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November 17, 2009 by Hunting takes patience, mental focus and drive.
Small wonder then that the soldiers who excel at one of the toughest jobs in the military—the guys who sweep for roadside bombs and other IEDs—also happen to be hunters.
From a CBS report that features Specialist Christopher Parsons, a member of the Michigan National Guard who is tasked with “Route Clearance Patrol”:
Asked what skill it takes to do his job, Spc. Parsons said, "Honestly, I'm from Michigan, so I love to hunt and that helps a lot."
"So whether it's hunting deer in Michigan or hunting IEDs in Afghanistan, same skill set?" Pitts asked.
"Roger," Parsons replied.
One of his commanding officers told us deer hunters like Parsons make the best bomb hunters. With his sharp vision, he was able to find one with a trigger smaller than his index finger: it was a clothes pin.
Moving at about 10 to 15 kilometers an hour, Parsons spotted the pin from 30 meters away.
I hope Parsons gets back safely and is able to enjoy the deer woods again soon.
[ Read Full Post ]November 15, 2009 by
Just got out of the woods in Northern Saskatchewan after a week of stand hunting during the rut. Friday the 13th was my lucky day as this buck strolled by me at about 11:30 on the second to last day of the hunt. Like every mature buck my fellow hunters and I saw in camp this week, he was cruising.
The does and young bucks were content to mill around a bit but the big boys were on a mission and more than one hunter in camp missed an opportunity because he wasn’t ready to pull the trigger when a bruiser walked by.
That’s the way it is with hunting thick timber, though. You spend a lot of hours looking at the same trees, the same birds and the same irritating squirrels and then a buck will appear and, poof, in a few seconds he’s gone. You better be ready.
I was for this guy. My Marlin 336C was on my lap with the forend sitting atop my shooting sticks. I had seen this deer at very first light, but it was about 10 minutes before legal shooting time so I had to let him walk.
For the first hour of the day I had a number of does come by as well as a small 7-point and a spike. I was hoping this 4x5 would take another cruise by my stand while searching for a doe and I wasn’t disappointed.
As soon as I saw him come out of the woods to my left I got the gun up and thumbed back the hammer. He stepped into a clear lane at about 50 yards and I shot. The 200-grain flex tip bullet in my .35 Rem. quartered through his chest and lodged under the skin in the off shoulder. He didn’t make it 50 yards before collapsing.
There are many reasons to love lever-actions, but the short 20-inch barrel and compact overall size are perfect when hunting from a confined blind.
[ Read Full Post ] November 8, 2009 by
I'm proud to say I knew the guy on my left before he became a celebrity.
In case you've been living in a cave in the Swat Valley, he is Jason Nash, the PR manager for Federal/ATK. And his 15 minutes of fame just kicked off in a major way in this week's edition of The New York Times Magazine.
In the magazine's "Consumed" (www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/magazine/08fob-consumed-t.html) column, Nash spells out how ATK, the parent company of Federal Premium Ammunition, has successfully introduced new products like the Fusion line of bullets and, more recently, Black Cloud steel shot.
What's notable about the article is that the magazine treats the ammunition category as a normal product and I was pleasantly surprised that the write up was free of any sneering references to hunters and shooters. In fact, I read it twice to make sure I hadn't missed some cheap shot.
Does this mean that the coastal media establishments will look at our passion for guns and hunting in a more even-handed light? It's a nice thought, but I doubt it.
Does this also mean that Nash, who took that beautiful mule deer with me in British Columbia a few weeks back, will no longer return the calls of a simple gun writer now that he's been discovered by the Times? We'll see.
[ Read Full Post ] November 7, 2009 by November 4, 2009 by
I’m heading off to Canada next week for a Saskatchewan whitetail hunt and pretty quickly settled on bringing a lever gun with me. Took my Marlin 336C in .35 Remington out yesterday to get my new scope dialed in (and an interesting little scope it is too…more on that later) and after I got it on paper I cranked off this 5-shot group.
Not too shabby: 0.631 inches. I did it with 200-gr. Hornaday Leverevolution ammo. I turned it down a quarter inch to put it 3.5 inches high at a 100. That will put it dead on at 200 and 15 inches low at 300, which works fine for me.
Having confidence in your rifle before starting off on a hunt—there’s no better feeling.
As a side note, if you have an old lever gun and haven’t tried any of the Leverevolution ammo in it, buy a box and give it a try. I’ve shot a bunch of it in .30-30, .45-70, .35 Rem., .450 Marlin and it has always been as accurate as other factory loads and sometimes a whole bunch better.
[ Read Full Post ] July 31, 2009 by
More bang for your truck? That’s the gist of the incentive that one automobile dealer in Kansas has adopted to lure potential buyers onto his lot.
For the month of August, Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Butler, Kansas, is offering an AK-style rifle to anyone who buys a truck.
According to The Tech Herald:
“There are a bunch of maggots out there and not defending yourself is irresponsible,” exclaimed Muller, while also admitting he would give away hand grenades to his customers if he could.
The Max Motors motto?
‘Guns, God, Guts and American Pick-up Trucks.’
Sounds good to me.
[ Read Full Post ]January 28, 2009 by Alan Scholl warns in The New American that state and federal elected officials share a “widespread ignorance and fear of guns” that could dismantle the Second Amendment piecemeal. But a more subtle danger lurks in the form of “a neon fox in the henhouse”—businesses that profit by gun control.
One cited by Scholl is Ammunition Coding System, Inc., of Seattle, whose lobbying arm, Ammunition Accountability, has been needling state legislatures to mandate ammunition serialization. Eighteen such resolutions were introduced in 2008, although none passed. With many legislatures more gun-control-friendly following 2008 elections, ACS stands to “profit handsomely” if such measures pass, Scholl writes.
[ Read Full Post ]January 23, 2009 by
The great Baltimore newspaperman and perpetual gadfly H.L. Mencken once said, “every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” I was feeling the same way as I watched the inevitable circus of buffoonery over who would succeed Hillary Clinton as senator from New York. But when the spectacularly inept Caroline Kennedy withdrew her name from consideration, the path cleared for Governor David A. Paterson to act.
And, lo and behold, it appears he has made a stunning choice—the little-known Rep. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, who hails from upstate New York. The choice has already drawn fire from the anti-gun crowd because Rep. Gillibrand is a friend of ours—a politician endorsed by the NRA.
According to the New York Times, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a democrat from Long Island and “an ardent gun control activist” said “if Gillibrand got the job, she was prepared to run against her in a primary in 2010.” Gee, New York gun owners are already saddled with Chuck Schumer. (Someone once told me: “What’s the most dangerous place to be in Washignton, D.C? Standing between Chuck Schumer and TV camera.”) Sportsmen surely don’t need McCarthy as well.
The august Times doesn’t know much about the new senator-to-be, but it did sniff that she “defeated a four-term incumbent in a race that turned intense and nasty in its final days.” Hmm, anybody want to remind them about the final days of the brutal campaign for the Democratic party nomination for president?
But right now, sportsmen and gun owners should enjoy the moment.—Slaton White
[ Read Full Post ]January 14, 2009 by Bob Baker at Freedom Arms, who happens to be one of the nicest guys in the gun business, has been hard at work on a couple of projects, one of which is the new .224-32 FA cartridge.
What Bob has done is to neck down brass from the .327 Federal to accept .224 diameter bullets, creating what should be one hell of a coyote/varmint/predator round for use in revolvers in the process.
According to his data, which is based on 40-gr. bullets from Sierra and Hornady, the cartridge generates muzzle velocities from 1,900 to 2,295 fps from a 10-inch barrel (he’s using one of his Model 97s) depending on the load.
Given how accurate Freedom Arms revolvers are and how good a shot Bob is, I pity (almost) any coyote that drifts within 200 yards of his muzzle.
While this cartridge won’t force the .223 Rem. into obscurity, it should bea nice option for hardcore handgun shooters in open country. There are noplans as of this moment for the cartridge to be commercially loaded. You’ll have to reload your own and fire form your own brass. Reloading dies will be available directly from Freedom Arms.
I just might have to make a point of visiting Freedom Arms in Wyoming this spring to give it a try. I’m also going to cast an early vote to shorten the name of the cartridge to the .224 FA—that flows a bit better.—John Snow
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