Choice of Rifle

JERRYO is a newbie over at KYHunting.net

His question was: "which is the better rifle to hunt with single shot or repeater of some kind. "



Here is my answer:

I guess what you need to answer is: what is BETTER for you?

Now ask yourself: What is better for the game?

Some folks feel a single shot rifle gives them more of a challenge.

My personal motivation is that I am out there to hunt. That has always been challenge enough for me. I have never been all that enamoured by the one-shot-one-kill macho thing. I shoot. If I can, I shoot again, and I keep shooting until the animal falls over dead.

Does that mean I blast away? No. I am talking about making good clean shots and good clean follow-up shots.

JJHACK a PH that frequently writes over on 24hourcampfire.com writes a lot about "golfer's syndrome." This is what he calls the phenomenon of American hunters who frequently shoot game, and then drop their rifle to watch what happens next. JJHACK and I are in agreement. Shoot. If you can, shoot again.

Why? One round may or may not put down the animal. Usually one in the boiler room will, but that is not always the case. Now what? Are you going to walk away and declare yourself a failure? Are you going to go apologize to the animal? No, you are going to go and try to put the animal down. Time is of the essence. If you are willing to plug an animal once, you sure should not have any moral compuction about plugging it again.

My rule of thumb is three shots. I grew up in Ohio with slug guns that had to be plugged for just three shots. Anything more was illegal. That got me into the habit. Even if my rifle's magazine holds more than 3, I'll load just three.

Why? I know I can make three good shots at an animal. As soon as I squeeze off the first one, I am angling for a second shot. If I can, I take it. More often than not, it's going to the same place. Sometimes, the animal goes down and struggles. If necessary, I'll put in a third.

So why not more than three? After three shots, here are the possiblities:

1) The animal is dead.
2) The animal is well on the way to dying and needs no more help.
3) The rifle is AFU. The sights may be off, or something. It's time to stop wasting ammo.
4) I'm past the point of making rational choices and I have started blasting. It is time to stop.

Opening day was a perfect example for me. I plugged a big buck at 85 yards-- one shot right in the boiler room. He just stood there and stared at me. I shot him again-- same thing. At this point, I was wondering what had happened. I shot one more time, just a wee-bit further back and the beast keeled over. The post mortem showed I'd put two through the same hole in the lungs and the third had put a 35 cal pill through his heart.

Did I feel I had failed? No. I have 80 lbs of venison in the freezer.
Did the bullet fail? Nope.
Do I feel less of a hunter for doing what I did? You have got to be kidding.
Would my thrill have been greater if I had done it with a TC Encore? Good grief, you have been watching the Outdoor Channel too long.