Deer Hunting
In praise of Slugs
I am forever surprising folks when I say that if I intend on hunting from one of my bow stands, my ultimate preferred venison machine is a Remington 1100 in 12 GA with cheap 2 3/4 Reminginton Sluggers. Inside 75 yards, there is no need for anything else. If I want a bit more range, I’ve now got a Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel and I shoot either Brenneke 3inchers or Remington Copper Solids. The latter go through the same hole at 50 yards, but the 1100 is what I started with 20 years ago, and I know I … More . . .
How smart are Deer?
How smart are deer? Deer can do a pretty good job of figuring out the big things in life, like where to go find food, water, shelter. They know the difference between a predator that wants to eat them and one that does not. I frequently stop the car and roll down the window and talk to deer beside the road. They just stand and watch me. This is different from turkeys, which will flee from a human at 500 yards. Little things escape them. I had a doe wind me the other day. It was one of those 20-30 … More . . .
Shamanic Guide: Take no load for granted
Never take a load for granted. This weekend was proof of that. I had two rifles out this weekend. These were slam-dunk no-brainers, that I had been putting off in lieu of some tougher loading projects. The fault was mine—these were problems I should have been discovering in June, not September. The first was the Savage 99 in 308 Win. It’s the one I’ve been talking about recently. The other was the Marlin 30-30. See Ode to a 30-30 I thought it was going to be a quick exercise. Fire a few rounds out of each, prove the rifles were … More . . .
Shamanic Guide — Scent Elimination
Baking soda. I get a 50 lb bag. It lasts me a couple of years. I take all my hunting clothes and wash them in baking soda. It does a passable job on dirt, and a fantastic job on scent. It’s also cheap. First I run the washer empty to get rid of all the scent left in the tub. I then wash all my thermal shirts, jeans– all the stuff that might come in contact with my body first. After a full cycle with two handfuls of baking soda, I run a rinse with a handful of soda. I … More . . .
Do you need Premium Bullets?
I’ve killed 250 lb deer and I’ve seen 300 lb deer killed in the Greater Ohio Valley within 100 miles of Cincinnati. None required a premium bullet. The are awesome to look at, but that size difference is deceiving. You have to remember that the key dimension in a deer in this discussion is the width of the chest. That dimension changes very little as the weight changes. The girth of a 157 pounder and a 340 pounder differs by only 10 inches. That’s using the chart over at whitetail.com. Assume that’s a circle and use trig to figure out … More . . .
I hunt not to kill, I kill to have hunted.
Does anyone else remember Highmaster over at Shooters.com? Gosh how I miss him. I had the utmost respect for that guy. I honestly didn’t care if he was everything he said he was; he expressed an ideal so well. It was funny; he and I had very different views on things like competition, but I really enjoyed our time together. I got to thinking about Highmaster as I was finishing off my coffee and slowly coming to at the loading bench. A quote was running around in my head. It’s probably an Aldo Leopold or that of some other great … More . . .
Don’t Say My Kid Can’t Shoot . . .
Faulty Towers is the first of two 150-year-old barns that lie between the house and our new hunting blind. It got its name from the partially collapsed north wall, giving it a rather jaunty if not wholly eccentric look. Over the past couple of years, We have modified the walls to provide several blinds. Two overlook a pasture slowly being consumed by young cedars, a prime bedding area. Another overlooks a tree line, and if you are brave enough to sit under the collapsed roof, you have a protected view of a massive white oak, and all the paths leading … More . . .
The Jagende Hütte
On Labor Day 2003 I was in the barn, priming sheets of plywood for the soffits on the house. It was pouring rain out and after I got the priming done, I realized I still had vast amount of time to kill, and the rain was showing no sign of letting up. At that point I realized I was leaning on the remains of a 5’X5’ plywood packing crate I’d snatched from work 4 years ago—a hunting blind I’d never built. I started priming and painting and by the time I left the farm that weekend, I had the crate … More . . .
Angus’ Doe
Opening weekend of 2003 was one of those times when it seemed nothing could go wrong. Angus’s hunt began with still hunting up on Gobbler’s Knob and working down into Pity Creek. On the way down, we nearly got a doe that had come to drink at the stream. We found a huge scrape at the bottom of the hill. After banging around Tinkerbell Wood for a while, we headed back to the house, changed clothes and took off for the Jagende Hutte. We arrived about 3PM and settled in for the wait. At sunset, I told Angus, “This is … More . . .
The Savage Spoke and the Monarch of the Forest Fell
He froze. My right eye was blinded in the muzzle flash through the scope, but my left could follow him as he leapt once and then turned towards the bottom of the gully. I heard three bounds, a crash of brush, and then silence. It was 0650 on opening day. Twenty years of work had come to fruition, and a great buck had finally fallen to my hand.
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Coyote, 2002
Coyote 2002 Look what came out at sunrise on Sunday of Week 2 of rifle season. He hopped around a bit and then sat with his back to me at 180 yards. 30-06 Winchester 670 165 Gr Hornady SPBT on top of a hefty load of H4895  This post has already been read 3255 times!Views: 2 Related posts: Turkey Camp, 2002
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Ode to a 30-30 Pt 3 — Like A Dog Returneth
13699: Ode to a 30-30 11/12/02-10:41 AM Posted by: shaman from Shooters.com ODE TO A 30-30 PART III by Shaman As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool to his folly. Or at least that is how it felt. There I was, up in the stand at Heartbreak Ridge. The 30-30 was on the peg, loaded with 150 Gr Hornady. I had Dr. John’s autobiography open. I wasn’t particularly worried about hunting at that point. I just needed to cool down. I’d had the perfect spot picked out for opening day-a barn overlooking a scrape at the edge … More . . .
Ode to a 30-30 Pt 2 — The Trip to Target World
11136: Ode to a 30-30 06/03/02-1:22 PM Posted by: shaman from Shooters.com Ode to a 30-30 Part II The Trip to Target World After the call to Bob, I had pretty much given up on buying a new deer rifle. Oh sure, I still hit Gunbroker.com, and I still read a lot. If a mint-condition Savage 99 came up for auction, you could bet I followed it. If I read a review of one of the short magnums at the barbershop, you can bet I was digging through my reloading data, looking for comparisons. Still, Bob’s words carried me throughout … More . . .
Ode to a 30-30, Part 1, The Dream
05/16/02-12:48 PM Posted by: shaman from Shooters.com Part 1 The Dream By Shaman We all handle stress differently, and everyone has their favorite methods of stress reduction. Since giving up climbing without a rope a few years ago, I’ve found shooting a box or two of ammo at the range to be one of my favorites. Even better is buying a new rifle. I’d been working up to this one for several months—the problem was I couldn’t make up my mind. I called my RA ( Rifles Anonymous) sponsor about a month ago and it went something like this: “Bob, … More . . .
Spike the Wonder Buck
2001 was my first year shooting reloads. I’ve got a new farm, a new stand, I’ve got my new loads too. I’d worked all the way from January to September getting it just right. Prior to finding the farm, I’d been thinking about a combination deer/boar trip out to the Texas Hill Country, and settled on 165 Grain Hornady SP’s over IMR 4895 loaded into Remington 30-06 brass left from my first boar hunt in 1984. This load was equally accurate in my Winchester Mod 70 and my Remmie 742. Thirty minutes into the Opener, a nice deer I had … More . . .
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