Category: Hunting

Ruger 10/22 Carbine, by Thomas Christianson

I recently began evaluating a rifle chambered in .22LR. In my notes and in my thoughts, I kept comparing the rifle to the Ruger 10/22. After a while, I thought, “I really should write about the Ruger 10/22 first. That would provide a baseline for future reviews of other rifles chambered in .22LR. In many ways, the Ruger 10/22 is the standard against which other  rifles are measured.” The Ruger 10/22 is a semi-automatic rifle or carbine chambered in .22LR. It comes from the factory with a detachable rotary box magazine that holds 10 rounds. It has an aluminum receiver …


Mossberg Maverick 88 Smooth Bore Slug Gun, by Thomas Christianson

I recently tested the Mossberg Marverick 88 Deer Pump in 12 gauge. It has a 24-inch smooth bore slug barrel with adjustable rifle sights, a three inch chamber, and six shot capacity with 2.75 inch shells. I found it to be a sturdy, reliable, and reasonably accurate option for hunting deer and other mid-to-large-sized game at slug ranges (50 yards or less). With a manufacturer-suggested retail price of only $245, it offers a highly versatile firearm at an extremely reasonable price. The Backstory A couple of decades ago, I was preparing for a hunt on my Uncle’s property, which bordered …


Prepping With Inexpensive .22 Revolvers, by B.F.

I was organizing my gun safes, and realized that I had somehow accumulated five single-action .22 rimfire revolvers. I thought that a short article about them, how accurate or not they are, and whether or not various brands of ammunition make an accuracy difference might be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. To preview the conclusion, yes, if… I’ll start with the latest acquisition first. I was at a gun show earlier this year, not intending to purchase anything, and ran across one of the latest offerings from Heritage Arms. Heritage has been making the Rough Rider .22 single-action revolver in …


Youth’s Lessons: The Slingshot – Part 5, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 4.) If you want to easily include some arrows as part of your slingshot carry kit without worrying about how to store and carry them, PocketShot makes some great standard and bowfishing 3-section take-down arrows. If you plan on going after larger game you should replace the field tips on the standard arrows with broadheads. As an aside, since slingshot people stole arrows from archery folks, I guess some turnabout is only fair –a company called Shoottech Systems makes a dual-string bow with a magnetic catch on the string that allows you to shoot steel balls with …


Youth’s Lessons: The Slingshot – Part 4, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 3.) If you’re ever in a survival situation and you need a slingshot, the good news is that it’s possible to make field expedient bands from some commonly available materials, including: Rubber bands Condoms Bicycle inner tube (latex inner tubes are best) Exercise bands/tubing Latex/Rubber gloves Balloons Surgical tubing Spear gun tubing Rubber bladder from sports balls Each of these has different characteristics, so you’ll need to do some experimenting with different ways of shaping, combining and attaching them to see what works best. I realize that this is probably a lot more information than you’d ever …


Youth’s Lessons: The Slingshot – Part 3, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 2.) Add-Ons There are dozens of possible additional features that can be built into or added onto a basic slingshot frame to enhance its effectiveness and functionality. One of the most common ones is a wrist brace, which is a rigid extension that attaches to the frame and presses down on the top of your forearm. In regards to my earlier discussion about the lever behavior of a slingshot, a wrist brace helps overcome this problem by transferring the rotating force on your wrist into a downward force on your forearm, which allows you to use stronger …


Youth’s Lessons: The Slingshot – Part 2, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 1.) On any frame with forks there are also two options for the orientation of how the bands are attached to the forks – Through The Forks (TTF) or Over The Top (OTT). TTF means that the bands come around the sides of the forks, and the ammo passes through the forks roughly centered on the bands. OTT means the bands come over the top of the forks, and the ammo comes out roughly centered on a line across the tops of the forks. Here’s a picture that illustrates the two layouts (TTF on top, OTT on …


Youth’s Lessons: The Slingshot – Part 1, by J.M.

One of the hallmarks of good preparedness is leveraging lessons of the past to help us prepare for the future. However, as we age we tend to discard a lot of the simpler things we learned earlier in life in favor of more advanced (and typically more complex and expensive) approaches. Weapons are a great example of this – if you’re somewhere in the realm of a ‘seasoned citizen’ there’s a good chance you made and used a slingshot (‘catapult’ or ‘katty’ for those of you in the UK) from a tree branch and inner tube sometime in your youth, …


Bushnell Trail Cameras, by Pat Cascio

I’m old school – especially when it comes to hunting. I always thought that the word “hunting” meant you got out there and beat the bushes for the game you wanted. I guess things have changed over the years, and now it is a scientific and calculated thing – doesn’t sound much like a hunt to me. It is more of a game, if you ask me. Have you ever wondered what is going on at your digs, when you aren’t home, or who – or what – is on your property in the dead of night? Yeah, I thought …


Ruger American .243 Rifle and Vortex Scope, by Pat Cascio

I used to enjoy a day of fishing, even if I never got a nibble – it was still a great day. During big game season, I used to love humping up and down logging roads, or in some areas, driving logging roads, looking for big game, in particular black tail deer in Western Oregon. I’m no spring chicken any longer, and I hate to admit that. My days of going around on foot, looking for game are over. Same for driving the logging roads. My advanced age and osteoarthritis just don’t allow me to spend hours on end driving, …


Flatten The Curve for Hunting Deer – Part 2, by Behind The Counter

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) The topics that I’ll deal with in Part 2 include: • The size, shape, location, and contents of a deer’s vital zone, • Legal, ethical, and practical considerations using your defense rifle for hunting, • Other caliber options available for your AR-15 platform including .300 Blackout, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, .224 Valkyrie, .22 Nosler, .350 Legend, and the new kid on the block 6mm ARC. Let’s begin by understanding where to aim. HOW BIG IS A DEER’S VITAL ZONE? Well, it depends. A deer’s vital zone area is easy to visualize. Draw …


Flatten The Curve for Hunting Deer – Part 1, by Behind The Counter

Do you remember how long it was supposed to take to “flatten the curve”? Weeks not years. In this article, it takes a second or less to flatten the curve. To flatten the curve for hunting deer, we will follow the science. No masks required. This is primarily the science of external ballistics with a nod to terminal ballistics. The curve is the trajectory or arcing line of flight that a bullet takes when it leaves the muzzle of a firearm on its way to a down-range target. Because the barrel is pointed slightly above the line of sight, the …


Your AR-15 For Hunting Deer, by Behind The Counter

Even a casual reader of SurvivalBlog over the last several years has seen a number of excellent articles on deer hunting. While deer can be a valuable supplement to food storage in more or less normal times, most of these articles have made commonsense arguments that it would be a serious mistake to plan on venison as a staple in a true TEOTWAWKI event. There are some rural parts of the Redoubt where deer may continue to be abundant at least for some time, but in the more populous Midwestern farming states, along the East Coast, and in the South, …


Becoming a Hunter – Part 3, by Remington Smith

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Early in the season, in this same spot, I learned that I was truly a hunter. It was not when I took my deer because I took him from another place on our land. Instead, it was when I passed up an immature buck. That spike I mentioned earlier gave me multiple opportunities to shoot. I never did. Knowing that I had the discipline to stick with what I had deemed a mature animal gave me the confidence to continue hunting the big bucks. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, …


Becoming a Hunter – Part 1, by Remington Smith

The mention of hunting will most likely bring two responses. The first of the non-hunter, sometimes anti-hunter, and that is of disgust. The other is of the hunter himself. It is one who smiles widely and tells a couple of hunting stories, however true they may be. When I was young and growing up my response would have been the first. That is not entirely my fault because most of the so-called hunters in my area think nothing of killing an immature animal, or worse yet, not being a marksman and wounding the animal. For me, wounding an animal and …