[markheck1]

Originally Posted by Chazman321

Depend on what you're hunting for to what you need. Small game is the best and perhaps the easiest. I sum it up to taking my gun for a walk in the woods. All you need is a orange vest and hat, and a good pair of shoes. I have a tradition, I use my .410 shotgun for squirrels, and my .22 for rabbits. Still never got a rabbit... lol I'm not into upland birds like phesants, but I did have a pitbull named Precious once that tracked and flushed them... lol Squirrels are easy to clean. Pick the hair off between their tail and bunghole, then right there make a cut between and go through th tailbone, but not the skin. Step on the tail and grab the back legs, and pull up. Skin comes off like a zipper and there is no hair. Oh, and dip them in a bucket of water first...

Deer hunting is a whole other animal. While many critters won't care what you smell like, a deer will. And you don't want your hunt busted by that bacon cheeseburger you had for lunch. Rifle deer hunting is best for new hunters. Archery is much harder, and much closer. The closer you get to a deer, the more likely something bad will happen if you aren't on top of your game. A deer isn't a hard kill. If you have a .220 swift or a .444 Marlin, a good shot will make it just as dead as the other. Deer skin is thinner than a bear, and thicker than a humans, but anything you have handy will work. The popular calibers for deer around here are .257, .243, .270, and of course the .30-30 and .30.06 take the lead by far...

Decide what you want to hunt, and go from there. Visit your library and read a few books on hunting. And if you ever find yourself in the western half of the state, give me a holler...

-Chaz

DITTO!
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