Which caliber to get

[BrentD]

Doesn't really feel like end of story - depends on what you are hunting and how much drop you are comfortable dealing with.

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Again no. You do, however, have to park most of what you do on the shelf and learn to do things differently. Sadly, the more experience you have with modern whoopteedoo cartridges, the more you have to unlearn and the bigger the handicap you have to overcome, but it's very doable. It's like a whole new lifestyle - at least so far as hunting goes.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Again no. You do, however, have to park most of what you do on the shelf and learn to do things differently. Sadly, the more experience you have with modern whoopteedoo cartridges, the more you have to unlearn and the bigger the handicap you have to overcome, but it's very doable. It's like a whole new lifestyle - at least so far as hunting goes.

You do post the coolest gun pics - and some day I will get there, but for the time being I am enjoying my "whoopteedo" scoped guns (like my 1885 highwall in .270, a few 30-30 levers, and a bunch of modern bolts). For a newcomer to shooting/hunting I think a simple bolt in 6.5cm or .308Win is a much better place to start than antiquing.

 

[BrentD]

You do post the coolest gun pics - and some day I will get there, but for the time being I am enjoying my "whoopteedo" scoped guns (like my 1885 highwall in .270, a few 30-30 levers, and a bunch of modern bolts). For a newcomer to shooting/hunting I think a simple bolt in 6.5cm or .308Win is a much better place to start than antiquing.

Well, I'm sure to disagree about where to start, having watched many of both types of neophytes. But seriously, if you are going to go "all in" and learn to shoot vintage stuff, you have to leave a lot of things behind and it is very hard to get people to do that.

I will edit this to add that your advice, if based only on a single drop chart, would similarly apply to anyone thinking of diving in at the muzzleloading level. Would you recommend modern high power is necessary before one encounters a deer with a patched roundball? No, of course not. And you would not find your average .30-06 to be very relevant to hunting with a roundball, so that's what I'm trying to confer here. Modern equipment does not lend itself to a happy beginning with more vintage style cartridges either. Thus, where to start, depends entirely on where one wants to start, no experience is necessary (and may even be deleterious).

 

[VikingsGuy]

Well, I'm sure to disagree about where to start, having watched many of both types of neophytes. But seriously, if you are going to go "all in" and learn to shoot vintage stuff, you have to leave a lot of things behind and it is very hard to get people to do that.

But I still get a good single malt/single cask scotch at base camp either way, right?