Have you ever hunted with a gun just to bloody it...

JerryBobCo

even you had something better suited for what you were hunting?

I have. For instance, I carried my .284 a few years ago for both antelope and deer, even though I have a .243 that is probably better for antelope, and a 7 mag that is arguably better suited for mule deer. As it turned out, I took my best ever antelope that year, and one of my best mulies a little over a month later.

How about you?

NN

No, not in the way I understand the question----I have taken shotguns hunting
to see how they work out when I have another that has been my go to gun
for that type of hunting.

1965Jeff

Yes- in that I was using a different caliber than normal just to see real results from the safe queen. I still have Marlin lever action 30-30 that I really want to use on a whitetail , when my go to rifle is a 30.06.

Jayhawker

Certainly...I have rifles that are a lot more suited for hunting deer and coyotes....but rolling a coyote with a .45-70 Sharps is something everyone ought to experience :tooth:

orchidman

Yep. When I bought the 4 pre 64 mod 70's 2 years ago I decided that ( as three of them were unfired and had been sitting in a collectors safe since new) they should be taken out and used for their intended purpose. ( Thanks to the shrub who threatened to do me some harm...:tooth:)

Through the good graces of Wambli who gifted me an original 1940's K4 Weaver, the unfired 1939 mod 70 30.06 finally was scoped and then used to take game last year..........72 years after it left the Winchester factory.

It has fired 7 cartridges so far..........5 were used to sight it in ( 3 150g ballistic tips, 2 180g ballistic tips) I allowed Bloodhound to fire a shot as he fell in love with the rifle ( He wants me to leave it to him in my will)

The last shot ( 150gr) was used to shoot a Fallow Hind at 123 yds. She was facing away from me at about a 150deg angle with her head down feeding. I was confident that I could make a head shot but she never lifted her head. I put the bullet in behind her shoulder and it exited through her off side chest destroying her heart/lungs on the way through.

What made it even better was that the meat was destined for lunch at the Take a Kid Hunting BBQ 2 weeks later.

I still have 2 unfired pre 64s sitting in the safe waiting to be scoped ( a 308 Featherweight and a Monte Kennedy custom stocked......270) ........and when things finally turn around financially they will be taken out, sighted in and then 'Blooded'.

Oh.......the meat at the TAKH lunch tasted better than any venison eaten both before that day and subsequently............................at least to me!!!

Here she is on her first ( but by no means last ) hunt....................

Zee

Of course! If the gun is capable and up to the task, there is no reason not to use it.

knitepoet

Yep, I've taken rifles hunting just because they needed to be "bloodied".
My k-31 was one of them.
1 rem 170rn-cl later, it had a spike on the ground.

bullsi1911

Of course. I have taken all of my milsurps hunting JUST because I wanted to shoot a deer with an open sighted military rifle.

So far, the perfect shot on a deer has not presented itself. But I did shoot a squirrel in the head at 60 yards with the Ishapore Enfield

Quinian

bullsi1911 wrote: »

Of course. I have taken all of my milsurps hunting JUST because I wanted to shoot a deer with an open sighted military rifle.

So far, the perfect shot on a deer has not presented itself. But I did shoot a squirrel in the head at 60 yards with the Ishapore Enfield

Same situation for me. I keep toting the nagant with me but never feel comfortable with the distance I'm given. If I manage to get one close enough I'll use it for sure.

Linefinder

I had a Winchester 70 HV that I took out to bloody one day. Liked it so much I carried it for the rest of the season, and half of the next one. Then it was worn out.

Mike

Varmintmist

yes

Fisheadgib

I have a model 70 lightweight in .243 that sat in the safe unfired since I bought it for an ex wife to use about 20 years ago. About five years ago I decided to hunt with it just to "bloody" it. I harvested a nice nine point deer with it and returned it to the safe. I've thought about having it rebarreled to 7mm-08 but decided to keep it the way it is as a loaner for women and children guests at the camp. I don't own a .270 so this will be almost as good.

bisley

No. I have been pretty consistent about setting up one hunting rifle and sticking with it. I have tried a few that I wasn't satisfied with and discarded them from the line-up, without ever shooting at game. But I haven't ever really had more than one rifle at a time that I was absolutely confident with for large animals (whitetails, feral hogs).

That could change though if I see something I can't live without.

Weatherby

Absolutely I'm a hunter shooter re loader and like to see how my combinations work out in the field.
unfortunately I can't use rifles for deer here so my last one was with a 257 weatherby.
I worked up a nice load for it using a bullet you like the grand slam.
The thing shot great so I took it out for bear...good test both for the gun and the load.

I've got some revolvers now that need to be proven

Ernie Bishop

In responding to the OP's question, "Yes."

Six-Gun

Yep. In fact, the .243 I have right now might be considered underpowered by some when it comes to open country mule deer hunting, but it hasn't taken any game yet and that has to change.

Bigslug

Kinda-sorta. . .ummm. . .not really.

Hunting big game around here is HARD - either in terms of where the game lives, time it takes to get to it, or both. My CZ (which has yet to score) is extremely accurate and I love it dearly, but my newer 700 XCRII is totally resistant to the elements and is lighter, both of which allow me to play the game harder. This seems to be pushing the CZ into the backup rifle role, but this doesn't seem to be generating a lot of guilt.

My "long" 870 got bloodied a couple years ago. Previously, I had hunted with an old Model 12, which I feel I shoot better with, but since I had been constantly instructing folks on the use of an 870 for several years prior and had thus gotten pretty heavily programmed on one, I thought it safest for all parties involved to hunt with a gun that had a disconnector in the trigger group.

I'm going hunting with Dad's 25 year old compound bow mostly because I want to make sure I'm INTO this archery thing before dropping the coin on a new rig. If I happen to be able to hang that bow up knowing it's killed something, great, but I sense when the time comes, I'll be in the passionate pursuit of a lighter weight bow with a higher letoff percentage.

While I do get the urge to lug a particular firearm around at times, it's more a matter of ME needing to go out and shoot something than the GUN needing to go out and shoot something. They don't call out to me that they're feeling neglected - they're perfectly happy in their coats of CLP.

bisley

Bigslug wrote: »

They don't call out to me that they're feeling neglected - they're perfectly happy in their coats of CLP.

You have some lazy guns. Mine scream at me if I leave them in the safe too long, and I hear them every time I walk by.

shotgunshooter3

In all realism I'm quite set for TX and NM hunting with my Remington 700's in 7mm08 and .243. However, I do fully intend to hunt with my M1903 at some point.

Weatherby

cpj wrote: »

Yep.
And I may hunt with my AR this year for that reason.

Take the 30 round mag.......it might have enough to get the job done :jester:

timc

JerryBobCo wrote: »

even you had something better suited for what you were hunting?

You better know it! I have some very nice custom hunting rifles but I just love hunting with something weird once in a while. All of my old military rifles have taken game, most of my AR's have taken something too. I even shot a doe last year with my Springfield trapdoor rifle just or grins.
One of my favorite hunts was with a 1943 K98 that I took two Javalina with. Both were taken with head shots , the farthest being 130+ yards. Nice to know those old rifles will stiil do the work.

shotgunshooter3

UPDATE: I plan to take a TX whitetail this fall with my M4gery just to post on Facebook and see how many of the "I can't possibly understand what you need an AR-15 for" crowd complain about it.

Fisheadgib

shotgunshooter3 wrote: »

UPDATE: I plan to take a TX whitetail this fall with my M4gery just to post on Facebook and see how many of the "I can't possibly understand what you need an AR-15 for" crowd complain about it.

Do you have Jim Zumbo friended on Facebook?

shotgunshooter3

Fisheadgib wrote: »

Do you have Jim Zumbo friended on Facebook?

Nah, just some run-of-the-mill sheeple.

Teach

I'm going to have to clean a couple of pounds of Cosmoline off a VZ-24 I've had for about four years, just so I can field-test some of the rounds I've been making up for Woodsrunner. They're gas checked hard cast, and sized to .318", but since I don't have a J-bore 8MM that one will have to do. I've got a couple of other milsurp I haven't fired yet, let alone hunted with!
Jerry

sarg1c

My Rem. 700 ADL(.308) has been my deer gun since 1983, BUT this year" I think" I'll try my Marlin 30AW(30-30). Think I will that is...

snake284-1

JerryBobCo wrote: »

even you had something better suited for what you were hunting?

I have. For instance, I carried my .284 a few years ago for both antelope and deer, even though I have a .243 that is probably better for antelope, and a 7 mag that is arguably better suited for mule deer. As it turned out, I took my best ever antelope that year, and one of my best mulies a little over a month later.

How about you?

Oh yeah, IMO that's a big part of what it's about. I've always done that. Back when I had a .270 Win., a 6mm Rem., and a .308 Win. I always took a different rifle. Then if I killed something with each one, I'd start over. Variety is the spice of life.