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Re: Good deer killer
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 9:47 pm
by wildfowler
pikeonafly wrote:Okay thank you. I will be picking up a Ruger American Ranch rifle soon. So would for deer size game keep your shots around 100 yds. to be safe and maybe go out 150 yds. for coyotes?
I would.
Re: Good deer killer
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 1:00 am
by pikeonafly
Thank you!
Re: Good deer killer
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:53 pm
by bangbangping
pikeonafly wrote:Okay thank you. I will be picking up a Ruger American Ranch rifle soon. So would for deer size game keep your shots around 100 yds. to be safe and maybe go out 150 yds. for coyotes?
There are several bullets that will perform well beyond 200 yards. The only limit is your ability to place the bullet where you want it to go. But with a 16" barrel, you can sight in a good hunting load 1.5" high at 100 and not worry about drop out to around 175. Pick a good bullet, understand the trajectory, have a means to know the shot distance, then practice at the ranges you plan to shoot and there is no reason to limit yourself to 100 yards.
Re: Good deer killer
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:28 am
by Gimli
wildfowler wrote: ↑Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:15 am
209 yards earlier this year is the longest to date. I didn’t find any blood on that one but came back with my thermal scanner and easily found the deer 50 yards away from where I shot it. I was in a shooting house on a food plot with a really good rest and felt good about the shot.
I shot another one about 150 yards away recently where the bullet must’ve hit the aorta in the heart and I’d thought the deer had lost every drop of blood in its body between where I shot it and where I found it 75 yards away. The whole shoulder and right front leg were completely covered in blood when I found the deer.
This is out of my bolt action and I’ve got the rounds “hopped up” for it. I’m not getting pressure signs in my bolt action rifle, but the round is way over gassed for my AR. I did test a couple, single fed on a magazine full of regular loads. Did not cycle correctly. In fact, one of them didn’t even eject. These cartridges will fit an AR magazine because the bullet is so short, but I’m loading it so long in the case that there’s no way it can feed without having the bullet get knocked off the case in an automatic.
I prefer to take closer shots with that blackout rifle.
What thermal scanner do you have? I’ve never been sure if they worked or were just gimmicks.
Re: Good deer killer
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:05 am
by Whole Bunches
I use an old Nivysis Utac 32m that I used to use on a rifle as a hand held. I have lost count of the deer I have found with it. Also handy for spotting deer just before the sun comes up or after it sets or walking to and from the blind in the dark..
Re: Good deer killer
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 3:32 pm
by wildfowler
Gimli wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:28 am
What thermal scanner do you have? I’ve never been sure if they worked or were just gimmicks.
Please trust me when I say they are no gimmick. I have a flir breach which is attached to a helmet.
You will probably not find a blood trail an hour later or anything like that, but the body heat from the dead animal will show up all night long and it was no trouble for me to find my deer using the scanner.
If the animal is completely hidden behind a log or in the bottom of a mud hole, or underbrush, etc. where you do not have a clear line of sight, the thermal scanner won’t detect it. Where I actually found the deer was just passed some thicker briars in a relatively open spot. But there was no blood that I ever found until I got right to the body.
They are expensive specifically for this purpose, but if you also like to hunt things at night like I do they are indispensable.