With all due respect… RIP “Taz” DiGregorio.

“Think, ‘hog control,’ not hunting.”

That was the key message in the email sent out to our group by way of introduction from Rod Pinkston, CEO of JagerPro Hog Control Systems and, along with Winchester Ammunition, our host for two nights and days.  JagerPro specializes in two things, nighttime hog depredation with advanced thermal imaging equipment, and hog trapping. We had been invited to experience a little bit of both.

Our group consisted of myself, freelance writers MD and Julia Johnson, and Brian Lynn from Outdoor Life.  Mike Stock, the Winchester marketing representative who put the whole shindig together, was along as well.

The plan for the visit was centered around two nights of depredation hunts with Pinkston’s thermal imaging scopes, mounted atop AR-platform .308 rifles from Lewis Machine and Tool (LMT).  I’m still pretty new to the AR rifles, so I can’t offer a lot of explanation about what really sets these rifles apart from others in the genre, but I can say they’re a pretty cool piece of machine-work.

Ammunition for the hunt was provided by Winchester.  We’d be trying out their new Razorback XT.  The .308Win load is topped by a 150gr, lead-free bullet (gilding metal) that is specifically designed for delayed expansion so that the bullet can penetrate the thick, mud-caked hide and heavy cartilage of these tough beasts.  The JagerPro guides questioned the choice of 150gr,  but Mike was confident that the bullet would perform.

The proof would be in the pudding.  All we needed to do was to find some hogs and put the bullets to work.

Jager Pro does their best work at night.  (more…)

I’ve brought this up before, I think, but just thought I’d revisit the topic.  What about the AR or tactical-styled rifles as hunting firearms… and why is the issue so divisive?

I just read Michael Waddell’s paean to the AR platform over at Petersen’s Hunting, along with the comments.   While the column itself read like a marketing piece for AR-styled firearms (particularly Remington’s R-15 and R-25 models), it raised some great points.  Chambered in realistic hunting calibers, these can be good hunting rifles.

Personally, I resisted the trend to bringing more of these tactical-styled rifles into the field because… well, because it seemed so trendy.  Besides, I love the classic look and styling of a nice bolt or lever gun much more than the high-tech, military ordnance.  It’s pretty much the same reason I favor my side-by-side shotgun over the nifty semi-autos, despite the advantages a more modern gun would offer.  It’s about the look and feel.

But to turn that around, that “look and feel” is exactly why some people really do love the AR platform (and, illogically enough, why some people have such a visceral, negative reaction to them).  As I’ve mentioned before, there’s the “coolness factor” that comes with the sharp angles and gadget-friendly design.  And, of course, there’s the available firepower of a semi-automatic and a high-capacity magazine.  I have to confess that there’s something about occasionally pouring a hail of fire downrange that I find kind of satisfying… even more so if that hail of fire is reasonably accurate.

But the reason Waddell’s column got me thinking about this topic again wasn’t so much his praise of the AR platform as it was the comments that followed the column.  Some of them were pure vitriol, and based as far as I can tell on nothing more substantial than the appearance of the AR-styled rifles.  One guy, for example, suggested that anyone who showed up at his elk camp with an AR or tactical-style rifle would not be welcome.  Several others agreed with him.

I do understand, at least in part, where some of that may be coming from.  My first experience with an AR-armed hunter was on a deer drive back in NC.  This was back when the civilian version of the AR-15 was first released… way before the industry saw them as anything more than a tiny, niche market for survivalists and military wannabes.  His rifle was fresh out of the store (I sold it to him a couple of weeks earlier), chambered in the standard 5.56mm and outfitted only with the factory sights.  I don’t even know if he’d even taken it to the range yet.

Anyway, on a typical drive, the dogs are cut loose on a track or in an area with heavy deer traffic, and the standers are placed in areas where the deer are likely to run.  Ordinarily, safety dictates that standers on the ground are armed with shotguns and buckshot, while rifle hunters are placed in elevated stands.  For whatever reason, our boy with the AR was on the ground.  When the dogs ran a deer past him, he reacted in the worst possible way… spray and pray.  It was as if he believed that accuracy was completely secondary to putting down a solid field of fire.

The bullets made one heck of a racket coming through the brush and buzzing overhead.  In the time it took me to realize what I was hearing and dive headlong into a ditch, he’d expended the entire magazine.  The next racket I heard was explicit cursing coming from other standers as they converged on his position.  As I was still a relative youngster at the time, I didn’t join in out loud, but I was certainly relishing the lambasting this idiot was taking.  Only later did I realize how lucky we all were that no one was hit in the fusillade.

With that experience in mind, I can understand the perception that some people have of hunters carrying these military rifles.  The potential for misuse is high, and it’s easy to imagine that potential when someone (especially someone you don’t know) is carrying a semi-automatic rifle with a 15 or 30 round magazine.  A lot of people believe having the capacity to spray and pray will encourage that sort of behavior.  It’s the same justification that leads many parents to start children off with single-shot rifles and shotguns.

But the truth is, looking back on it all, that was a fairly isolated incident.  It was one idiot who probably would have been just as unsafe with a more traditional rifle… or even a shotgun.  (Bearing in mind that, at this time it was very common to see deer hunters armed with semi-autos like the Remington 742 rifle and 1100 shotgun, the Browning BAR and Auto-5, and the Winchester models.) While the whole thing definitely shaped my opinion of ARs as hunting weapons for a long time, I fially realized that it had far less to do with the rifle than with the “trigger nut” (the nut that pulls the trigger).

These days, with a mature perspective, it simply doesn’t make sense to condemn the ARs and tactical rifles.  In many cases, they absolutely have a valid place in the field… especially when you consider that many of our “traditional” hunting rifles are directly descended from military designs.  They are functional, and with modern design and chamberings are more than adequate for any game you might choose to hunt.  Of course they’re not for everybody, but that’s true of many firearms.

The one thing that is for sure is that the firearms industry has embraced the platform.  It represents a way to expand the line beyond the traditional, and allows crossover between the hunting market, the sport shooters, and the military firearms afficianados.  These guns aren’t going away, and for the folks who don’t like them, I’ve got bad news… you’re going to be seeing a lot more of them as time goes by.

My friend, Albert Rasch, is over in Afghanistan doing some kind of silly, dangerous stuff right now, but he’s keeping his blog, The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles alive with occasional updates and reposts of some of his older, “classic” posts.  I happened to pop over there yesterday, and saw that he’s reposted a 2008 treatise on selecting the best caliber for boar hunting. 

Personally, I think Albert tends toward the bigger end of the caliber spectrum due to an innate drive toward self-destruction, because he really favors guns that kill on both ends when it comes to killing hogs.  I’ll generally trade the recoil of a monster like the .338 or .375 for the milder .30cals (30-06, .300winmag, etc.), and feel that’s plenty of killing power for any hog on earth.  But I also feel, and quite strongly, that there’s no such thing as “too dead”, especially when you’re dealing with an animal that can come back and make hamburger out of you PDQ.  (And I must admit to a certain masochistic thrill at shooting those big bores myself.)

So anyway, I strongly recommend that you go over and have a look… especially if you’re debating what to do for a new hog rifle.  Here’s how it begins:

Robert Ruark said “Use Enough Gun.” Peter Capstick said, “Use enough gun, but not more than you can handle.” To which I add, “Use enough gun, but not more than you can handle, and make sure you can shoot it.”

When it comes to hogs, I’m going to say something that will land me in a heap of trouble with certain parties that I run with. You can take them with anything, so long as you do it right. That’s correct, anything from the lowly 22 short to a 557NE. The catch is knowing where to put your shot. I suppose it’s the same with all game. It all boils down to three things: Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement.

In terms of practicality though, there are upper limits on the size of a hog with relation to each caliber selection. There are basically six categories; the 22s-24s, the 24s-25s, the 26s-28s, the 30-338, the 35s- 375 and the over 40 crowd. Using commercially available ammunition as our standard, the 24s and 25s should be limited to small sub 70 lbs hogs. The 26s through 28s should be kept to the 150s and lower. The thirties and 338s are good for up to 300lbs and less while the 35s, 40s and bigger can handle just about anything. These are arbitrary numbers of course and I’m sure that arguments to the contrary can be sighted ad-nausea, but these are recommendations based on actual hog taken by myself and others, and for the sake of starting arguments.

All the preceding is assumes that you are using good quality bullets constructed to take the kind of abuse intended for big game. Hunting pig can be as easy as picking flowers, to a worse case scenario that might degenerate into hand to hand combat where the odds are definitely not in your favor. Spending a few dollars more for premium bullets is mighty cheap insurance. Just ask Cliff McClure of McClure Farms here in Parrish Florida. He has a twenty-three stitch memento from a Thanksgiving Day hunt that went awry.

You can read the rest right here.

OK, so it’s a never-ending search for the ultimate hog rifle.  Never let anyone tell you that, “all you need is a plain-jane 30-06.” 

Nope, there’s always got to be a little something more.  So imagine my pleasure when I was fooling around over at the Gun Nut blog and saw this beauty!  A 2-bore, blackpowder rifle!  Hell, just the recoil would take down a small hog. 

Over the couple of weeks while I was up at Coon Camp Springs, I had a lot of time to catch up on my hunting magazines.  Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and American Hunter make up the bulk of my subscription list, and they have become the “camp library” as well. 

Once the hunters were fed, stories told, and everyone else was off to bed, I’d get an hour or two of time to myself for reading.  I could kick back with a magazine and a medicinal beverage and let my mind wander. 

The evolution of the AR.

Something that kept coming back to me as I read through so many of the articles and ads was the preponderance of new rifles that are configured on the AR platform… the so-called, “Black Rifles”… even though few of them are actually black.  You can get them chambered today in almost any caliber, from .22 to .50, and there are specialized accessories from scopes and laser sights to predator lights.  They are modularized, and many have interchangeable parts that allow most garage gunsmiths to change caliber, barrel length, and configuration in a few minutes. 

Now, personally I don’t have a lot of use for these things.  My tastes run more toward the traditional and classic… a nice levergun, a well-made bolt action, or a fine double.  Sure, there’s a “cool factor” that appeals to the more gun-crazy side of me, but even then, my tastes run toward the more antiquated M-14 and Garand.  The AR-15/M-16 just never did much for me from either an aesthetic or practical point of view. 

But hey, apparently other folks are really digging them, hence the huge outpouring of offerings from almost every modern gun maker. 

What really struck me though, as I look back over the relatively recent trend, is the huge debt that the firearms industry owes to Jim Zumbo.  His infamous posting on the Outdoor Life blog ignited a firestorm of debate and discussion about the merits of the AR platform as a viable hunting tool, and that resulted in a whole new level of interest in these military-styled rifles.  (I know an awful lot of what I read immediately after the Zumbo fiasco was the sound of apologists… magazine editors doing everything they could to show that Zumbo’s opinion did not necessarily reflect the opinions of the magazines… but an awful lot was the attempt to capitalize on this hot new topic as well.)

Sure, folks were already messing around with this versatile platform, but following Zumbo’s commentary, the stage lit up.  Suddenly, hunting magazines began running article after article about the AR for hunting everything from ground squirrels to grizzly bears.  ARs went to Africa and the Arctic, and from bull elk to boar hogs.  Whitetail hunters and coyote hunters alike seemed to embrace the new products, and manufacturers have ridden that groundswell until the market is practically glutted with options. 

One might even get the idea that the AR platform is a natural, evolutionary leap for sporting arms… and maybe it is.

But to me, it’s just another semi-automatic rifle.  It’s just a gun.  I’ve written about semi-automatics before, and everything I said then applies to the ARs as well.  Not my favorite, but if you like them, go for it. 

Anyway, I’m curious.  How many of you are using, or planning to use a rifle based on the AR platform for your hunting… whether for hogs, deer, varmints, or any other species?

The events of this past weekend got me thinking about the shot I took on that sow as she was trotting fast up the hill. What did I do right and what did I do wrong?  But I want to preface this entire post with a couple of caveats. 

First of all, running shots present one of the most difficult scenarios that might ever face a hunter… especially a hunter with a scoped rifle.  It’s what is usually referred to as a low-percentage shot, which means your odds of placing a clean hit are pretty low.  As hunters with the ethical responsibility to maximize our odds of making a clean, humane kill, that makes this kind of shot somewhat controversial.  With this in mind, running shots are not the best shot option and should probably be avoided when it’s possible. 

The second caveat is that I want to be clear that I do not condone or recommend running shots for everyone.  If you have never practiced shots at moving targets, a living animal is not the right place to start.  For bowhunters, I absolutely believe the only time you should take a shot at running or trotting game is when the animal is already wounded and you need to do whatever you can to stop it.  This basically transfers over to gun hunters as well, although I think that a gun hunter can become proficient enough to make ethical shots on running game.  And that’s the point… it takes practice and skill, but running shots can be done well.

With this conversation, I recognize there’s room for a huge ethical discussion.  Many people believe that you should never take a running shot, period.  Others (like me) think that, much like long-range shooting, it’s OK under certain conditions (a practiced marksman and a reasonable target presentation).  For now, this is about all I will dedicate to the ethical debate.  We’ll save that for the comments.

I am not an expert marksman, by any stretch of the imagination.  At the same time, I feel that I’m pretty proficient, in large part because I practically grew up with a gun in my hand.  I’ve done a lot of shooting, and a good part of that was on moving targets such as running rabbits and driven deer.  I don’t think I took a standing-still shot on a deer until I was in my mid-twenties.  For hunters with this kind of background, the moving shot is simply another opportunity.  It may not be the optimal choice, but it’s a valid one. 

“OK,” you say.  “That’s fine for you lifelong hunters.  What about the rest of us, or those who grew up in places where we couldn’t shoot whenever we felt like it? ”  (more…)

A recent discussion on Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors forums got me thinking about this topic, and I remembered I’d started writing this quite some time ago. With little else going on (even the Lead Ban stuff is slow right now), I figured why not dust it off and finish it up?

I’ll preface this with the acknowledgement that I’m not a big fan of semi-autos for hunting (I have enjoyed plinking with both semi and full-auto firearms, they’re a kick in the britches to shoot).  I own a couple, and use them from time to time, but I much prefer my bolt and lever-action rifles.  That said, I don’t have issues with someone else using them, as long as they’re used safely. 

Semi-automatic rifles offer one really obvious benefit to the hog hunter, so I’ll start with that…  rapid follow-up shots.

Hogs are tough critters, and they can absorb a marginal hit from even a large-bore rifle with nominal obvious or immediate effects.  In the thick habitat where they are often found, getting an anchoring shot into a wounded pig can mean the difference between a lost animal and bringing home the bacon.  You’ve got to knock them down before they get into the brush, drop into a deep canyon, or disappear into a swamp.  

With a bolt action, single-shot, or even a levergun, loading that second round almost always requires the hunter to lose the sight picture, and then reacquire the target before shooting.  A semi-auto shortens that process, and while a big-game caliber will usually require some recovery time, the skilled hunter can be back on target and firing quickly. 

The quick recovery time and rapid follow-up shot is also useful when hunting driven game.  This is one reason you’ll find semi-autos so popular in the South, where running deer with hounds is still a widespread practice.  It’s much easier to follow-up and adjust your shots on a running animal with the semi-auto than with any manually operated action.  (I know that with practice and skill, there are marksmen who claim to be just as fast and accurate with bolt guns and lever-actions… but in reality, most hunters don’t have that level of ability.) 

From this, it would seem that the autoloaders have the upper hand.  Why isn’t everybody shooting them?  (more…)

I know, I’ve said before you really don’t need a howitzer to kill a hog.  A well-placed bullet from a reasonable caliber (preferably quarter-bore if not bigger) will do the trick on anything from a roaster to hogzilla.  I’m really partial to my .30 calibers, and as much as I love my .325wsm (8mm), it’s a bit more than necessary most of the time.

Of course, you don’t want to go under-gunned either.  Not only is there a potential risk of getting hurt by an angry, wounded boar, there’s also the ethical consideration of making as quick a kill as possible.  You want a big enough gun to allow reasonable margin of error, in case your placement isn’t as precise as you’d like.

Well, poking around on YouTube this afternoon, I think I found something that offers as much “reasonable margin of error” as you can ask for.

Oh, you have to love the name of this monstrosity… the 600 Overkill!  It’s the “Rogue” from Bijou Creek gunsmithing, a real company making real firearms.  No idea what something like this would cost, much less what it would cost to feed… but oh, buddy!  What fun it would be to roll out onto Tejon with something like this in my hands!

As I may have mentioned before, one of the blogs I read on a regular basis is Dave Petzal’s Gun Nut blog.   Mr Petzal, and occasional guest blogger, Phil Bourjailly (shotgunning) offer some great info and opinion about all things guns… but particularly sporting guns. 

So anyway, I checked in yesterday and saw this sucker! 

That’s right, it’s real. 

Chambered in .600 Nitro Express, this is truly a hand-cannon!  It’s created by the Austrian company, Pfiefer Waffen, and can actually be purchased if you have about $16,000 dollars laying around.  Actually, that price is a bit cheaper than some double rifles in the same caliber, so I suppose it’s quite a bargain. 

Fully suited for anything from REALLY big hogs to brontosaurus, it’s a revolver fit to make Dirty Harry drool in envy.  If you should see one and get a chance to shoot it, odds are it will make you drool too… brain damage can do that to a person.  Personally, the S&W .500 was as much handgun as I ever care to shoot, so you can have at it. 

Apparently this thing is also available in .458 Winchester, for the less manly masochist. 

So, should you choose to run out and pick one of these things up, let me know.  I’d love to hear about it… from a great distance.

In the meantime, I’m still daydreaming about this beauty from the SHOT Show a few years back.

Speaking of the SHOT Show, only eight more days until the Media Day at the Range where I’ll have the opportunity to put my grubby hands on all kinds of more traditional firearms.  If there’s anything new out there you’d like me to check out, let me know!   I will, for sure, be looking at all of the new offerings from Winchester, Browning, Sako, Beretta, and probably Smith and Wesson (I LOVE their Elite Gold double-barrel). 

I’m also hoping to get my hands on the new bolt actions from Mossberg and Marlin, as they should be the perfect thing for the economy-minded hunter. 

So sing out, and let me know if you want me to check out anything in particular.

Well, by the time you see this, many of you will have already seen these press releases.  But I found it worth mention anyway.

First, Browning Arms has announced the release of their new “X-Bolt” rifle.  The new design is intended to build on the success of the very popular “A-Bolt”, with a handful of key improvements. 

Taking a cue from Savage’s “Accu-Trigger”, Browning has rolled out the “Feather Trigger” on the X-Bolt to provide an easily adjustable trigger pull… offering the user a custom-quality trigger pull on a production rifle.  In addition to the adjustability, the trigger angle has been optimized for even better performance. 

The X-Bolt will also offer a bolt unlock function.  Like many bolt actions with tang safeties, the current A-bolt rifles require the safety to be disengaged before the bolt can be opened for loading or unloading.  While this offers only minimal risk, I have never been really comfortable releasing the safety with a round in the chamber… especially with other people around.  The bolt unlock button alleviates this minor discomfort and adds a new level of gun safety. 

The X-bolt will also come equipped with the new, Inflex Technology recoil pad that will reduce felt recoil and muzzle climb by directing the recoil forces away from the shooter’s face.  I know that one of the few alterations I had to make to my A-bolt was to add an after-market recoil pad.  The recoil wasn’t terrible, but a good pad goes a long ways toward reducing flinch. 

Additional new features include an innovative new scope mount that incorporates four screws into the bases instead of two for further stability, and a rotary magazine that will feed cartridges straight up into the chamber, directly inline with the bolt which should make for cleaner, faster cycling…especially when combined with the short, 60-degree bolt throw. 

The short-action X-bolts will weigh in at around six pounds, five ounces, while the long-actions will come in right at seven pounds.  The rifle will be chambered for calibers from .243 Win to .375 H&H.  MSRP will run from $799 to $1049, depending on caliber and configuration.

The other big news may come as a welcome surprise to Winchester fans. (more…)