A Rifle under $1000 that does everything I need

As I promised last week, here is a post about the perfect rifle for me. I currently have an old Yugo M48 Mauser chambered in 8mm. This gun is a ton of fun to shoot, but it weighs over 10 lbs and my options are very limited for mounting a scope. I am embarrassed to say this but last year near the end of the season I missed a decent buck at 25 yards because I had been playing with the iron site on my gun while waiting for a deer to come by.Shot right over his back... I really need a scope!! Also, although my gun is in great shape, many of these guns are in bad shape.They have been around a while. This has caused all major American ammo manufacturers to load weak rounds for the 8mm. Some European manufactures still load up to its potential, but that ammo has gotten hard to find in recent years. As it stands now, the ammo that I can find is nearly dead on par with that of a 30-30. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the 30-30. I hope to own a lever action model one day, and I think everyone should have one at some point. They are the classic deer killer with soft recoil to boot. But my 8mm Mauser is not a lever gun and it is much too heavy and long to be a good hunting rifle, although its currently what I use. A few years back, I owned a 270 wsm Remington 700 with a Bushnell elite 3200 4x12x42 scope. That gun was a hot rod with its 24" barrel it could reach out and touch something way farther than I am comfortable shooting. One thing I did not like about it, that I have read pertains to most wsm guns is that it didn't feed very smoothly. This proved problematic a time or two in the field. One other thing that I did not love about that gun was the meat damage it caused at anything under 100yrds.The 270 wsm is a powerful round that is going too fast in my opinion for close range shooting on medium sized game like deer. Now don't get me wrong, at the end of the day, I would still love to have this gun in my arsenal, I absolutely loved to shoot it and it was a perfect long range gun for me. When I decided I wanted to marry my now wife, and was saving money for an engagement ring that was out of my league, I sold the gun to a friend, who has since told me twice he will not sell it back:) One thing I have learned over the years of gun ownership is that I will never sell another gun. I have sold 4 guns in the last 10 years, and I wish I still had each of them. So on to the my current situation. I want to invest in a rifle that will last me for as long as I need it to with a great scope to match. I do not shoot more than a couple times a year to reacquaint my self to my weapon of choice before the season starts. This is not by choice, but more just a reality of the stage of life I am in. If it were up to me, I would shoot once or twice a month and reload my own ammo just because it seems like a fun hobby.Most of my hunting occurs on public land where I am either climbing mountains or busting through brush to get to whatever spot I have decided on. Usually my climbing stand is on my back. On very rare occasions I could see the need for a 300-400 yard shot, but 99% of the time, the shots do not exceed 150 yards. Also on a couple of occasions if I had a gun that was more compact I would have probably been able to swing my gun around faster to get a shot. Twice I have been walking in on an afternoon hunt and jumped a good buck without being able to get my gun in position fast enough. Like most hunters I know who live on the east coast, I dream of heading out west one day to chase after elk, mule deer, or antelope. I also would love to go north to Maine or Vermont in pursuit of a moose one day. Odds are, if that opportunity arises I am not going to have the extra $$$ to go out and by a new rifle at that point. I need one rifle that can cover all of these needs in a caliber that is readily available in a wide variety of ammo. And to top everything off, I really do not have any money to spend on this project.It is going to take me the better part of a year to save the money I need to buy everything.$1000 rifles and $1000 optics are not an option for me, you cannot spend what you do not have. Or I should say, it gets you in trouble when you do. So to summarize, lets list the criteria for this rifle below. 1) Rifle,scope, ammo and all accessories under $1000 2) Fairly light weight as I hunt some tough to get to public land 3) Shorter barrel is better, but not with huge loss of velocity or energy 4) A caliber capable of taking deer sized game up through elk and even moose 5) A rifle/caliber capable of shots out to 400 yards if needed 6) As a bonus feature, I would love a detachable magazine, but this will not be a deal breaker. And the winner is the Savage Axis with a 20" barrel chambered in 308. This rifle will be topped with a 2x7x33 Leupold VXII scope. Loaded with ammo and a sling this rifle/scope combination will come in weighing just under 8 lbs. For the money, this set up is hard to beat!! Much more to come on why I chose these products in the next post. Thanks for stopping by!!

Well it has been entirely too long since I last posted anything. I have been a new dad now for 2 years, and I think I am finally getting the hang of things. What a challenge it is to be a dad that is engaged in family life and being who his family needs him to be.And I thought marriage was a selfless endeavor. Needless to say, my time in the field hunting or fishing has been somewhat limited. There have been a few highlights to speak of. Late this past September my dad turned 60. We have always talked about chartering a trip to fish the back waters around the Beaufort(NC that is), Emerald Isle, Harkers Island area. I could think of no better present for turning 60, so thats what we did. I found a guide out of Harkers Island by the name of Noah Lynk. His guide service is called Noah's Ark Fishing Charters. Let me tell you what, Captain Noah will put you on the fish. Dad and I booked Captain Noah for a full day initially. Due to family circumstances we needed to switch it to a half day. Captain Noah was happy to switch it up for us no problem. We fished for the better part of 5 hours and caught so many Reds and Specks it was ridiculous. I also caught a flounder that came in just over 5 lbs. That made the whole trip worth while for me. Another fun part was driving the boat while Captain Noah tossed the casting net at live shrimp we would use for bait. If you are looking for a fun day on the water with a laid back fun captain at a reasonable price, Give Noah's Ark Fishing Charters a call. He did not ask me to post any of this, Dad and I just had a really good time. We will be going fishing with Captain Noah again soon!! I am really excited to start writing this blog again. My next post will be about finding the perfect rifle for the Modern day weekend warrior like my self who has big dreams and no time or money. I have been in need of a new rifle for a long time, and by the start of next season I hope to have one in hand. This will be a post you do not want to miss as we will cover a lot of ground. Thanks for stopping by!!