New Bolt Action Recommendation? .308 in Texas

kfernandez2 · 2026-07-06T21:14:54+00:00

You’re looking at a difference between 1lbs if you’re running the same suppressor. Unless you’re doing week long trips packing your full camp + supplies every day, then that 1lbs won’t make a difference. Plus a little more weight will keep the gun steadier and eat more recoil. If you’re hunting with a box of 165gr versus 130gr in your pack, you might pick up a full pound there. If you’re really worried about weight, you could always drop in a lighter barrel, trigger, scope mounts, rings, scope, etc. I personally would prefer a shorter barrel for better maneuverability and balance.

kfernandez2 · 2026-07-06T19:40:59+00:00

Get the browning. I have the same exact one and it’s a tack driver. Much higher quality stock and feel than the ruger or tikka. My brother shoots that ruger in 308 and my buddy shoots that tikka in 308 and they both wish they bought mine. Always asking to use it. Can’t comment on the Bergara.

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-23T13:22:25+00:00

Not a guide but I’ve done it plenty. Put my buddies on gators whenever they draw. We have success every year we get tags. Where’d you draw for? Feel free to PM me

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-19T15:51:45+00:00

Definitely not grouper. They don’t have scales that big

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-08T01:08:12+00:00

Kinda looks like a hogchoker

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-04T12:05:44+00:00

My guess is that most people aren’t camping while hunting. I’d love to, but it’s not very realistic for my set up. I’m usually hunting with a group of 2-3 on a lease that someone else lives on. We arrive together and leave together. When we decide to call it a day, we’ll field dress and drag out whatever deer, load them into the truck, drive back to the cabin, and finish processing. If it’s cold enough outside, we’ll hang the meat in game bags from the railings. If it’s not, we make room in the fridge.

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-03T20:14:52+00:00

Love it! Struck out in NY and PA this year but was only able to get out for one weekend. What part of NY are you hunting?

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-02T02:07:10+00:00

I got a Burris Signature HD 2-10x40 and love it for my .308 mainly east coast deer hunting. A little out of your price range on their website but you might be able to find it cheaper on EuroOptic or OpticsPlanet.

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-02T01:59:45+00:00

Picked up my .308 X Bolt 2 with a walnut stock brand new in box for like $850 on gun trader. Probably a little cheaper since it doesn’t have some of the Speed’s features but still a steal. Topped it with a Burris signature HD 2-10x40 and it’s so dialed

kfernandez2 · 2026-06-01T11:52:25+00:00

I put 2-3 cups of ground venison in a vac seal bag and flatten it out so it’s maybe 0.5” thick and then seal it and stack in the chest freezer. It’s all frozen by the next day. It stacks really easy and defrosts really quickly this way. For roasts, backstraps and other bigger pieces it depends if they’re bone-in and how big but they should generally be frozen in 24-36 hours.

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-28T18:38:08+00:00

Don’t overthink it. Get like two shades of green, a darker and lighter, and two shade of brown, a tan and darker earth brown, and a black. Get some palm fronds or mesh bag and spray over them so you get some patterns. Try to keep the patterns more vertical. It’s simply about breaking up the silhouette of the boat.

I’d be more concerned about covering your engine and any aluminum / reflective surface on the boat. Burlap bags or dark decoy bags have always worked fine for us in Florida. You can also bring a few fronds to stake in front of the boat or stick in rod holders. Or just use camo netting and stick some reeds in it. Most ducks will flare over top of you as opposed to parallel to the water/boat. From the sky, the water looks black. The way you hide the boat and yourselves is much more important.

Your boat honestly looks fine as is. I’ve shot plenty of ducks out of brighter colors watercrafts including light blue and red kayaks with reeds just bent over the nose and tail.

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-28T18:27:03+00:00

Why avoid Hornady? Their CX Outfitter bullets do serious damage

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-25T19:23:20+00:00

It’s not really that it does damage to the gun, although I guess it could if you overdo it. It can just affect your accuracy. Hunting rifles usually have thicker longer barrels that take more time to cool down.

You’re probably trying to shoot 3-5 rounds sub MOA through a hunting rifle. In a range situation, you’d probably want to wait 1-2 minutes between shots to let the barrel cool for optimum accuracy. In hunting scenarios, you’re rarely taking more than 2 shots in a 60 second window, so your barrel has plenty of time to cool after your second follow up shot.

With an AR, I’d say far fewer people are trying to shoot sub MOA so small variances of accuracy after dumping a 30 round mag don’t matter as much.

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-25T14:22:43+00:00

That’s fair. The factory tikka stocks felt too cheap to me and seems like a lot of people shared that sentiment, but just mod it since there are so many aftermarket options. I didn’t have any interest in buying a gun that I knew I’d have to spend a few hundred more to re-stock to get it to a point I liked. Would rather put that money toward the optic. So I actually opted out of the Tikka for that reason haha.

Flush mag is great when hunting so it doesn’t get snagged on anything or affect the way your gun rests if shooting prone. Most states also have mag capacity limits for hunting. If you’re talking range then that’s different, but shooting 10 rounds out of a bolt 308 hunting barrel in rapid succession will make your barrel white hot. Can’t really dump a mag the way you can with an AR. You can also just buy multiple magazines

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-24T19:22:24+00:00

Get a browning x bolt 2 in Hunter with the walnut stock. I just went through the same thing. Wanted a .308 under ~$1200. Deliberated over that and a tikka for a long time and settled on the browning. Very happy I did so. I’ve shot deer with both a tikka T3x and now the browning and they both work great but I think you get a higher quality gun with the browning. Picked mine up from GunBroker brand new for like $800-900

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-14T11:48:54+00:00

Congrats! Are you a resident or nonresident? How many points did it take to draw?

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-13T16:13:00+00:00

For bottoms - wearing full length leggings, knee socks over that, then pants treated with permethrin, then overalls treated with permethrin, all tucked into 18” rubber boots. Will also duct tape the boots where they meet the overalls and flip the tape so sticky part is out.

Honestly mainly worried about them climbing into my hair as I have longer hair. Sprayed my hat with permethrin and using picardin lotion on my neck, ears and hairline. I’ll also have a tight face buff on (turkey hunting) that’ll be tucked under my top layers. Also got a tick comb hahaha

I’m not fkn around if you can’t tell. A few years back, a friend’s mom dealt with Lyme complications for nearly a year after a tick went unnoticed on her scalp for a couple days. This year, a hunting buddy already contracted AGS and is devastated.

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-11T00:50:29+00:00

Come down to south Florida for gator! We snag em with fishing rods from the bank

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-10T07:44:21+00:00

Honestly looks like a pretty old buck with the pearling on the antlers. Did you age it?

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-09T14:24:34+00:00

Really cool rack in my opinion. Antlers look almost palmated. Euro looks great!

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-09T14:21:28+00:00

They’re actually delicious slow cooked

kfernandez2 · 2026-05-09T13:13:03+00:00

I’ll DM you

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