On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 4:04 PM, Douglas Friess
<DFriess@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Since the subject has been brought up. I'm thinking of
getting my first hunting rifle for deer hunting. Any suggestions? Thinking of
getting my boys a couple of .22 as their first rifles too.
Just looking for a good make/model and a nice place to get them.
You should know that using rifles for deer hunting is banned in 1/3 of Michigan, the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. Also, most places in Michigan, you're going to be hunting in forests or brush with limited visibility. Something like a Remington 870 Combo in 12 gauge 3" Magnum chamber, a shotgun with both a smoothbore, removable-choked "Field" barrel and a rifled barrel for sabotted slugs would be my recommendation for a first hunting gun. It will be more than adequate for deer, black bear, feral swine, etc. with the slug barrel, and with suitable sized shot, you can branch out into small game, upland game, night-time furbearer and predator hunting, waterfowl and wild turkey hunting as well, with the smoothbore barrel.
If you're dead-set on buying a rifle, get a Savage 110 or 111 bolt-action in .308 Winchester, .270 Winchester or .30-06, any of these will handle your rifle hunting needs for years to come, unless you decide to go after brown bear (Grizzlies and Kodiaks), Elk or Moose. My personal preference would be for the .308 Winchester, since it can also fire the dimensionally identical 7.62x51mm NATO round, which has been cropping up by the case on the military surplus ammo markets for quite some time now.
As for the .22s, I'd recommend just about any action-style other than semi-auto for the first time shooter, with bolt-action being my strong preference. Marlin and Ruger both make solid .22LR which will be rugged, reliable and easy to clean and maintain. The bolt action allows the shooter to easily single load the rounds, which is great from a safety perspective while young shooters are still perfecting their safe gun-handling skills. The act of breaking and re-acquiring the sighting picture each time they cycle the bolt will also hone their aim.
I prefer to buy my guns at either Westborn Gun Shop in Taylor, MI or Jay's Sporting Goods in Clare, MI. Both places are family run, invariably have whatever I'm looking for--in stock and at a price to beat the big guys--and stand behind the products they sell. A single trip to Jay's would allow you to set up for deer hunting--including all clothing and supplies you might need--and get your boys' .22 rifles squared away as well.
-niteshad-