Hunting Anyone?

Work gets in the way of having fun. However, I have been taking my varmint rifle and my pal, Bounty Hunter 6, to work with me. I check on work things then go 20 miles further north to hunt chizzlers in Beryl, Utah. Bounty Hunter 6 has several friends who are farming large tracts of alfalfa in Beryl. Chizzlers are large ground squirrels that eat lots of the farmer's hay. The farmers cannot seem to get them out of the alfalfa fields so ... I have been trying hard -- to do my best to do my duty and send them to the alfalfa field in the sky.

On several of the work/hunting trips we have forwarded over 150 little critters each time to the "next level" in just one 3 - 4 hour session.

We have been using .223 Rem. and .22-250 for long range calibers on shots of 125 yards out to 400+. Close in, less than 125 yards, the .22 L.R., .22 Magnum, and Bounty Hunter 6's .17 HMR

are effective as can be.

Good binoculars, a range finder, some water, some snacks, and a hat. Pretty easy set up. If it gets too windy, or too cold or too hot the chizzlers go down their holes and wait out the weather. I just head home. Real Gentleman's hunting I'd say.

ADL remodeled

These are the photos of the rifle after some 10 hours of work. I think the stock doesn't show how fine the wood is, but what the heck? This is the most beautiful piece of wood I have personally ever worked on.

The Best Hobby

I recently purchased a Remington 700 ADL rifle in .30-06 caliber. I guess it is about 25 years old. It has been used but not necessarily abused. I am in the process of re-doing the rifle. I will attach some photos of the "before" rifle now and add some "after" photos when I get it completely restored. Basically, the rifle needs the copper fouling taken out of the bore, the blueing touched up, the stock stripped and re-finished, the trigger turned down to 2 1/2 pounds from 8 pounds of pull, and a recoil pad installed for the .30-06 caliber kicker. I think the wood in the stock is exceptional. As I have sanded it down and exposed the fiddleback and grain I have been really impressed. I hope I can do the re-finished stock justice with my limited photographic skills.

Hunter Education

I have had over 500 students in Hunter Education over the years. I just finished two classes of Utah Hunter Education. 40 of my 41 students passed the course. There seems to be more and more girls and women as a percentage in the classes every year. I am glad for the interest from females. Even if women don't hunt much they will have husbands and children who do hunt and being versed in the safety procedures of hunting and shooting is valuable.

I really like to get these younger kids going in their hunting career. They are the future of my favorite sport.

Trophy Jackrabbits

BIG GAME season is over. How is a guy to stay sharp on his high power rifle shooting skills? Bounty Hunter 6, Kenny, and I went jackrabbit hunting in the northwest desert the other day. I was shooting my mule deer rifle, a Ruger .30-06 light weight with a 4.5-14X 42mm scope. Bounty Hunter 6 was shooting a Winchester Model 70 in .223 with a 6-18X 40mm scope. We shot several jackrabbits each and I took these trophies. I have them hanging to dry in my garage and will mount them for display in my office one of these days. {Maybe I will just use them to scare the crap out of the Supreme Commander pretending they are mice that got into our house.} I can honestly inform everyone – a .30-06 rifle with a 130 grain bullet is a big enough gun to take jackrabbits to the next level. We both wore ear protection while hunting and so after firing about 20 rounds each we could still hear. We would walk through the sagebrush and jump up jackrabbits. The rabbits had been hunted lots in the area and would run quick when we were walking. The rabbits would run about 80 -125 yards and stop and look back to see if we were still in pursuit. I shot at several while I was way excited and didn’t settle down on the target and concentrate on breathing and trigger control. After about 10 misses Bounty Hunter 6 was laughing so hard at me he couldn’t hit the jackrabbits either. We had a serious planning session out in the sage dunes and I decided to not miss so much any more. I was getting low on ammo. We ended out the morning really doing pretty well. It was good fun with my amigo and good high power practice.

DEER 2007

It was the last day of the season and I had hiked about 1.4 miles from my truck according to my GPS. It seems the deer know when they are far enough away from the roads and trucks and 4-wheelers that convey the local hunters. It was 1:30 p.m. and I sat down under a large pinion pine tree on a rock and prepared my MRE lunch. I was glassing around the little canyons below me abit when I saw a doe and fawn sleeping about 200 yards away. I took a photo and ate some peanut butter and jelly on crackers. As I watched the doe and fawn a three pointer walked out and started to feed around in the small meadow below about 30 yards from the doe and fawn. I watched for a few minutes while eating my lunch. I took a photo of the buck. I looked at him several times between bites and finally decided to look at him through my scope. I ranged him with my laser ranger finder at 206 yards. I was looking through my scope and thought how my sons both wanted deer meat or any meat for that reason. I decided to shoot the 3 point. I settled on the point behind the front shoulder and put off the safety. Boom, and it was work time. I finished my lunch and cleaned up my mess to not litter then went down to clean my deer and drag it to a powerline road about .4 mile to the west. The rest is history and in the freezer.