TriggerTalk Radio

Preparing to head “Up North” this year for opening day of firearm season I began to get my hunting gear together. Many items are durable/reusable so this just means trying to remember where I put them last year when I got home.

It also meant a trip to the sporting goods store for those things that are perishable such us Deer Attractants which each year promise to lure the really big bucks to my hunting location. I think they just repackage them with fancier labels each year because they always smell the same (terrible) to me.

Last year I was suckered into a lure that was like burning incense on a stick. It promised to be effective for over a mile to “drive bucks wild”. I have visions of stoned Bucks sitting around the smoking incense in camp chairs with a Pabst Blue Ribbon in their hoof.

As I wandered through the isle of the store I couldn’t help but notice all the camo underwear that is now available. Maybe it is just me, but I don’t recall ever being outside in a deer blind in my skivvies. These high tech unmentionables are made of the latest scent trapping materials that I must spray with neutralizer after washing with my scent killing bar of soap.

When did they come up with so many different types of camo? I count at least 30 different shades and varieties of wood, grass, and leaves. One company even has a camo material that changes color with temperature to match the seasons.

I remember when hunters wore red plaid Woolrich jackets and Stormy Kromer hats. If it was really cold there were hats that had big furry ear flaps (Think Elmer Fudd).

Back then heavy wool socks kept your feet warm, and I remember I feeling a little bit sissy the first time I used those air activated toe warmers. This year I saw lithium ion battery powered heated insoles for your boots that come with a remote control so you can adjust the temperature of your feet without taking your boots off.

Choice of guns and cartridges were limited too. There were a few big thumpers, but the most common guns were lever actions in 30-30 or bolt actions in 30-06.. Grandpa did not have a special cartridge with a string of letters like WSSUM to signify it was the latest Super Duper Long or short Ultra-Magnum low drag high velocity reduced recoil wiz bang.

A few years ago my son Ben and I went hunting on what we called our “Retro-Hunt”. I used my 1952 Savage 99 lever action in 300 Savage and he used my 1951 Winchester Model 94 Lever in 30-30. My only concession was that it sported a modern optic while Ben used the iron sights.

While not a productive hunt that year we did have a lot of fun. One of my friends with us remarked that he saw a few other hunters with Savage 99’s and the rifle seems to carry a lot of street cred with the older hunters

Which brings me back to, How did Grandpa ever get a deer without all these modern gadgets we have today?

I am beginning to think all this new-fangled stuff is aimed more at taking me than in taking a deer!

For years the use of conventional rifles cartridges has been prohibited in the “Limited Firearm Deer Zone”   The reasoning was that limiting firearms in the mid-Southern portion of the state to Pistol, Shotguns, and Muzzleloaders it would increase safety in densely populated areas.

This may have been true when shotguns were only shooting plain lead slugs, pistols had short barrels and muzzleloaders shot round balls with percussion caps or Flintlocks.

The advent of in-line muzzleloaders, and the development of high performance sabot rounds for both muzzleloaders and shotguns has brought the performance of these firearms on par with some rifles.

Shooting a ballistic tipped 250 – 400 grain jacketed round with a great ballistic coefficient, powered by magnum loads modern black-powder substitutes, and reliably ignited by 209 primers has pretty much negated these supposed safety benefits. These new Muzzleloader projectiles and Shotgun shells with Sabot projectile can reach out and to long ranges approaching that of a rifle.

I have to question whether these original restrictions actually had any benefit anyway.  Proper training and knowing your target and what is beyond is still the most important part of the safety equation.  I personally tend to believe it was more of a “feel good” restriction by non-hunters than a real improvement to safety.

That being said, I applaud our State Legislature for a change that will affect the firearms available to be used in the Limited Firearm Zone beginning this Fall.

Southern Michigan hunters will now be able to carry a rifle chambered in:

• A .35 or larger caliber rifle loaded with straight-walled cartridges
• A case length of 1.16 inches minimum to 1.8 inches Maximum.

This allows the hunter to use of some of the more popular pistol hunting rounds such as the .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum.

Rifles chambered in these rounds have been available for years and can be found in all types of guns from lever action Winchesters and Marlins to semi-auto models such as the classic Ruger DeerStalker, Deerfield carbine, or more recently the Deer Slayer or 99/44.

I recently picked up a Ruger M77/44 for this purpose.

Light and short,  it sports a stainless action, 18 ½ inch barrel with a synthetic stock dressed up in G1 Vista camo pattern. With rifle loading for  240 Grain Hornady HP/XTP, it should deliver a respectable 1900 fps velocity and 1900 ft lbs of energy and I expect it to be a good 100-150 yard gun.

In addition to providing ease of handling and flexibility to the hunter, it could be of benefit young hunters, women, smaller stature people, or hunters that are sensitive to recoil.

The previous shotguns and muzzleloaders restrictions may have prevented some from choosing to hunt in Michigan, with some hunting in bordering states such as Indiana that already welcome rifles chambered in these cartridges.  Allowing these hunters to stay in Michigan will keep their hunting dollars supporting our local economies.

Best of all it is a great reason to get another gun, but you already know that!