RD's Hunting Camp!

[Ranch Dog]

Thought I would post all the the pictures from my camp in one place. Will add others as the critters are taken.[hr][/hr]I started off with a couple of hogs just to get things tuned up!

Rossi Wizard 44 Mag, 300-grain TLC432-300-RF


Rossi R92 45 Colt - 290-grain TLC454-290-RF


Savage 10 FCM Scout 7.62x39 - 123-grain PPU


My dad's whitetail - Glenfield 30GT 30-30 Win - 165-grain TLC311-165-RF


My whitetail - R92 45 Colt - 290-grain TLC454-290-RF


Joe's hog - Remington M700 308 Win - 180-grain Core-Lokt


Joe's buck - Remington M700 308 Win - 180-grain Core-Lokt


JB's spike - Marlin 336Y 30-30 Win - 165-grain C311-165-RF. JB is 10 years old and this is the 6th whitetail. His dad doesn't have the same interest in hunting as his son does but insures that JB is able to join us at the ranch.


My spike - Rossi R762MB 7.62x39 - 123-grain PPU


Joe's spike - Marlin 336 30-30 Win - 150-grain Round Nose Core-Lokt
[hr][/hr]
I've had some very large hogs coming into a food plot at night so last week with the full moon, I sat on a tripod that I had placed against a pecan tree. At the appointed time, they entered this 3/4 acre plot and I shot one with my R92 chambered in 480 Ruger. I heard the hit and the hog bolted making it to the edge of the field. The brush is extremely thick and the hogs where in there making a lot of noise including their warning huffs so I decided to wait until morning to enter the field.

I went back in the morning and the hog was about 25 yards from where I had been standing the night before. It took me quite a bit of time cover that distance as the cover is solid thorn brush. Unfortunately, it did not take the coyotes any time and they had really made a mess of things. I believe the hog was dead at the shot or it would have gone a lot further but that is how it goes sometime. I would place the hog, all nine of them, at about 250 pounds each. This would have been the wrong sounder to mess with at night.

I went by the field the next night and put a light across the field and his eight buddies where holding a wake so I hunted the field again the following night. The moon rises about 35 to 40 minutes later each night so it came over the horizon too late as the hogs are entering the field at the same time each night. It was so dark when they entered that I could not see my hand or the rifle in my hands. I could hear them eating right in front of me and that is pretty creepy.

[Pb2au]

Wow! Do you need a gun bearer or cook?
I can lift heavy objects and can fix things.

[akuser47]

Wow! Do you need a gun bearer or cook?
I can lift heavy objects and can fix things.

great work RD keep us posted

[Ranch Dog]

Wow! Do you need a gun bearer or cook?
I can lift heavy objects and can fix things.

What I actually could use is a full time bullet caster. No pay, just hunting. I need 10,000 to 15,000 bullets each year. I will supply all the material and equipment/tools.

Joe is my best friend. I was introduced to Joe by another friend several years ago and found out that he was medically retired and like hunting. He needs to go to dialysis every other day but after letting him hunt hogs a couple of times on his "off days", started to show up asking what needs to be done. He has become part of our family and I trust him with everything up through to my grandkids. Joe grew up in nearby surrounded with this way of life and knows the deer and hogs better than anybody I've run across. He always puts the needs of the land first. Despite seeing some exceptional buck deer including a 12-pt pushing 170 BC he felt the buck he shoot needed to be removed as he had reached 4 1/2 years old and that "was all he could grow" (antlers). We are allowed only one buck with a 13" inside spread or larger.

Post all these pictures caused me to realize that you really aren't seeing me as I hunt. Notice Joe is always camo'd up. I'm too but as soon as I'm done, killed something, I bag all my clothes and put on my ranch wear. I carry a thick plastic bag in my pack for this. All my photos are timed, self portraits, taken with the camera on sitting on a rock.

Joe killed a spike yesterday at 3 pm, going to post the photo now.

[Ranch Dog]

Wow! Do you need a gun bearer or cook?
I can lift heavy objects and can fix things.

What I actually could use is a full time bullet caster. No pay, just hunting. I need 10,000 to 15,000 bullets each year. I will supply all the material and equipment/tools.

Joe is my best friend. I was introduced to Joe by another friend several years ago and found out that he was medically retired and liked hunting. He needs to go to dialysis every other day but after letting him hunt hogs a couple of times on his "off days", he started to show up asking what needs to be done. He has become part of our family and I trust him with everything up through out here including my grandkids. Joe grew up nearby surrounded with this way of life and knows the deer and hogs better than anybody I've run across. He always puts the needs of the land first. Despite seeing some exceptional buck deer, including a 12-pt pushing 170 BC, he felt the buck he shot needed to be removed as he had reached 4 1/2 years old and that "was all he could grow" (antlers). We are allowed only one buck with a 13" inside spread or larger.

Posting all of these pictures caused me to realize that you really aren't seeing me as I hunt. Notice Joe is always camo'd up. I am too but as soon as I'm done, killed something, I bag all my clothes and put on my ranch wear. I carry a thick plastic bag in my pack for this. All my photos are timed, self portraits, taken with the camera on sitting on a rock.

Joe killed a spike yesterday at 3 pm, going to post the photo now.

[Maximumbob54]

Off topic, but RD have you ever thought of investing in a Master Caster? It's not cheap but it's supposed to be as fast as you can get while still being manual. I've no clue what it costs to get the molds custom cut or if they even do that but all the videos I've seen of them in action have be dreaming of owning one someday.

Oh, and Joe seems to favor those Core Loct bullets. So did my grandfather. He usually bought whatever was decent and on sale but all the years of seeing all the yellow and green boxes growing up and hearing him say they were a good bullet.... He never said that about any other brand.

[pricedo]

Joe is right.......for moderate velocity calibers (< 2800 fps) the Core-Lokt ammo is as good as any and cheaper than most.......recently paid $14 per box @ 20 rounds for 170 grain Core-Lokt 30-30 ammo.......can't beat that.
The primary target of a lot of the so-called premium products is wallets and not game.
For a round like the 30-30 where the velocity of the bullet is low-moderate (2000 fps or less) a Nosler Partition or Accubond bullet isn't any more effective than a Core-Lokt.
But as cup/core bullets Core-Lokts have their limitations.........I've noticed jacket/core separation (fired bullets dug out of wet, soft sand) happening when trying to push the 150 grain Core-Lokts too fast (approaching 3000 fps) in calibers like the 300 Win Mag.
You have to be continually cognizant of design limitations whether it be in reference to cars, bullets, guns, people or whatever.

[pricedo]

If I hung another big deer or moose rack on the walls (inside or out) of my hunting cabin they would collapse into dust.
Hunting for the bone has kinda lost it's resonant tone with me.
People who know me realize when they see a button buck or doe in the back of my PU that I've reached the point in my hunting "career" that I have nothing more to prove.
A prize buck with a spectacular rack has passed the survival of the fittest test and his last few years are better spent passing his successful genetics on to future generations of whitetails than lining the bottom of my freezer.
The smaller deer may not have bragging rights in tow but they are a lot better eating.........I've killed a coupla stringy old bucks in years gone by where you'd cook a roast in the oven and eat the oven door because it was more tender than the venison and even the gravy was tough.
My big game hunting paradigm these days is more in line with stewpot & skillet than boone & crocket.
There are 2 sides to a coin......I don't knock the trophy hunters.......there is no shortage of whitetail deer in North America.....plenty of good breeding stock.
My preference for smaller/younger deer is purely culinary.

[Ranch Dog]

Off topic, but RD have you ever thought of investing in a Master Caster?

Yeah, I have. My main problem with it would be that the machine would need be kept indoors with our climate or by the second casting season it would be a chunk of rust. Right now I haul everything out of my shop into the barn/carport and cast. To make the move I would need a conditioned building with the ventilation system to support indoor casting. In that regard, the cost of the Master Caster is but a drop in a bucket compared to the cost of housing it.

[pricedo]

Nice spike that Joe shot.............perfect eatin size.