spent 500$ last month on knives ,I am almost afraid of gettiing my PAL.

I went from the idea that I only need either a sporterized milsurp or a Stevens in .308 to

A Norinco M305 (to good a deal not to get one)

A custom varmint rifle.maybe even an AR15 based and a bolt action or Ruger No1

I love old gentleman's hunting rifles like Weatherby's with beautiful checkering
and nice walnut. A friend has a Parker Hale .303 and they are to good a deal not to get one. I guess I would need a matching Enfield in full stock form.

A BAR in .300 (I don't even have a way of rationalizing that one):50cal:

Have you seen those Prairie Gun Works Coyotes? It is our duty to buy Canadian:D

A Mosin sniper repro uses the cheapest centrefire rifle ammo and is easily accurate enough for minute of whitetail.

I think I may have a problem!:eek:


Hmm there are some really nice bowhunting gear.
Unsub
 
Unsub, I'd strongly recommend contacting your local fish and game and/or gun club. Tell them where you are and where you want to get to. They'll probably have good advice, maybe even offer PAL couses.

News flash. You don't need a PAL to try shooting! Ask the club if they have any 'open house' days or other means for you to try shooting. You will likely find that they'll be more than helpfull and willing to help a new shooter out.

Stay with your desires. You seem to have the bug and will soon find that hunting is a lot more than a hobby, just ask for some help.

Now, before you go spending all your dough on lots of rifles :D I recommend that you do what probably 95% of us on this board did. Get a nice .22 rimfire rifle. Cheap to shoot and to shoot lots. Hone your skills with that, start out hunting grouse or prairie chickens or whatever you have out there. Go from there.

And ya, don't be shy to ask anything here either. Maybe someone from this site is near you and would take you to the range and try some shooting soon hint hint hint...

edit to add: doah the soldier beat me to it I knew a CGNer would come through.....
 
Something you might want to consider is a combo shotgun package; a Mossy 500 or an 870 that comes with a smoothbore barrel for small game and a slug barrel for big game. If you hunt in a shotgun-only area, you really do not need anything else.

Of course, "need" is a very subjective term :D; I went from PAL to filling my first gun safe in about a year...
 
Unsub
Good on you, some of the best parts of my youth involve hunting with my father and uncle.
Neither of my daughters showed an intrest and I never pressured them.
A couple of weeks ago my 17 year old told her uncle (my youngest brother) that she would like to go up to his cabin and see what hunting is all about.
With luck she is on her way
 
Get a hunting regs synopsis and read it. CYA the conservation officer will not care what you read on CGN or what your friends told you. Play safe and have fun.
 
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