I am a college student from Virginia, and me and a friend want to get into hunting. Neither of us come from a "hunting" family so we will basically be learning on our own. If any of you know any group (NRA, etc) that takes new hunters out in Virginia, I would love to hear about it. While I know there are some programs for young hunters, we are 20-21. I suppose most hunters start early.
Both of us are interested in small game, like fox and bobcat, and turkey. As far as I understand, in VA, you can hunt turkey with a rifle (except in certain localities). I been looking for an affordable and reliable gun/caliber, and I am thinking about getting a Mossberg .243 ATR rifle; having a wood stock (don't like synthetic plastic) and being in the 300 dollars range is what I am looking for and this seems to fit that. Not only that, I read that there are plenty of .243 factory loads that won't damage a fox/bobcat's pelt. Furthermore, apparently you can get heavy load .243 bullets for whitetail deer (in case I ever wanted to hunt deer in the future).
Essentially, the .243 caliber seems to be a "all in one" hunting rifle for game in Virginia. I would really like your input on using a .243 for small game and Turkey.
Both of us are interested in small game, like fox and bobcat, and turkey. As far as I understand, in VA, you can hunt turkey with a rifle (except in certain localities). I been looking for an affordable and reliable gun/caliber, and I am thinking about getting a Mossberg .243 ATR rifle; having a wood stock (don't like synthetic plastic) and being in the 300 dollars range is what I am looking for and this seems to fit that. Not only that, I read that there are plenty of .243 factory loads that won't damage a fox/bobcat's pelt. Furthermore, apparently you can get heavy load .243 bullets for whitetail deer (in case I ever wanted to hunt deer in the future).
Essentially, the .243 caliber seems to be a "all in one" hunting rifle for game in Virginia. I would really like your input on using a .243 for small game and Turkey.