of the season. More points for the M&P in my book of performance standards events. After this event the rancher of- fered to allow a pal and me to night hunt his dead cow bone pile with lights on the suppressed rifl e systems. Bad news for a pile of varied varmints. With the weather and general fi eld conditions quite non-conducive to hunting tree dwelling fur balls, it was time to open the creative box and find some new targets. First up was the commandeer- ing of an old but well-cared for Honda Foreman ATV, and a pair of 45 Model 1911s built by Smith & Wesson. Added to the mix was a T/C Pro Hunter Tur- key shotgun with an ultra tight turkey choke. The Pro Hunter is based on the T/C Encore, but has a scattergun barrel and Realtree HD camo fi nish. The gun was fi tted with fi ber optic sights, ad- vanced recoil systems in the butt stock, and sling setup for a walking hunter. Equipped with a “swing hammer” for scope mounting, the receiver also can accept the fl uted varmint version of the same basic rifl e. “PREDATOR” SERIES
With a box of Remington 1⅛ oz.
low recoiling No. 7½ birdshot loads, and a box of Federal American Eagle 45 ACP ball ammo, I was ready to pack on some water, extra food, and patrol the river bottoms in search of two targets: alligator gar for openers, and any one
The Cheetah
• Magpul® PRS™ Stock • Quad-rail Picatinny hand guard • (1) 19 round magazine
AR-10 Custom Built Rifl e
• 12 ½ lbs • NM two-stage trigger • Break-in procedure provided
• Accuracy within 1 MOA • 24" or 26" barrel length • .22-250, .243 or .308 caliber • Badger Barrels® broach-cut chrome-moly barrel
"built by competitive shooters, for competitive shooters"
www.NorthernCompetition.com
of four poisonous snakes found in the area. One member of the group decided to back off and try calling the local and now denned up coyotes, while two oth- ers stayed with the tree rats even though expectations were quite low. Snakes were so abundant that at one point just prior to lunch one day a writer took up a shotgun, drove by truck to a local bridge, and killed two very large cotton- mouths before his grilled hamburger got cold. Without question the snake was a winning deal, and those gar took top honors as a good fi ll-in target, judging by the number of shotshell and .45 ACP rounds that went down range by way of my guns over the course of the next two days. The T/C Turkey gun was choked so tight there was little shot stringing when those gar poked their long-nosed heads out of the water. Out to about 20 yards it was a drop dead deal punctu- ated by a geyser of water, followed by a writhing junk fi sh trying to walk out of the river on its tail. Snakes were a different deal, as on some occasions I had time to pump .45 bullets at them in double taps, and even managed to hit a few off-hand. For the most part the scattergun was again the preferred tool for my new-found snake killing hobby, and like the gar, when hit they didn’t stand any kind of chance. I fi gured it was just about even between man and a deadly variety of snakes on that water -fi lled standoff. With the ATV grinding its gears
This snake was found fl oating down the river and was dispatched with a scattergun.
across the low marsh land, which saved the day for me as I was able to cover some major land mass that was bor- dered by the Neosho riverfront, and also a pair of smaller deep water streams, the hunting was just about endless as the pecan groves seemed to go on just about forever. With 30 inches of rain each
year, Oklahoma tends to hold massive amounts of water and this makes for an almost jungle-like setting. I had just returned from Australia a week prior to this hunt and this country seemed more like the subtropics than Australia ever did. However, like Australia, there was no shortage of very dangerous snakes to be found.
S&W MODEL SW1911 SUB COMPACT
In my selection of handguns I was
quite interested in the new Sub Compact being offered by Smith because it was a 3" barreled gun and its frame was made from scandium alloy and stainless steel. The scandium is an ultra-lightweight alloy that is much like titanium in that it is strong and also remains lightweight even when used in larger sections of a
A varmint of this sort is one that can shoot back. Here a Smith & Wesson .45 handgun met the challenge.
www.varminthunter.org Page 99
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