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My new to me "Bush Buster"

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ORBushman

ORBushman

"In the Woods"
Joined
Dec 7, 2022
Messages
612
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Location
Oregon
Here in OR. where I do most of my hunting, I see deer more often than not, under 75yds. I chewed on it a bit, and it almost got parted out but, I just had to have her! T/C Hawken .50cal w/23" barrel. I polished up the brass a bit and wiped the stock down and she's a real beaut! I dubbed her "Little LouLou". I am waiting on the rear peep aperture from TOTW. I got both sizes to see how my eyes will handle the Peep sight. Anyway, she's going to make real neat bush gun for the ORBushman. 😁 tagged: @Splitear

thumbnail_IMG_1061.jpg
 
ORBushman said:
Here in OR. where I do most of my hunting, I see deer more often than not, under 75yds. I chewed on it a bit, and it almost got parted out but, I just had to have her! T/C Hawken .50cal w/23" barrel. I polished up the brass a bit and wiped the stock down and she's a real beaut! I dubbed her "Little LouLou". I am waiting on the rear peep aperture from TOTW. I got both sizes to see how my eyes will handle the Peep sight. Anyway, she's going to make real neat bush gun for the ORBushman. 😁 tagged: @Splitear

View attachment 254366
Click to expand...
Looks like it would be quick to "bring-to-bear" for a fast shot on deer in the thick stuff! Nice find!
 
hanshi said:
I killed a lot of Georgia deer with a 24" barrel .50 and I used 3F. It does as well as the longer tubes and yours will be super handy.
Click to expand...
@hanshi , I'm going to go 3F also. Mind if I ask what your load was? I realize not all rifles are created equal but, would give me a starting point on how many grains of 3F.
 
ORBushman said:
@hanshi , I'm going to go 3F also. Mind if I ask what your load was? I realize not all rifles are created equal but, would give me a starting point on how many grains of 3F.
Click to expand...



For a .50 I'd suggest 60 grains as a reasonable starting load. I'm also willing to bet you will find your accurate hunting load between 60 grns and 75 grns of 3F. My current .50 likes 70 grains of 3F.
 
ORBushman said:
Here in OR. where I do most of my hunting, I see deer more often than not, under 75yds. I chewed on it a bit, and it almost got parted out but, I just had to have her! T/C Hawken .50cal w/23" barrel. I polished up the brass a bit and wiped the stock down and she's a real beaut! I dubbed her "Little LouLou". I am waiting on the rear peep aperture from TOTW. I got both sizes to see how my eyes will handle the Peep sight. Anyway, she's going to make real neat bush gun for the ORBushman. 😁 tagged: @Splitear

View attachment 254366
Click to expand...
Very nice, ORH! That should make a very nice deer tool.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that this ole boy loves carbine type big game tools. They are much, much easier to pack in mountains and/or thick areas, usually lighter, and are much quicker getting on target. With my favorite big game rifle, I've actually killed a fair amount of critters that were running. One of which was a black bear.

About 4-5 times now I have tried to do the longer barreled rifle thing but always go back to carbine barreled rifles. In fact, I just experienced this last week with my Lyman .54 GPR. Down loaded it to only 30 grains of 3F, resighted it in for 35 yards and took it to the hardwoods squirrel hunting. Didn't take long to get a dose of reality. Then yesterday I got out my ML's to oil them again. When I picked up my New Englander it was like "Wow, what a difference". Not even sure if I will hunt with my GPR this year now, nor if I will even keep it.
 
@ETipp "Didn't take long to get a dose of reality. Then yesterday I got out my ML's to oil them again. When I picked up my New Englander it was like "Wow, what a difference". Not even sure if I will hunt with my GPR this year now, nor if I will even keep it."

What did you say? I see after even after moving out of the steep hills of Idaho and to flat ground, a 8 or 9lb walking stick is no fun.

Makes no sense to use a long barrel if all you are going to shoot is 125 yards or less. Those 3 extra pounds take all the fun out of strolling the woods!
 
chorizo said:
@ETipp "Didn't take long to get a dose of reality. Then yesterday I got out my ML's to oil them again. When I picked up my New Englander it was like "Wow, what a difference". Not even sure if I will hunt with my GPR this year now, nor if I will even keep it."

What did you say? I see after even after moving out of the steep hills of Idaho and to flat ground, a 8 or 9lb walking stick is no fun.

Makes no sense to use a long barrel if all you are going to shoot is 125 yards or less. Those 3 extra pounds take all the fun out of strolling the woods!
Click to expand...
Indeed. I knew this many years ago even when much younger. I have never liked packing much weight while in the mountains. Nor was I ever impressed with longer barreled critter tools for thicker hunting grounds.

To be clear, I purchased my GPR for its awesome RB shooting abilities, which it is superb in that aspect. It was also purchased for stationary/stand hunting. So it will suffice for such. I normally do not walk far to get to a stand location. But time will tell. I still have my conical shooter.

Also, I'm finding that father time has apparently been working double time in the last couple of years, in terms of catching up with this ole boy. :)
 
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