I have hunted predators now for 9 years. One of the best things I ever did was to join this forum. I have met so many great people like Jeff Mock, Tony Tebbe, Kerry Carver, Byron South, Barry, and Scott Milkovich. One of the best things about this site is the plethora of great advice. When these guys speak, I listen. So when I was starting to have problems damaging fur with my Specialized Dynamics .223 Ar-15, I posted up for advice on what caliber would be better suited to fox and bobcats for harvesting fur. I received so many great opinions, in the end I decided to go with the .17 Remington for my new SD AR-15. Scott builds such a great rifle that I had no doubts as to what rifle to use, I was new to the caliber, but I have faith in the advice from the hunters on Predator Masters. I ended up getting an 18in flat top bull barrel on the Father's Day special that Scott ran.
In the past several weeks, I have gotten several foxes, and was very excited to see that the cartridge stopped the foxes in their tracks, and resulted in no fur damage. I had also had run ins with several bobcats, but none presenting a good opportunity for a shot.
Yesterday my friend Dustin told me he was looking at going out this morning. The weather report called for high winds, but Fortune Favors the Bold, so out we went. Dustin and I wanted to go into a very steep and rocky area that tends to attract a lot of hikers. We felt that if we got in early enough we could get in some stands before people started showing up. We got into the area before sun up, and to our surprise we found the canyon that we wanted to call, running with water. There was no way to get across the running creek, so we decided to go in another direction and call a nearby canyon. As soon as the sun came up, so did the winds. The winds were topping 25 mph, and our hopes were dropping. The wind was so bad it blew down the caller, and my hat. Finally, we called it off. We made our way back to the truck, dejected and discussed calling it an early day. But on our way in, we crossed a dry wash, and saw many tracks. So we decided to follow the wash, and give it one more try. We followed the wash until we found crossing tracks, and an intersection of 3 washes. I put the caller and speaker in a tree, and settled in to call. Dustin watched the wash in one direction, I took the other. The winds were still very high, but 5 minutes in, I see a flash of grey up the canyon wall. I focus in on the rocks, and see a large bobcat winding its way down toward the wash. I lost sight of him for a few seconds, when he hopped up onto a rock overlooking the wash, directly in front of me, 80 yards away. I settled onto the scope, centering the crosshairs on the chest, and squeezed off a round. Through the scope I saw the cat go down.
Dustin climbed up into the rocks, found the cat, and told me that it looked like a crime scene, that the round had torn up the cat. He climbed back down and we checked the cat. There was a lot of blood on the cat, but no apparent wounds. Turns out when I skinned him out, that the bullet had sctually impacted high on the chest, more in the lower neck area, and had hit the jugular vein. The bullet then passed into the spine in front of the shoulders, pulverizing the spine, killing the cat instantly. No fur damage at all. One hole in, nothing out. The bullet did an amazing amount of damage, but seemd to do it in a more controlled fashion than the .223 does. I am very pleased, and am totally in love with the combination of a great SD rifle, and this cartridge.
Couple a great rifle, with a great cartridge, persistance, and good partners, and you will hang a lot of fur.
In the past several weeks, I have gotten several foxes, and was very excited to see that the cartridge stopped the foxes in their tracks, and resulted in no fur damage. I had also had run ins with several bobcats, but none presenting a good opportunity for a shot.
Yesterday my friend Dustin told me he was looking at going out this morning. The weather report called for high winds, but Fortune Favors the Bold, so out we went. Dustin and I wanted to go into a very steep and rocky area that tends to attract a lot of hikers. We felt that if we got in early enough we could get in some stands before people started showing up. We got into the area before sun up, and to our surprise we found the canyon that we wanted to call, running with water. There was no way to get across the running creek, so we decided to go in another direction and call a nearby canyon. As soon as the sun came up, so did the winds. The winds were topping 25 mph, and our hopes were dropping. The wind was so bad it blew down the caller, and my hat. Finally, we called it off. We made our way back to the truck, dejected and discussed calling it an early day. But on our way in, we crossed a dry wash, and saw many tracks. So we decided to follow the wash, and give it one more try. We followed the wash until we found crossing tracks, and an intersection of 3 washes. I put the caller and speaker in a tree, and settled in to call. Dustin watched the wash in one direction, I took the other. The winds were still very high, but 5 minutes in, I see a flash of grey up the canyon wall. I focus in on the rocks, and see a large bobcat winding its way down toward the wash. I lost sight of him for a few seconds, when he hopped up onto a rock overlooking the wash, directly in front of me, 80 yards away. I settled onto the scope, centering the crosshairs on the chest, and squeezed off a round. Through the scope I saw the cat go down.
Dustin climbed up into the rocks, found the cat, and told me that it looked like a crime scene, that the round had torn up the cat. He climbed back down and we checked the cat. There was a lot of blood on the cat, but no apparent wounds. Turns out when I skinned him out, that the bullet had sctually impacted high on the chest, more in the lower neck area, and had hit the jugular vein. The bullet then passed into the spine in front of the shoulders, pulverizing the spine, killing the cat instantly. No fur damage at all. One hole in, nothing out. The bullet did an amazing amount of damage, but seemd to do it in a more controlled fashion than the .223 does. I am very pleased, and am totally in love with the combination of a great SD rifle, and this cartridge.
Couple a great rifle, with a great cartridge, persistance, and good partners, and you will hang a lot of fur.
