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I'm always on the lookout for any scrap of information that will make my hunt a little more pleasurable. This web site is dedicated to that pursuit. This site is full of links and insights from my own experiences as well as from other knowledgeable sources.
Myth of the Brush Busters
A few years ago while I was on a hunting trip with some friends in the High Uinta mountains in northern Utah came the question. What is the best cartridge to use for heavy brush hunting? If any of you have ever hunted the mountains of Utah, you'll know what I mean when I say BRUSH. We all flopped down by the campfire after a miserable dinner and a lousy opening day of the Mule Deer season. Chad was distraught, Lenny looked like a warmed over beatnik from the sixties, Ryan was melting his frozen feet in the fire stinking up the camp, and then there was me. I'd stalked six point Muley for nearly eight miles through the rough canyons and rocky slopes. Finally he stopped on the top of a small knoll about eighty yards in front of me. Between us was a large clump of scrub oak and thistle. I'd have to shoot through the brush to hit the brute, if I moved into the open he would see me so I opted for the head which was all I could see clearly enough to hit. I made myself comfortable leaning against a quaking aspen and sighted in on the base of his massive skull with my 338 Win Mag. I heard a hard THUD from a hundred or so yards to my right. From what I could see of it the deer's stomach ripped open wide like the zipper on my hunting jacket. entrails and steam rolled out of the wound dragging the ground as my trophy stumbled away down the other side of the knoll and out of sight. My heart sank into my legs and I kneeled down and stared at the ground for a long moment. The next thing I knew. "Dude, you okay man?" I looked up and the surfer dude from Gidget was standing over me with a Gomer Pyle look on his oddly shaped face. "I'm fine, just been following that big fella for a while, that's all." I could have killed the surfer right there but I maintained my composure. After another moment of grappling with myself on whether to shoot this asshole or not. I finally decided to walk over the hill with him to where the deer lay. We made our way over to the shot zone after walking around what I thought was only a large clump of brush, it turned out that my insipid companion couldn't see the deer very well from his position either. The clump turned out to be a large U shaped bedding area with the open side facing downhill into the prevailing wind. This was the bucks bedroom. The blood/gut trail was easy enough to follow. After another minute of walking we found the deer, or rather what was left of it. I turned to face "Stoopid" we'll call him. I put out my right hand "Let me see one of your cartridges." He looked at me though his ridiculous sunglasses "Cartridge?". I rolled my eyes "BULLET!" I snapped. "Oh." he answered nodding like a chicken. he reached into his vest pocket and produced a large silver cartridge and handed it to me with a smirk. I took the cartridge from him all the while staring at his oversized glasses and I wondered how far I could shove them down his throat. I flipped it over, 375 H&H Mag. The projectile was a 320 grain hydra shock, way too much for a light skinned mule deer. "Not your gun is it." I mumbled. "Nah, it's my Bro's gun dude." "Alaska?" I asked knowingly. "Nope, Anchorage." he replied. I nodded handing him the BULLET back. This kid was too stupid for me. He walked around me to marvel at his handi-work. "Weww, killer man." he said nodding appreciatively. He had utterly annihilated the beast. The deer was lying on it's left side, head downhill. From what I could tell the bullet had entered the deer less than three inches to the left of the anus, shattering the left side of the pelvis into shrapnel and sending it along with most of the lower intestines and the volatile bladder contents into the chest cavity with the force of a freight train. The hole in the right side of the stomach was made from the remaining right side of the pelvis flipping around still attached to the right thigh and punching a hole through to the air pushing the final pieces of the intestines through the opening where they still hung out 3 feet or more. What appeared to be an exploded lung and large chunks of shredded liver hung out of a hole in the the lower throat near the animal's right shoulder. The neck was swollen up like a basketball, I assumed from the lack of innards near the shot zone in the bedding area, the remaining bodily contents would be located there. Most of the tongue and what looked like the wind pipe were hanging out the mouth. The eyes were blown from their sockets and hanging on by nerve and arterial tissue near the snout. Judging from the smell I'd say it would make a poor dinner, I wouldn't eat the meat. He was clearly proud of himself. "There is such a thing as overkill." I said raising an eyebrow. I heard a rustling 20 feet behind me. I turned to look. "Hey Rick, got one huh?" an old gray haired man said nodding toward me to say hello. "Hey Uncle Phil" Stupid Rick answered. The old man scurried up to hy shok boy and patted him on the shoulder. "How you doin son?" The old man nodded to me again. "Better than the deer." I chuckled rubbing my beard. Rick was excited to say the least. When the old man looked at the deer he shook his head in disbelief. He asked how the deer came to look this way, dipshit Rick had no answer, but I did. I explained to him the mechanics behind the hydraulic shock projectile, especially where it pertained to the larger Holland and Holland bored rifles. The massive 4000 lb plus energy exchange in that particular bullet is more than enough to shatter a crash helmet into powder and in my opinion way too much for a poor muley's body to handle. When I was through with my sermon, I schlepped back to camp leaving the mighty hunters to deal with their prize. When I got back to camp, the sun was setting over the mountain and the temperature was dropping fast. During dinner I told my story to my hunting buddies, and the question arose. What is the best cartridge for bush hunting? Many people seem to think the prize goes to the faithful 30-30, others favor the 45-70. We talked about it until bedtime that night. My friends and I are all experienced hunters. Given the laws of the universe -- The perfect bush cartridge does not exist, all of them have their shortcomings and their redeemable qualities. Stupid Rick claimed he was shooting for the neck and it must have hit a limb or twig. Though I personally don't think he was aiming for the neck, given the way he carried himself, still it is a possibility. Any flying object no matter the power, size or velocity can be deflected by something as slight as a feather or light wind or blade of grass, nothing is immune.
Choosing the right rifle for the job.
Choosing the right rifle is nothing more than a matter of preferrence it's easy to say, this is the gun you need or that is the gun you need. But how does one person really know what another person needs. My best advice to anyone is to shop around. Buy a magazine with reviews of some of the different calibers. What type of game is it designed for? Can it be a double duty gun? Can you handle the recoil? What's the price and the availabilty of the ammunition? Single shot, Pump action, Bolt action, Semi automatic, Muzzle loader? One rule to think about is, the less moving parts in the gun, the less can go wrong. Pricing of the gun should also be a factor. Does the prie of the gun reflect the quality? Not at all. I've purchased some expensive weapons only to have them fail, ad I've purchased some cheapy guns that have taken a real beating and never had a problem. Case in point. H&R1871 -- Harrington and Richardson/NEF has the single shot world in it's pocket. They have a high quality line of rifles and shotguns that won't break your bank account. In this writer's opinion they are dollar for dollar the best money can buy. Some of the SB-2 models are double duty I.E. shotgun and rifle barrels are included and interchangeable in a few seconds. A wide variety of barrel calibers can be purchased and changed out in the field. I strongly suggest you check one out while making your decision on what rifle to buy. I've included a link on my links page to the internet gun catalog where you can more than likely find just the weapon you want.
Woodworker's Rifle Rest.
A few months ago I was target shooting at the range with my lawn chair, folding table and a buckwheat sack to rest on. I'd been tempted to buy a factory rifle rest but didn't want to part with money that could be used for my reloading, so when I got home that Sunday evening I sat down at my drawing table and designed a nifty little shooter's rest for the target range. I'm one of those die hard woodworkers that putters around the home shop wishing for an idea to come to mind so he can whip it out in a few hours. It took about two hours to whip this baby out. The following Saturday I took my rifle rest to the range along with a portable shooters bench I'd punched out the night before. They worked great. I got alot of compliments from five other people on the rest as well as the portable bench. Before I knew it we were all taking turns using them. The Rifle rest fit every ones guns like a glove. When I was ready to go home for the day two of the guys that were there offered to buy the pair from me. I refused the sale but gave them both my number. I've built eighteen of them in the past six weeks. One man wanted to build his own so I drew up a nice set of detailed plans for each of them. He came by the house and picked up a copy of the plans handed me a 20 and set to work. He called me last week and thanked me. He's not a woodworker and he has limited tools but the rifle rest he made is as fine and sturdy as mine.
I've recently built two more for myself as display stands for my Sharps and Creedmore rifles
If you'd like to order a set of these plans, check my order form page. Options include.
1. Secure on-line ordering After your order is posted, you will be redirected to the secure download page where you will be given an unlock code and the compressed file package. You will also be sent an E-mail with the code and the url download page as a backup if you ever lose or misplace the original files.
2. Fill out the order form on line, print and mail it to me with your payment. Select the format you wish. E-mail and download, or a paper set mailed to your home.