On the heavy-for-caliber thread the topic came up of not trusting as a hunter a one-gun man.

Well, I am, sort of, and I've known many more that were real aces. I can't say whether I'm "trustworthy," but I think people that proclaim themselves as such are likely suspect.

Anyway, there are a bunch of folks out there that have had financial problems. I was raised poor and my dad didn't hunt. When the bug bit me, I had to scrounge, borrow and make-do. Early in life I developed a medical problem that put me out of commission both physically and financially for a while. Then there was a divorce. Then my son needed help through university.

Today I'm doing OK, and to be truthful, I have three rifles. However, it is very clear to me that somebody less fortunate could have only one. The idea that person would be somehow "untrustworthy" does not strike me as rational.

My one-gun gun is a .338 Win. Mag. Not expensive, just a Browning A-Bolt. I sprung for a Leupold VariX III scope with an illuminated reticle because moose and bears are black. Most of my hunting is around clear-cuts and swamps, so long distance was a criterion. The .338 will take anything in Canada, including plain old whitetails, and that was a criterion.

As it happens, my set-up is better at longer ranges. Our deer hunt camp in in maple hills with heavy undergrowth, and the .338 is not ideal there. Since I have the choice, I use my 30-30. However, if I didn't have the choice, I would make the .338 do.

I put myself through school shooting squirrels, rabbits and birds, and catching fish. I may not be a crack shot off the bench, but I can find my way into and out of the bush, and when I come out I'm typically hauling whatever I went in for.

My income is way up from the "bad old days," and my toy collection is actually getting too big, with a couple of new cars, a $3,000 canoe, a wood shop (never trust a man with only one router) and a trustworthy wife. Life is good, but I can still get crabby.

In fact, anybody that called me untrustworthy because of the size of my gun collection could well find himself trying to remove all three from non-public parts of his anatomy.

I think we need to respect each other. I used to have a hunting van that looked like hell. I also travel the same roads often. It amazed me to see how people that acted one way toward me when I was driving my brand-new Passat became aggressive and disrespectful when I had the van.

Thrift used to be a virtue. You know what? It still is.

kk

kk, your post just about defines the antithesis of what Ray was talking about. I may be putting words in his mouth, but I believe he was speaking of a person that doesn't care enough to prepare properly, not even to the point of competence with the firearm that he may have. Who you described in your post is not that person. In my very young years, I had the missfortune to go hunting with such a hunter, he had an octagon barrel 30-30, same box of bullets for the last 10 years, and after missing standing shots on game at 50 yds, when we sighted in his rifle, it's POI was 12 inches high at 50 yards. Then he "remembered" that it shot that way a couple of years ago, the last time he used it?!?! This guy was a one gun hunter because he wasn't a hunter or a shooter.

I myself am familiar with the concept of not being able to afford all the toys I would like to have. One way I found to shortcut that process was by getting into reloading. By volunteering a couple of boxes of loaded ammo to the owner, I would take his rifle, get the dies, powder, bullets, etc, and work up a good load for his rifle. Gave me access to many rifles and calibers without having to constantly buy new toys. The cost to me was much lower that way, to obtain the experience. Yes, I would rethink that strategy in today's lawyer happy world.

FWIW

Just to be clear, I wasn't trying to attack Ray. He seems to know what he's about. Nor was I attacking the context. If I wanted to do that, I'd do it in the thread where it originated.

It's the concept. Ray's heard it; I've heard it.

But I have an idea there are people on this site that have had divorces, lost resources, had medical problems or lost jobs and had to sell off guns, and I think it's important that having one gun is enough if it's the right one and you can use it.

I could go out and buy five new rifles this afternoon, but I am simply not going to. One way to have the money to buy five rifles is to keep it. Then you can buy five rifles every day until you decide to do it. Then you're done. Then you have rifles and not money.

As for the slobs, man, can I tell some stories. Ever hear of "sight shots" vs. "sound shots?"

kk

"Sound shots", Yeah, I've heard that phrase. It ended a new friendship for me, never had dealing of any kind with the idiot after that. His own words, exactly.

If I thought you were attacking Ray, I'd have just sat back and watched the fur fly!! You are right in that to many times, the "paintbrush" used to define a slob gets used to describe one who doesn't fit the picture at all, except in perhaps one or two obvious ways, like "one gun".

kk, I don't think anyone ment any harm w/ their statements about the one gun guy. It was all pretty much tounge in cheek.
I understand the premise though. I have several cop friends who only have one pistol. They ARE NOT the best pistol shots for owning & practicing w/ that one pistol. I have also seen this w/ a couple of my hunting buds who have only 1 or 2 rifles. They never shoot during the off season unlike most of us "gun nuts". I think that's what's being poked fun at, not anyones financial status or whatever.

I believe there is a time worn phrase:

"Beware the man with only one gun, he may know how to use it".

Feng Shui

Jameister

kk, I read the post you're referring to and I don't think the post was directed at you nor folks that are undergoing similar circumstances. It was referring to the one gun/one box of ready rolleds every three or four years. They set up a box, pace off approx 100yds,(this distance can actually measure between 32.5 and 93 actual yards) and shoot at the box. If they hit the box, they head for the woods. They're ready. If they get a deer, and a lot of them do, they put the rifle back in the closet until next year.

Well...I am a one-gun-hunter. I still have and use the first big game rifle I bought in 1994, a Ruger M77 MK-II in .338WM. I killed a moose with it on the second season, and several after that. I understand this rifle, can take it apart in the dark if I had too, shoot it well enough to kill the game I hunt, and fast. The rifle has impressed me to the point that I would not hesitate to buy another one just like it (same caliber, too), but I just don't need another rifle right now.

I see this rifle as a tool I use to kill Alaska game for meat, nothing more. However, I have become proficient with it, and since it has impressed so much it feels like an close friend I can depend on.

[ 08-09-2003, 06:06: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

I must say that I would think higher of a man that showes up with his thrusted 30-06 that is on it's third barrel, than a man coming with some new magnum superduper gun very time I see him.

Lot's of practise with a single gun let's you know every thing about your gun, scope and ammo.

Johan

I was a one-gun hunter for a lot of years. I built my first custom rifle in 1969, a 7mm Rem Mag on a Mauser 98 with the most beautiful stock I could find at Fajen's when the original company was still in Warsaw. I was still in school at the time, and money was very tight, so I used that same rifle for everything. Midwest whitetails, Montana muleys and elk, coyotes, and even jack rabbits in western Kansas. I did a lot of shooting, and was very proficient with that rifle with various loads.

I'm no longer a one-gun hunter, and very thankful for that. We are blessed today to have so many versatile cartridges available that can handle more than one class of game, and there's enough overlap to make a small rifle budget go a long way. Compromise, though, often results in being either overgunned or undergunned more often than we'd really like, but we make do with what we have. That's OK, since there's no such thing as too dead. We just need to make sure we're using enough gun. I still believe there is a perfect rifle/cartridge/bullet combo for every game animal out there, and the goal is to have the "ideal" rifle for every purpose. Unfortunately, money is an issue for so many of us, so I still don't have one of everything, but I'm working on it.