TradLife406
WKR
My little boy and I went on my first hunt with a "long range rifle" yesterday for lopers.
We found the herd but they were in a wide open chick pea field. They were at about 800. A light wind from the left at about 5 mph.
There wasn't really any good bucks and I could care less about antelope horns.
I was able to get prone and had a good natural point of aim and felt I could make the shot. Which last year the thought of past 400 would have been insanity.
I cranked my elevation dial and picked out one of the dink bucks that was alone and broadside. Held about 3 and a half moa left and squeezed. It went right infront of him! Dang it!
Ha and wouldn't you know those goofy goats ran towards me!
So at 300 I dropped one of the dinks when the herd paused for a minute.
We got him out and went looking for a doe.
We found them and were able to sneak down the fence line. I debated trying to get a little closer. But stalking with a little four year old in tow, I figured the odds weren't good.
And of course after 20 years of hunting I still get really excited even over does! And I'd managed to leave my phone in the truck and I hadn't made myself a cheat card dope!
I went off memory and dialed up. The wind was from my 6 o'clock so I felt good. The first shot was way low! I cranked it up some more as the herd took off. They stopped and a doe was legging behind. Put it right behind her shoulder and went through my process.
I thought I'd missed but sure enough after I recovered from the recoil she was down! I zapped her with the range finder and got dang it she was 750 yards away!
We drove around to the other side of the field and found her with a nice hole right above her heart about a couple inches off her shoulder!
Take aways...
Don't be without dope of some sort.
A 5 mph wind can really drift a bullet a long ways at long distances!!
My rifle now has a dope card taped to it!
The Hornady ELDX seems to be a fantastic bullet! The 6.5 PRC is a sweet cartridge!
I need to practice and experience getting into positions and dialing. And obviously more dry and live fire shooting.
Also need a good shooting tripod! Any suggestions? Thinking a 2 Vets.
I think a better range finder would be something I'll get next year too. The Sig or the Revic.
Also need a good sling I can use for shooting. I've got the Armageddon sling in my cart just need another plasma donation payout lol. Any suggestions there?
Also hunting with a four year old is a ton of fun. But requires next level dad skills and patience!
I love getting close to animals and hunting with my trad bow. But I also like to notch tags and fill the freezer.
I'm down to two tags. A mulie doe and I drew a post season WT buck tag.
With deer I should easily be able to get inside 500. I got kinda lucky on that loper doe and not sure I'd go for it again and push my luck.
As what I'd consider myself being a former Fudd rifle hunter I think more rifle hunters need to shoot more and practice. Not saying that I'm Ryan Avery level yet. But my confidence in making "normal" distance rifle shots on game is 10x from a year ago!
Kinda long winded but thought I'd share.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
We found the herd but they were in a wide open chick pea field. They were at about 800. A light wind from the left at about 5 mph.
There wasn't really any good bucks and I could care less about antelope horns.
I was able to get prone and had a good natural point of aim and felt I could make the shot. Which last year the thought of past 400 would have been insanity.
I cranked my elevation dial and picked out one of the dink bucks that was alone and broadside. Held about 3 and a half moa left and squeezed. It went right infront of him! Dang it!
Ha and wouldn't you know those goofy goats ran towards me!
So at 300 I dropped one of the dinks when the herd paused for a minute.
We got him out and went looking for a doe.
We found them and were able to sneak down the fence line. I debated trying to get a little closer. But stalking with a little four year old in tow, I figured the odds weren't good.
And of course after 20 years of hunting I still get really excited even over does! And I'd managed to leave my phone in the truck and I hadn't made myself a cheat card dope!
I went off memory and dialed up. The wind was from my 6 o'clock so I felt good. The first shot was way low! I cranked it up some more as the herd took off. They stopped and a doe was legging behind. Put it right behind her shoulder and went through my process.
I thought I'd missed but sure enough after I recovered from the recoil she was down! I zapped her with the range finder and got dang it she was 750 yards away!
We drove around to the other side of the field and found her with a nice hole right above her heart about a couple inches off her shoulder!
Take aways...
Don't be without dope of some sort.
A 5 mph wind can really drift a bullet a long ways at long distances!!
My rifle now has a dope card taped to it!
The Hornady ELDX seems to be a fantastic bullet! The 6.5 PRC is a sweet cartridge!
I need to practice and experience getting into positions and dialing. And obviously more dry and live fire shooting.
Also need a good shooting tripod! Any suggestions? Thinking a 2 Vets.
I think a better range finder would be something I'll get next year too. The Sig or the Revic.
Also need a good sling I can use for shooting. I've got the Armageddon sling in my cart just need another plasma donation payout lol. Any suggestions there?
Also hunting with a four year old is a ton of fun. But requires next level dad skills and patience!
I love getting close to animals and hunting with my trad bow. But I also like to notch tags and fill the freezer.
I'm down to two tags. A mulie doe and I drew a post season WT buck tag.
With deer I should easily be able to get inside 500. I got kinda lucky on that loper doe and not sure I'd go for it again and push my luck.
As what I'd consider myself being a former Fudd rifle hunter I think more rifle hunters need to shoot more and practice. Not saying that I'm Ryan Avery level yet. But my confidence in making "normal" distance rifle shots on game is 10x from a year ago!
Kinda long winded but thought I'd share.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
