Thought I'd start a thread about tips we've picked up here on the campfire. I'd like to keep them hunting related if possibe.

If your feet are cold put on a hat. Old saying is true, keep your toes and fingers warm by keeping your noggin toasty with more covering than you think you need.

To help keep your feet warm they need to stay dry, try using antiperperiant spray on your feet for a few days prior to hunting. Helps keeps them from sweating and thus getting clamy and cold.


Ok there are the two I learned this year. What's helped you out?

Never shoot the donor.

Hitting a gallon milk jug at 500 yds really isn't all that tough with the right equipment.

Bull elk will always die in the worst possible place to pack them out of.

The best place to shoot an elk... next to the truck!

The new BUTT-OUT II TOOL has a stop on the handle to keep your hand from sliding...

use enough gun. don't sleep over at steelhead's place, avoid the baboon ass, don't pee your pants or hide in a closet, the .270 and .30-06 have been and are old news, the .270 and .30-06 are all you need.

most of you have more money than me, custom guns are the way to go. marlin xl7's are way better than customs, God Himself made them.

savages and a-bolts suck. savages and a-bolts are awesome. don't get in arguments with Ken Howell, Tom264, or Lee24.

knives are useless unless they cost $9,000 and come with authentic mastodon ass bone handles.

Craig Boddington can make a campfire by gathering sticks and logs and giving them the 1,000 yard stare.

core lokt bullets can pass through 14 fire trucks placed back to back, exit, retain 98% of weight and kill an elk on the other side. and create an exit wound.

kimbers suck. kimbers rock.

don't argue with swampman700, as it is akin to trying to empty the ocean by scooping water out in my hat.

that about cover it?



-Matt

if you disagree with somebody,take it personally and put them on ignore,because opposing viewpoints are bad.

seriously though,read more type less.

A 223 52 TSX in the boiler room will kill a bull elephant...

A 60 TSX out of a 223AI will kill a blue whale and her calf better not be in line with her off shoulder...

Good binos are worth what they cost...

A pard gets in trouble or a kid wants to hunt and can't afford it, and the 'Fire will take care of him....

All posts without pictures border on worthless...

DJ

thats awesome!

A 50BMG round will barely give a moose a bloody nose until you blow out the case to the improved version and load it with a TSX.

Wow guys, all funny, especially the mastradon comment lmao at that one. But seriously anyone wanna share some tips or tricks picked up here?

A non-CRF rifle is only good for non-charging friendly varmints only.

...that guys need a CRF rifle chambered for cartridges that are suitable for stopping dangerous game while they are hunting over a food plot while sitting in a box blind in Texas waiting to shoot a "cull" buck.

The 280 and 280AI are better than the 270;the 7/08 is better than all of them,and is a better LR elk cartridge than a 300 Weatherby.......

The 280,280AI,7/08,and the 270WSM were no where to be found on the B&C "most popular caliber" list......

Everything under 30 caliber sucks as an elk cartridge.....


4X scopes are fractionally better than iron sites.....maybe not as good cause they weigh more....

If it has been invented in the last 48 hours, it is automatically better than anything that came before it.....

14X is essential to kill a bull elk the size of a draft horse at any distance beyond 250 yards....

If the animal runs at the shot, the bullet failed....

If the animal falls to the shot,the bullet failed....

WSM's don't feed.....

For under a grand, the factories should give us rifles that are cosmetically like a Jerry Fisher rifle,and shoot like a benchrest class rifle....to 1000 yards....with hunting bullets..

No one can hit anything beyond 300 yards without a dot or turrets....they are only "guessing"....

When you buy a rifle,you should first ask how much it weighs....

When you buy a scope you should first ask how much it weighs....

When you buy mounts you should first ask how much they weigh....

When you buy a synthetic stock you should first ask ....how much it weighs......


All the above is said in good fun of course cause there really is a lot of excellent information and experienc on here

Blue scares deer so don't even put so much as a piece of blue tape on the end of your barrel or every deer in the county will flee post haste

i learned about putting peanuts in a bottle of coke, why some areas require a shotgun for hunting dear, tips for building an AR, new and interesting ways to pizz off liberals - the list of good stuff goes on and on

on the other hand, some stuff wasn't quite as cool... for example I learned that some people think its funny to piss on themselves on camera and post videos of the same

Bob there are just one too many truisms there.

Dude....did you have to go there?.?.?.

sorry brad... I know it's a buzzkill... but the fact remains I sure didn't get exposed to that on FaceBook, or any other site I enjoy... just sayin'

I know Brad;it got to be fun....I couldn't stop

I actually learned to reload here and on the old Shooters forum. I had no body to show me and between manuals and good advice here it has been good. It has had the effect of causing me to screw a couple of aftermarket barrels on rifles that shot pretty good. I don't regret either one. miles

Ackley is God!
Take the most mundane cartridge, blow out the shoulder and case body just a bit and it automaticly becomes the wonder of the world.

Besides that it causes you to diddle around with a cartridge getting 100 more fps when you could just buy a bigger one if that is what you want.

BCR

Boggy, you forgot the best part about an "Ackley". It allows you to rip off your buddy's brass. Say you have a 7mm08 Ackley and your buddy has a 7mm08, you tell him "let me try some of your bullets" and after you shoot them they are fire formed to 7mm08 Ackley and he can't use the brass so it is yours. Your bullets will not go in his rifle, so he can't bum off you. Win-Win, but they sometimes get pissey about it. miles

That fireforming brass for an Ackley chamber is as troublesome as rebuilding a transmission for some.

Seems like it. miles

A 270 isn't enough gun for elk, unfortunately no one's told the elk yet ...

Never deer hunt with a young dog.

If it ain't a Leupold is ain't worth having. If it's a Leupold it ain't worth having.

We have an actual need for a scope that enables you to pick off Aborigine midgets on the dark side of the Moon on a moonless night even when hunting regs limit you to 1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset.

You learned I can't shoot worth schitt!

I forgot to say we all need/must have a super duper premium bullet to kill a deer reliably at ranges under 10 yards.


That said I have really learned a great deal of useful things.


The claims Les is actually Satan himself is not not true even if Sassy sez so.

The .260 Remington is neither fish nor fowl: too much for varmints, too little for all else. Choose a .243 or a .270, and you'll be far happier. It's no wonder the Remington is letting this cartridge die on the vine.

Accordingly, any rifle chambered in .260 Remington that you see posted in the Free Classifieds forum will sell in 13 minutes or less.

Perhaps the appropriate syllogism would be, "The .260 Remington cartridge is to rifles, what the 3x straight-tubed Leupold is to hunting optics."

FC

How to write funny when responding to posts, but you would never speak that way to another person. I can like like this thread much whilist I indulge in some beverages.........What up wit dat anyway? Say you?

Now that I I have no problems with!

"Perhaps the appropriate syllogism would be, "The .260 Remington cartridge is to rifles, what the 3x straight-tubed Leupold is to hunting optics."

FC [/quote]

Hot damn! I have both, and the .260 is on a Rem 725 SA. Maybe I should mate them???

I learned African game is tougher to kill than NA game, with parts in different places, according to those who have hunted both. I haven't, so I'll take their word.

That's pretty funny right there! LOL!

I have learned to bite my tongue (or least my typing fingers) on occasion.

I have learned that there are certain magic bullets and cartridges that drop big game animals instantly. The poster knows this because he's done it twice.

I have also learned that big game animals have both front and rear shoulders, though very few hunters talk about shooting them in the rear shoulders--except for a few who seem to be really fond of the practice.

I have learned that there's no difference between a moot point and a mute point. Also, the words loose and lose can be used interchangeably. So their! Awl is not lost.

Their mite bee sum trooth to thet........

I have learned that McMillan is a terrible company because they got one guy's order wrong; that Winchester lived, died, arose again, died, and still will never be as good as it was pre-64; and that the answer to all questions gun-related is: "1911-CRF-Mickey-Leupy-Sucks."

Winchester did indeed make a 375 H&H in South Carolina.........

I've learned that Turner 1903's and Brownells Latigo slings are relics from the stone age, and completely worthless.

You either need the 3 Oz Uncle Mikes nylon "sling"

Or a fancy padded one, that looks like something your Old Lady would like to see in her europeon handbag collection...

Furthermore, only somebody shooting a "Match" rifle would need to use a real sling, as they apparently have NO use in real game fields (shooting off backpacks is where its at)

I guess the problem is, few know how to rig and use a Model of 1907 type sling anymore.
They work well, and I have them and use them. But a backpack taint bad, neither.

Standard cup-and-core bullets (especially the round-nosed versions) won't kill anything, despite the fact the Benoits have killed roughly half a zillion trophy bucks over the last five or six decades with Remington Core-Lokts.

A TSX that failed didn't actually fail...

The 243 is the only gun for real elk hunters. Only 15 yd shots are acceptable. Anyone that uses anything larger to get longer range shots, is not a real hunter.

It's a whole lot easier being rude to people who you are not right in front of and won't deck you on the spot for what you are saying.

Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between someone being rude and someone who is just having fun kidding around with you by just reading what they typed.

It's worth putting up with a few morons to be around a bunch of good folks.....................................DJ

Yup. And loud obnoxious people that are always looking for a fight seem to be popular. I learnt it here alright, but can't like it much.

Best one on here so far! TFF

blue tape works....
money spent on decent binoculars is money well spent...
cup & core bullets at standard velocities works, & works well....
savage rifles are good...
savage rifles are ugly....(I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder)
never trust a man who only owns one rifle...he obviously has his priorities all screwed up
this place gets really goofy after the big game seasons are mostly wrapped up....

Kimber Montana's in 308 is only 84M they can make right
Kimber Montana's in .223 is the best 84M
.257 Roberts is better than a .243 winchester
30-06 is good for everything
30-06 is overkill for everything
.270 Winchester is better than the 30-06
.270 Winchester will not work for mule deer or Texas deer
.223 anything is a great deer cartridge
.223 anything sucks for deer
Kimber rifles suck
Kimber rifles are great
Leica is hands down the best binocular
Zeiss is hands down the best binocular
Nosler partitions suck
Nosler partitions are the best
Barnes TSX suck
Barnes TSX are the best
Leupold has gone to hxll in a hand basket
Leupold is the best rifle scope for the money on the market
did I forget anything?

The desire to regularly shoot magnum cartridges is inversely proportional to one's age.

If a scope mfgr has scopes in 1.5-4x, 1.5-5x, 1.75-6x, and 2.5-8x, they still have a gaping hole in their low-power product line.

It's crucial for a scope mfgr to have at least 4 models of the exact same scope, tweaked minimally so as to be priced at 4 separate price points.

High velocity kills.
Big & slow kills.
More big game is shot at > 400 yards than < 100 yards.
Wood stocks swell & lose POI.
Wood stocks don't swell, nor lose POI.
Fixed power scopes don't work.

A 375 H&H is a sensible choice for a 100 pound African impala on a game farm.
A 223 is more than enough for a 100 pound deer.

A leupold 6 x 42 is the best scope. Period.
A leupold 6 x 36 is crap. Period.

I like this one.......................DJ

There are no cougars in Oklahoma
Cougars are over running the State of Oklahoma

A 223 is fine for whitetail
A 243 is barely adequate for pronghorn

TSX bullets kill like a lighting bolt
Most TSX bullets are catastrophic failures

don't buy off other forum's classifieds!

If you take a liberal from Oregon who doesn't know when to quit and mix him with a self-absorbed a-hole from Alaska who thinks he knows ten times as much as he actually does, you get pages and pages of worthless blather.

Oh yeah, then morons like me are too dumb not to rubberneck the trainwreck of the aforementioned pages of blather.

I learned not to cope - if your equipment (rifle, cartridge, bullet, optics / sights) is not perfect for the instance, you do not have a shot.

There is no difference between a .260 Rem. and a .30-06.
There is, however, a difference between a .7mm-08 and a .308

If you like C&C you have to hate premiums with a passion, especially monometals.

If you prefer monometals, you wonder how anything ever got killed before their time and are vocal about it.

Only the other type of bullets fail - even if recovered from a dead animal.

No one can hit running game effectively,...cause I can't....

If your rifle does not shoot 1/4" groups,it cannot be used to shoot through holes in brush....

If your rifle is zeroed 3" high at 100 yards,you cannot shoot through holes in brush.....you will miss at 50 yards....

If you cannot hold 1/2 MOA off hand,you cannot shoot through holes in brush.....

You need turrets to shoot through holes in brush...

A fixed 6x is way better than a 2.5-8x despite the fact that you can put the variable on 6x. The variable will break at some point, but the fixed 6x will last forever.

A 30-30 needs TSX's to kill anything.

A 223AI with TSX's will kill almost anything.

Its not OK to sit in a secure box blind with a loaded rifle, but it is OK to carry a concealed and loaded handgun on your person.

If the power goes out for 5 minutes and the dehumidifier is off, my Stainless A-Bolt will be reduced to a pile of rust.

The gun-buying sickness I have is not as bad as I thought.

My constant tinkering with bullet/powder combinations is not as bad as I thought.

There are folks out there that are bigger loonies than I am.

There are some good folks on this site.

I've learned that:

Some rifles have recoil that is a sharp kick, vs. other rifles (usually of larger caliber) have a 'slow push'- this in spite of the fact that higher recoil energy causes faster recoil.

Don't believe a word that Lee 24 says.
Don't go to Maser's house.


And last of all "THE FIRST LIAR DOESN'T HAVE A CHANCE"

I am the only gun owner on the Camp Fire who owns big game rifles that routinely shoot groups larger than 1 inch.

Nah, We all own them, we just brag about the other ones! ..................DJ

Nah, we just shoot groups with fewer bullet holes in them. 1 shot seems about right.

Nah ....my mauser will only do about 1-1/2moa and it's 2 for 2 on elk now, plenty good enough for me!

I just learned there are holes in brush. I want to hunt there.

Main thing I've learned on here is you people in the North don't shoot big enough guns.
Here's the southern guidelines
A .243 should never be used on anything larger than a wounded field mouse
A .270 is appropriate to shoot coyotes with ONLY if its a WSM and mange has thinned the coyotes hair for easier bullet penetration
A 30 caliber cartridge is adequate to shoot a whitetail deer ONLY if it is of the Ultra Mag variation.
Anything larger than a whitetail deer requires a caliber that starts with a 4
If it flys and is bigger than a dove you better shoot a 12ga.
with 3 1/2's in it.
A fixed 6x is only good for shooting in the middle of a blue-bird day. Any other time than 10am - 2pm a 50mm objective scope on the end of a 30mm tube must be used. Preferably on 20x.

The whole population of Alaska must be on the Campfire. Atleast all of those with power and running water.

Don't kid yourself. Their are plenty of people whose only means of shooting a group less than 1 inch are to shoot one-shot groups.

The flip-flop recoil pad--the most brilliant idea since smokeless powder.........




Casey

I hope we have all learned that when Ingwe says..


YOU SUCK!


That it is the highest form of compliment, and he is jealous...


Ingwe

Heck, if we could just limit ALL our responses to YOU SUCK!....we might learn even more........


Casey

Opinions are like a-holes...everybody has one but some just put out more [bleep]...

Personally, I've learned a lot here at the fire...kind of expanded my base of knowledge.

I've also learned that some people don't know when to shut up and call it good.

Forgot to add that this site has cost me some money. Well spent though.

I learned:

That for the most part the East Hunts hot and the West hunts cold chamber.

That when I'm 55 I won't want to shoot anything bigger than 257 Roberts due to recoil tolerance or carry anything heaver than 7#. I will also want my wood stocked rifles back.

That experienced hunters have all taken elk, go for fixed scopes mounted low, don't clean their guns or shoot for groups.

That you need to shoot 10k rounds a year and shoot almost as well off hand to be a rifleman.

That the 223 will wack a deer every time, DRT. Buckshot for deer is totally inadequate (don't say that in VA)

That energy/speed doesn't matter, only where you hit them. Don't even try the Texas angle.

That Remington and Browning rifles suck, Savage and Tikka can stay in the back of the closet.

Bob is right...... it's endless........

There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.

While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified so it can carry at least 5 down.

95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (despite the fact most safaris take place in the winter)

In general, those who have time to make close to a 1000 posts a year know more about hunting and shooting than people who make their living in the hunting and shooting industry that have typically spent 150 days in the field or at the range each year for the last several decades.

In general those who have read enough books on the topic even though they have never actually done it, become equally or even superior to those who have done it.

In general those who sit at the bench and shoot 10,000 rounds a year know more about hunting then those ........ whats the use, see previous......

Animals can tell the difference in impact between .010 of an inch in diameter, 10 grains of bullet weight, and 100 fps.

Muzzle energy is all that matters , except for bullet placement, except for projectile brand, except for sectional density, except for ballistic coefficient,

If an expert with a $7500 rifle can make a successful harvest at 750 yard on an elk then any Kmart rifle with a tasco scope and weaver rings should too, cause it's shooting the same cartridge.

This last one can be changed to say $1500 bow and 75 yard shot too!

I've learned that I know some stuff about guns and hunting but still can't tell which is better, the .308 or the .30-06. I guess I'll have to keep reading and trying to increase my knowledge up to the point where I will be able to distinguish whether the .270 or the .280 is a better antelope round. I believe that once I can tell whether the .338 Federal or the .338 WM is too big or too small for something or other, I will have learned alot. I still don't know who Bob and Roy are.

I guess that once I figure out all this important stuff, I will know it all, like some posters here, and then I won't have to come to 24 anymore.

Fast Ed

There is absolutely no reason why anyone should start out on a hunt of any kind without wearing the very latest pattern in the most expensive camo clothing available as it would be impossible to even get close to "long range hunting" range.

All it takes to be a "long range hunter" is to mount your 15-50 X 80 scope backwards.

A .257 Roberts will kill better if it is known as a .257 Bob. Same with Roy and Weatherby.

If TRH makes a statement, he is right and everyone else is wrong, even if it is about pit-bulls.

O, and that gun writers just repeat someone else's stories. Especially when they write about "the worlds best deer rifle."

Scratches on your rifle incurred while hunting ruin the value of your rifle and scope but scratches incurred while moving your gun in and out of a safe should always be forgiven and overlooked and have no affect on resale value

Most bullet failures occur in dead animals.

I've learned that factory rifles and factory ammo are incapable of killing anything and that you should be ashamed of yourself for using them.

I've learned that ALL people from California are completely miserable from all of the liberal governmental intrusion into their lives and that there is absolutely no hunting or fishing available to the sportsman here.
I've learned that there are no wild places left in California, we are all from SanFran, LA and the urban jungle, and that Californians are the cause of everyone else's problems.

I've learned that you can kill an antelope with anything you point at it.

No rifle is capable of shooting good enough to kill an elk at fifty yards until it has been pillar-bedded and the muzzle re-crowned with a 13 17/64 degree crown.

I've learned:

#1 response will always be sarcasim

Everyone has their own opinions and experiences.

No one believes that there can be an experience or opinion that counters theirs or it must be wrong.

All of the options availabale today with bullets and cartridge there still isn't a perfect round for everyone.

Thank God there isn't only one cartridge available.

Elk are the toughest land animal known to man. Actually their hide is what makes kevlar.

This is the internet.... some think it is real life.... for some it is their life.

Hemi

Blow me..........grin

(I've learned all is golden with a grin, since most folks have the personality of a wet sock)

But some people are [bleep]....




Ingwe

and some people are Butt Phu.. never mind.

I wouldn't know anything about that...

Regardless of what ND and Tom264 may have said...rumor-wise.....


Ingwe

That's about right!

Hey! That's what I learned too!!

But mostly, Ive learned to read more and type less....

In all honesty I've learned so much about rifles, gunsmithing, reloading, bullets, optics, etc., etc. from reading here and the rest of the internet that it has become imposible to have a resonable discussion about these things with the friends that I hunt with. They all think I'm some kind of uber looney.

None of the guys I hunt with spend any time on the internet. They all suffer from magnumitis, like large and powerful scopes and shoot whatever factory ammo is on sale at wally world. When were at camp sitting around the fire and the topic of rifles, shooting, etc. comes up, I chime in with a few comments and they all give me a confused or blank stare and I realize that they haven't got the foggiest idea of what I'm talking about. I learned to just sit back, listen to all the banter, enjoy my beverage and just keep my pie hole shut.

The good part of what I've learned here has helped me to turn my father's 30-06 FN mauser, that he bought new in 1955, from a rifle that shot factory ammo in 2 to 4 inch patterns into a true sub moa tackdrver. It was the first centerfire rifle I ever shot and I intend on it being the last. He passed away over 30 years ago and every time I hunt with or shoot his rifle it brings back nothing but good memories.

The wealth of information here is truely priceless.

fish head

(I typed out a reply to this and it just went away, so I''ll try again)

I can relate to what you're saying, and that's why I really enjoy the threads about the gunshop/range bloopers.
Some people I've met just never had the opportunity to learn about this hunting and shooting stuff from someone who knows anything, and some have more attitude than ability, which prevents them from learning. Interesting and entertaining.
I enjoy helping people who have learned to listen, but I also like to listen to people smother themselves in their own b.s.