Getting a bang going against grain

Thursday, January 23, 2014

I have a confession to make.

Against my instincts, I swallowed the bigger-boom is-better lure that seems to have hooked the hunting world.

According to all contemporary hunting literature, one requires field artillery to bring down deer, ducks and turkeys these days. I’ve occasionally soft-peddled that sentiment in this space regarding cartridges that are more powerful than necessary for hunting in Arkansas. I’ve used 3 ½-inch magnum 12-gauge loads for ducks and “grape” loads for turkeys. It worked, but not better than milder stuff.

I realized my error after reading an anthology of hunting articles by the late Jack O’Connor, the longtime shooting editor for Outdoor Life and later for Peterson’s Hunting. I’ve cited that book a couple of times recently and this will be the last, I promise.

O’Connor’s thoughts are noteworthy because he was the preeminent big game hunting authority of his time. He was also one of the preeminent firearms authorities of his time, which included the likes of Elmer Keith and Col. Townsen Whelen. His local connection is that he served aboard the U.S.S. Arkansas. Col. Craig Boddington probably comes closest to being his modern equivalent.

O’Connor killed a lot of record book elk and sheep. He killed all of the big African game, and big game in Asia. For most of his American exploits, he used the .270 Winchester, the 7mm Mauser and the .30-06 Springfield. He used the 7mm Remington Magnum when it was new, but he didn’t seem to regard it highly, nor did his wife, Eleanor, who hated its recoil. Eleanor was his frequent hunting partner and an accomplished hunter in her own right. She used a 7mm Mauser almost exclusively, but she made a clean, one-shot kill on an elephant with a .30-06 when it was still legal to use small-bore rifles for dangerous game.

The O’Connors emphasized marksmanship and precise shot placement. They were crack shots and made some outrageously long range kills on big game with cartridges that are now considered antiques.

I’ve come full circle. I started deer hunting many years ago with a .30-06. I migrated to the .308 Win., to the 7mm-08, to the .270 Win., to the .270 WSM, to the 7mm Rem. Mag. to the 7mm WSM. I briefly considered moving up to the .338 Win. Mag. in the quest for greater speed, flatter trajectory and greater knockdown power.

At the recommendation of Col. John Day, former law enforcement chief for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, I discovered the 6.5x55 Swedish. Developed in 1891, it predates the .30-06 by more than a decade. Current literature gives it a nostalgic nod, but writers who don’t use it claim that it’s too slow and too weak on the target.

I liked the mild recoil, and I shot it accurately with everything I fed it. It killed deer and hogs with authority, and it shot hard and flat at ranges beyond 300 yards. As my tally with that slow, weak rifle grew, my “big” guns got increasingly less work.

I saw the light with monster shotgun shells years ago after a conversation with Phil Bourjaily, the shotgun writer for Field & Stream. He uses nothing bigger than a 3-inch shell for turkeys because, he said, he doesn’t believe it’s necessary to use a cannon to kill a bird that seldom weighs more than 22 pounds. Besides, we’re all getting older and our shoulders don’t tolerate the pounding they get from heavy loads that don’t produce significant performance gains. Pain makes you flinch, and flinching makes you miss.

I came around to his way of thinking, too. A 3-inch load of No. 6 Hevi-Shot does everything I need for turkeys at the self-imposed limits at which I’ll shoot them. Long range shooting is all the rage for turkeys nowadays, but the thrill for me is getting them in close. It always will be.

The same goes for ducks. A 3-inch load of No. 2 steel through a full choke does everything I need, and it does it impressively at impressive ranges. That’s because waterfowl ammo is so much better than it used to be.

Remember early steel that rusted and clumped together when it got wet from condensation? In time, ammo manufacturers matched better propellants to steel. They use better steel. They make better wads, and they seal the payloads and primers. Modern steel shot is good stuff. I love it.

Every year brings new toys to write about. Sometimes they’re better than the old toys, but not always.

Sports, Pages 22 on 01/23/2014