Musings and Obsevations of an Old Shooter/Hunter/Reloader..........

One gun hunters usually one of a few calibers that were available to them... A 30-30 Win or Marlin, a few 32 specials (same), 303 Enfield, 30-06 P-17 or something like it. And there was the 44-40 in an older generation. Those were the main rifles used in this area for deer. The 30-06 was reserved as more of a moose gun then a deer gun. Later the 308 was added by a few. The 22 rimfires were for grouse, rabbits, and squirrels. The 12 gauge was for ducks and geese and occasionally used for deer with SSG or slug. I'd say by the time the 308 had arrived on the scene we started to see the 270 and 8mm mauser. Now there is the 223, ans 243 which is popular for varmints and some deer.
 
My dad is a one gun hunter. He has had his 700 3006 for more than 35 years with the original 4x Tasco. He will put one box of ammo through it a year. He just refuses to put any effort into shooting. 100 yards is a long shot for him. Different strokes for different folks I guess. It just doesn’t hold the value to him they way it does for lots of us on here.
 
Dogleg said:
You know how you tell a one gun shooter?

You don't, he'll tell you.;). Sometimes before and sometimes after he tells you he ain't much for dem der paper targets but is deadly on anything with hair or feathers . His gun is dead on 'cause he never bumped it since he shot at a rock 3 years ago.
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That reminds me..... have to get the gongs out in the swamp at camp while it’s frozen over....

All the years of the old guys “sighting in” using the stumps have led to them becoming almost non existent.... we had a high water table this year and they found sighting in difficult....

Thankfully, the one fella’s BLR in 308 with red dot mounted in see through rings hadn’t been bumped and was pretty much MOS (minute of stump).....

I wish I was joking here....
 
Dogleg said:
You know how you tell a one gun shooter?

You don't, he'll tell you.;). Sometimes before and sometimes after he tells you he ain't much for dem der paper targets but is deadly on anything with hair or feathers . His gun is dead on 'cause he never bumped it since he shot at a rock 3 years ago.
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Buuuut... What if the one gun hunter loves shooting paper at different ranges, and practicing more than he cares to admit on crab apples set up at different ranges and blowing them up as fast as he can?
 
trapoholic said:
Buuuut... What if the one gun hunter loves shooting paper at different ranges, and practicing more than he cares to admit on crab apples set up at different ranges and blowing them up as fast as he can?
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Does such a man really exist? Does he truly only have one gun, or does he actually have others that for whatever convoluted reason he doesn't count? What's the right amount of crab apples to care to admit to? How long are crab apples really in season? Does crab apple-man spray his barrel down with the garden hose instead of rotating five or six? Does he take half the year off when his rifle is leaning in the rebarrelling rack at his favourite gun mechanic?

Hard to say without more information. ;)
 
My biggest "struggle" with shooting/hunting is finding where I fit in. My dad got me into shooting and he is into all of the tactical fast shooting. My dad doesn't hunt so I go hunting with my uncles which are the complete opposite of him. I like all guns and aspects of hunting and shooting. For example I got a 10/22 and it was for target shooting and gophers. I took it to the range in its wood stock and my dad was expecting more. I ended up putting a more "tactical" stock on it but then when I went hunting with my uncle he would joke about how he had hit more with his rusty wooden rifle than I did with my gun. It is like this with my .308 and pretty much every gun I have. I like both styles which ever one I choose I'm going to have someone thinking its a POS. I know its my gun and only I have to like it, but the comments are annoying after dropping $1000 on a gun.
 
c-fbmi said:
An observation posted in another thread got me to thinking and assessing different hunting ideals, attitudes and techniques.

"Beware the one gun hunter, he probably knows how to shoot it" which was countered by a couple guys saying the one gun hunters they have known couldn't shoot worth a sh!t. I got to thinking about the people I know and realized that the guys response was also my experience....However, I can also say the one guy I know particularly well, never once mentioned how far his animal was from the shot. To him it just wasn't a factor because he would stalk to within his comfort zone and make his shot. When I asked him how far he shot a goat at, his response was " Oh #### I don't know, maybe 100 or so yards". I asked him a bunch of questions, as he was known as an avid and very successful hunter, but what I realized is that he was not a shooter at all. He did not reload, he shot an old Browning 30-06 with a Weaver K-4 on it and he understood the mechanics enough to only use one brand and bullet weight of ammo....I think he said Winchester 180 Power Point. He sighted his rifle bang on at 100 yards and checked it with a couple shots every hunting season before going afield.

His love and expertize was hunting and solely hunting, to him his rifle was a tool by which to pursue his true love. He never once needed to shoot 400 mtrs nor did it even enter his head to do so, as he intrinsically knew what his kill zone was and never tried to expand it with equipment or practice. I doubt it even entered his mind, he would just sneak in closer.....period. Now make no mistake, he was a very accomplished hunter and trophy hunter, he just wasn't a shooter and his box of shells would last him 4 or 5 years.

I know several other guys whose first words out of their mouths when told of a successful hunt was "how far was the shot". This shows a completely different mindset as to the sport of hunting. These boys are shooters first and hunters second unlike my old buddy with his 30-06. They are not wrong as such, but their first love is the shooting and skill developed in this discipline, as opposed to get within 100 mtrs and make your shot. These are the fellows who say the one gun hunter usually is not much of a shooter, and are correct. Just don't demean his skill as a hunter, is all I have to say.......

I personally am an avid hunter as well as a moderate range shooter/hunter and an accomplished reloader......to me these things have gone together for more than 40 years. I shot competitively for many years and have reloaded since I was 16 years old. I have done the "how tight can I get my groups", "how fast can I REALLY make that bullet go", "how far can I shoot with reasonable accuracy and consistency" for many, many years. This has in turn allowed me to expand my effective range when hunting with confidence, making me a more successful hunter in the big picture. I can't say if this was the original goal.......I somehow doubt it. I just am very competitive and when shooting competition I want to win, so I invest in the right equipment and then I practice my ass off.

I have always loved shooting, from the days of my first pellet gun. I can't explain it to anyone who doesn't already have "the bug". I spent hundreds of hours with my pellet rifle hunting sparrows, starlings and other asundried critters I was allowed to shoot . Almost always alone and enjoyed every second of it and reaped the benefits that amount of shooting did for my skill level. I must say the limited accurate range of my rifle did a fair bit towards my stalking skills as well, now that I think back on it. All this shooting was done with the sights that came on the gun and I learned how to adjust them and how to effectively use good old "notch and blade" sights to their greatest accuracy possible.

I have also maintained a periphery interest in bow hunting all my life, which I deem to be about the ultimate in the use of hunting skills. I got fairly serious about it a few years back and got some top end equipment and went about learning all about bows, arrows, spine weights, speeds, brace heights and on, and on, and on. My son was also right into it so we used to shoot a couple hundred arrows every night in my shop at 30 yds........we got good, really, really good. So we decided to join the archery club and went to the school gym shooting range one wintery Tuesday night. Introduced ourselves to the directorate and asked if we might join and be included. We were invited to shoot that evening and check it out. We noticed most, if not all were shooting stick bows unlike our Mathews compounds and the skill level was truly abysmal. After shooting with the club for the allotted hour and a half, we were approached by the same gentleman that invited us to shoot and it was suggested to us that perhaps this wasn't the best venue for our type of shooting and please don't come back.......

I guess in summation all I'm saying is there are many ways to approach hunting and be successful. Different skills sets allow for different approaches but success is ultimately measured when the quarry hits the ground. Whether that be from a well placed shot at 500 mtrs or a well placed arrow at 25 mtrs or anything in between. I don't scorn the successful one gun hunter because he is not a shooter, he never said he was. I don't scorn the long range shooter/hunters because I understand the level of dedication, practice and expense required to get to that skill level. Unlike the one gun hunter though, I think too many over estimate their long range skills in the hunting field, believing that what they learn at the bench is directly applicable in the field. This is unfortunate for the sport and the long range disciple in particular. It is my opinion that long range hunting skills need to be honed in the field on critters like gophers and ground hogs and badgers and jack rabbits and the like before big game is on the menu. The same applies to shooting moving and running game. My old hunting buddy's dad used to say "you don't get good at shooting game by shooting paper"

This is all just a few my own observations and opinions formed over 40+ years of shooting and hunting and expressed solely in the interest of promoting positive hunting dialogue.
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I remember about 30 years ago, a friend bought a BAR in 7MM Mag. It had a 4-12X scope on it (huge magnification, back then), and we got to talking. He was an occasional shooter. I pointed out that with his rig, there was not much he could do that I couldn't do with my ,308. It was an HK G3. We went to the local sand pit, and I measured out 365 yards (which IIRC, was one range my battle sight turret was set up for ). I took a 4X4 piece of OSB, and painted a 6 inch circle on it. He fired a group from the hood of his truck, and grouped well over 18". I then increased the size of the circle (open sights), laid down and fired about an 8" group. He was flabbergasted, to say the least.

When it comes to old timers, one of the most remarkable souvenirs I have is of an old timer prospector who lived alone in a cabin in the bush a few miles out of our town. He was in his 80's, IIRC. He shook so bad that when he came to the store for groceries, the cashiers had to press his hand against the belt to put his change in it. A friend and I were chatting with him one day, when a couple of ducks swam out of some cattails. He went into the camp, and brought out an old Winchester single shot 22 - it looked an awful lot like a Cooey 75 - barrel about a yard long, massive stock, and when he raised that rifle, he was not shaking a bit. He fired one shot, a duck plopped over, and he asked us to go get it using our canoe.

My paternal grandfather told me that he had a Snyder in his younger days. Shot a lot of moose with it. Then he traded that for a brass-framed 44-40. He says it was fantastic on moose. In the 20's or 30's , (WWI), he traded that for, of all things, a 303!!! But, it was the best to put meat on the table, so he did the right thing.
 
Dogleg said:
Does such a man really exist? Does he truly only have one gun, or does he actually have others that for whatever convoluted reason he doesn't count? What's the right amount of crab apples to care to admit to? How long are crab apples really in season? Does crab apple-man spray his barrel down with the garden hose instead of rotating five or six? Does he take half the year off when his rifle is leaning in the rebarrelling rack at his favourite gun mechanic?

Hard to say without more information. ;)
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Ok... He has a 22mag ( beaver, partridge, squirrel, chipmunk, coon ) gun and a shotgun for ducks also. Negative on the garden hose and as long as crab apples are on the trees they get used for fast practice. The 30-06 sees 40+ shots a session most times sometimes more, and it still shoots like it did 12 years ago

When the apples are all gone I switch to pop cans the rest of the year, sometimes the whole gang gets together and we'll shoot the rolling tire with a piece of plywood drilled onto it to keep things interesting.
 
trapoholic said:
Ok... He has a 22mag ( beaver, partridge, squirrel, chipmunk, coon ) gun and a shotgun for ducks also. Negative on the garden hose and as long as crab apples are on the trees they get used for fast practice. The 30-06 sees 40+ shots a session most times sometimes more, and it still shoots like it did 12 years ago

When the apples are all gone I switch to pop cans the rest of the year, sometimes the whole gang gets together and we'll shoot the rolling tire with a piece of plywood drilled onto it to keep things interesting.
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I'd say its safe to say that the crab-apple man gets his deer every year. ;)
 
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