I figured we are all getting in hunting mode since Fall is about on us.

I wanted to find out what is your most anticipated hunt or hunts coming up and what gun are you going to use?

For me this year will be spent close to home hunting from my house. I'll have my 11yr old daughter out and because Oregon has the mentored youth program for kids to young to get their own license my daughter will be hunting under my license.

Deer hunting here isn't very good although the first year here my wife shot a buck just short of making the book but the numbers of Blacktails is down.

I am however excited about getting my daughter out and trying to find her a deer for her first animal.

She will be using her 7X57 I just got her for her birthday and I'll be carrying my 7-30 Contender or my 300 Win Encore just in case we see a bear or cat.

The hunt I'm most looking forward to though is Roosevelt Elk. I found out my brother inlaw secured hunting rights for me on private land although the land owner only wants me to take a cow. I'm going to see if he'll allow my daughter to accompany me and if so I'll see if I can get her a shot at an elk which would make me the proudest daddy in the world for her.

If something falls through with the private land I have an area I hunt where I've cut the herd 4 years in a row and I've taken one bull, missed one, and watched one walk away because I left my gun in the truck but that's another story. If we are hunting the private property it's open grazing land so I'll back my daughter up with the 300 Encore, if I'm hunting the public land I'll use the 458 Win Encore.

Either way I'm getting more and more excited each day about the prospect of my little girl getting her first animal and if I come across a predator or if I end up having to shoot then that's ok but I want more than anything for her to fill my tags.

So what are you guys looking forward to?

I only go on one hunt per year, thus it is my most anticipated. Coming up in about 10 days or so --- Our annual little handgun hunt at the Y O Ranch in Texas.

I have not been able to hunt the "normal" seasons in about 30 yrs. Oct 15 is the final deadline for all individual income tax returns -- (gets pretty busy around here right before then). I teach every fall (all over Texas (14-15 2 day programs))--- beginning the last week of October and do not return home until Dec 20 (teach Mon & Tues, travel on Wed, teach Thur & Fri, travel over the weekend, etc). Thus, the regular hunting seasons are spent in travel status or teaching.

I'll be thinking about the rest of you enjoying your hunts. Please don't let the fact that I will be "working" interfere with your pleasure --- LOL.

Mine isn't happening until the spring but I'm going to Alaska on a black bear hunt on POW Island.

This year will be my very first year of hunting with a handgun for deer. I will be using an old style T/C Contender Super 14 chambered in .375 Winchester. Optics are a Bushnell Trophy Red Dot scope.
I'm in great anticipation of this hunt! November 12th just cant come fast enough.

I thought this year was a bust because of scheduling, but a NWR hunt in NW Florida for hogs just came in. My five man group (me, dad, bro, and 2 friends) got chosen for an after Christmas hunt. I'll be using my 5.5 Bisley 45 that got my first handgun deer last year.

Too early to tell if it will all come together but the quota tags are step one.....

Lord willing, I and my brother will taking our first antelope hunt in Wyoming. I will using my XP-100 .308/4X Leupold and 150 grain Nosler ballistic Tip handloads. He will use a Browning BAR .30/06 rifle. After that will be Indiana archery hunting for whitetail deer with a crossbow. Later will be deer hunting with the XP-100. My daughter will be trying to shoot her first deer with my Contender 7-30 Waters. If she gets one it will be my best hunt. Anytime or anywhere I can get my wheelchair into the woods with a gun in my hand is a great day, game or not.

I got in on a hunting lease in West Tennessee this year. Looking forward to bloodying the 30-30 A.I. Contender and my new SSK 35 Whelen Encore. There have been some good bucks taken off this property over the years. A slot came open this yr. and I jumped on it!! There a great bunch of guys to hunt with and I'll be the ONLY handgun hunter.

Shortgun

I drew tags to hunt in Illinois. My buddy has a bit of land up there and invited me up. Its a handgun or shotgun show. I will be using my 300 whisper XP-100.

Gary,
Who are you hunting POW with? There are some monster bears there. Every year there are a couple that are 7' plus. Make sure you have good rain gear!

Going for deer. antelope, & elk. Looking forward to them all but the most is elk. I have the .30-06 Encore pistol shooting good and I am going to be using it. Might take along the .270 rifle just as a back up because I will be hunting several hours form home.

The most anticipated hunt for this year is for moose. I have posted this before, but I was chosen for a New Hampshire moose permit. I put in my vacation time and I will be out for the whole season.

Right now my Super 16 45-70 barrel is still at TC being repaired. I may go with plan B,which is a 15" 30-06 Encore. My back up will be a Ruger SRH in 480 Ruger.

I am going on an early Dec bison hunt in Northern South Dakota. I plan to use a 9inch SRH in .480 shooting 410gr CPB hard cast bullets. I am also bringing a Shiloh Sharps 45-110 with 525 cast bullets and I don't yet know which will be the backup gun.

My most anticipated is split, as I have two seperate antelope trips lined up, first South Dakota with bow, then Wyoming with rifle and handgun. Carrying the Python in case I can get close enough for a shot, other wise its .308.

But, first I have the Iowa youth season with 3 of my four daughters. The youngest, 4, is too young, plus she talks way too much. She's great to bring along to check trail cameras, but too much to be sitting in the stand.

PH

Use the SRH for Primary gun on first shot....then use the remaining rounds in SRH for backup!

I don't have any trips planned this year, but I'm ready for season to open here. My primary for whitetail this year will probably be my 4 3/4" FA 44mag, but the rest of the gang will probably get a couple trips also.

The most anticipated is always the next one!

My son,his wife to be,her brother & myself are going to a regulated shooting grounds for Pheasants in October. We've been bird hunting before but I have a new shotgun to use this yr. A Belgium made Browning Auto 5 shotgun I aquired this yr. in the Sweet 16 guage model. It was made in 1949 and boy does it shoot great for me. Can't wait to go.

This will be the first year I can hunt on my own private property, which will be nice. Absolutely chock full of whitetails if the tracks are any indication. We are cutting some trails just before ML season starts, which is a might late, but the tiny deer brains hopefully will prefer the easy walking to moving off. We have a creek that runs the full length of the property, and they drink there and bed in the bottoms near the water.

It'll be fun to pattern the deer and see what can be done with the ML. Sadly, no rifles or handguns in this county, so I am left with ML and shotgun only. I hunt ML all season long, so that's a no-brainer choice.

My other private farm land access will allow me to hunt with the Bisley .44 Mag. this year now that I can actually hit something with it!

Well with all my buddies kids every trip will be good,but for me there are two I am looking forward to early bear,and my hunt with my pappy-n-law and the rest of them "hillbillies".Sit n round the fire swappn big tales and laughn til your sides hurt,and some good grub.

This Thursday Sept 15th, headed out moose hunting. I must admit, this will be my first true handgun hunt. Not taking a rifle. Last year I took my rifle cuz there was a griz in our moose hunting area and we wanted to kill it and get it outta there. I didn't want to miss a chance at predator control if he was a couple hundred yards out. I had a shot at a meat bull at 150yds with rifle in hand so I took it. Meat in the freezer.

Anyway, this year it will be just me and the 45 Colt Bisley Hunter with 2x Weaver loaded with 355gr wfns I cast loaded to 1200fps. I'll have my 4" Redhawk 454/45 as my backup on my hip as always when I head to the woods, loaded with the same 45 Colt load. 2 guns, same ammo. I'll head out on my atv, pitch my tent and hunker down and call. Won't fire up the quad until time to retrieve game or go home. I've got to the 20th, last day of the season.

I've got 2 moose solo before. I hope to make number 3 my first handgun kill. Might even run across a griz. Wouldn't that be cool!

Snyd, I just came back from Maine on a handgun Moose hunt and it was a blast! Good luck to you, and most importantly, have a great time!

Ed and Deena Folmar will meet me at Zepher, Texas the first week of October to hunt at the 5-F Ranch. Ed`s going for waterbuck, Deena for boar and I`ll hopefully get a shot at an Axis....
(so many places to go and things to do but never enough time)

I'll hopefully go on a whitetail hunt in Halifax County, North Carolina, in late October. Maybe not ideal, but I am forced to adjust my hunts to my business trips to the U.S...could be great fun anyway, a lot of deer there although apparently not too many big bucks.

...that you will see during shooting hours.

They're big because they're old and they're old because they hunker down most of the daytime. It's true though, our mid-Atlantic whitetails aren't as big as the mid-Western ones.

I've seen quite a few big bodied deer in North Carolina.

Oh yeah they are out there. They run so many dogs though, the big-uns come out at night. They just sit back and let the does and spikes run in circles in front of the dogs. It's actually funny to watch from a tree stand or a distance.

Hunt clubs that run dogs...love 'em....if I have a stand next door

(which I do!)

Two hunts for me.

First, my 14YO daughter just took her hunter safety course. I bought her first license(too proud) and then got her a Remington 870 20 guage youth model to hunt whitetail with. Cant wait to sit in the double stand on opening day with her!!!!

Second I just booked. A 5 day Mountain Lion hunt in Arizona. This hunt is on horseback with hounds. I have been dreaming of this for years and finally got it together to happen. (I spend a lot of time horseback here at home and thouroughly enjoy the time in the saddle.) That is why I stipulated a horseback hunt. I will be bringing my .44 special custom by Alan Harton.

Sounds great, Spencer!

I would have to say that the hunt this year I am looking most forward to is our annual pig hunt down in Texas.

Got some new blood in camp last year (great bunch of guys) that made the experience very enjoyable.

This will also be my 2nd year bringing only my revolver along. Last year I didn't get enough trigger time before the hunt and totally botched (complete miss) a couple of what I thought would be slam dunk shots.

This year, porky is not going to be quite so lucky...

Need a thumbs up for "like" As in FB!!