a length of 40 inches and can be set to your style of shooting, such as sitting or kneeling. Another shooting stick I used was the Stoney Point Steady
The Silver Spur Ranch guest lodge provides this view when you first enter the property.
We also had the opportunity to use the Fusion 1600 LRF/
Binocular which can range anywhere from 10 to 1,600 yards. Further, this binocular produces crystal clear images, making it easy to spot a varmint’s head within weeds at extended ranges and then know the exact range. Ammunition: What I used for the entire shoot was Hor-
nady 55-grain V-Max ammunition. Although there were other options available with lighter bullets, this ammunition was the most accurate in the rifle I selected. At the range I had set the scope at 100 yards so my group would be around an inch high. That put me center of the target at 200 yards, and at 300 yards the group would drop around 5 inches. This is all within the ranges I would be shooting. When I would be getting into an area where shots would be 50 yards or less, there were options available since Browning had other firearms available for our use. For these shots, especially at ground squirrels, I would use the Browning Buck Mark in 22 LR topped with a Bushnell Elite 2-7x scope. On the small ground squirrels, the HP rimfire ammo worked well. When it came to bullet performance of the 22-250 on prairie
dogs and ground squirrels, the V-Max bullet would fragment on impact. The result was bullet performance much like a bomb, doing its job instantly. With a 55-grain V-Max bullet leaving the muzzle at an average of 3,700 fps, the results are devastating, providing an instant kill. On ground squirrels at close range with the rimfire, a high center hit proved to be the best for stopping them. Nothing dramatic, but it worked.
Tripods and bipods from Browning and Stoney Point were
available. We also had “shooting sticks” to use during our hunt. Shooting sticks are good to have when walking and you are not near a fence line with poles that can act as a gun rest. I also found that sticks are better than a small bipod when grasses are high and you need to shoot over them. These sticks also are easy to carry, are light weight, and extend to heights a varmint hunter will benefit by when in tall grasses. One shooting stick was the Browning MOA. It extends to
GUN SPECIFICATIONS/DATA:
Manufacturer: Winchester Repeating Arms Model: 70 Coyote Light Action: Bolt
Caliber: 22-250 Remington tested plus 243, 308 Win., 270, 300 and 325 WSM
Magazine Capacity: Five Barrel Length: 24 inches Overall Length: 44 inches
Metal Finish: Blued with matte stainless barrel Stock: Bell and Carlson textured matte fi nish Sights: none
Suggested Retail Price: $1,099.99 SOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Cattle and prairie dogs do not always live in harmony. Holes to dens dug by varmints can be the cause of a leg injury to cattle.
Page 48 Spring 2013
Browning Firearms and Gear: 801-876-2711,
www.browning.com Bushnell Outdoor Products Inc. Stoney Point: 800-423-3537 Hornady Ammunition: 308-382-1390,
www.hornady.com Silver Spur Ranch & Spur Outfi tters: 307-327-6505, www.spuroutfi
tters.com
Winchester Firearms: 801-876-3440,
www.winchesterguns.com
Stix II, which folds to 14 inches for transport and opens to a maximum height of 39 inches. I also felt comfortable when using the Stoney Point Rapid Pivot Tripod (a bipod also is available) which can be easily used when standing. When extended it measures 64 inches, and goes down to 36 when collapsed. The “V” yoke rotates 360 degrees and can be removed so you have a free-standing tripod that a camera can easily be attached to with the threads available on all cameras. To the tripod’s center “bolt” I attached a Flip video camera to capture some of my hits on varmints. All of these work well with a handgun or rifle and they functioned as designed during actual usage. The Value of Being Observed: A huge benefit when shoot-
ing with friends is that someone can use a binocular to spot and then direct you to the target. Option two: That same experienced shooter can continue to watch you fire, and if you miss can im- mediately tell you why. Even a longtime hunter makes mistakes … and then new mistakes pop up the longer we shoot. As an example, when out with Kevin Howard and two other writers, I was lucky to have Kevin spotting for me as I fired. I missed that shot, then missed another! It was then that Kevin said, “George, I watched you pick up your head.” All I could say was, “Now you sound like my wife when
we shoot sporting clays and I miss.” For some reason I have been picking up my head as I fire. When I do miss during hunting or shooting clays, that is the one mistake that suddenly just happens and I need to get that bad habit under control. Even though I know what I did, when someone else says what happened that serves as a kick in the backside to knock it off, concentrate, and make corrections. That is appreciated and it can help us all to get over certain mistakes we may make. We should always be aware of what we may do wrong and then do not do that. Then, by shooting well again, what was imprinted on the brain as the correct way will stay there every time we squeeze the trigger … we hope. Someone else telling me what I knew I did helped me to not do it again. Hunting and shooting with a skilled partner can be a great benefit.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196