Hi guys, I have to tell you what a great weekend it was.Mi friend called me friday late afternoon and asked me what I was going to do Saturday morning.My usual answer: working!.I do not want to hear any of that! He said.You are comming with me for groundhogs.MMM... ok! twist my rubber arm.
So,early in the morning we were at his hunting grounds and waited for about 1 minute before we saw a few.He had taken with him his .223 and 6.5X 248 lonnnnng range gun.Me, I had my flintlock .45.
As such a nice guy he is I had first choice on ALL the shots, knowing how limited my range was compare to his guns.Oddly enough I took the first one at about 120 yds(longer shot that I like , but he insisted).That was folowed by a few more he took at ranges between 350 to 700 yds.
At one point we saw one way too far for me and I said :that one is yours.No, he said, I want you to take the shot.He range it with his range finder and said 286 yds, you're good to go.
Knowing there was no way my PRB would get that far,I gesstimated the elevation using the top of the rear sight(buck horn type) and the bottom of the front ,freeand.
Looking with binoculars to see were my ball droped , he said WOW! two inches to the rigth!!!
When I saw the puff of dirt just where the hog was standing I could not belive my eyes.That was the most incredible fluke ever I thought.I was happier than if I had taken one at 50 or so yds.
He said reload, there is one more a bit to the rigth!
He range that one at 340 odd yds.There was no way I was taking that shot.That is until the hog moved closer, and closer he did! 320 yds .
What a heck I'm taking it! Just to see what happen.
This time it landed a good 10 inches at 4 o'clock.
At that time I knew it was no fluke, those guns can go the distance,and be accurate too.
The most incredible thing (for me at least) is that I was using 30 grains only.Needless to say I gain even more respect for those "old and antiquated" guns.
None of this I would even consider on bigger game, but being that the farmer wanted the hogs gone, I took my chances.
Moral of the story: make really sure what's behind your target, 'couse those "slow" PRB can go quite far.
So,early in the morning we were at his hunting grounds and waited for about 1 minute before we saw a few.He had taken with him his .223 and 6.5X 248 lonnnnng range gun.Me, I had my flintlock .45.
As such a nice guy he is I had first choice on ALL the shots, knowing how limited my range was compare to his guns.Oddly enough I took the first one at about 120 yds(longer shot that I like , but he insisted).That was folowed by a few more he took at ranges between 350 to 700 yds.
At one point we saw one way too far for me and I said :that one is yours.No, he said, I want you to take the shot.He range it with his range finder and said 286 yds, you're good to go.
Knowing there was no way my PRB would get that far,I gesstimated the elevation using the top of the rear sight(buck horn type) and the bottom of the front ,freeand.
Looking with binoculars to see were my ball droped , he said WOW! two inches to the rigth!!!
When I saw the puff of dirt just where the hog was standing I could not belive my eyes.That was the most incredible fluke ever I thought.I was happier than if I had taken one at 50 or so yds.
He said reload, there is one more a bit to the rigth!
He range that one at 340 odd yds.There was no way I was taking that shot.That is until the hog moved closer, and closer he did! 320 yds .
What a heck I'm taking it! Just to see what happen.
This time it landed a good 10 inches at 4 o'clock.
At that time I knew it was no fluke, those guns can go the distance,and be accurate too.
The most incredible thing (for me at least) is that I was using 30 grains only.Needless to say I gain even more respect for those "old and antiquated" guns.
None of this I would even consider on bigger game, but being that the farmer wanted the hogs gone, I took my chances.
Moral of the story: make really sure what's behind your target, 'couse those "slow" PRB can go quite far.
