does not suck..
I skipped white-tail this season because my son and I have started neat little tradition of going on (Texas) Safari each spring break. Last year I was able to take a decent sized axis buck near Brady, TX on a friend's wheat farm. This year we were warned off that hunt since the axis have been scattered due to lack of rainfall. The folks with the land don't know where they all went, they just ain't there.
Luckily, the boy and I were able to score an invite to do a cull hunt on a friend's exotic ranch near Cuero, TX. This poor fella just had to many animals down there and he needed some taken off. No problemo. Have gun, will travel. Just to refresh, this gun is the Springfield Armory "Loaded" M1A. The medium weight NM barrel and NM trigger are money well spent when getting into the M-14 platform. The accuracy out of this rifle is just amazing.
I have been having a lot more success working up my hand loads, but the kind of shooting that we were going to do required precision and all the stopping power I could get. After a lot of trials, I settled on Hornady's 168gr A-Max. It provides match grade accuracy and all of the necessary stopping power. I read some internet know-it-all folks who said the A-Max was not a good hunting round, I am here to report that is total bullshit. Everything I hit went down, period. On to the pictures:
I had a good zero before I came out, but I always like to get quick function and accuracy check before taking aim at something alive. This was my first 2 rounds at 100 yards with a light R to L crosswind. Good to go.
Below is the first kill of the day. There was a mess of hogs running about 200 yards away, and I just took aim at the center of the pack and pulled the trigger. This guy went down and I thought was dead on the spot. When we got around the fence to pick her up, it was gone. A quick circle around some trees, and I saw her in the brush. I go in to finish her off, and the mean bastard turns on me and makes a run. I came boiling out of that brush with by pride following about 10 steps behind. I then turned and dispatched her from a safe distance. Pigs 0, Bevo 1.
This next piggie didn't go to market either. Dad shot him through the lungs with his 270, and he just kept on running. It did peel off from the rest of the pack and go for cover though. We flushed it out, and it was making it's way across this field. She was running away from me and somewhat right to left. I got my first shot off when she was about 125 yards away and got her in the foot, she didn't even slow down. The next shot got her in the head and she dropped. From where my brass hit to where the pig lay was 175 yards. I'm having fun.
This little varmint was about 150 yards away when I got her. I had to hold her to make the picture safe for women and children. That A-Max bullet is just devastating.
I also shot a skunk, but no pictures are currently available. You are gonna have to take my word for it.
This girl was both the best success and greatest failure for the trip. An opportunity to hunt red deer is really cool, and I was hopeful to get a nice rug out of the deal. The exit wound for the bullet was only about 2 inches across but it hit with such force that it made a bald spot about 6 inches in diameter. She was also so damn heavy that we had to use a front end loader to get her back to the barn, and that took a lot more fur off. She was about 275-300 pounds though, so it's a big damn animal. It was also slightly more sporting than shooting a cow. The other 2 did run when the shooting started, so I'll give them that.
For SPORTING, these little bastards will give you all you want and more. Blackbuck antelope are fucking FAST, and if you get a chance to shoot with one standing still you better take it regardless of the range. By far my best shot of the trip dropped this girl from a little over 300 yards (shooting from a bench mounted on a Gator), with about 20mph of crosswind. The rifle, shooter, and luck all did their part in this one.
I wanted to take this fella and have an Air Warriors Barbecue, but the ranch owner said "no". Sorry fellas.
Relaxing Texas style:
The last kill of the trip was a bit of a mistake. I was only supposed to shoot female animals, but the owner forgot to mention that juvenile male antelope are the same color (brown) as the full grown females. The full grown males are black. Well, this youngster paid the price for impersonating a female. Dad and I caught them in the open and they took off on a dead sprint. I hit him at about 75 yards, but he was running at least 20mph if not more.
At the end of the weekend, I have 3 ice chests full of meat and 2 nice antelope hides off to the tannery. I really wish that we could have saved that red deer pelt, but it was a lost cause.
The best part of the hunting experience was the validation of the weapon I had chosen. I wanted to put together a setup that would be good for the apocalypse or for hunting. I feel pretty well validated for the latter, and confident for the former. The Sightron mil-dot scope was perfect for range adjustment and helped dope the wind (not that I am any kind of expert on that). I also found the dots useful to SWAG the lead needed to hit a moving target. Again, I am not a sniper and don't claim to be an expert, but it worked really damn well and I am encouraged to learn more about wind adjustments and such so that I don't have to use a SWAG next time out.
If anyone has some pigs in need of killing anywhere near Memphis...have gun, will travel.
I skipped white-tail this season because my son and I have started neat little tradition of going on (Texas) Safari each spring break. Last year I was able to take a decent sized axis buck near Brady, TX on a friend's wheat farm. This year we were warned off that hunt since the axis have been scattered due to lack of rainfall. The folks with the land don't know where they all went, they just ain't there.
Luckily, the boy and I were able to score an invite to do a cull hunt on a friend's exotic ranch near Cuero, TX. This poor fella just had to many animals down there and he needed some taken off. No problemo. Have gun, will travel. Just to refresh, this gun is the Springfield Armory "Loaded" M1A. The medium weight NM barrel and NM trigger are money well spent when getting into the M-14 platform. The accuracy out of this rifle is just amazing.
I have been having a lot more success working up my hand loads, but the kind of shooting that we were going to do required precision and all the stopping power I could get. After a lot of trials, I settled on Hornady's 168gr A-Max. It provides match grade accuracy and all of the necessary stopping power. I read some internet know-it-all folks who said the A-Max was not a good hunting round, I am here to report that is total bullshit. Everything I hit went down, period. On to the pictures:
I had a good zero before I came out, but I always like to get quick function and accuracy check before taking aim at something alive. This was my first 2 rounds at 100 yards with a light R to L crosswind. Good to go.
Below is the first kill of the day. There was a mess of hogs running about 200 yards away, and I just took aim at the center of the pack and pulled the trigger. This guy went down and I thought was dead on the spot. When we got around the fence to pick her up, it was gone. A quick circle around some trees, and I saw her in the brush. I go in to finish her off, and the mean bastard turns on me and makes a run. I came boiling out of that brush with by pride following about 10 steps behind. I then turned and dispatched her from a safe distance. Pigs 0, Bevo 1.
This next piggie didn't go to market either. Dad shot him through the lungs with his 270, and he just kept on running. It did peel off from the rest of the pack and go for cover though. We flushed it out, and it was making it's way across this field. She was running away from me and somewhat right to left. I got my first shot off when she was about 125 yards away and got her in the foot, she didn't even slow down. The next shot got her in the head and she dropped. From where my brass hit to where the pig lay was 175 yards. I'm having fun.
This little varmint was about 150 yards away when I got her. I had to hold her to make the picture safe for women and children. That A-Max bullet is just devastating.
I also shot a skunk, but no pictures are currently available. You are gonna have to take my word for it.
This girl was both the best success and greatest failure for the trip. An opportunity to hunt red deer is really cool, and I was hopeful to get a nice rug out of the deal. The exit wound for the bullet was only about 2 inches across but it hit with such force that it made a bald spot about 6 inches in diameter. She was also so damn heavy that we had to use a front end loader to get her back to the barn, and that took a lot more fur off. She was about 275-300 pounds though, so it's a big damn animal. It was also slightly more sporting than shooting a cow. The other 2 did run when the shooting started, so I'll give them that.
For SPORTING, these little bastards will give you all you want and more. Blackbuck antelope are fucking FAST, and if you get a chance to shoot with one standing still you better take it regardless of the range. By far my best shot of the trip dropped this girl from a little over 300 yards (shooting from a bench mounted on a Gator), with about 20mph of crosswind. The rifle, shooter, and luck all did their part in this one.
I wanted to take this fella and have an Air Warriors Barbecue, but the ranch owner said "no". Sorry fellas.
Relaxing Texas style:
The last kill of the trip was a bit of a mistake. I was only supposed to shoot female animals, but the owner forgot to mention that juvenile male antelope are the same color (brown) as the full grown females. The full grown males are black. Well, this youngster paid the price for impersonating a female. Dad and I caught them in the open and they took off on a dead sprint. I hit him at about 75 yards, but he was running at least 20mph if not more.
At the end of the weekend, I have 3 ice chests full of meat and 2 nice antelope hides off to the tannery. I really wish that we could have saved that red deer pelt, but it was a lost cause.
The best part of the hunting experience was the validation of the weapon I had chosen. I wanted to put together a setup that would be good for the apocalypse or for hunting. I feel pretty well validated for the latter, and confident for the former. The Sightron mil-dot scope was perfect for range adjustment and helped dope the wind (not that I am any kind of expert on that). I also found the dots useful to SWAG the lead needed to hit a moving target. Again, I am not a sniper and don't claim to be an expert, but it worked really damn well and I am encouraged to learn more about wind adjustments and such so that I don't have to use a SWAG next time out.
If anyone has some pigs in need of killing anywhere near Memphis...have gun, will travel.
