Fall 2017 Hunting-nsfw

[MikeD]

That is still meat on the table and full of win.

I'm so glad you got one, and almost immediately after you got it together. That is awesome.

And you did it at more than twice the range than I would consider trying using a shotgun slug.

That was actually the longest shot I had taken on a deer. Previously my longest was only around 100 yards with my muzzleloader. Today I was shooting off a monopod and bracing against the side of the window

I really like this gun and have a lot of confidence in it despite the short time I have been using it.

Downside is that is loud, I mean really loud. I had my electronic muffs on in the blind and made sure I had the bore outside the window and it was still freaking loud.

Like any other AR it carries really well with a single point sling around the neck and under the arm.

 

[John A.]

That upper was very light.

I mean, about as light as my 9mm AR pistol upper. I was really surprised at how light it was. I fell in love with it's light weight and I knew it would handle good in the field. (for an AR at least). After thinking about it a while, I also half-expected that the light weight may also let it kick like a mule because there was not a lot there to anchor it down.

I would be curious what the bullet looked like if it was recovered. From everything I have always read, that caliber is about the equivalent of a 45-70 or thereabouts.

I'm still happy that you put the gun to work so soon after building it. That's awesome.

Not a whole lot of people can say they built the gun they use to hunt with, unless you're John Browning or Sam Colt, or ...

MikeD

I also hope you got some pictures for some bragging rights. If you did, you can send them to me in a PM if you don't mind sharing.

 

[MikeD]

Here are some pics. Sorry, I really dropped the ball on this one. I think frustrations of trying to find her combined with the physical toll of having to drag her a couple hundred yards through thick brush before I had to admit I needed help and called for my buddy to bring the sled out for the remaining 1/2 mile. While I'm not really old, I'm not as young as I used to be, it sucks when that starts slapping you in the face.



This is the view in that directions from my blind. My range finder placed her, the red dot I put on the picture, at 177 yards. It slops down a bit before you get to the grass. I want to elevate my blind a bit because deer/turkey can walk though there without me seeing them. It's about 120 yards to the front edge and about 70-80 yards across. Only a couple hundred yards from the point on the left to the tree line on the right, which is just out of view. She ran to the far right and then headed back up towards me in the woods.




I apologize once again this is probably one the worst photographed deer I have taken and I should have gotten at least one in the field with the gun.

The guy to my right, who I cropped out, is the guy I gave the meat to. He missed one completely last week and then hit one that they were unable to find the same morning I got mine. It's very unlike him, I think his scope may be off. He is the brother of the my buddy who lets me hunt his place as had gotten me access to the farm next door where I have my blind. I have no problem giving back as they have been very good to me. They are good people.

Firearm season runs til the 30th, and then we have another late doe season that allows firearms and runs from the middle of Dec through Jan 1. If I get another one with this gun I'll make sure to get better pics.

When my buddy finally arrived he had a jet sled with him, that made the remaining drag a lot easier and we were able to take turns dragging. Hopefully the field will freeze soon so we can get an atv out there. They ran a tine cultivator over it after they picked the beans and we have gotten a lot of rain. The field a damn near unwalkable, much less drivable as it is all soft sticky clay.

 

[MikeD]

Got this from my buddies wife, he shot an 11 point this morning.

 

[MikeD]

Couple of pics from my last day hunting the firearm season. The season actually closes on the 30th but this was the last day I was able to hunt. Next comes late archery and muzzleloading ( they overlap). On the 18 our late late extended doe season starts. That is open to gun or bow.

Hey @John A. These are for you!!

 

[John A.]

Love it.

So glad the year was such a success for everyone.

 

[MikeD]

OI hunted today and saw 11 deer but most were to far away.



These are a few I took through my binos. The single deer was about 330 yards out. The larger group, which eventually expanded to 8 deer was too far for my range finder which caps out at 550 yards.

I had two does come up right before the end of shooting hours but I think they saw me move of caught a reflection off of the binos. The took off about the same time I saw them.