Fist off Congratulations on your Draw, And Welcome to the the Ranks of Hunters. Second a good Source of hunting info on the state of Az and in genreal is
http://www.azod.com and their forums
http://www.azodchat.com/default.aspLastly IT doesn't matter what caliber you use to hunt with if
#1 you aren't comfertable with it!
-By comfertable I mean that you can shoot it and not be scared of the recoil, you know where it hits from hours on the range, and you feel confindent in the weapon in both accuracy and nockdown potental.
#2 You don't shoot past your Limits!
- Everyone has there maximum shooting distance for various cercumstances. From a prone position I am more than confindant out to and maybe a lil past 400m, but that comes from years of shooting out to that distance. But when hunting I noramally keep my shots less than 200 because most shots are offhand and unsupported. Find the range you feel confidant before the season starts
#3 you select the right Bullet type for the Caliber Selected.
- I hunt elk and deer with my .308 and my 30-06, all I do is switch bullet wieghts and types for the different animals. For elk you want a slow expanding bullet to punch thru that tough hide, for thinner (and skinner) deer you want a more rappidly expanding bullet. Used to it required a lot of research or trial and error to figure out which was better, but now most Ammunition companies now lable the box with either lil pictures of the size of animal the bullet is desined for or they have a label telling you which round is for what weight size.
Finally the 30-06 or 7mm Mag both are great rounds, thousands of hunters use both on deer and elk everyear. Take a cruse by your local gun shop and check out several in each caliber and pick the rifle that fits you best. Used to I would have reccomended the 30-06 over the 7 simply becasue ammo was easier to find for it compared to the 7mm Mag, but anymore you don't have to worry about that, but you will find more "cheap" 30-06 from military surplus which does help with the costs of practice.
Let us know how it turns out and Good Luck
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PS: Also if your like me and hunting for that super tastey venison, small is better! Why you may ask? Lost meat, when you use that large Magnium round you will have a much larger wound cavity, good to ensure quick death, but bad for your over edible meat count due to lead fragments left in that cavity. With a smaller lighter round bullet placement is Paramont, but you can still take game, with one shot, and you will loose less meat due to the wound cavity.
