Matching the gun, with the game country and the game animal.

[Mustangs Rule]

Matching the Gun with the Game Country and the Game, a silly habit



I left the solar bowl I live in today. No ice on the ponds or ice along the creeks. No need to zip up my big coat, cover my ears or wear gloves. Not far away is the high rolling prairie, still sunny, but windy and cold. I drove out, with my spotting scope, just wanted to see what the Mule Deer and the Pronghorn Antelope were up too. The little ponds were frozen over, small creeks too. Ear flaps, down, zip up all the way, quick,,,where are those gloves ? Cover my mouth too, the air has too much bite to breathe in.

Did not see any deer, but did see some pronghorn. They make me smile. They offer a banker’s hours hunt. No need to get up early.

Next fall will be my 60th hunting season. I have developed lots of habits, some silly some serious.

One is that I like to match my gun, with the game country and the game I am hunting. A great excuse to buy more.

Anyway,,looking out over that cold expanse of grassland openness, I can only imagine one rifle to hunt antelope with there next fall, one that is a historical match. My 70 year old pre 64 Model 70 standard weight in .270,,,of course with a vintage fixed 6 X scope. I have others more modern ones, but none seem right, none seem like they fit.

A bipod,,,” I don’t need no stinking bipod”,,,I have a few sticks I made up topped with a buck antelope horn for prone shooting. Seems like it belongs there with that rifle nestled in the fork.

So what quirks, silly or serious habits do you have when hunting? What things when done reflect who you are afield, maybe even reject some modern-ness, discard some tech advantages to make your meat taste sweeter.

MR

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

I find myself thinking too much about adding to the recipe; ends up being a classic Occam’s Razor that I ultimately decide to bring the gun (and gear) that I’m most proficient with, even if I’m over-gunned. But it sure helps me pass the time between last season and next!

 

[Dan O]

Matching the Gun with the Game Country and the Game, a silly habit



I left the solar bowl I live in today. No ice on the ponds or ice along the creeks. No need to zip up my big coat, cover my ears or wear gloves. Not far away is the high rolling prairie, still sunny, but windy and cold. I drove out, with my spotting scope, just wanted to see what the Mule Deer and the Pronghorn Antelope were up too. The little ponds were frozen over, small creeks too. Ear flaps, down, zip up all the way, quick,,,where are those gloves ? Cover my mouth too, the air has too much bite to breathe in.

Did not see any deer, but did see some pronghorn. They make me smile. They offer a banker’s hours hunt. No need to get up early.

Next fall will be my 60th hunting season. I have developed lots of habits, some silly some serious.

One is that I like to match my gun, with the game country and the game I am hunting. A great excuse to buy more.

Anyway,,looking out over that cold expanse of grassland openness, I can only imagine one rifle to hunt antelope with there next fall, one that is a historical match. My 70 year old pre 64 Model 70 standard weight in .270,,,of course with a vintage fixed 6 X scope. I have others more modern ones, but none seem right, none seem like they fit.

A bipod,,,” I don’t need no stinking bipod”,,,I have a few sticks I made up topped with a buck antelope horn for prone shooting. Seems like it belongs there with that rifle nestled in the fork.

So what quirks, silly or serious habits do you have when hunting? What things when done reflect who you are afield, maybe even reject some modern-ness, discard some tech advantages to make your meat taste sweeter.

MR

Yes the plains are perfect for the M70 270. This fall will be my 55th year hunting. I have 2 Model 70's in 270. One was my uncles built in 1951 and my Dad's built in 1952 according to their serial #'s and their statements. Both were bought new at Kernegans gas station in Great Falls. I use both and when I do it feels like I'm hunting with them at my side.
Good Memory's !!!

 

[buffybr]

I didn't grow up in a hunting family, so I didn't start hunting until I was in college. I hunted with borrowed rifles my first two years hunting, and then in 1967 I bought my first centerfire rifle, a .30-06 from Herter's. That became my "do all" rifle for everything from gophers to elk.

Before I left Colorado I built a .45 caliber percussion Kentucky rifle from a CVA kit so I could hunt in one of Colorado's first muzzleloader deer hunts and shot my best mule deer.

Then Colorado upped their muzzleloader elk requirement to .50 caliber so I built a .54 caliber percussion Hawken rifle from a Green River kit. I haven't killed an elk with it yet, but I did use it for a one shot kill on a Montana buffalo.

Then after moving to Montana in the mid '70s I decided that I needed more than just one rifle, so....

I had my .30-06 re-chambered to .30 Gibbs for elk and later moose.

I built a .22-250 for varmints, but have also used it for deer and antelope.

And I built a .257 Ackley for my primary deer and antelope rifle, and it also works well for varmints. It also became my sheep rifle that I've carried to the top of many sheep mountains, and along the way it killed one of my best 6x6 bull elk and my mountain caribou.

As the years passed I've expanded my rifle battery to also include:

A 7mm Rem mag in stainless steel with a Tupperware stock that I've used on many Canadian and African hunts as well as antelope and elk hunts here at home when the weather was wet and nasty.

I've replaced my .30 Gibbs with a .300 Weatherby for my primary elk rifle, but I've taken it on many international hunts for a variety of animals from a 20 pound African klipspringer to a 400" plus New Zealand red stag, Mozambique sable and leopard, and a Dagestan tur in Azerbaijan.

About 15 years ago I booked a Zimbabwe cape buffalo hunt that required a rifle of at least .375 caliber so I built a .375 RUM. I used that rifle on two African hunts for a variety of animals from 20 pound steenboks to my cape buffalo.

My .375 RUM has been a safe queen for the last 10 years because I haven't hunted anything needing that much power, but it will get out of the safe this fall for a western Alaska brown bear and moose hunt.

 

[Don Fischer]

I think we all to that to some degree even if we don't think about it a lot. Deal is there are so many different rifles that work in pretty much all situation's a reaal match is what we call it. Lot's of open country around here for hunting but I've known several people that preferred the lever action in a 30-30 and they always filled tags. Go figure. Hunting in a lot more wooded area's I prefer a shorter barreled bolt action in a 308 based case cartridge. I have not use for magnum's at this point but sure can deny they kill thing's! So what's really right for each situation? Your call!

 

[2rocky]

I find myself wanting the opposite. A rifle caliber and load I am so familiar with that I take it no matter where I may roam.

 

[Don Fischer]

I find myself wanting the opposite. A rifle caliber and load I am so familiar with that I take it no matter where I may roam.

Ya know, years ago I had a Rem 660 in 308 with a 2 3/4x Denver
/Redfield 4Plex CCH and that was my go to about 99% of the time. Had other's but just always dragged out that Rem! My son has it now and never shoot's it. He stole it from me, I should steal it back!

 

[1_pointer]

I didn't grow up in a hunting family, so I didn't start hunting until I was in college. I hunted with borrowed rifles my first two years hunting, and then in 1967 I bought my first centerfire rifle, a .30-06 from Herter's. That became my "do all" rifle for everything from gophers to elk.

Before I left Colorado I built a .45 caliber percussion Kentucky rifle from a CVA kit so I could hunt in one of Colorado's first muzzleloader deer hunts and shot my best mule deer.

Then Colorado upped their muzzleloader elk requirement to .50 caliber so I built a .54 caliber percussion Hawken rifle from a Green River kit. I haven't killed an elk with it yet, but I did use it for a one shot kill on a Montana buffalo.

Then after moving to Montana in the mid '70s I decided that I needed more than just one rifle, so....

I had my .30-06 re-chambered to .30 Gibbs for elk and later moose.

I built a .22-250 for varmints, but have also used it for deer and antelope.

And I built a .257 Ackley for my primary deer and antelope rifle, and it also works well for varmints. It also became my sheep rifle that I've carried to the top of many sheep mountains, and along the way it killed one of my best 6x6 bull elk and my mountain caribou.

As the years passed I've expanded my rifle battery to also include:

A 7mm Rem mag in stainless steel with a Tupperware stock that I've used on many Canadian and African hunts as well as antelope and elk hunts here at home when the weather was wet and nasty.

I've replaced my .30 Gibbs with a .300 Weatherby for my primary elk rifle, but I've taken it on many international hunts for a variety of animals from a 20 pound African klipspringer to a 400" plus New Zealand red stag, Mozambique sable and leopard, and a Dagestan tur in Azerbaijan.

About 15 years ago I booked a Zimbabwe cape buffalo hunt that required a rifle of at least .375 caliber so I built a .375 RUM. I used that rifle on two African hunts for a variety of animals from 20 pound steenboks to my cape buffalo.

My .375 RUM has been a safe queen for the last 10 years because I haven't hunted anything needing that much power, but it will get out of the safe this fall for a western Alaska brown bear and moose hunt.

Not jealous of the rifles, but am of the trips. You've had some adventures, well done!

 

[Harrier]

One of my favorite parts about planning a hunt is matching the firearm & cartridge to the quarry, conditions, etc.

First, I hunt almost exclusively with vintage (100-year-old +) sporterized military surplus rifles. For stand hunting, I take my heavy old Springfield 1903 that carries a scope.

The hunts I like best are excursions on foot where you don’t know exactly what you’ll see, or when. For that, it’s more of a European-style stalking rifle: an old Mauser or my sporterized Steyr, each with receiver aperture sights instead of a scope.

Some WMRs where I hunt are shotgun & slugs only; for that, I take my old Stevens .410 pump or a single-shot Iver Johnson in 12 gauge.

 

[elkhnter]

“Beware the man with one gun, he knows how to use it”. I’d like to be “that” guy, but nope! Could have saved myself a lot of money over the years, but nope. Every time I think I’ve found that one gun, nope, something else pops up.
I enjoy working with a 257 Weatherby for antelope, dreaming of taking an elk with it, but nope. Drag out the 300 Weatherby or 325 wsm for that. Unless it’s heavy timber, then the 300 saum.
Who am I kidding, I could never be a one gun hunter.
Nope, wouldn’t want to be.

 

[buffybr]

Not jealous of the rifles, but am of the trips. You've had some adventures, well done!

My thread "48 years of memories" over in the Trophy Rooms Forum shows most of my best from my adventures.

 

[BrentD]

I like the OP's, "I don't need no stinkin' bipod!" I'm that way also, but I have these two sticks I cut out of a brushy fence row at the last moment on the first time I hunted elk with a rifle. I laced them together with an old boot lace and figured I'd just toss them aside at some point if they got in the way.

Now, nearly 30 yrs later, I won't leave home without those same two sticks. The leather laces have been replaced once or twice, and I put some .45-70 shells over the top ends where they were splitting and some steel studs for getting purchase on rocks and the like. I don't know how many animals have been shot over those stick with nearly uncountable different rifles, but I'm not leaving them behind anytime soon.

 

[std7mag]

I didn't come from a hunting family either.
I started hunting in the early 80's (1980's, smart alec!!) with friends from the neighborhood. Mostly ground hogs, rabbits and squirrels.
I still have the first gun i ever bought.
Hawthorne bolt action .410 shotgun that i bought used. It is still my first grabbed gun when squirrel, rabbit, pheasant, and turkey are the sought after game.

I had long sought a Ruger 77 in 257 Roberts. Something about that rifle/cartridge combo that just seems to work. I finally found one i could afford several years ago.
My daughter shot her first buck with it, and after 35 years of filling the freezer, i finally shot my first buck using that same rifle.

It seems the older i get, the less i have need for the latest/greatest, best marketing ploy cartridges.

I've rebarreled my Stevens 200 to 250 Savage. Coyotes hate it! Now to try it on deer.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Being a younger guy on a budget, I dont have too many rifles to choose from.
I have two choices:
JC Penney 30-30
Vanguard 7 Rem Mag

With that said, I don't feel under gunned. Those two rifles should kill every animal i get the chance to hunt in North America... as long as I do my part.

If I'm ever lucky enough to go on a moose hunt, I may just "have" to buy a 375H&H though lol

 

[Alpine01]

Relatively new to hunting, only been at it for 3 yrs now (in my mid-50's) but fully addicted now. Took my first mule deer last season (308, 165gr Trophy Bonded Tip, 225 yds, deer dropped in two steps) and still looking to fill an elk tag. Been solo backpack hunting the whole time and every year getting into more and more elk. Just haven't closed the deal with a shot I was willing to take. So, what would folks recommend as a next rifle to compliment my 308? Likely going to extend my options to moose, maybe sheep. Don't see myself going after antelope though.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I prefer one gun that will do everything ... instead of buying an an arsenal of partime dust catchers. Spend the money saved on hunting trips. I think Dad paid $15 for my WWII 30-06 Springfield back in 1962. It's still killing game.

 

[Panda Bear]

my earliest memories involve hunting and fishing so for me not much has changed. Much of the routine I went through as a child still holds true today. As for rifles, I prefer one rifle for everything and it does not have a scope on it. My out the door and hunting routine is very basic

 

[F250]

Fun to talk about rifles, cartridges, and game to be hunted with them. For me there's two : .270 A-Bolt for woods hunting, .300 Win Mag Remington 700 for longer shooting opportunities.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

I like the OP's, "I don't need no stinkin' bipod!" I'm that way also, but I have these two sticks I cut out of a brushy fence row at the last moment on the first time I hunted elk with a rifle. I laced them together with an old boot lace and figured I'd just toss them aside at some point if they got in the way.

Now, nearly 30 yrs later, I won't leave home without those same two sticks. The leather laces have been replaced once or twice, and I put some .45-70 shells over the top ends where they were splitting and some steel studs for getting purchase on rocks and the like. I don't know how many animals have been shot over those stick with nearly uncountable different rifles, but I'm not leaving them behind anytime soon.

I am very impressed, that happens rarely. I get so sick of gimmicks and gadgets. I have homemade shooting sticks too,,,three together. Have been using them for decades. Also make a great walking stick. I wish my eyes allowed me to use iron sights again. I have two Winchesters model 94 lever guns and one Winchester model 54 bolt gun that are now all safe Queens.

I used to hunt antelope by canoe. That was a great experience. Where did you hunt this antelope?

Nice Marlin. Thanks for the contribution to my post.

MR

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

I look at it as using the right tool for the job. I also think having a spair is a great idea.
Everything can break and yes I have had it happen to me once in 44 years of Big Game Hunting. Just glad I had another rifle use.
I feel a two or three gun rifle battery makes a lot of sense.
i use three and there is overlap in there use from Varmits to Antelope & Deer and Elk and Bears