new here! first "hunt"

[mattmcgiver]

hey guys, im new here, so i will start by giving you some background of the journey to my hunting career. im matt, im 27, ive been hunting for 1 day..... ive wanted to since i was about 13!
i lived in edson alberta when i was 12-14 where i was first introduced to hunters and hunting culture. i was in cubs and enjoyed all things outdoors but didnt have any hunting, fishing, or outdoorsman influence from my dad. i did manage to get a compound bow from my grandma for christmas one yr, and promptly began competing in archery indoors. i won the provincials but the part of archery i lived for was the outdoor 3d hunts. fastforward 10 yrs, im 24 still wanting to hunt but not really knowing where to start. my friend recomended challenging the core course, so while i was layed off i got the manual, studied for 2 weeks, challenged and passed the test! now i ready to bow hunt! ( except for not having any hunting gear, bowhunting friends, or any idea how to get myself started).. 3 yrs pass and im still spinning my wheels on my hunting "career". luckily this past summer i made a new friend through church that shared an interest in hunting and the outdoors. we went and challenged our PALs together through silvercore both passing. ( my friend narrowly getting through...) since then i have been rifle shopping getting opinions on chamber and manufacterer preference. i have recieved a battary of advince spanning the spectrum from 270 to 300wsm.
so i missed deer season but still have 500$ burning a hole in my pocket. thanks to someone posting the international sale flyer, i spotted the benelli nova pump and decided i would catch bird season. so after dropping close to 800 on dvc range membership, my shotgun, my license and tags, and rounds, i finally made it out last night! i almost didnt make it due to my basement flooding yesterday, but i made it to chilliwhack with about 50 mins of shooting time left. first few flocks of ducks coming in i panicked and didnt get a great shot off, but by my 3rd chance i dropped my very first duck. small to medium size female, caught her on the wing and ended up having to crush her head after she was grounded. next shot i got a sizeable male! insta kill! so still beond excited i hand my gun over to my buddy so he has a chance to get a bird before we lose light. he got 3 or 4 shots off without any success before we had to call'er. moral of the story, for the first time ever i have food in my fridge that i know exactly where it came from!!

any comments, suggestions, criticism is welcome! thanks for the support in advance

[The Dawg]

Welcome.

Paragraphs are your friend

[r106]

Welcome. sounds like your well on your way.

I've been thinking about trying duck hunting as well. Did you have some private land to hunt or did you hunt on crown?

[BearStump]

hey guys, im new here, so i will start by giving you some background of the journey to my hunting career. im matt, im 27, ive been hunting for 1 day..... ive wanted to since i was about 13!
i lived in edson alberta when i was 12-14 where i was first introduced to hunters and hunting culture. i was in cubs and enjoyed all things outdoors but didnt have any hunting, fishing, or outdoorsman influence from my dad. i did manage to get a compound bow from my grandma for christmas one yr, and promptly began competing in archery indoors. i won the provincials but the part of archery i lived for was the outdoor 3d hunts. fastforward 10 yrs, im 24 still wanting to hunt but not really knowing where to start. my friend recomended challenging the core course, so while i was layed off i got the manual, studied for 2 weeks, challenged and passed the test! now i ready to bow hunt! ( except for not having any hunting gear, bowhunting friends, or any idea how to get myself started).. 3 yrs pass and im still spinning my wheels on my hunting "career". luckily this past summer i made a new friend through church that shared an interest in hunting and the outdoors. we went and challenged our PALs together through silvercore both passing. ( my friend narrowly getting through...) since then i have been rifle shopping getting opinions on chamber and manufacterer preference. i have recieved a battary of advince spanning the spectrum from 270 to 300wsm.
so i missed deer season but still have 500$ burning a hole in my pocket. thanks to someone posting the international sale flyer, i spotted the benelli nova pump and decided i would catch bird season. so after dropping close to 800 on dvc range membership, my shotgun, my license and tags, and rounds, i finally made it out last night! i almost didnt make it due to my basement flooding yesterday, but i made it to chilliwhack with about 50 mins of shooting time left. first few flocks of ducks coming in i panicked and didnt get a great shot off, but by my 3rd chance i dropped my very first duck. small to medium size female, caught her on the wing and ended up having to crush her head after she was grounded. next shot i got a sizeable male! insta kill! so still beond excited i hand my gun over to my buddy so he has a chance to get a bird before we lose light. he got 3 or 4 shots off without any success before we had to call'er. moral of the story, for the first time ever i have food in my fridge that i know exactly where it came from!!

any comments, suggestions, criticism is welcome! thanks for the support in advance

That is actually a very small spectrum to span. not much difference at all between these two calibres, or any size inbetween, or their performance.

[604redneck]

u dont have to crush the ducks head just pick it up by the head and spin it around will break its neck and probably less messy lol!

[mattmcgiver]

@redneck. my buddy did that but it still seemed have a lot of movement, more than just nerves. so went for the quickest method possible
@ bearstump. not meaning spectrum of bullet diameter, spectrum of chambers 270 30-06 308 7mm 300 wsm. and each one for a different reason. all confusing info for a newb
@r106 we hunted private land. a church in chilliwhack. great spot!!

[mattmcgiver]

and plan to go back for more this sat! cooked a breast tonight with some slightly spicy bbq sauce, excellent flavor!

[Fella]

Welcome. sounds like your well on your way.

I've been thinking about trying duck hunting as well. Did you have some private land to hunt or did you hunt on crown?

r106, do it! I thought it wouldn't be all that exciting until I tried it. I was out with mattmcgiver yesterday and we had a blast! We have access to private land, but I know there are guys in the 'wack who hunt on some of the bars on the Fraser. You'd probably want to check if it's actually legal to hunt there, but apparently there are a ton of geese on some of them (geese open on the 15th)

[mattmcgiver]

Now custom building my first rifle for bear season. Got a savage axis stainless action in 308. 300$ a Boyd's pepper laminate stock. Featherweight thumbhole.150$
Now looking for a scope to fit a 200$ budget. And a local glass bedding kit supplier! Hit me with your wisdom

[russm]

I've got an axis in .308, I put a vortex diamondback on it for around $200, seems to be a nice pairing, hopefully I'll get out for a bear soon.