My sons first hunt

22 September 2011, 05:48

Snellstrom

My sons first hunt

Last month I took my 8 year old son on his first hunt ( first hunt with him behind the trigger). We have been getting ready for this for a few years with lots of rifle handling and shooting. He's been shooting a 22 since he was 4 and been shooting this .223 single shot handi rifle for 10 months and some shooting with a 6.5 swede and reduced loads for a year.
Good friend of mine who posts here as Graybird was heading to Texas for an Addax hunt and mentioned they have Hogs Sheep and Goats too and that I may want to bring my son along so he can get his first hunt.
To make a long story short we had a great time even though daytime temps were 140 degrees ( okay a slight exaggeration they were 106 ) and the hogs were pretty tough to put in front of a youngster we were able to get it done.
The Black Hawaiian ram was taken at 66 yards with a base of the neck shot from his .223 and Barnes 45 grain TSX bullets, complete penetration and quick one shot kill.

The hog took several stalks and some pep talks but finally we were able to put an 8 year old boy and a hog in the same place at the same time and he made the shot. Again one shot this time low through the shoulders complete penetration at 16 yards. The hog ran 16 yards after the shot right to us and just about ran over the camera man (Graybird) then laid down next to him and died.
Please take a look at the pictures I've got a pretty happy kid there and he is hooked for life.
I will try to post the video link as well.

Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.

What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.