Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

OK, so you answered my first question.

Second one is. How young can a kid hunt in MN?

It sounds like you are stuck with a Marlin or a Savage for levers, since you don't like the Win's. I'd suggest a Model 88 if you change your mind. Savage 99 or a Win 88 in .308 Win sounds about right.

Pretty sweet Paul, I do need a 99 some day. Love em.

Last time I was in Cabela's in Rodgers they had two .284 in model 88's. Can't remember what the price was but I'm thinking 8ish.

can't go wrong with a marlin 336. I have one in 30-30 and that is a death dealing machine! I'm strongly thinkin about using it this fall. especially since I had some "developments" with my 260. I might not get them fixed in time.


PS I got a nasty text message from forkey toes tonight. he was taunting me. I forwarded it to dave and tom for proof. that deer is going down!

I know, I have a shiny Browning. It was my first gun, I liked it at the time. I would definately do it differently next time.

nuthin wrong with it Miss, the browning's I've had shoot like crazy, and they are pretty.

I'm thinking of getting one for my daughter. She's left handed and tiny, and the Micro is the only one she can hold up so far. Really, it's a pretty nice gun.

muffy it's nut the gun it's the scope

Hi Dusty. Are you coming up this weekend? it'd be nice to see ya again.

Yeah dad, I do need a better scope. Couldn't afford a good one when I got the gun. Maybe someday I can get a better one. I have only missed 1 deer with it, but that was buck fever. It was a nice 10 point and it was my first day out hunting. The next day I shot a nice doe right through the heart. But that was in a clearing, I can't see crap in any brush. I couldn't even get a shot in the brush on an 8 point 20 yards from my stand. Jeremy shot it and he was standing on the ground right under my stand. He's got a Leopold VXIII. Nice scope.

I've used burris a lot in the past, they are clear and bright, sometimes you can see better with the scope than your eye.
check the classifieds here from time to time, you'll come across some great deals on used ones, just ask Dave and they are guaranteed forever.

I'm never going down into the classifieds again.

After doing some more reading I strongly suspect we are going with the Model 88, he is 10 by the way T zone, my other was 8 last year when he took his first deer.

The regs dont address anyone under 12 hunting deer. Other then those over 12 must have hunters safety.

My position is I am the one that is responsible for them, safety and maturity wise. They showed me that they are ready although it will be a few years before they go it alone.

It would be interesting to have a CO cite me or my kid for underage hunting I would fight that one all the way. I would love to show the judge that this kid isnt ready when he is able to take a one shot kill at 300 yards with a .243, and can do it repeatedly over and over. His brother was responsible enough to pass on 5 deer due to safety reasons, he was concerned the rain would have washed the blood away, there were cars coming from both directions, wasnt comfortable with the shot, etc. I was prouder of him making those decisions then him pulling the trigger.

If the tradition of deer camp is to continue the kids must be involved in one way or another.

But I do have several burris, leupold and nikon at home... bushnell too.

I have 3 of the FFII 3-9 40mm, one FFII 3.5-10 50mm, a 6.5-20 50mm AO with target turrets, and now I have an older fullfield 3-9 40mm being shipped to me. Guess that would bring my burris count up to 6.

Leupolds we have a couple of VXII 3-9 40mm and an FXII 4 power. O I guess I have an old vari X 3-9 coming to the house too so our loopy count will be 4.

We have a nikon that is prior to the model names like buckmaster and monark, it's just a "nikon" 3-9 40mm. We have a bushnell 3200 3-9 also.

Some of my burris are B-plex which I really like. At least one of the loopy's is a similar reticle, long range duplex they call theirs.


It's a toss up for me I guess. all of these have been really good, no fogging, clear, good light gathering, hold zero ... They are all good hunting scopes.

Bigdrift, one comment I have heard about the 88 like mine in .308 is "sharp recoil" due to the rise and the hard butt plate.

I guess I haven't noticed, it really doesn't bother me but I'm not recoil sensitive either. It's just something I've heard repeatedly over the years when conversations of the M88 come up.

Personally I don't get it, but it is a common comment so maybe they do kick more than other .308 rifles. I don't know.

Pam must have convinced you that buying from the classifieds wouldn'd be good for your health.

That or he got busted when she hooked up her new game cam.

Well maybe we'll have him try the .284 I dont know yet it is a work in progress I am just happy he likes the look of it.

The 88 has it's following that's for sure.

I really enjoy grabbing mine out of the rack on a snowy silent day and going for a long walk from camp. It's definately my go to still hunting rifle for deer.

BD, please don't think I was critisizing you. I just wanted to know because I have a daughter that wants to hunt. She is 7 but too small to hold any gun that would be worthy of shooting a deer with. I keep telling her when she's 8.

I'm starting to look for guns for her. I'd love to get her a Remington M7 in .223 or .243, she is a lefty though. So far it's Browning, Savage/Stevens, and TC Encore/Contender.



He sure sounds ready. My dad wouldn't let me use a gun until I was 12 and passed hunters safety. I would say with certainty I was ready at 10 maybe 9.

how about a model 7 in 260 remington?

my Dad has a savage 99 in 300 sav that I have been tryng to get from him for years, I just don't have the dough.