To make a long story short,09/11/07 everything I owned was stolen. I mean everything. Tools,guns,knives,electronics,etc. I got nothing for it since my insurance didn't cover contents.

Since then,I've only hunted a couple times. I went with my dad and used one of his guns. But now I wanna rebuild my gun collection and start hunting.

Where do I start? I have replaced my personal firearms,pistol and shotgun for personal and home defense. Now I need to replenish my hunting artillery.

I know I will hunt hogs and deer. Not too much of a bird hunter.

What models and calibers would you start with and why?

Get a .308 and get to work!

Model depends on price range.

lots of good choices for a deer/hog rifle: savage, remington 700, marlin xs7 or xl7 and weatherby vanguard. any caliber from .243 up to 7 mag will work easily. i personally like the 25-06, 7mm-08 & 270. it comes down to how much you want to spend and what style rifle fits you best.

I don't know how extensive you want your collection to be, or what type of terrain you hunt. Both are important, but assuming you want one rifle to do almost everything, I'd choose a quality bolt action in 25-06 or 270 and top it off with a Zeiss Conquest in 3x9x40.

Weatherby Vanguard Synthetic - $400
Zeiss Conquest - $400

Any opinion on the remington 770? Saw one at gander mountain Saturday. The guy had a lot of good to say about it.

What I had before was pretty standard stuff. Remington 700,winchester model 70. I had a 22-250,.243,7mm mag, 300 win mag, and a .22 mag. Then a model 94 30-30. Plus various shotguns. 870 youth mag 20ga,870 12ga,and a mossberg 500. Just basic guns. Decent optics on the rifles.

Price range for now,gun $650 or less,optics maybe $300. Say $900-$100 total for 1 gun.

TC Encore. Then any caliber you could ever want is readily available.

I'd start with a 708 or 280, then get a 223, then if you just have to go big you could get a 300winny or something.

Ruger M77kII In .270win Stainless with a leupold 3.5-10x40

Ruger stainless 10/22

I feel for you, samething happened to me about 15 years ago

It sucked royally. It put life on hold for a while. We used to build our own feeder stands,hog traps,etc. Then hunt and trap all winter long. Then in one afternoon,all gone. I haven't been able to make myself replace everything yet. I've started on my tools. Got all the basics,but not the cool stuff. No giant compressor,welder,torch,plasma cutter,or anything big. After it happened,we sold that house and all the land with it. Went from having land,a 5 acre lake,1/2 acre pond,and a sweet log cabin to living in town again. It sucks.

Head up and forward man. I lost a lot of stuff too. The first thing I bought was a gun safe when I started "re stocking". Good luck

man thieves are low life pieces of scum ain't they steal a mans stuff but at least you didn't let them steal your passion. God bless you buddy.

Um, I would start with a .22, a .270 Win, and maybe a AR of some sort.

I'd get a good all around caliber like a 270, 30/06 or 308. I'd look at Rugers, Remington 700's, and Browning A Bolts.

some folks have gotten lucky and got ones that would shoot somewhat accurate. I would never own one and will probably buy the remmy XCRs from now on.

Start with a gun safe.

Definetely.

twice70 has got the right idea......I would go with a Browning Abolt in your standard calibers (270, 30/06, 280, etc). Can`t go wrong there. I got two of them and they are tackdrivers.

I noticed you had a 300 winney at one time. Try getting a Abolt in 300 WSM. Thats a classic mountain rifle thats a killing machine (balance right and nice and light). I have one topped in a leupold VX-3. Killed everything from moose to speedgoats with it.

But the first thing I would suggest is a gunsafe....that way it doesn`t happen again! God bless you for getting back on your feet tho. Way to go!

why do people ask these questions? if you had a collection of firarms you should know where to start. any caliber will kill any animal its
a matter of preference. your going to get all kinds of opinions but not all will work for you. just because a guy likes and recommends a .308 doesnt mean its the best choice for you. i think you already know

tikka T3 in 270 or 25-06 and you will not need anything else except maybe a 22lr-ruger 10/22 and a 20 gauge-rem 870.

other than those three, use the extra $$ on hunting trips!!

Dave

270 or 3006, either way

To get their post count up jdw!

If your asking what you should get, then why don't you replace what was stolen from you?

Replace what you had, shoot whats comfortable to you.

Picked up a 770 .243 for $199 off the used gun rack at Cabela's. Not a single scratch on it & I'll admit I was very skeptical but at that price I figured, sure why not, I need a good rifle for varmints & for the wife to use on the occasions that she goes with me. I got in line & by the time I made it to the counter 2 other people asked me if I was just taking it up there to ask a question or to buy it. They seemed to have really wanted it if I didn't take it. Took it out that next weekend and within 15 minutes I was breaking clay pigeons at 210- 220 yds. Took it out that afternoon & dropped a 300lb hog with it. Needless to say I've been very satisfied with it.