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.

Big Game ??

Big Game hunting is right around the corner. I took this trophy bat with one shot from a Blue Streak .22 cal. pellet gun at about 10 yards. He dropped on the spot. {I am so looking forward to the muzzle loader deer hunt and the rifle deer hunt in October - real "big game".} If you want the uncensored photo let me know I'll e-mail it to you on a case by case basis.

Hunting Rockies

The Supreme Commander and I went on a picnic in Cedar Canyon. While there we just watched with binoculars a large volcanic rock pile for rockchucks to come out. When the Supreme Commander was quiet enough, some started coming out to sun themselves on the warm afternoon. She got all excited and wanted me to shoot one. I picked a fairly large old boy and had to make a brain shot to stop him from going back down his cave. He had to be stopped instantly or he would get back down in the rocks. I was only shooting a .22 magnum at a distance of about 104 yards. I got lucky and nailed him on the first shot. He just slumped over and didn't move an inch. I have lots of respect for the Savage M93 .22 magnum. It is accurate and hits plenty hard within 150 yards or so on smaller varmints.

AFRICA TRIP

Hola Amigos,
I wanted to show you some photos from my recent 11 day trip to Namibia in the southern end of Africa. I really had a great time and I feel lucky to have succeed as well as I did. I used a Ruger KM77R II in .338 Win Mag caliber to harvest all these animals. I used a Barnes 225 gr. Triple-Shock bullets with good success. Oryx (Gemsbuck) seemed the hardest to put down of all the animals I hunted. The animals were shot at distances from 150 to 397 yards. All bullets completely passed through the animals except for the Oryx, one bullet was lodged against the skin on the far side. All animals were dispatched with one shot except the Oryx, it took two shots in the chest at about 350 yards.

Hello and buenos dias, I appreciate you taking the time to look at this information. Let me know if there are things you would like to know about in relation to shooting, reloading, and hunting. I have some experience in these fields and have friends with lots of history in the sport. Best of luck and remember a moderate hit is lots more effective than a high powered miss.