MikeHanback.com

4 Gun-Safety Rules (to live and hunt by)

Tiger McKee, director of Shootrite Firearms Academy in Alabama, wrote this on the Tactical Wire yesterday:

Most everyone who studies the use of firearms for combative purposes should be familiar with Jeff Cooper's four basic safety rules:

All guns are always loaded. Each year numerous people are shot with "unloaded" firearms.

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. Every instructor I know, including myself, has had a negligent discharge. If you handle firearms long enough you will too. The key is, as long as the muzzle is pointing in a safe direction, you don't put a hole in something you can't afford to buy or pay for.

Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target. This is a simple concept. If your sights are on the target your finger should be on the trigger. Once they come off the target your finger comes off the trigger.

Be sure of your target. Never shoot anything you have not identified, and be aware of what and who might be in front, behind or surrounding your target.

Pound these into your brain. They apply anytime you’re with gun, whether in a buying, self-defense, range, or hunting situation. Remember them always!

Rifle-Shooting Deer: 3 Results from a South Carolina Study

A few years ago biologist Charles Ruth of the South Carolina DNR analyzed 493 rifle deer kills on a hunt club on the coastal plain. 3 interesting study results:

Hunters used more than 20 calibers, from .243 to .30-06 and bigger. As to how quickly deer died or ran after the shot he said, “There was no apparent relationship with increasing or decreasing caliber size, or the differences in velocity or energy.”

So you don't need a moose cartridge to kill a deer :)

Based on that study, Ruth recommended the shoulder shot. One hundred and seventy deer shot in and through the scapula ran an average of 3 yards versus 50 yards for 152 animals shot farther back though the lungs.

More than 350 deer shot with soft-point, fast-expanding bullets traveled an average of 27 yards; 58% of those animals dropped in their tracks. Conversely, 84 deer struck by harder, slower-expanding bullets went an average of 43 yards, with 40% going down on the spot.

So, while either type bullet will drop and kill a buck inside 50 yards if you hit him right, you are just as well off buying a $20 box of standard ammo with good old soft-points rather than spending double the money for a premium loading that works better on heavier game like elk and bears but not necessarily deer. The $20 or so you save will buy a few more gallons of $5 gas so you can get out to your deer spot a couple of extra times this fall.

So, with this in mind, what is your deer caliber/bullet, where do you try to hit them, how far do they usually run?

Sneak Peek: Remington R-25 Deer Rifle

BIG DEER NEWS: At the NRA convention last weekend Remington formally introduced its Model R-25, a modular repeating rifle designed for us deer hunters. This ain’t your grandaddy’s buck gun, lol, but I believe it’s destined to be a smash hit with today’s hunters, esp. the under 50 crowd. Take a look--wouldn’t you like to nail a 10-pointer with it? BTW, AR-platform rifles are the fastest-growing segment in the gun industry.

The R-25 has a 20-inch barrel that's free-floated. I have not handled one yet, but I hear it’s well-machined and balanced. It comes in .243, 7mm-08 and .308, all of which can wallop a buck (though .243 is light for me). 4-round magazine. As you can see this is not a black gun, but wears a Mossy Oak finish. MSRP: $1,500.

I talked to Remington man Eddie Stevenson. He is going to hook me up with a R-25 in 7mm-08, and I am going to top it with a Nikon scope and kill a buck with it (or try to) on a TV hunt this fall. Ed tells me the rifle is a tack-driver, that I could drop a deer out to 300 with it, though I will try to get closer for kick-ass footage. We’ll see. It’s gonna be fun, old-school bolt-guy with this new breed of deer rifle. Who knows, maybe I’ll smoke BIG DROP-TINE with the R-25, how radical would that be :)

Federal Premium Loads, Trophy Bonded Bullets

I knock like mad on a walnut stock as I post: Every deer (as well as a few elk and this Alaska moose) that I have shot with a Federal Premium load and the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw (TBBC) has gone 70 yards or less before piling up. Several bucks have buckled on the spot. I did put three 225-grainers from a .338 Win. Mag. in the moose as he churned up a red willow flat in the Wrangell Mountains, trying to buck lead and get away, but he didn’t make it far. Damn, tough animal. Big too. Walk up to a dead bull and it looks the size of an old VW hippie van.

That is the kind of performance I expect out of a center-fire hunting load and bullet, and that is why I do not blink when I shell out $40 or more for a box.

I can’t imagine a bullet performing better that the TBBC, but I will test Federal Premium with the new Trophy Bonded Tip. The boat-tail bullet (photo below) has a polymer tip, jacket bonded to the core for superior weight retention and a solid copper shank to crush bone. That sounds sweet for elk and moose, but it’s not overkill for whitetails either. IMO, there is no such a thing as overkill for deer, not when that monster 10-pointer (w/drop tine?) steps out and you have the one shot in your life to score big. Why not use the best bullet you can?

Federal is offering some 15 Premium loads with the Trophy Bonded Tip. Five jump out and I expect them to be kick-ass for deer: .270, .270 Weatherby and .270 WSM with 130-bullet; 7mm Rem. Mag. with 160-grainer and .30-06 with 165-grain Trophy Tip.

Buckshot for Deer?

We've talked a lot about rifle bullets and shotgun slugs recently, so what about buckshot? Do any of you hunt with it, either by choice or necessity? How well does it kill a deer? My curious mind wants to know.

Be a Better Deer Shot (4 ways, with gun)

I was going back through some old files and found these tips I’d written for a magazine, I don’t even remember which rag. They are pretty dang good if I say so; if your rifle/slugger is on and if you don’t freak with buck fever, they will help you drop hammer perfectly on a big 10-pointer (or a fat doe, better eating :)

• Think about a shot before it happens. You probably haven’t been doing that, but you should. Settle into a stand and look around for ridges, ditches, trails and edges where a buck might show. Check shooting lanes and holes in all directions. Use your range finder to determine the yardage to spots where you might kill a deer. If you’re stalking, anticipate where a buck might jump up or come out of the cover, it helps to keep you ready. 

• Forget uphill/downhill if the angle up or down to a buck is less than 45 degrees, which it almost always is. Hold dead on a deer’s lungs and kill. 

• On rifle shots past 150 yards, I glass leaves and brush around a buck to determine if I need to compensate for the wind. If it appears blowing only five or 10 mph, I hold dead-on. But if it’s whipping noticeably, I hold the scope’s crosshair slightly into the crosswind, either a bit forward on the shoulder or back on the ribs depending on wind direction. There is guesswork here, but you’re smart and can handle it. Don’t over-compensate; just hold into the wind a little, it will push your bullet into a deer’s boiler.

• Few tree-stand hunters use a rest. Why not? Long shots from a 20-foot perch can be tough. My trick: I screw a couple of screw-in steps on either side of the tree I’m in. I don’t know why, but I like to stand up and shoot a deer, so I screw the steps at a height where I can ease up, ease the fore-end of my gun over the step and nail that 10-pointer (or fat doe) in one smooth motion.

Gotta gun tip, let's hear it (we’ll do archery another time).

KS UPDATE: Scopes Legal on Muzzleloaders

My friend Mike Pearce of The Wichita Eagle reports that KS wildlife commissioners voted 4-3 to allow scopes on muzzleloaders during the special September buck season.

One commish said scopes would make it easier for hunters with poor vision to aim and shoot deer more accurately. I agree, no-brainer.

One commish who voted against scopes said, “With these new muzzleloaders all you're doing is extending the regular firearms deer season by two weeks." I am for scopes, but I agree with that too. Years ago here in VA people started using high-tech, scoped muzzleloaders during the special blackpowder season in early Nov. Heck, now everybody takes their vacation during muzzleloader season, which falls smack in peak rut. A ton of bucks have been killed and other deer are spooky as hell once the regular gun season rolls around in mid-Nov. So yes, modern muzzleloading does basically extend your rifle season, both equipment-wise and hunter-numbers wise.

I have not seen this reported, but the new regulation will also take some mischief out of the woods. Most KS hunters are good people, but there have always been rumors that some guys put removable scope mounts on their muzzleloaders for the Sept. season; they walked in and out with scopes off and popped on the optics once they were on stand and hunting a buck. I can’t confirm how widespread this was, but I am sure it happened some, a few bad apples will always cheat. But moot now.

The commissioners also voted 7-0 to allow crossbows during the regular KS rifle season. The crossbow companies are happy today and the vertical bow groups are steaming I bet.

Scopes on Muzzleloaders in KS? (about time)

The Kansas Dept. of Wildlife commissioners might vote today on 2 controversial equipment changes that could take effect in time for 2008 buck season.

Scopes on muzzleloaders: Currently it’s open sights only on a rifle in the September season, which I always thought was strange. Why let a guy shoot a modern muzzleloader with 150-grains of pellets and a fancy 250-grain copper sabot and then limit him with old-school sights? The thought has been that iron sights or a peep limit one’s range and help to keep the special early season primitive and more challenging. OK, but what happens when a hunter sees one of those 160-inch-plus KS giants out there at 100-plus yards? BOOM! A lot of people fire their open-sighted rifles at bucks too far away and miss or worse. I believe that in any state, scopes on muzzleloaders help hunters kill deer more cleanly.

Crossbows in rifle season: As I understand the regs, crossbows are legal only by permit for disabled hunters in gun season in KS. A new proposal would allow anybody to shoot one during rifle season only. Why not? Of course some vertical bowhunters and organizations are paranoid that if the state lets in crossbows for rifle season, they will eventually creep into archery season, too. We've heard those old arguments before, but I don’t see that happening in KS anytime soon.

Speaking to these and other proposed changes in the deer regs: "The prevailing philosophy is to get more people involved in hunting," KS Department of Wildlife biologist Lloyd Fox told the Wichita Eagle. "Maybe we can get some people who aren't already doing it."

Which Shotgun Slug for a Rifled Choke Tube?

I have a shotgun with a rifled choke tube, not full-barrel rifling, that I use for deer hunting. What type of slug is best suited for this gun? Thanks, John P.

Slug-gun expert Jeff from NJ says you can shoot the same ammo in a rifled barrel or one with a rifled choke tube. However, due to the shorter length of rifling associated with using the choke tube, it is generally best to use slugs that are the least dependent on a fast spin to achieve their accuracy. A few slugs that fall into this category would be the Lightfields, Hastings, new Winchester Rackmaster and Remington BuckHammer. The BuckHammer, for example, was designed for both rifled barrels and rifled choke tubes and is capable of 3-inch or better groups at 100 yards with either.

John, test-shoot at least 2 of the above slugs and hunt with the brand that groups best in your shotgun. You'll kill deer, no problem. Any other slug-gun nuts got anything to add?

Email me more deer questions and talking points to post and discuss, this is good stuff.

Field Test: Winchester XP3 Slug

NJ slug gun expert Jeff Herrmann sent this report:

Hey Mike: I tested Winchester’s new 12-ga. XP3 slug in prep for a hunt in Brown Co., Illinois last fall. This trip was special because my girlfriend and hunting partner, Melisa, would join me.

Melisa was shooting my Savage 210, which is capable of 2-inch, 3-shot groups at 100 yards with quality ammo under optimal range conditions. I was amazed when my first 3-shot test group with the XP3s came in at 2.25”, despite the windy conditions. Subsequent groups were impressive, and we did no cherry picking to achieve good group size. I am confident we could have shot 1-inch-plus groups with the XP3s if we had really tried to ring the accuracy out of them.

Equally amazing was the consistency of the velocity; the velocities of those first 3 shots were less than 10 fps apart! The slugs averaged 1,860 fps in the Savage’s 24-inch barrel.

Melisa decided to shoot a 5-shot group, which came in under 2.5”. She was really surprised by the lack of recoil. Given the excellent accuracy and low recoil of the XP3s, Mel was fired up to try them out on a big IL buck.

I had located a nice 8-pointer with a G-2 sticker. I hunted him for 2 days and saw him twice, but never got a shot. With a day left in the first 3-day slug season I convinced Melisa to join me in trying to tag this buck. Well, a half-hour after daylight she shot him! The buck ran 45 yards and expired. The XP3 performed beautifully, smashing through the ribs, taking out the lungs and passing through the ribs on the offside.

On the range and in the woods, the XP3s get a big thumbs-up from us. Thanks, Jeff and Melisa

Jeff, thanks for the great report, today’s ammo technology continues to improve each year.

Melisa, great job shooting Jeff’s 8-pointer, fine-looking buck, way to go girl!