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Posted: 3/29/2006 4:37:25 PM EDT

I'm just wandering what some setups are in texas. I am a first AR buyer and I don't really know what to buy. I have 40 acres of hay field that I use to hunt on. Just some information.

Posted: 3/29/2006 5:10:50 PM EDT

[#1]

Maybe consider a bolt gun in a caliber more suited to whitetails than 5.56, and spend the rest of the money you can afford on good optics including binoculars? YMMV

Posted: 3/29/2006 5:36:17 PM EDT

[#2]

OR get an AR10 that would be a 308. http://www.armalite.com/
OR a .50 BEOWULF from http://www.alexanderarms.com/website/index.html
OR look at http://www.cobb50.com/mcr.htm they will make you an AR in almost any cal.

Posted: 3/29/2006 5:40:55 PM EDT

[#3]

So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

Posted: 3/29/2006 10:46:47 PM EDT

[#4]

I have never taken deer with 5.56-223 but I would have no problem with doing it

I have a bolt 700 chambered in 308 that I have taken many deer with.

I just ( new years ) took 3 hogs with a 742 chambered in 243 ( 100 lbs or so )

as long as you make a good shot and shoot a good round you should not have problems

but if you have a gun better suited to deer , use it, no need to wound / track a deer for ever.

Invisiblesoul

Posted: 3/30/2006 3:57:45 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

Take a look at the .458 SOCOM, it is a great hunting round for the A R , like a short 45-70 and uses stock mags.

Posted: 3/30/2006 4:31:52 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

sure. it will kill a deer in a heart beat. if your careful about shot placement and use a good soft point or HP bullet designed for the task. If you use FMJ or a varmint bullet you may wound the deer. Most Texas deer weigh about 60# a big one will go 100#. There are some monsters in south Texas but you should have no problem with 99% of the white tales you see.

Most hunters in Texas hunt over a feeder. They have a timer and it’s set to go off about dawn and again at dusk. They set the feeder anywhere from 30-100 yds 50 is normal. from a tower blind. If you use this method you will know your range and I would go so far as to set up a target off season and shoot it to gauge the drop of the angle from the tower to the ground.

Posted: 3/30/2006 4:44:49 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Quoted:
So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

sure. it will kill a deer in a heart beat. if your careful about shot placement and use a good soft point or HP bullet designed for the task. If you use FMJ or a varmint bullet you may wound the deer. Most Texas deer weigh about 60# a big one will go 100#. There are some monsters in south Texas but you should have no problem with 99% of the white tales you see.

You must not be hunting in east Texas. We routinely kill does well over 100 pounds. The largest on the lease this year was 165# on a scale.

Posted: 3/30/2006 4:52:20 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

sure. it will kill a deer in a heart beat. if your careful about shot placement and use a good soft point or HP bullet designed for the task. If you use FMJ or a varmint bullet you may wound the deer. Most Texas deer weigh about 60# a big one will go 100#. There are some monsters in south Texas but you should have no problem with 99% of the white tales you see.

You must not be hunting in east Texas. We routinely kill does well over 100 pounds. The largest on the lease this year was 165# on a scale.

i am having a hard time believing you shoot 165# deer in East Texas. Most of the deer I have seen around Livingston look like small dogs. A 100# deer is a monster. Now having said that. a well placed soft point of HP at 3000 FPS is enough for a 165# deer. if you screw up and shoot it bad a 300 Winmag will not be enough.

Posted: 3/30/2006 7:40:35 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

Take a look at the .458 SOCOM, it is a great hunting round for the A R , like a short 45-70 and uses stock mags.

Is the .458 SOCOM the same a the .458 winchester?

What is the difference b/t the .458 winchester and the 458 Lott?

Posted: 3/30/2006 7:43:32 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
So you don't suggest hunting with 5.56?

Take a look at the .458 SOCOM, it is a great hunting round for the A R , like a short 45-70 and uses stock mags.

Is the .458 SOCOM the same a the .458 winchester?

What is the difference b/t the .458 winchester and the 458 Lott?

a .458 SOCOM is a stubby bottle neck round kind of like a long 45ACP with a rebated rim.
a .458 WinMag and .458 Lott are big ass African cartridges.

Posted: 3/30/2006 8:07:13 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:

i am having a hard time believing you shoot 165# deer in East Texas. Most of the deer I have seen around Livingston look like small dogs. A 100# deer is a monster. Now having said that. a well placed soft point of HP at 3000 FPS is enough for a 165# deer. if you screw up and shoot it bad a 300 Winmag will not be enough.

I hunt around Woodville, not that far from Livingston, and we rarely ever kill a doe at less than 100#. We weigh them for our management programs so it is not guessed weight. A lot of the problem with deer weight is their age. If you are hunting the rare open/public land, then you will almost never see large deer because within the first year of their life, they will be shot. If you have a lease with no rules or doesn't manage the harvest, the same situation exists. One of my best friends hunts about 30 miles from me and considers himself lucky if he finds a 4-point/1.5 year old buck that weighs 110 pounds. He was proud to have killed one this year. We pass up 2.5 year old 8-pointers. Let them grow up and see the size difference.

Posted: 3/30/2006 8:07:44 AM EDT

[#12]

We have some land near livingston and most doe that I see are around 90-110 lbs and most bucks are around 120-150, but I have seen exceptions. I have killed 3 deer with my AR (2 spike 1 buck) and all three deer have fallen where shot. One I shot in the head and two in the front chest as they were looking straight at me. It's funny but when I've shot deer with my 300 rem ultra mag most run about 100yds before they die. The only reason I can think of for this is with the AR I make sure my shots are 100% perfect and with the 300 RUM I my not be as critical?

Posted: 3/30/2006 8:09:55 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
i am having a hard time believing you shoot 165# deer in East Texas. Most of the deer I have seen around Livingston look like small dogs. A 100# deer is a monster. Now having said that. a well placed soft point of HP at 3000 FPS is enough for a 165# deer. if you screw up and shoot it bad a 300 Winmag will not be enough.

By the way, it is a 165# doe, not just "a deer". I do agree with the shot placement.

Posted: 3/30/2006 6:58:30 PM EDT

[#14]

I have a 7.62 finlandish sniper rifle I could use. Extremely accurate. But would it really matter where I hit it with that?

Posted: 3/30/2006 8:18:18 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
I have a 7.62 finlandish sniper rifle I could use. Extremely accurate. But would it really matter where I hit it with that?

Yes it would. You still have to get a round through the heart/lungs/central nervous system to get a humane kill. Gut shot is gut shot no matter how big the round is. I shot a 165# 10pt, and a 112# doe last November with my .416 Rigby. The doe dropped where she stood, but that buck still managed to run 35 paces after getting hit through the heart/lungs with a 400 gn soft point. In 2004 I shot a 200# boar hog with the same load and it dropped in its tracks due to having it's spine dislocated and it's lungs turned to jelly. Shot placement it KEY.

Posted: 3/30/2006 10:40:03 PM EDT

[#16]

My Grandfather hunts with a 223, he uses Winchester loaded 55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, hes killed 5 deer with this load, none of them went far. My personal minimum is a 243, with handloaded 85 grain Sierra HPBT's. I dont really feel undergunned with a 223, I just prefer a little more "ooomph" on the receiving end so to speak.

Posted: 3/31/2006 5:10:59 AM EDT

[#17]

Shoot them in the heart or the lungs and you should be fine with a 5.56. Although, a high lung shot is not as favorable as a low lung shot. I have seen deer that have been shot high in the lungs run for damn near ever.

Check this link out...............DEER ANATOMY

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:45:26 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Shoot them in the heart or the lungs and you should be fine with a 5.56. Although, a high lung shot is not as favorable as a low lung shot. I have seen deer that have been shot high in the lungs run for damn near ever.

Check this link out...............DEER ANATOMY

If you are shooting from a blind at 50 yards. You should be able to put it between their eyes. Even with irons.

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:53:53 AM EDT

[#19]

For deer hunting in Texas, .243 or larger should do fine with correct shot placement as noted by others. 5.56 can be just as effective, though I haven't done it myself. It takes care of hogs just fine, though. With my EoTech and a PVS-14 I RULE THE NIGHT!

Posted: 3/31/2006 11:01:59 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Shoot them in the heart or the lungs and you should be fine with a 5.56. Although, a high lung shot is not as favorable as a low lung shot. I have seen deer that have been shot high in the lungs run for damn near ever.

Check this link out...............DEER ANATOMY

If you are shooting from a blind at 50 yards. You should be able to put it between their eyes. Even with irons.

Yep. Headshots with the AR, and you can shoot your limit in a sitting.

Posted: 3/31/2006 12:01:56 PM EDT

[#21]

why would I want to shoot anything in the face at 50 yards (besides a terrorist)....doesn't that kinda take the sport out of it

Posted: 3/31/2006 12:07:51 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
why would I want to shoot anything in the face at 50 yards (besides a terrorist)....doesn't that kinda take the sport out of it

I actually tried for a spine shot right behind the head.

Well she moved and ended up taking out her JAW.

Man I felt bad.

3 hours and 2 more bullets later (109 lbs)

Posted: 3/31/2006 1:12:32 PM EDT

[#23]

I typically sight my deer rifles in at +1.5" at 100 yards; that puts POI within 1.5" high or low of POA from 0-225 yards without correction. If the laser says the animal is farther than that, I typically refrain from squeezing.

Typical POA is waiting for a broadside shot at the heart, a liitle high and the lungs get hit, a little forward and the front shoulder bones send massive shrapnel through everything vital.

Although most of the dozen and a half animals over the past few years have dropped where they stood, including a 480# head shot Nilgai cow and a 285# feral hog, some have run for up to 200 yards, even with fatal shots......whitetails are extremely robust survivors.

Nosler Partitions are very good at terminal ballistics for thin skinned game; maybe one day I'll actually recover a projectile.