My personal best: 5 ducks in 1 pond while jump shooting

5 Ring-Necked Ducks. The holster is my Taurus 357 magnum with a scope.
I practice with my pistol prior to the HAM season which is coming up shortly.

My Personal best of jump shooting ducks took place this weekend when going to my "usual spot" and finding piles of ducks sitting on the water. I always approach the cattle tanks slowly and carefully so I don't make much noise. I knew where the wind was blowing so I knew which side they were on, and when I peeked just above the berm to see what was there I saw a huge amount of ducks. My first thought was that someone was decoying the puddle. This would be weird since no one decoys cattle ponds, so I snuck down around the berm of the tank and headed in their direction. I figured that if someone was decoying it would be great to talk with them for a bit and see what they were trying to bring ducks in. When I got around the berm I crossed a fence and grabbed my gun. I only brought 6 shells, which is two magazines full. A choice  I would regret 15 seconds later. I came around where the water was visible and to my surprise there were 3 ring-necked ducks swimming hurriedly away from me, I had no choice but to mount the gun and go to work. I swung up and hammered 3 with one shell, while a 4th duck rose up I missed a hurried shot on him and used the 3rd shell to kill one of the 3 cripples. To my amazement for the next 10 seconds I watched something like 40-60 birds lift off the tank slowly in packs. A lot of mallards were on the backside of the tank and they made their way around well out of range. I had never seen so many ducks on this tank. The most I have seen before this was 5 ducks last weekend and that was pretty impressive, usually its 1-3 ducks on this particular tank. As the ducks continued to rise I very quickly loaded the gun up by rocking the 870 on its side, with the action side up I dumped one in the receiver and racked that into the chamer, then popped 2 more in the magazine to complete the job. 2 more ring neck ducks leaving later than they should have, flew up and were only about 25 yards away crossing hard right away from the tank and were at this point over land and hurrying to catch up with the pack, but were rather sluggish (compared to birds like doves or quail). I missed a hurried shot on the first one, and then I took the time to slow down and follow through on the shot and I cleanly bagged him, then I got back onto the second duck who was slightly further than the first and slightly forward of the first duck, and I did the same with him and bagged him as well. The two birds fell within 10 yards of one another and after a little searching I found both ducks and hurried to see how the ducks down in the cattle tank were moving to the other side of the tank. Thank heavens it was really windy. By this point I was out of shells, so I simply walked to the opposite side of the pond and waited for the other two ducks to arrive, and the wind blowing at around 20 mph helped make my wait time rather short. Shortly after my in-laws who were looking for quail showed up and were congratulating me on the 3 ducks which were in the puddle drifting toward me. I informed them that I in fact had 5 ducks and I showed them the two which were next to my Remington. They seemed rather impressed and snapped the rather fun photos you're looking at today. I'm really greatful to have had such a wonderful day and for the chance to hunt such animals and help pay my hunting license fees to aid in the conservation of such animals. I realize that I may never have another opportunity to shoot 5 ducks in a single spot ever again, so I am glad that I have been able to do it today in the company of family, and in great Arizona weather.

-A.A.

Javelina HAM scouting on New Year's Eve

It was the morning of the last day of 2011. My typical hunting partner and I headed out to the Santa Rita Mountains in search of Javelina. My buddy, being seriously afflicted with girlfriend-itis, had to be home by 3pm to get a serving platter for a dinner party they were hosting which really threw a wrench in my want to be out all day-long plans I had... Anyways, mental health problems aside he and I rode out to put some optics to the test and see if we couldn't find some pigs. We primarily focused on several of the prominent rocky canyons that have an abundance of ocotillo, prickly pear, grass and some shrubby cover. We found a good sized herd on the first canyon, and several herds in other canyons. From our glassing point we saw a group about 1100 yards away from us and approximately 200 feet in elevation up from our glassing point. In total we found 8 pigs in this herd, with 2 of them being very good sized animals approximately 60 pound critters.

My intent is to hunt with my handgun, however being a realist I do not know what to expect in terms of being able to stalk them in close. I have a black powder rifle firing 50 caliber sabots with 240 grain 44 caliber handgun bullets from Nosler. I will use my black powder gun if I feel I can't get in close enough to do the job with a handgun. I know that my gun can easily handle javelina out to 150 yards if need be. The question would be more of an issue of my stalking skills once we locate a herd. I am not the sneakiest white man in the desert.

Either way check out the photo below, and post a comment below if you can count the number of javelina in the photo I shot. I will post a photo later which shows the number of pigs I could identify and which will all be highlighted in the frame. Weidmannscheil!

A herd of javelina feed among the grass early morning in a canyon in unit 34A. How many pigs can you spot

By the way: For those of you who don't know what a Javelina is: Here is a close up photo I snapped of one about a year ago.

Update (1/9/2012): The answer

-A.A.

Calculating Hornady HITS

A few years ago Hornady came out with a calculator that attempted to offer a better solution than the archaic system of using kinetic energy as a method for determining the lethal performance of any given cartridge/bullet combination. The kinetic energy equation factors two things 1: Mass, 2: Velocity. It heavily favors velocity as it is squared in the calculation. The problem with kinetic energy is that it does not account for why heavy for caliber bullets are preferred when hunting larger game, in essence it fails to explain the "penetrative" qualities of heavier bullets in a given diameter, even though such rounds produce slower velocities at the muzzle.

Hornady Has introduced their system which tends to match up with what most guides will tell you to tote along on a hunt. This however is no the end-all/be-all of the "enough gun for your game" debate, but it does help clarify caliber selection when shopping for a new rifle.

I made this video explaining how to calculate the H.I.T.S. value of a given load and show examples of calculating some of my own calibers for demonstrative purposes, then finish by discussing what professionals recommend and show how that dove-tails nicely with what Hornady suggests as a recommendation

Hornady's HITS page: http://www.hornady.com/hits/calculator

Mearn's Hunt Near an Old Ghost Town

I had a wonderful opportunity to tag along on a Mearn's quail hunt with my Father-in-law and a friend of ours from church. My usual hunting partner has a new girlfriend, so he's about as worthless as my labrador is right now. I am holding out hope that he will one day come around and want to get out and hunt. Anyways, so he stood me up on a hunt 2 weeks ago, I got a text a little after 6 a.m. telling me that he wasn't going to be able to make it by 6 a.m... So I was able to react quickly and get in contact with my Father-in-law who was only about 4 miles down the road, on his way to hunt quail with this friend of ours. They agreed I could tag along, so I grabbed my quail kit and my 20 gauge and jumped in my rig to meet them at a drug store near by.

Upon meeting up with Jon (Our "guide" and owner of 2 fine bird dogs) we departed. As soon as I took my seat I was sworn to a pact of secrecy. Jon explained to us that he has only taken 2 friends from church to this spot, he does NOT want this spot to get out at all. I had no idea he was taking us to his favorite Mearn's quail spot. He told me I could tell our friends from church which old ghost town it was near, but any more than that and I would "really hurt his feelings." So I honor my promise in doing so, but here on the net let's just say its an old mining town near the Mexican border and is in unit 35B. This is as close as I feel I can ethically discuss his spot.

The hunt was fun. The country was very flat and the weather made for perfect hunting. It was about 40 degrees and had rained the night before. The dogs were getting bird scent everywhere which led to a few false points.

We found a covey around 9 a.m. Dewey, a German short hair was locked on point and the hawk scream on his collar had been blaring for about 10 seconds as we tried to run up to catch up to him. Ginger, a mixed dog (no one knows what she is exactly but I'm convinced she's definately more English pointer than anything) honored his point but was getting nervous. We positioned our selves around a small cluster of young oak trees. The interior was dark, and Dewey was 12 o'clock from us locked in like a rock. I took the left flank, and waiting for the command to flush, however Ginger's nervousness got the better of her and she jumped the covey a little early which made for some quick action. I tagged the first bird to come my way at about 20 yards, a second bird was missed as it darted hard to my left and went down into a draw. The old guys had emptied their guns and didn't hit anything. I convinced them to follow us down the slope into the draw where I knew at least 4 or so birds had gone. I was able to jump a bird on the slope and bag it as well.

At the end of the hunt it was getting very cold and we decided to call it a day there. I bagged 2, the first bird I hit was badly shot up. I was using 20 gauge Estates with 1 ounce of 7 1/2 shot. I must have hit her with the center of the pattern because her breast had about 12 pellets pass through it. The second quail had 2 pellets and was presentable enough for a photograph.

This was my first Mearn's hunt , and hopefully not my last.

Gear

Gun: Charles Dailey 20 gauge semi-auto

Shells: Estate Heavy Field Loads - 20 gauge - 1 ounce - 7 1/2 shot

Rabbit Hunting Tips and Gear

Rabbit hunting in Arizona is often very fun. Given the year-round opportunity to harvest cottontails and jackrabbits alike, there is always something the hunter in AZ can do every month of the year.

Rabbit hunting is fairly straight forward:

1. Get up early
2. Go find an area out in the desert with a good mix of mesquite, cactus, and good ammount of grasses and you will find cottontails in the thick brush
3. Find an open grassy area with some tree cover and plenty of drainages such as a wash, and you should find jacks out in the open.

If you're not seeing any droppings, try driving down the dirt road you're on until you find a new wash, then pound some ground along the wash. The wash doesn't need to be big, it just has to have thick brush along the edges and plenty of grasses up on the banks. Cottontails will hide in the thick brush and hold dead still hoping you'll pass by them. You have 2 options when hunting, namely rifle or shotgun.

If you're hunting with a shotgun: your goal is walk along the edges of the wash until they run or you can try to kick into the bushes in order to provoke them (if they're even in there ;) to run, where your shotgun will make hitting them easy as pie as they bolt out. If you're using a shotgun avoid the natural instinct to aim at their white bushy tail. If you aim for the tail like your brain wants to do, you'll gut shoot a rabbit bad and you'll mess up the best meat. You want to shoot at his nose if possible. Keep your shot size to 4,6,7.5 and you'll bag any rabbit you encounter (within reason).

If you're using a rifle (you should be using a .22 long rifle) you should be stopping fairly often to look at the bushes and trees along the washes until you see a rabbit trying to evade you. Be aware that often times stopping will make a nervous rabbit who is holding still in a bush want to bug out on you. The problem with a running rabbit for a rifleman can't be understated. Your chances of hitting one on the run with a .22 is fairly difficult to say the least.

If you have a buddy you two should alternate between rifleman and shotgunner. Typically the shotgunner is going to bag more rabbits, so switching roles once someone hits their game is a good idea to keep things fun and honest. If you do this 2 gun system you'll avoid the problem with shotgunning only which is having rabbits hold still at 50 yards (this is typical of jacks). Conversely the plauge of rifle hunting is having rabbits give you a half second to hit them while on a dead run for cover.

If you plan to spend the morning out in a productive area, a hunter can expect to harvest 1-2 rabbits on average. A really good day is 4-5 rabbits. A few years ago when there were a lot of rabbits out east of town we would come home with 12-15 rabbits (with 2 hunters hunting).

A good day! 7 total makes for a lot of cleaning.

Check out my gear suggestions in the videos above which keep the cost of hunting affordable.

  I've started my waterfowl hunting again this year. It appears that ring neck ducks have moved their way down. I noticed many of them in the golf course ponds on the way up the mountains. Check out my youtube channel for updates on my hunting.

My youtube channel

Lever Guns and Self defense

Interestingly most people look to shotguns and pistols for self-defense while on their property. I wanted to share two examples of why you shouldn't necessarily over look a lever action rifle for personal protection. This video shows how a 30-30 marlin 336 can pop off rifle rounds very quickly and accurately. Remember that both 4 legged and 2 legged critters should be considered when carrying a self defense gun in the woods or while camping. Another video by Sheriff Jim Wilson explains why sometimes this is a good option. . Lever actions make great truck guns, and if you're out and about scouting some hunting terrain, having a marlin 1894 in .44 magnum will allow you to hunt all sorts of critters and will provide a significant deal of protection when hiking around and glassing hills. As was mentioned by Sheriff Jim, the look of a lever action invokes thoughts of Cowboys, not Mall ninjas and "tactical gear" buffs.