runboxrun
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2018
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Howdy! I've been reading a lot here and finally made an account to join the community.
I am 29 years old and have never been hunting in my life. As a boy I would go to the range with my dad, but haven't fired a gun as an adult. Over the last few months I've gained an interest in hunting as a means to bring some meat home for my family. I have a wife and three kids with another on the way!
I live in Illinois and have been doing a lot of research about local laws and public hunting land. I have several large areas very close to me I can utilize. They all have slightly different policies, but it looks like centerfire rifles are pretty much banned unless you're furbear trapping which I'm not interested in. Weapons allowed are bows, shotguns, and muzzleloaders.
I would like to start with squirrels and rabbits because they're plentiful and the season is long and then maybe deer next season. I've pretty much decided to buy a muzzeloading rifle as my first gun, and pretty sure that weapon will be a CVA Wolf with optional Blackhorn 209 breechplug for loose powder. I decided this because it will allow me to control the shot load more and am hopeful I can make loads that won't obliterate squirrels now and still have the ability for more powerful shots for deer later.
Shotguns would probably make squirrels easier to kill and I'd like to get one eventually, but for my first season I'm trying to stick with a budget and feel the muzzleloader is the most verastile option.
I wanted to share my thoughts so far and get opinions on my thought process and any tips would be appreciated. Looking forward to being a part of the community and hopefully I can help some others in some small way.
Thanks!
I am 29 years old and have never been hunting in my life. As a boy I would go to the range with my dad, but haven't fired a gun as an adult. Over the last few months I've gained an interest in hunting as a means to bring some meat home for my family. I have a wife and three kids with another on the way!
I live in Illinois and have been doing a lot of research about local laws and public hunting land. I have several large areas very close to me I can utilize. They all have slightly different policies, but it looks like centerfire rifles are pretty much banned unless you're furbear trapping which I'm not interested in. Weapons allowed are bows, shotguns, and muzzleloaders.
I would like to start with squirrels and rabbits because they're plentiful and the season is long and then maybe deer next season. I've pretty much decided to buy a muzzeloading rifle as my first gun, and pretty sure that weapon will be a CVA Wolf with optional Blackhorn 209 breechplug for loose powder. I decided this because it will allow me to control the shot load more and am hopeful I can make loads that won't obliterate squirrels now and still have the ability for more powerful shots for deer later.
Shotguns would probably make squirrels easier to kill and I'd like to get one eventually, but for my first season I'm trying to stick with a budget and feel the muzzleloader is the most verastile option.
I wanted to share my thoughts so far and get opinions on my thought process and any tips would be appreciated. Looking forward to being a part of the community and hopefully I can help some others in some small way.
Thanks!