2013 - A Good Hunting Year
Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 9:25 am
2013 – A good hunting year
I had the pleasure of hunting with my shooting partner, David Barnes, pretty much all last year as we shared hunting rights on some property and since we both like hunting with BPCR's, it makes it fun and interesting. I've been a Shiloh guy for several years now and David is a Winchester guy loving his High Walls. So here is a short summary of our season last year.
I love to call predators more than any kind of hunting and really enjoy the opportunity to call in bobcats, so last season I made it a point to hunt with my Shiloh Sharps #1 in 50-70 that I have set up just for hunting...26" heavy octagon barrel, MVA B4 scope, MVA combo rear sight and a silver blade front. Set up this way I have all my sighting needs covered and the 50 is awesome and very accurate. I had Steve Brooks make me a 510 grain flat nosed bullet (thank you Darryl for the insight) which not only hits like a hammer, but it has allowed me to shoot several ¾” groups at 100 meters so it give me great confidence in this rifle.
Anyway, I called off and on for a few weeks when I finally got my chance at a bobcat. I was just about to get down from you tree stand when I saw a slight movement along the tree line to my left. It was just about dark, too dark for open sights and almost too dark for the scope, but I could see just enough so I started lip squeaking and here it come…a bobcat and he’s heading right for me. As he rounded the tree line on my left at 65 yards, I softly said “hey” which got his attention and froze him. I placed the crosshairs of the B4 center of his chest and as I was squeezing, he started to sit down and with my downward angle the shot actually worked better. I pulled the trigger and a 50 caliber hole from breastbone to left hip has a way of deflating an animal. I had just earned my first predator with my Shiloh. The picture isn’t the greatest as by now it had started to sleet, it was dark and I was alone. I am proud of this critter even though I didn’t get great photos.
Now about David, as I said he loves Winchester high walls and hunts with quite a few of them but this year it was his takedown 40-82, then his deluxe 25-35 that is now a 257 Roberts Rimmed that he put to good use. David has a good friend in Colorado that has a fantastic ranch high in the mountains and crawling with elk. Cow elk tags are usually available so that is what David was chasing as the freezer was near empty. After a slow stalk on some cows feeding in a high mountain meadow, David was able to harvest his winter meat with a 180 yard, 1 shot kill through both lungs. The 40-82 is a wonderful hunting round and is very effective. Cow elk; check.
Back to Texas and time to start hunting our native game, namely deer and hogs, but when you hang out with a predator caller, well you’re going to go calling predators. So one afternoon I gather him up and we head to the creek bottoms on a friends place and get set up next to a 200 year old oak tree. After 15 minutes of calling, I spy a noticeably white spot in the timber that I didn’t recall seeing earlier so a couple lip squeaks and we have a big bobcat heading our way. It dipped down into the creek bottom so I alerted David to the spot I felt it would reappear and sure enough, she pops her head up and start trotting to our left. At 112 yards, one short whistle and she freezes only to be met by a 100 grain bullet from David’s 25-35. Big bobcat; check.
The next afternoon we head out to another creek bottom to watch for deer and hogs. About an hour after sunup, David spots two hogs coming and gets ready. As the start to cross a power line clearing, he lines up and shoots the boar at about 125 yards. The 25-35 might be a very old cartridge but in a strong single shot rifle it can be awesome! Boar hog; check.
We were able to collect a few other hogs and a few coyotes but those where with bolt action rifles so I’ll save those for another time. All in all 2013 was a great hunting year and 2014 is going to be better as we both have cow elk and cow buffalo hunts early in the fall, then a new ranch to hunt hogs and predators on and the continuing quest for a nice Texas whitetail…all with Shiloh’s and high walls and all with black powder this year. Shoot straight and get outdoors while we can. KT
I had the pleasure of hunting with my shooting partner, David Barnes, pretty much all last year as we shared hunting rights on some property and since we both like hunting with BPCR's, it makes it fun and interesting. I've been a Shiloh guy for several years now and David is a Winchester guy loving his High Walls. So here is a short summary of our season last year.
I love to call predators more than any kind of hunting and really enjoy the opportunity to call in bobcats, so last season I made it a point to hunt with my Shiloh Sharps #1 in 50-70 that I have set up just for hunting...26" heavy octagon barrel, MVA B4 scope, MVA combo rear sight and a silver blade front. Set up this way I have all my sighting needs covered and the 50 is awesome and very accurate. I had Steve Brooks make me a 510 grain flat nosed bullet (thank you Darryl for the insight) which not only hits like a hammer, but it has allowed me to shoot several ¾” groups at 100 meters so it give me great confidence in this rifle.
Anyway, I called off and on for a few weeks when I finally got my chance at a bobcat. I was just about to get down from you tree stand when I saw a slight movement along the tree line to my left. It was just about dark, too dark for open sights and almost too dark for the scope, but I could see just enough so I started lip squeaking and here it come…a bobcat and he’s heading right for me. As he rounded the tree line on my left at 65 yards, I softly said “hey” which got his attention and froze him. I placed the crosshairs of the B4 center of his chest and as I was squeezing, he started to sit down and with my downward angle the shot actually worked better. I pulled the trigger and a 50 caliber hole from breastbone to left hip has a way of deflating an animal. I had just earned my first predator with my Shiloh. The picture isn’t the greatest as by now it had started to sleet, it was dark and I was alone. I am proud of this critter even though I didn’t get great photos.
Now about David, as I said he loves Winchester high walls and hunts with quite a few of them but this year it was his takedown 40-82, then his deluxe 25-35 that is now a 257 Roberts Rimmed that he put to good use. David has a good friend in Colorado that has a fantastic ranch high in the mountains and crawling with elk. Cow elk tags are usually available so that is what David was chasing as the freezer was near empty. After a slow stalk on some cows feeding in a high mountain meadow, David was able to harvest his winter meat with a 180 yard, 1 shot kill through both lungs. The 40-82 is a wonderful hunting round and is very effective. Cow elk; check.
Back to Texas and time to start hunting our native game, namely deer and hogs, but when you hang out with a predator caller, well you’re going to go calling predators. So one afternoon I gather him up and we head to the creek bottoms on a friends place and get set up next to a 200 year old oak tree. After 15 minutes of calling, I spy a noticeably white spot in the timber that I didn’t recall seeing earlier so a couple lip squeaks and we have a big bobcat heading our way. It dipped down into the creek bottom so I alerted David to the spot I felt it would reappear and sure enough, she pops her head up and start trotting to our left. At 112 yards, one short whistle and she freezes only to be met by a 100 grain bullet from David’s 25-35. Big bobcat; check.
The next afternoon we head out to another creek bottom to watch for deer and hogs. About an hour after sunup, David spots two hogs coming and gets ready. As the start to cross a power line clearing, he lines up and shoots the boar at about 125 yards. The 25-35 might be a very old cartridge but in a strong single shot rifle it can be awesome! Boar hog; check.
We were able to collect a few other hogs and a few coyotes but those where with bolt action rifles so I’ll save those for another time. All in all 2013 was a great hunting year and 2014 is going to be better as we both have cow elk and cow buffalo hunts early in the fall, then a new ranch to hunt hogs and predators on and the continuing quest for a nice Texas whitetail…all with Shiloh’s and high walls and all with black powder this year. Shoot straight and get outdoors while we can. KT
