Ahhhh…. The effervescent mystical flight of the arrow is powerful medicine for us bowhunters, that’s for sure. I’ve heard an awful lot of gungho bowhunters over the years state emphatically that they are so over the moon thrilled by bowhunting, archery overall and the intoxicating mystical flight of the arrow that they don’t even hunt with the gun anymore.
I certainly understand that especially as I prepare to celebrate my 68th birthday (HOLYMOLY!!) representing damn near 66 years of arrow-flinging joy. I wouldn’t be surprised if I learned I actually shot some little infant bow and arrow rig at the little figurines dangling from my bassinette mobile.
That being said, even though my beloved bowhunting represents a beyond thrilling 95% of my hunting methodology, make no mistake that I remain stimulated and inspired by the aim small miss small sniper marksmanship discipline that is the joys of precise firearms accuracy and tactics.
In fact I love crosshairs so much that I have been researching a special eye-surgery procedure where fine, black, tapered 4-plex crosshairs would be permanently etched on my eyeballs.
Not really.
As stated in my recent NugeBlog here celebrating the electrifying excitement of the opening day of firearms deerseason with my scoped sniper shotguns or rifles, there is surely something very special unto itself about the tradition of the gun season.
As if I need any more guns in my life, I nonetheless discovered a new rifle setup that I just had to have for the southern Michigan restricted firearms zone.
Though extensive testing and research many years ago in Pennsylvania concluded that the average center-fire deer rifle bullet did not travel any farther than the old 1 ounce 12 gauge lead pumpkin ball, such unnecessary restrictions still exist, and until we wake up the clueless, disconnected bureaucrats and the old guard status quo hunting “leadership” in many states, we are compelled to comply.
I had heard of Randy Brown’s reputable Randy’s Hunting Center sporting goods mecca up in the dyed in the wool deerhunting epicenter of Michigan’s thumb for many years. I had also heard ravings from numerous deerhunters about some custom bolt action rifles chambered in the .450 Bushmaster round being extremely accurate and now legal in the restricted zone.
My good friend and master hunter Jenny Olsen, host of the popular Michigan Out Of Doors TV show, produced a feature on Randy’s run of Ruger American bolt action rifles mounted with a trajectory compensating scope performing minute of angle accuracy out to 300 yards.
When I saw the feature and witnessed the incredible accuracy, I immediately called Randy and had him put together a rig for me.
This straight-walled round debuted in the AR semi-auto platform many years ago and was lauded as quite the accurate big game thumper with its 250 grain bullet traveling close to 2000fps at the muzzle. The increased efficiency from a bolt-action rifle boosts velocity to close to 2300 and there is just something about this round that is inherently very accurate and also very pleasant to shoot with minimal recoil.
Having a heck of a time encountering a mature buck all of October and the 1st half of November was giving me fits, so once I got my hands on this very accurate rifle, I kept at it and hunted hard.
My first kill with this rig was a 125 yard doe that I heartshot.
The next .450Bushmaster moment came for my daughter Sasha when she heartshot a ½ rack buck at 90 yards.
Two days later I celebrated a very exciting double on a 100 yard doe and a 250 yard 8 point buck.
The .450 will never be a .270 or a 30-06, but this handy little 16 inch barreled carbine is all I will ever need when my aim small miss small backstrap dreams come to life during my annual southern Michigan firearms deerseason.
As if you need another gun! Do it!
Ted Nugent is an award-winning musician and writer, with numerous best-seller books including “Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto,” “God, Guns and Rock ‘n Roll,” and “Kill It and Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish” with his wife, Shemane, among other books. Be sure to check out his website for more news on his latest music, thoughts and upcoming shows, and also at World News Daily, Newsmax and Daily Caller for more insights.
+++++
Keep The Bugs Away!
The latest in Thermacell’s lineup is the Scout Camp Lantern, yet another outstanding product from Thermacell to receive the full endorsement from the Deer & Deer Hunting team. This lantern pulls double duty as a powerful mosquito repeller utilizing Thermacell’s familiar mat-and-butane combo. Expect 225 square feet of protection from mosquitoes, black flies and more. Get yours here!