Sticking to one rifle

[daniel collums]

i think my wife has been waiting for just the right chance to say the most hurtful thing, not saying shes wrong it just hurts to hear knowing shes right, well at least some of the time. After i made that luck shot on the 5 point last week, thats what she said anyway, not that i disagreed. But now she says i'm trying to hunt to many different rifles. That i need to stick with one rifle per season. Shes not trying to get me to give up and sell but only to dedicate one rifle to a yearly deer season. So i thought about it and i thinks she has a good i.d. so i told her shes right so for the rest of the season i will try it, and starting spring and this coming summer i will try and stick to one iron for hunting. I'm glad she brought this up cause i been looking for a good reason to buy a new rifle.

 

[Captjoel]

:hmm: Sounds like some pretty fair reasoning there about buying another rifle! I have done some target line shooting over the years and have used most of the rifles in my little "collection". At my club, there is this old guy who doesn't always show up for the competition, but when he does......He always seems to win the matches. He only owns one gun. It is a 50 caliber TC Hawken. I've heard this said many times; "Beware of the man who has only one gun." :shocked2:

 

[Spikebuck]

On "luck"...every time we get something there is some element of "luck." There are so many variables we cannot control that all things need to align which produces the opportunity to use skill. But...if you were aiming for 90 to 100 yards and the deer was 136...there was some element of luck since generally a ball would drop a lot in those last 36 yards over 100. I was kind of surprised when you said you were aiming 4 or 5 inches over it's back for the yardage you thought it was at...seemed like a lot. :idunno: But good thing you did!

But, if one has their rifles all set up with the same sight picture and shoots them enough to be competent, I don't think one has to limit themselves to just one gun per season. I keep note cards to be sure I know what load goes to what gun...but sight picture on all that have open iron sights is the same.

Anyway...if you can now go get another gun...go for it! :thumbsup:

 

[Robert Egler]

Of course I'm hunting squirrels rather than deer, but I have 4 different guns I hunt with in squirrel season, depending on my preference for the day. As long as you know how each one shoots there is no problem.

 

[FishDFly]

I have to vote with your wife.

 

[Wolfbane]

I think it all comes down to familiarity really; that is, you will have most success with a rifle that is familiar to you, that you have practiced with regularly, and whose quirks you know. I ended up getting really frustrated when my rifle collection was twice as large, as it meant I felt relatively unfamiliar with many of my rifles, rather than quite familiar with a few. These days I tend to keep a journal for each rifle, recording loads, holdover a various ranges and so on. If I get a new rifle I try and spend as much time as possible with it, recording as I go along.

 

[nwtradegun]

women are ignorant to what a man needs for hunting. that's why I am not hitched anymore.
you need a un for each game animal.

 

[BrownBear]

I hunt with lots of different rifles, depending on my mood and the calls of our diverse terrain.

BUT!!!

And it's a big BUT.

I don't just grab a gun off the rack and head out the door with it. I always make the decision ahead of time and hit the range for some serious shooting with that particular rifle.

Short notice trips, I always use the one I've most recently been using.

Familiarity with a gun is critical, I think. But it doesn't have to strap you to the same gun all season long.

 

[daniel collums]

i do have more than one, but i have 3 i use regularly. a scoped cf and a t/c .54 hawken and a .45 t/c seneca. i do have records on both and always look over them before i take one out. the .54 is rifle that has the least ball drop but in a way its harder to keep on target for me, it may be the combination of weight and the tad difference between the thickness of the bead sights. in the future i will sit and think a lot more and reread my cards better before changing up. i plan on using the .45's more and trying to adjust my hunting plan to fit them. not sure about the cherokee i just got. i will try it on target this year and see how it does.

 

[larry wv]

I load up 3 or 4 before Deer season and go out the door with which ever tickles my fancy according to where I am going to hunt. I can remember the loads and have to carry a bit of extra stuff in my possible bag but I sure enjoy hunting with different rifles. Usually 3 flint and 1 cap gun, its a .45 Hawken I just like the way it carries so it gets out yearly.

Larry

 

[ncmtmike]

Well not that I would complain to anyone about owning several ML's but,I for one just own 1 smoothbore that I can hunt any & everything with. I have seen far to many folks spending a ton of cash seeking that PERFECT muzzleloader.There is an advantage to just owning 1 ,after a while you know that one inside out, what it can and can't do, and how close or far it can do it.
So if you own 1 or 20 more power to you,it's your decision. :wink:

 

[coloradoclyde]

My Dad was a one gun man. He had One for squirrels, one for rabbits or birds and one for deer. He never hunted with a muzzleloader, but deer hunting only required two shells, one to make sure it was sighted in and one to shoot the deer through the heart.

I've been known to use a different gun every day My record was switching guns 3 times in one day.
Hunting with one gun will improve your success rate but using different guns is way more fun, :grin:

 

[Swede50]

I have several BP rifles I have taken deer hunting but only one of them I have taken deer with.
My problem now is I can't see the rear site clearly anymore.
I am going to have to use a scope and since I don't want to mess up the rifle I have taken all of
the deer with I have purchased one made to use a scope I can only hope this is not a mistake.
If so I am thinking about getting a 20ga smooth bore rifle with only a front bead. :hmm:

My father has always been a one gun hunter.

 

[Golfswithwolves]

She probably also prefers that you have just the one wife! :wink:

 

[daniel collums]

she don't have to worry about me getting a second one of them. one is all i can afford.

 

[Spikebuck]

My problem now is I can't see the rear site clearly anymore.
I am going to have to use a scope

Why not use a tang peep instead?

 

[FishDFly]

Another option is to move the rear sight further toward and away from the eye. Lots of old guns had multiple places where the rear was moved forward to get it in focus.

 

[robinsroost]

I kind of like the idea. I only have three muzzleloader rifles, a .32 Crockett, for squirrels, a .50 caplock and a .54 GPR flintlock. The .32 is too light for deer and not legal in my state, but it is light and fun to shoot. The .50 I built myself, and it has been blooded. The .54 is fun, and different, but it has not been blooded. Keep yer powder dry.......Robin :wink:

 

[nchawkeye]

I have used the same .54 for deer since the late '80s and I have a .40 that I use for squirrels...

 

[daniel collums]

well i had a hard time trying to choose which rifle to finish this season with, i thought about drawing names out of a hat but decided to load each rifle and fire one round from each from a bench and shooting vice. my target was a paper plate taped to a sheet of tin at a 100 yards, which ever rifle hit the closest to center would be the one i would hunt with. well my .50 kentucky hit center the rest i just got close. went hunting this morning and made a perfect pass through shot on a young doe at about 60 yards. she bolted after the shot and ran about a 100 yards before piling up. left a blood trail two foot wide the whole run. i will post a picture this evening when i get back from town.