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30-06! I was in the same boat last year, looking for a new rifle. I will most likely only own the one rifle, not saying that I wouldn't like to own other caliber rifles, if cost wasn't an issue. I chose the 30-06 because of the wide selection of ammo and game that can be hunted with that caliber. As mentioned above, I also have seen 55g ammo for the 30-06 for use with varmits. I am interested in checking into that myself. Any store that sells ammo will always have a box of 30-06 bullets on the shelf. This is a caliber that has been around for a long time and will probably be around even longer.

Thanks to all for your timely responds. When I took the rife to the range to break it in, I bought three boxes of 150g bullets. One was Federal Power-Shok, one was Remington Core-Lok and the last was Winchester SuperX Power-Points. After shooting all three during the break-in, before I left the range, I shot 5 groups of each with a barrel cleaning between each group at 100 yds. The Winchester's were all within 2-1/2", the Federal's were within 6" and the Remington's about 8". Three of the five rounds of the Winchester's I could have covered with a quarter. So I bought a couple more boxes of the Power-Points to hunt with. I haven't shot the Winchester 165g Pointed Soft Points. I'd like to but I just don't have time to do that right now. Between work, coaching high school JV basketball and hunting, I just can't head to the range at this point. The thing with Walmart, they have them on the shelf now, who knows how long they will have them. Our Walmarts in our area are carrying less and less hunting items. Only one Walmart in 100 miles still sells guns, that I know of. Fellows, I think it's only going to get worst!! I will check back again on the forum to see if anyone else has some experience with the two bullet points. Thanks!

I have a new Savage 110 bolt rifle in 30-06. I am real happy with the groups I was shooting at the range with Winchester 150g Power-Points and have shot a nice doe at about 75 yards. She dropped in her tracks and was dead in about 10 sec. I would like to stock-up with some ammo before the prices start to rise. My local Walmart has the Winchester 150g Power-Points and also the 165g Pointed Soft Points on the shelf for about $15-$16 per box. I have seen the ballistic charts on the Winchester websites. The 165g's are alittle faster and retain alittle more energy than the 150's. The question I have is the bullet expansion. Which is a better bullet tip for expansion, the Power-Point or the Pointed Soft Point? Has anyone had any experience with using these two different bullet? I hunt in NY and would be using the bullet to shoot mostly whitetail deer and possibly a local black bear.

I use the same setup as above on all my stands. Most falls are not from the actual stand but stepping onto or off the stand or climbing the tree/ladder. Your life is worth the extra effort and any expense!!!!

Rain, Rain, Rain and More Rain Wow, That had to have been the wettest opening day ever here in NYS! It poured most of the day. The rain would seem to start letting up but then it would start pouring again harder than before. If it wasn't that it was opening day and also the first deer hunt for my 15 yr. old son, my two sons and I would have stayed home. We were on stand at 5:45 and stayed until 3:30. The boys had had enough (Dad also) so we headed out. Total deer seen, ZERO!!! Some friends of ours have a gang of about 12 hunters on their property. One guy saw one doe and got her. That was it and they stayed till dark. They also had some first timers in their group. That's a tough day for a young hunter. We're all looking forward to some colder temps. I probably won't be able to get my boys out again until next Saturday. Pray they have better weather and a more productive day.

Saturday morning, Nov.3rd, I saw a buck chasing a doe, with a spike trailing a few minutes behind them. Then as I was leaving around 12:30, I may have seen the same doe being chased by the same buck, but this time there was a big buck right behind them! I hunted the same stand the next evening and saw only a coyote.(Almost had a shot!!) Tuesday the 6th, I only had a couple of hours to hunt in the morning. I had two deer come into bow range and I shot the bigger of the two "does". She turned out to be a button buck:(! I hunted again in the morning on the 8th for a couple of hours and saw nothing. But I checked my trail cam and had a nice big buck in front of my stand at 2:16 PM, the afternoon that I had shot the button buck! I had a total of 5 different deer on the camera that same day and evening!!! I couldn't hunt again until Saturday, the 10th. I couldn't wait to get back into the stand!! I sat from 6:00am til 6:00 pm and didn't see or hear a deer until it was totally dark. I then heard a single deer trot by about 40-50 yards away. Sunday evening I got into the stand at 3:00pm. As dusk was creeping in I heard a deer coming towards my tree stand. It was a nice big doe, she gave me a nice broadside shot! About 5 minutes later, her boyfriend showed up on the scene! He wasn't the big wide 8pt on the trail cam but he was big enough for me!! I shot him also as he walked right below my tree stand!! He was a smaller 8pt but what a way to end my bowseason!! My first double with a bow!! Also my first three deer bowseason. I thank the good Lord for blessing my season!! I think we are in the main part of the rut here in NYS. Now is the time to be in the woods!!!! After this Saturday, everything will change!! Good Luck, everyone!

In our area of NY, I haven't seen a rub, scrap nor a buck (in the daylight) in the woods yet. I've been out six times and two different locations. It's a bit odd!

Sounds like a 180 grain bullet is the choice of most of you guys. I think I'll buy a few boxes of different brands and see how each one does in my gun. What recommendations do you have on bullet tips? For example, Winchester has both a ballstistic silvertip and a soft point power point in a 180 grain cartridge. Which would be best for hunting black bear?

I have just bought a Savage 110 in 30-06 Cal. I am planning on doing some early fall black bear hunting in the Adirondack Mts in the end of Sept. I was wondering what brand, cartridge type, and grain everyone would recommend for this hunt? Thanks for your help!!

Re: I need a new climbing stick...info please I have a set of the Lone Wolf Climbing Sticks. I love them. The step part folds up and the three sticks nest together. They are light weight and easy to use. I think I paid around $100 for the set. I also have the Lone Wolf Alfa strap-on stand. The sticks strap right onto the stand for backpacking into the woods.

Re: Blood Tracking Flash Light [ QUOTE ] I am color blind so anything that helps is great and for the first time I could lead the tracking! The blood just shined out for me. It must really depend on the person because I have read a lot of reviews both ways. I personally just ordered the Gerber since it has more LED lights and appears to be brighter! [/ QUOTE ] Oak, I am colored blind also and have a hard time following a blood trail in the light and dark. Let us know how you like the Gerber light when you get it. I have seen the Winchester light at Walmart and was tempted to buy it. But I would like to know how you like the Gerber first. I did buy some "Tink's Starlight Bloodhound Blood Trailing Aid" but have not had a chance to try it yet. It is a two part spray that is suppost to turn the blood fluorescent blue.

Re: do you like your peep I started out with the rubber hose on my peep sight. I didn't like the noise of it but the final draw was the day I drew back and wack! That hose broke and snapped back and hit me in the eye! I've gone to a RAD and love it.

Re: Winchester Model 70 243 WSSM ???? Thanks for everyone's input. I was thinking the same thing, but it was nice to get some reassurance. As I said, this is something totally new to us. We are going to sight it in at the range sometime next week, before it gettings wrapped up for his birthday. I'm sure he'll be pretty excited when he opens that present! We'll get him back out to the range so he can shoot it before the season starts.

My son is turning 16 in a couple of weeks. This season will be his first time hunting deer. His grandfather wanted to buy him a rifle for his birthday. We have both agreed that a 243 would make a great choice for him. Grandpa called me last night and said that he bought him a Winchester model 70 bolt 243 with a simmons scope. I stopped over at his house today to see it. Turns out that it is a 243 WSSM. It's a nice gun but neither one of us has ever shot a magnum of any kind. Is there alot more recoil with a 243 WSSM compared to a standard 243? Do you think it is too much for him? My son is almost 6 ft. tall and slender but rugged. He has only hunted small game and turkeys so far and uses a 22LR or a 20 gauge shotgun. But has done well with them. What do you guys think? Any help would be great !!

Re: NY Opener I was out this morning. I saw lots of squirels and a flock of turkeys, but no deer. But it was nice to be back in the stand. I may try an evening hunt Sunday.

Re: Lone Wolf Tree stands Great stands! I have had my Alpha Hang On Stand for a couple of years and love it. It is light weight, quiet and easy to hang. I bought the climbing sticks also. They strap right onto the folded up stand and makes it easy to back pack into the woods. Once I have reached the tree, it only takes me about ten minutes to get everything setup and start hunting. The only complaint I have is the price.

Re: Southern Zone New York Hunters I would say I liked the Saturday opener better. Mostly for the reason of not having to take a day off from work. I'm self employed, no work no pay. My son has taken the day off from school in the past. We would let the teachers know the week before and asked if he could do his school work ahead of time. Most of the teachers had no problem with that.

Re: Tree Stand Thefts I use bicycle combination cable lock on my portable treestands. I try to keep them in hemlock trees so that they are alittle harder to see. I will remove the lower branches if needed. Then I also carry in my climbing sticks when I go hunting and then remove them when I leave the stand. Again, this helps concel the stands from other hunters, plus it makes it harder to get up to the stand. But as we all know, if someone wants it bad enough, there is no way to stop them. So far I haven't lost one yet.

Re: Gerber Carnivore tracking light I had some questions about the Carnivore tracking light also. I am colored blind and I am always looking for help in tracking. So I emailed Gerber asking for some more info on their product. Here is their reply. I hope it helps. I wrote them: "I saw your ad in North American Hunter magazine for the Carnivore Blood Tracking Light. I was wondering if the light only works on fresh wet blood only or would it also work on dried blood, several hours old? I am slightly color blind and have a hard time blood tracking, especially dried blood. This light could be a huge help to me. Have you done any testing with people that are color blind? I look forward to hearing back from you." Gerber replied: " Thank you for contacting Gerber Blades. The Carnivore light would of course work best of fresh blood but it will work somewhat effectively on nearly dry blood, and not as well on completely dried blood. The lights are designed to make fresh blood stand out in contrast to its surroundings and of course the more dry the blood, the harder it will be to stand out. Though there are several types of color-blindness, the Carnivore should work effectively in providing a goodly contrast to the surrounding area for tracking. The Carnivore is not designed to make the blood luminescent as blood does not have that type of property. However, with this light, the contrast is strong enough that you can easily differentiate blood from its surroundings."

I found a hen's nest (10 eggs) while hunting last weekend. The hen jumped up as I was walking a near by log road. My question is this, should I try setting up and calling near that nesting area or should I keep my distance, so that the hen will not be spooked? Someone told me that a gobbler will sometimes stay near a nesting area to either re-breed that hen or to try to break those eggs so he can then re-breed the hen. Has anyone ever heard anything about that? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Re: 2500 Game Tracker ??? I tried the hydrogen peroxide trick one time but I didn't have much success with it. The blood had dried maybe that was part of the problem. How as it worked for you SRTMO? I am still thinking about the Game Tracker for next year. I was glad to see that a few guys have used it. I am pulling about 65 lbs on my bow and I do get pass throughs with my arrows. The one thing that does conserns me is the problem of shooting through holes, over and under branches, etc.

I was wondering if anyone has ever used the 2500 Game Tracker on their bow? I am colored blind and have a hard time finding small amounts of blood while tracking deer. I usally get someone to help me, but that isn't always an option. If the deer is running, I can track it with the upturned leaves. I was looking at the 2500 Game Tracker in the Cabela catalog but I'm not 100 % sold on having a spool of string on my bow ?!? If anyone has any info on this product I'd be greatful. Thanks

Re: The NY season so far The Rut Is On In NY!! Shot a nice 8 pt. Monday morning (11/8/04). He was with a doe. After I released my arrow (20 yds), he ran off along with the doe. He made it 150 yards and piled up in the log road! After they left the scene, a lopsided 4 pt., a 4 pt and a spike, walked through, one at a time. All three with their noses to the ground! My buck had a 16-1/2" inside spread and weighed 140 pounds field dressed. This is my third year bow hunting. Last year I shot another 8 pt. from the same stand! Bowhunting is awesome!!! Now I can work on filling my doe tags! Have fun guys!!