Hunting Season

As another year has gone mostly by, my favorite day of the year has passed. Opening Day of Dove season. It is the Super Bowl of hunting season. Going to the gas station at an unholy hour and seeing it packed with camo. And it also lets me know the other hunting seasons are coming up. 

Dove season always gets my mind in the hunting season head space. Now I need to pull out my hunting rifle. Take time to go to the range and see if I can hit what I am aiming at. I always double check the zero, check off-hand accuracy, and check kneeling accuracy. As a creature of habit, I always use the same loads. My hunting rifle and back up are the same caliber and zeroed to the same load. Keep it simple. 

Living in California I started using lead free ammunition for hunting. It was the law. After years of using it, I just stick to it. I know that not all states require lead free for hunting, but California isn’t the only state that does. Most other states that have a ban have a few caveats to the restriction. It could be limited to certain game or certain areas. 

When I started using lead free ammo Barnes made the only dependable projectile for use. At least that was readily available, and I could get consistent groups from both their factory ammunition and my loaded ammunition using their projectiles. I have been fortunate that my firearms have held zero using their lead free that it had with my normal lead ammunition with the same bullet weight.

Most years I can keep my accuracy up by varmint hunting. When I worked on a ranch coyotes and squirrels were a real issue. The nice thing is they were perfect practice for hunting other game. That and can races. Put a can on the ground and keep shooting it until you reach a certain distance or can’t shoot it anymore. There is no end of prep you can do getting ready for hunting. 

Find a round you like and get a target that works for you. Practice shooting year-round. Your skills don’t improve through osmosis. Sadly. If you are hunting this year, then I wish you luck.