New Member, New Experience

[SwoleyGuacamole]

Hello All,

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm 24yo in the Antioch area in Middle TN. Im an Army Infantry vet who was stationed over at 1st Infantry Division in KS, and have been home for about a year now. I have taken on the role as a stay at home father while I attend school full time and work on becoming an AEMT/Medic. My week really only consist of taking care of my little ones, going to school, and strength training.

Ive had a long interest in hunting, especially since my brother died. He always said he'd take me but we never got a chance. The army only helped that interest being out in the field and being around nature. I am completely new to this. I don't know what im doing, where to start, or where to be. So im literally starting from scratch. I just received my hunter education certificate from the NRA website, and am now looking to start putting my foot in the door to open myself to learn more about everything in this community. Im interested in hunting deer and elk to harvest meat.

I look forward to being involved within the forum, learning as much as I can, getting to know people, and hopefully being somewhat mentored. Any reading material, advise, etc would be appreciated. Hopefully I can begin this journey by getting advice on a good bolt action to buy.

Thanks, SG

 

[cbhunter]

Welcome to the fire and thank you for your service!! This is a great place to learn for sure. Stick around

 

[Eli103]

welcome, thank you for your service

 

[rooketnhunter]

Thank you for your service,and Welcome

 

[DoubleRidge]

Welcome...and thanks for your service....TN deer is a great group with allot of folks willing to share knowledge and experience.....good luck on your journey!

 

[fairchaser]

Welcome Swoley. Try to find a local mentor. Your learning curve will be much flatter.

 

[david k.]

First, thank you for your service....greatly appreciated.....and welcome to TN Deer.

My advice would be to watch the classifieds here on TN Deer for a good used rifle...maybe even post a "Want to Buy" in the classified and share your budget and choices of caliber....since you mentioned elk I'd watch for something in one of the more common deer / elk rounds, like a 30-06; 308, 7mm-08, 7mm Rem. Mag, 270 WIN, and my favorite, the 280 REM...some will argue one over another or may provide other choices but all of those are very common and any would work well for deer and elk .

Good luck and if you find yourself in need of a place to hunt, mention it here on the board and one of us might just open the door for you to get you started.

David K.

 

[PossumSlayer]

Welcome!

 

[tndeerman]

Welcome

 

[bwgarrett3]

Welcome sir!

 

[Wayne219]

Welcome