New hunter in southern Michigan, shotgun or rifle?
Moved to Michigan from NYC a few years ago and finally got my first gun, a cute lil 10/22. Living on an orchard with family and I’ve been tasked with getting rid of the small pest animals. We also get a ton of deer passing through eating our apples. Getting into guns and hunting has been extremely addicting so now I’m looking into moving up to deer to help curb the orchard damage while also getting some quality meat for the family.
I eventually plan on moving out west to Colorado and from what I’ve been reading, the straight wall cartridges don’t seem to be as suited for the range/size of the animals.
That’s where the dilemma comes in. Do I get a shotgun which provides home defense, bird hunting, and slugs for deer. Or do I get a lower Michigan legal rifle cartridge and focus purely on deer while using my .22 to take out the furred small game.
My fear is getting the straight wall rifle and then not having a use for it in the future. Vs getting the shotgun and having it be useful anywhere I take it. I like the marksmanship aspect of everything as much as I like the hunting part so it’s tough!
The deer seem to approach from a forest into a field behind the orchard and will literally pass through the entire property sometimes as a herd. I could set up a blind and I’m sure they’d come right up to it eventually so range isn’t an issue. I’ve seen them frolicking around on walks sometimes out of nowhere haha.
What do you guys think?