You may be asking what a review on a sniper instructional book is doing in an outdoors magazine dedicated to effective wildlife conservation practices and game and fish cooking. What you might be missing is how the path of hunter to sniper has returned to hunter in the last ten years. It’s evident in the camouflage and even the equipment being used in the hunting community.               

Hunter, Sniper, Hunter 

Major Plaster uses the phrase “Close to the Earth” to describe that quality about the best snipers from around the world. This refers to the fact that almost all the best snipers, certainly the most recognized, had younger years based in the country, with a solid hunting background. Whether Russian snipers who hunted wolves in Siberia, or Austrailians who shot kangaroos, or American snipers who were raised hunting elk, deer and squirrels, all the highly regarded snipers had a solid background learning woodcraft in their youth.              

How does this pertain to you, the hunter, just trying to do better in field? A lot!               

In the last twenty years, the hunting community has benefited greatly by the equipment that has been developed for the sniping community. Previously, it was the sniping community that benefited most from what the hunting community provided. There’s this cycle that seems to have come completely around, where techniques and equipment gained through hunting were brought to the sniper schools of past: and now, the equipment and knowledge that is used in sniping has come full circle back to hunting…and anything you can do to be that more efficient in taking your game, lessening the chances of crippling or loss, is a level of effectiveness to reach for–good wildlife management and conservation practices demand it.              

One of the easiest ties to recognize are the camouflage improvements to hunting clothing, advances in the military that were picked up and improved upon in the hunting community. There are also the improvements in rifles that make it almost a foregone conclusion that if you’re purchasing a new bolt-action rifle from a reputable manufacturer, you can pretty much expect it to shoot under 1 MOA.               

A review of writings by Jack O’Connor would quickly tell you that in the 1930s and before WWII a rifle that shot 1.5 MOA was pretty good. And we’re not even talking yet about shooting technique and optics, of which the improvements in binoculars and laser rangefinders has been amazing! Sometimes snipers can even make good optical equipment purchases  through the civilian hunting market because the advances have come so fast in this hunter focused market—driven by a market that wants the best and has the money to pay for it.               

And let’s not forget those skills taught snipers that every hunter can benefit from knowing and practicing: attention to detail, personal and environmental awareness; and  rifle, optics, and cartridge knowledge, and finally, but never least important–marksmanship.               

The Ultimate Sniper

Of all the books out there, that takes a reader from the most basic skills to the most advanced, the latest updated and expanded the 2006 release of The Ultimate Sniper rises to the top. A large book with 573 pages, everyone of them worthwhile. It was written and compiled by sniper instructor and lecturer Major John L. Plaster, USAR (ret.), whose prior experience with MACV SOG in Indochina and starting a number of highly regarded sniper schools, are well-known.               

Even though the sniper’s instructional tome is directed toward military and law enforcement snipers, there is so much information that applies to your hunting improvement. Here are just  few of what  The Ultimate Sniper covers.               

Basic and Advanced Marksmanship

If only these sections were taught to everyone who picks up a rifle. In the basic section, Plaster writes about sniper attitude, proper sight picture, shooting positions and breath control, and one shot sighting in. With the advent of the Caldwell Lead Sled, I’ve found this to be one of the easiest to perform.               

When Plaster gets to the advanced marksmanship techniques, there’s information in there that will improve your shooting skills immensely.               

Get Support

I’ve lost count of how many hunters I’ve seen miss because they just brought their rifles up and fired off-hand. How much more venison would have ended up in a hunter’s meatlocker had they used a better shooting rest?               

A sniper is always aware of the best shooting position, always on the lookout for the rifle rest. This can be as simple as shucking a backpack and dropping it down the ground to lay the rifle over (one of my favorites if the ground permits) or dropping to a sitting position—many drop to a knee, when a sitting position is much more stable…              

Bring shooting sticks with you. Plaster shows you how to make your own. You can make them long or short. I carry a foot-long tripod made with wooden dowels in my hunting pack, and also carry a set of Predator-styx slung across my shoulder with a thin bungee cord. At a moments notice, you’ll have a much better shooting rest than an offhand shot could ever be.               

That’s not to say I won’t take a quick shot at something close in the brush, or even running from an offhand position. But, it takes a lot of practice to do what is called “snap shooting.” Major Plaster co-produced and hosted an excellent video called The Ultimate Rifleman, which was directed specifically toward the hunter, and where he taught how best to prepare for a running shot on big-game. If you happen to find an old copy, snatch it up—you can find quite a bit of that type of information in the The Ultimate Sniper DVD that Major Plaster still produces.               

Excellent skills deteriorate rapidly…if you come away from these sections on marksmanship with only one thought, it should at least be: practice, practice, practice!               

Breath and Squeeze

The art of marksmanship is covered in great detail and every hunter will be well-served by rereading the sections dedicated to the integrated act of shooting. Using a chart and graph, Plaster reveals major components of excellent marksmanship: breathing, and trigger control, integrated with good body position and scope picture.               

Like in archery, shooting a rifle requires follow through. If we all had to hunt with flintlocks like our ancestors, the importance of follow-through would be that much more apparent to the average shooter. Keep your eye on the target, sights on the desired bullet impact point, and a solid stockweld.               

Know Your Round

One of the best things you can do toward improving your shooting skills is knowing what your bullet does in flight. I do this two ways, actually going to the range and shooting at 25 yard increments out to 600 yards with my hunting loads. Also, I use my ballistic software (I have copy of the Nightforce Ballistic Program that has a collection of factory rounds cataloged and the ability to type in values from a chronograph) to get a pretty good idea of travel of my bullets in their arch. I sight most of my rifles in at 1.5 inches high at 100 yards. If I run across a really close buck and want to shoot it in the neck, I aim a bit lower…little adjustments that can make a great difference when you know what your bullet’s doing in its travel.               

BLACKHAWK!®'s Pro Marksman Folding Ammo Pouch with two windows for checking your dope before your shot, along with the sliderule style Mildot Master.

Expanded Awareness 

Kim’s is a game that was first described in the story Kim, written by Rudyard Kipling. It’s a game that was taught to Kim when he was being trained to spy. It’s a game in a variety of forms that’s taught to spies and snipers and anyone involved in intelligence gathering. Its purpose is to improve memory skills. Attention to detail is also covered in it, which to a hunter is very useful.               

Plaster has included a sniper’s version of the Where’s Waldo visual puzzle. I suggest using the Where’s Ivan as an example and sketch a herd of deer with a small buck and medium-sized buck and monster buck scattered within the herd. Then, give time limits to you and your friends to pick out bucks, and then try remembering where exactly they are in relation to the rest of the deer in the group.               

Then, when you’re out in the field, scan for deer and remember what qualities there are in deer, or whatever your prey–what makes them stand out against the landscape? During archery season, and early rifle seasons, in the West, this is easy, as the red-brown and light brown hides of deer really stand out on green grass and foliage. Against the snows of winter, or the dry brown grass, a deer’s darker winter hide really stands out.               

Train your subconscious to pick out inconsistencies. One of the best sighting techniques I was taught as a teen was to look for horizontal lines. Aside from the horizon, Nature normally stretches out in vertical lines, tree trunks rising to the sun, and hillsides washing downhill. When you see horizontal lines on a hillside, like the back of a deer, cougar, pig, elk, bear, or cow, it’s very apparent when you’re looking for it!  And how many of us have looked at a group of rocks, suddenly seen one of them shapeshift into a wild boar on the hoof, before running off? Pay attention…and use your optics!             

Wind and Range

One of the most confusing for many hunters is estimating for wind and range. There are so many things in the environment that because of size, position, and distance can drastically effect a hunter’s ability to estimate distance: inclines, declines, objects much larger than your target. They’re all covered in this section of the The Ultimate Sniper.               

And you might be surprised how much wind can effect your bullet even at ranges under 400 yards…but I’ll leave that to the reading.               

Close to the Earth

One of the most important points to take is that about how the best snipers had a connection to the earth that went way back to their childhoods. From all parts of the world that has turned out some of the most impressive snipers (Australia, Scotland, Russia and the US) most of them had a hunting and woodcraft background that started in childhood. Close to the earth has relevance in a number ways. It’s the background of snipers, like Vasili Zaitsev (hunted wolves and wild boar in Siberia), Chuck Mawhinney (hunted elk and deer back in Oregon) and Carlos Hathcock (hunted squirrels and other game for the table), all well-grounded in a youth of hunting and learning wood craft. It’s the deep inner knowledge of how we are related to the earth, how we standout, and how we can blend in with this earth.               

It’s also the level of awareness that almost seems psychic in its ability to detect and enable a sniper to be two or three moves ahead of the target. It’s almost innate in someone who was introduced to firearms as a hunter, as compared to just a competition shooter. Remember that the German sniping instructor sent by Hitler to hunt down Zaitsev was better equipped, but Zaitsev relied on his “cunning” as the Germans liked to comment, and is carried in the Soviet sniper’s motto: “While invisible, I see and destroy.”               

Major Plaster puts forward a hypothesis that the reason there were hardly any well-trained snipers in the Iraqi Army during what would have been a great environment for snipers, the trench warfare during the Iraq-Iran War, goes out without a blip because an Arab society that historically had a reputation for longrange shots, was by modern times devoid of them because of an enmasse move of the hinterland population into urban areas–like in so many other parts of the world. They basically lost cultural skills instilled and developed through years of pre-service experience in the country.               

By improving your woodcraft as a hunter, you will increase the number of successes while hunting. Every hunter would be best aided by reading the chapter on stalking and movement. Addressing “The Wall of Green” as the author calls it, is most often hard for new and experienced hunters: much like a stream fisherman who fishes an ocean coast for the first time and doesn’t know how to read the coastline for fish. It’s overcoming this, using the scanning tactics described by Plaster, that has led me to shoot a number of deer and feral pigs in their beds. You can see an example of this, when I’m picking out a wild boar that is only 10 yards away from me in deep brush in this episode of Cork’s Outdoor TV.               

If you’ve ever had failures sneaking up on those open-land antelope in Wyoming and Arizona, the section on stalking will be very helpful.               

Get The Ultimate Sniper, read it, apply the techniques, read it again and see how you might improve or modify the information for your own environment…no matter your present level, I’d be surprised if your skills didn’t improve—and get out there and practice, practice, practice!               

Get your copy here: 

• Ultimate Sniper 
• Palladin Press

Tips and Techniques directly from the Master

Major John Plaster is well represented on two websites. As an advisor at Millet Sights, he has written a number of articles to help the shooter. He has his own http://ultimatesniper.com, where he offers his books and has a shipload of information, not the least of which are pdf scans of historical books going back to mid-1800 printings about sniping. In the following broadcast of Cork’s Outdoor Radio we talk about some of the tips. This one would be helpful to a lot of hunters by helping undersand what your bullet can and can’t do—even if you can shoot that far, depending on what cartridge you’re using, you might not want to based on the information in this brief: TERMINAL BALLISTICS               

For your daily commute on your MP3 player – Download and Enjoy MAJ John L.  Plaster’s interview on Cork’s Outdoors Radio:

Cork Graham sighting in the WOTAC 4-14×50

 With only a couple months until California’s coastal deer opener, it was time to not only check out the new custom loads received from Nosler, but also the Wonders Tactical (WOTAC) 4-14×50 scope (4th generation) I’d been given by their sales rep, Forrest Ebert. Just yesterday, I learned that I’d been lucky in the special deer draw with an X3B tag, so I’ll not only be hunting with the WOTAC scope for the first time, but also using it on my first California mule deer…good hunting luck on my side, I hope.  

My first trials at the range were excellent. The glass is very clear, and the elevation and windage knobs turn easily without that mushiness scopes made in Asia can have. A number of target shooters had requested louder clicks to them, and WOTAC has made those improvements.  

First trained on the MilDot reticle in the military, I was actually very impressed with the EPB reticle. For really long shots, those over 1,000 yards, I’d still recommend doing “come-ups” with the turrets (1/4 click MOA adjustments). But, for ranges under 1,000 yards, I can see how just raising or lowering, using the small hash marks along the main verticle line of the crosshair can be very easy and accurate.  

Easy to use turrets and parallax correction

It was very fast to get on target with the adjustsment and longer hash mark at the bottom easily aids shooting for a crosswind. Would I use this scope to shoot an animal at 1,000 yards? No. Would I shoot a deer at 600-700 yards? Absolutely!  

Ethical long range shooting will be covered in a later article, but you don’t have to start adjusting for elevation until 300-plus yards on a modern high-velocity rifle, a move from 300-600 is not that much of a challenge, especially if you’ve been practicing—and it’s all about practice!  

What the hash marks (each represents a shift in 2MOA) do is make quick elevations using the reticle that much more effective. Let’s the take the new rifle I’ll be using this year. Sighted in at 200 yards, there’s a 68.8-inch drop at 600 yards with the 130 gr. Nosler Accubonds out of my .270 Winchester Model 70 Super Grade.  

The EPB Reticle

All I have to do is check the wind speed (let’s say an afternoon 10 mph crosswind from the right). Then, raise the rifle so that sweetspot at the deer’s shoulder is halfway between the fifth and sixth hash mark. Compensating for wind, move the rifle muzzle to the right, so that target center is two and a half hash marks to the left (4.75MOA) of the vertical crosshair.  

This is done with the scope zoom ring set to MOA. There is also a mark on the zoom ring for MIL.  

Either MOA or Milliradian

What I don’t like about the scope are the turret screws. They are too small and always worry me that I’ll strip them in trying to make sure they’re tight. I’ve already read reports of stripped heads. Best would be to either have the turrets locked in with one larger screw, or to have a flip-lock system as can seen on the Premier Reticle scope.  

Now it’s not a US Optics, Premier or Nightforce scope (And you know how much I love my Nightforce Optics™ 3.5-15×56mm NXS with MilDot!). It’s also not priced in the thousands of dollars like them, either. Like those higher-end scope manufacturers, Matt Wonders, the owner of WOTAC, offers a solid guaranteed. If you’re not happy with your WOTAC scope, contact them within 14 days of receiving it and they’ll either replace the scope or give you a total refund!  

For a scope that provides good glass, an excellent reticle design that can efficiently turn your highpower 300 yard rifle into a consistent 600-700 yard shooter, it’s a very good deal at $329. If you’re looking to get a scope that you can accurately adjust your crosshair in the field for longrange shooting,  the WOTAC 4-14X50 is an excellent scope to start with.  

Looking forward to putting it through its trials on a real hunt instead of just at the range! 

For more information, or to order your own, contact Wonders Optics Sales Representative Forrest Ebert at email: ebco2009@gmail.com  

For your daily commute on your MP3 player – Download and Enjoy the latest news at Wonders Optics (WOTAC) on Cork’s Outdoors Radio:

TOPICS: Wonders Optics Sales Representative Forrest Ebert talks about the history of Wonders Optics line of tactical, target and hunting rifle scopes.

Cork Graham collects his rifle's dope

In an economy where many are actually wondering where they’re going to get their paycheck, getting the most out of what you buy is an utmost priority. When I received a review sample of the Blackhawk!®, as I do with any new set of equipment or clothing, I immediately went into that mode of how to get that best bang for the buck.

At first, it was hard as Blackhawk!® does a lot in making sure that a product delivers a variety of capabilities above the apparent. For example, instead of just offering a rifle case or a shooting mat, they delivered both. Actually, in the Blackhawk!®’s Long Gun Pack Mat with HawkTex™ they offered two capabilities, but delivered three: it also has a drag bag loop for it to be used as not only the advertised shooting mat and gun case, but also a sniper’s drag bag.  Remember what I said in a previous column about how Blackhawk!® answers questions before they’re asked? Well, they made it in spades with the Long Gun Pack Mat with HawkTex™.

BLACKHAWK!®'s Long Gun Pack Mat with HawkTex™, it's a gun case...

Constructed from 1000 denier nylon, and well-insulated by closed cell foam, it has a large compartment sealed by #9 YKK® zipper and sliders with silent zipper pulls. Easily able to fit a 50-inch rifle, it’s also adjustable by the appropriately placed straps and ties to snug up a normal sized scoped rifle. I really enjoyed the strap system that makes it a great pack scabbard. As for the drag bag capability, I would recommend adding tie-down spaghetti straps, all along the length, to be able to attach a Ghillie half-jacket as camo, or even local foliage directly.

An extra compartment on the outside of the case can carry a number of items (I carried my extra ammo and trajectory tables in the Blackhawk!® Pro Marksman Folding Ammo Pouch  inside), and easily fit the variety of hydration system options. There’s enough room for food, a space blanket, and water, along with 8 to 10-power optics and even a spotting scope in the pouch.

What really surprised me was how comfortable the Long Gun Pack Mat was when deployed as a shooting mat. The HawkTex™ really helps keep you from fighting to keep your elbows propped up and not sliding around, depending on the type of coat you’re wearing.

BLACKHAWK!®'s Long Gun Pack Mat with HawkTex™, it's a shooter's mat...

When the gun case is unfolded and deployed as a shooting mat, you not only have a pouch for accessories or a box of ammo sewn into the mat, but also another pouch that fits a shooter’s logbook for recording your rifle’s dope.

On the initial introductory ride with Michael Riddle at his Native Hunt Ranch, it worked perfectly as a vehicle scabbard, protecting my large objective Nightforce 3.5-15×56 NXS, keeping the dirt and drizzle out with no problem. It was during this same trip that I thought this would also make a great system to mount on a horse for my elk hunt planned for this fall.

There are two D-rings on the case that enable an easy mounting to a saddle. During the jerry-rigging, I noticed that another D-ring about five inches above the edge might help raise the makeshift scabbard a little higher, permitting the rider to have a more proper stirrup handling. That the open edge faces down (when the mat if folded into the form of a gun case) is perfect for protecting the firearm from any water or snow.

To utilize the product as a gun case or drag, there are three quick-release straps that retain the rifle in a centered position. For deploying the Long Gun Pack Mat with HawkTex™ as a rifle scabbard, I suggest either only using the two straps that hold the forestock and barrel, or don’t utilize at all them as I did: the sides do well in keeping the rifle inside with the barrel pointed down, as in the following photo. It makes it much easier to just slip the rifle in, barrel foreword, like a regular rifle scabbard, instead of restrapping every time you reinsert the rifle. I’d also recommend using actual webbing, say 3/4  or one inch, instead of jerry-rigging paracord as we did in the photo.

Those special forces operators who have to fight in mountainous terrain on indigenous horses, such as has been in Afghanistan, should find merit in the added rifle scabbard modification.

...BLACKHAWK!®'s Long Gun Pack Mat with HawkTex™, it's a rifle scabbard!

So, the next time you purchase worthwhile equipment or clothing, be sure to think out of the box and get your money’s worth!

Get Your Dope

BLACKHAWK!®'s Pro Marksman Folding Ammo Pouch with two windows for checking your dope before your shot, along with the sliderule style Mildot Master.

It never ceases to amaze me how often I meet hunters in the field who don’t know exactly what they’re rifle does, or think that 300 yards is a long shot for the average modern rounds: .270 Winchester, .30/06, .243 Winchester, .300 Winchester Magnum, .280 Remington, 7mm Remington Magnum, not to mention all the new rounds that have come out in the last decade.

All of them, zeroed at 200 yards can permit you to shoot without any adjustment out to 275 to 325yards, depending on the round. Adjusting for bullet drop comes in from 315 on up. That’s when knowing your ballistic tables becomes mandatory. Just being able to have a set of trajectory values at your beck and call really helps when you want to really start shooting long ranges effectively. Knowing what your rifle and the bullets it sends down range is what those in the shooting community call, knowing your dope.
 
Blackhawk!®’s Pro Marksman Folding Ammo Pouch is just what the shooter ordered. Manufactured from 1000 denier nylon (in digital camo, coyote brown, and olive drab), and closed with two velcroed and easily adjusted quick release buckles,  it holds 20 rounds. Described as holding 20 rounds of .308 Winchester (7.62 NATO) in the marketing material, it easily fits 20 .300 Winchester Magnum cartridges, and creates a perfectly angled box, enclosing not only my preferred long-range ammunition, but my Mildot Master, designed by the late Bruce Robinson. Bruce Robinson cut his teeth on woodchucks at impressive ranges.

An engineer by trade, and shooter and a tinkerer by aspiration, Robinson took his knowledge of what every engineer, mathematician, and scientist never left home without (before the advent of the modern electronic calculator) the slide rule, and used it to create what is now issued to every Marine at the graduation from sniper school. Along with a repeat business to member of the military and law enforcement, Robinson’s widow does well selling the Mildot Master to hunters and especially those who enjoy shooting ground squirrels, prairie dogs and other varmints at long range. Not only was I able to easily keep the .300 WM rounds secure and silent, but the ammo pouch made a great two sided retainer to hold that Mildot Master.

As an added bonus in the Blackhawk!® Pro Marksman Folding Ammo Pouch, there’s a loop for you to keep a pencil or pen to record your dope, but also two plastic windows on the inside of the loop. Using the Nightforce® BALLISTIC PROGRAM (I will be reviewing this well-designed product in detail soon) I was able to calculate my MOA and Milli-radian sheets for adjusting for wind and elevation. I placed those documents for easy reading in the clear plastic window pouches of the Pro Marksman Folding Ammo Pouch, truly a great addition to any shooter or hunter’s go-bag.

Related Links

1. Blackhawk!

2. Nightforce Optics

3. Mildot Master

 Back when I was a 20-year-old combat photographer, still fresh to my freedom from a Vietnamese reeducation prison, recruited and being trained to be another Captain America in the US’s war against Communist Totalitarianism (you know that 80-year event we had before this present Islamist Totalitarian threat …that one that those under 20 say, “Huh, we were really at war with the Russians? It wasn’t really a Cold War?”), T. Michael Riddle was the lead guitarist for a band called Valhalla, being mentored by his friend Ronnie Montrose.

Montrose was watching the news on the Contras versus Sandinista war, that I was having a front seat to at the time, and the music and chorus came to him. He brought them to Valhalla. Valhalla added lyrics and they released Freedom Fighter in 1985, on the album Valhalla. Now a master guide and outfitter, Michael Riddle asked me if I wanted to try the pig hunting on the 27,000 acres of prime hunting land he has sole access to in Central California under Native Hunt.

Cork’s Outdoors TV was due for another episode, so I answered, “You betcha!”

Leaving at night, and arriving at his headquarters near Fort Hunter Liggett in the early morning darkness, we were greeted by a few of Riddle’s guides and three clients, a father and two sons from Aptos. While waiting for morning light in the office, we heard a bunch of pigs grunting outside and Riddle pointed them out. All about 70 to 120 pounds. Just a bit big for what we had planned, but when hunting light came, they’d be more than available to the father and sons group who tagged out early.

This was on the free-roam area of the Native Hunt headquarters ranch mind you. Riddle also has a collection of pure-strain wild boar he imported from Poland a few years back. He keeps them on 900 high-fenced acres, along with bison and fallow deer.

Now before you get in a tiff, and say, “High fence? And you’re likened to Aldo Leopold by the London Times, the same Aldo Leopold who was a major proponent of democratic free roam hunting opportunities—what?!”

…As I said, I’ll be writing about this in a future column about how the human population of the new millennium is nowhere as small as that of early 1900s, and so our wildlife management and improvement of hunting opportunities need adjustment…but suffice it to say, high-fence when done right (as it is at Native Hunt), 900 acres is just as demanding and fair chase as hunting non-fenced game.

Remember this isn’t Ohio or New York, where what they call mountains we in the West call road bumps and hills. Native Hunt’s acres of penned exotics game is as the crow flies is 900 acres. When you take into consideration the steepness of the mountains, it’s near 3,000 to 5,000 acres of terrain Michael Riddle has in his fenced area. That’s pretty challenging with a rifle and especially with a bow.

But, Riddle and I were after a feral hog in the 50-60lb range to produce an episode of Cork’s Outdoors TV, teaching you how to roast a wild boar the way they do in Indonesia, something they call Babi Guling, which just means “pig revolving”, i.e. pig revolving on a spit, in Malay and Indonesian.

Until then, Riddle would be taking a client on another property who wanted to hunt a wild boar with his traditional longbow. When we arrived at the other property with the client, not too attentive to sound control while grabbing his bow, the client spooked a herd of wild boar feeding in an open field of young barley only 60 yards away, 10 minutes before shooting light. I tagged along for a while, listening to a multitude of wild turkeys and coyotes calling to each other…

Each time we thought we’d get back on the pigs, they were yet another ridge away. The client, who’d never shot at anything other than target with longbow, did get his wild boar later that afternoon: a testament to the guiding patience and skill of Riddle’s lead guide, Sam. A perfect 50-pound roasting size, the client and I joked about trading another opportunity at a larger wild boar. I half-heartedly joked with him about it as there were a lot of wild pigs on the properties (by that afternoon I’d see at least 50 I could have taken with my rifle), but all were 20 to 100 pound more than what we wanted—50 pounds was just going to fit into the Caja China Riddle has at the Native Hunt Lodge.

After a tour of the animals that makes the Jolon Ranch such a nice little exotics safari right out from the lodge, we went to sleep and woke in the morning to venture through the fog outside of the bounded area and were immediately onto pigs within 50 yards of the high bison fence. We heard the grunt of a couple pigs, and from the sounds of movement coming from the brush right next to us; there must have been about 10 pigs in the herd.

As we had only two days before having to return to the Bay Area, I was going to take the shot, whichever was available…Yes, we got lucky in a number of ways, but I’d be cheating you out of the adventure, if I told you everything that happened, recorded in the latest episode of Cork’s Outdoors TV, the boar stalking set to Valhalla’s Freedom Fighter.

Click on the latest pig hunting episode screenshot photo link at the bottom and stay tuned for the Roasting Babi Guling cooking episode coming up…!

Shemagh’s That?

Not only an opportunity to check out Native Hunt’s offerings that would make any international outfitter proud, the trip was also done with the intention of trying out some equipment I’ve never used before: the Nightforce™ 3.5-15x56mm NXS, non-lead ETip ammunition from Winchester, and Blackhawk!®’s Thermo-Fur Jacket and Shemagh.

Nightforce™ 3.5-15x56mm NXS

This is quickly turning into my favorite all around scope for long and close range. Were it that the reticle couldn’t be illuminated, I don’t think I’d be so excited about using the Nightforce Optics™ 3.5-15x56mm NXS with MilDot in scenarios other than which it was originally designed: military and law enforcement long-range tactical applications.

With high-quality glass and a large objective, the scope makes easy work of drawing down on a target in early twilight, and picking out targets in dense brush, lowlight conditions.

Because the posts of the reticle are outlines instead of the normal solid black ( I love this design for long-range shooting, because you can see what’s behind the post), it’s not as easy to discern the fine reticle lines from branches in tight brush. But, and this is a BIG but: when the reticle is illuminated with a simple pulling out of the parallax knob, the red-lit reticle really stands out from everything in a way that even a solid traditional 4-Plex type reticle can’t do.

In Hunting Babi Guling, you see how fast I’m shooting right after I notice a pig only 15 yards away, draw up, and get a clear picture of the boar in my sights, and take the shot, a milisecond after Valhalla says, “Roll the dice!”

Winchester ETip in 180 gr.  .300 Winchester Magnum

Ever since I shot my first California blacktail near Chester, California with a poly-tip pointed bullet out of my .280 Remington in the mid-1980s, when manufacturers first really started pushing the highly accurate, but just as unpredictable mushrooming qualities, I blew softball-sized chunks out of that small buck. Unlike some who think that a big hole means a quick kill, I prefer a bullet diameter-sized hole coming in, and silver dollar sized hole on the way out.

Anymore explosive energy of the bullet, and you’re finding too many bullet fragments sent through the meat that translate to bloodshot and unusable meat. With some bullets, the fragmentation can be horrendous.

As I’ve always stated, I’m not focused on trophy hunting. When it comes to making sure I’ve got full use of the meat from a dead animal, it starts with the shot: so that I’m not spending all day trying to correct by trimming away too much wasted meat. A good copper and lead bullet, with good mushrooming qualities and retaining 70 percent of the bullet weight is perfect for me.

Gladly surprised with this first time using an all-copper bullet and that also had a poly-tip (I’ve used the Barnes Bullets and found them to be more than adequate in accuracy and killing ability), I came upon the very dead-in-under-a-minute roasting boar. Instead of the mega-sized hole I remembered from my first poly-tip experience on the buck, there was a neat silver dollar hole in this pig’s chest.

Accuracy wasn’t a problem either, as I was still hitting the 12-inch gong at 175 yards that Riddle has mounted across the lake and halfway up the ridge at Native Hunt. I’m looking forward to putting these 180 gr. non-lead bullets [now required in Central California because of the Condor Area closure] through the paces at longer ranges on bigger pigs…and since I need to do a prosciutto preparation episode with a wild boar in the manner of Serrano ham, before it gets too hot in California, that should be pretty soon… 

Blackhawk!® Thermo-Fur Jacket

If you read my last column you saw me wearing this great jacket while holding a freshly culled cottontail rabbit. The Thermo-Fur Jacket that works more than efficiently as an insulative liner for a breathable shell-jacket, but can stand on it’s own in a medium breeze and no rain. When I was hunting the wild boar on the episode I was actually wearing it under the Cabela’s® GoreTex shell: it kept me toasty without overheating. I would have probably used it on it’s own, but I needed a jacket that would at once be quiet as the Cabela’s shell is (and so is the Thermo-Fur), and yet, I could be sure wouldn’t catch on hook-like brush as the Thermo-Fur would—didn’t want to shred something I just got.

Had I been hunting wild boar in the open barley fields, like in which those pigs we found on the longbower’s hunt, I would have easily just stayed with the Thermo-Fur: the jacket was that warm in the cold of morning, even with the hanging fog and moisture!

And it’s not just that jacket keep you warm, but that it really just keeps you comfortable. It’s weird to say, but it’s almost as though it has a variable magical thermometer control that doesn’t let you get to warm or cold…just comfy. Few man-made materials do this. This is why I more often enjoy wearing outerwear made from natural fibers than polyester, and have been a fan of Filson® and clothing for so many years for my hunting needs.

When it comes to Blackhawk!®, I’m learning as I use their equipment and clothing, that they seem to answer questions before they asked. A perfect example is the positioning and design of the pockets. Easily accessed and placed and oriented in an efficient manner, you’re not searching around for things when you need to keep your attention out in front of you, especially when you’re going into deep brush after potential danger—the zippers are also very quiet!

There was one thing that I was reminded about and that is the more you let moisture stick to your skin, no matter how insulative and wind-cutting your outergarment might, it’s all for naught if you the clothing against your skins doesn’t draw the moisture. I’d highly recommend using one of the many undergarments, T-shirts and crewnecks that Blackhawk!® has to do that job. I was wearing a cheap, red cotton longsleeve shirt and had it gotten colder, I’m sure I would have gone over the tipping point and been freezing: start right from inside to out!

In the Thermo-Fur Jacket, roominess of the pockets goes all the way from the waist up near the shoulder-that almost makes your jacket a light field pack pocketed chest harness! For those of you who might be in harms way, you can appreciate those large pockets for tossing your spent magazines to reload later. For the hunter that forgets a packs, you might also appreciate those large front pockets for carring a couple tenderloins, or even a couple backstraps, back to camp when you get that pack.

I’m looking forward to writing the column planned for when I receive the other two layers of the Blackhawk!® Warrior Wear Jacket System, that should be coming in soon. If you remember an article written by my colleague Wayne Van Zwoll more than ten years ago, showing distaste for the prevalence in tactical and military type clothing in the hunting fields and mountains over the last 20 years, you’re sure to find my upcoming column interesting…

Cork Graham warm and toasty in BLACKHAWK! shemagh

Blackhawk!® Shemagh

I’ve always been a jungle boy. Raised in the tropics and at home in the jungle like many in Europe and America might be in a pine forest or mountain meadow, deserts just freak me out! So, though I’ve used the very efficient dark green and loam patterned see-through sniper’s veil that has served well as a hood, face camouflage material, headband and scarf, I’ve never really had the opportunity use the Middle Eastern desert Shemagh that so many special forces units are using these days.

When I tried it on our hunt for babi guling, first as a scarf to keep my neck warm and prevent early morning coughing from the cold that might signal my location to a boar, and then later when the wind picked up as a hood and head covering, I was totally amazed. Made from the simplest of materials, cotton, it did more to keep my head warm than a full jacket hood and a ball cap.

My understanding is that the weave of the Shemagh is loose enough to enable pliability, but tight enough to act as a phenomenal windbreaker and help in retaining body moisture, too.

I’m sure to have one in my kit for hunting, whether that’s for comfort, or for camo. One side has a predominance of black squares which works great early and late in the day for calling in coyotes, and the other side with the predominance of olive drab looks like it’ll do well during waterfowl season to cover my face, while enabling me to look up and watch the descent and flight pattern as they work the dekes, without flaring them with a big white face.

You will have to learn how to tie a Shemagh properly for use as snug camo, but I’ll do a snippet video to show how easy it is: Indonesian or Arab style.

Related Links and Articles:

1. Nightforce Optics

2. Blackhawk!®

3. Winchester

4. Native Hunt

5. Not Bored Chasing the Boars

6. Wild Hogs!

COMING UP

1. The River Cottage Meat Book by Michael Fearnley-Whittingstall [Book Review]

2. Surmounting the Cultural Conflict of Tactical Clothing and Equipment in the Outdoors

Cork Graham with a freshly taken Sylvilagus audubonii, using a .22 Crosman pellet gun

Whenever a rerun of Spy Game is broadcast, I always smile when I hear Brad Pitt’s answer to Robert Redford’s question about how he became a sniper: shooting team in the Boy Scouts. For me it was my Daisy BB gun and trips out to Lake Pond Oreille, every summer we visited my grandparents in Spokane, when my family home as the son of American expat businessman was Saigon and Singapore during the 1960s and 1970s. Trying to hit the metal band of a log piling reaching six feet above the surface of Pend Oreille, 70 yards offshore from the porch of our family friend’s cabin, was a lesson in trajectory and wind.

I shot every chance I got during those summers, because when we returned to Southeast Asia, I would have to leave my marksmanship to slingshots and low poundage field archery equipment. Firearms and even BB guns were illegal to possess in Southeast Asia.

Shoot enough years it’s hard not think fondly of those early days, out in a field plinking at tin cans and perhaps sniping a bird or rabbit for the family table. When an excuse to try out the new “adult” pellet guns came up—we’re now legally allowed to use pellet guns of at least .20 caliber to hunt wild turkey in California—I called up Crosman to try out one of their .22 line.

…Plus, I’ve received a number of cookbooks I have to review from American authors and those across the pond, like Darina Allen and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, two well-known and respected cooking writers in Ireland and England, who really know how to do wild game justice: a big fat cottontail would be a perfect entree!

What arrived in the mail was a .22 Cal. Remington(R) NPSS Digital Camo. Talk about accurate. With a rifled bull barrel and a large objective scope on top, and nearing 1,000 feet per second it looked like a sweet combination for small game and hitting a turkey in the head. What makes the drawback, though—like it can with any firearm—is the trigger.

I’m all about triggers as you may have guessed. A crisp trigger with a light poundage triggerpull (2-3 pounds), greatly assists a shooter in their keeping a tight group. What a trigger on a pellet gun that relies on a spring, just like a majority of triggers you find on crossbows (except the well-designed trigger from Excaliber Crossbows), has going against it is that it delivers that “Boing!” that does wonders in knocking off a marksman’s focus on the target.

As with a conventional bow, follow through is very important. That’s where a smooth trigger helps in keeping that target fixation: As if using a bow, you keep your bow focused on the target, and with a rifle you keep your crosshairs on the target for a few seconds after you shoot.

Now, if you’ve tried the triggers on break-action, as Crosman calls, it “break-barrel”, pellet guns, you’ll notice that the trigger does have that sponginess that makes it hard to predict exactly when the gun is breaking. But, because of this, and also because of the lack of a significant recoil, pellet guns are a great training tool to improve you shooting skills.

Though many would think that improving shooting means learning how to deal with heavy recoil, it’s really about learning how to work a trigger, and in conjunction with breathing and beats of your heart. When you can overcome the uneven resistance of a break-barrel pellet gun trigger, you’ll have mastered the even squeeze necessary to hit a target with a fine-tuned firearm.

A great work on the act of integrated shooting (breathing, heart rate, trigger squeeze), is on page 180 of The Ultimate Sniper [Updated and Expanded], by a man I highly respect for his work, background, and teachings Major John L. Plaster—I’ll be conducting a Cork’s Outdoors Radio interview with him soon, so stay tuned!

Armed with that Crosman .22 Cal. Remington(r) NPSS Digital Camo, and having already been successful on wild boar earlier that day at Native Hunt, described in last week’s column, Michael Riddle and I put the pig in the roaster and jumped in my truck.

We drove over to another property that makes up 27,000 acres of prime land that Native Hunt has sole hunting rights to, and found the cottaintails that had teased me earlier while we waited for a  longbow hunter that was slated for hunting pigs that morning.

As usual, the cottontails didn’t show until the last hour of daylight, something that made the large objective scope a real asset. When I took my first shot, Riddle called out, “High!”

Adjusting, the next shot hit lower, but not enough. Peter Cottontail bounded off, sitting just short of a clump of weeds.

Lowering the reticle of the scope yet again, I took another shot at Sylvilagus audubonii, otherwise known as the desert cottontail rabbit, prevalent in Central California and much fatter and larger than the small bush cottontail I was accustomed to hunting in Mendocino National Forest as a teen. A .22 pellet hit Sylvi Auduboni in the head with the effect of a light switch being turned off.

Wide-eyed, I looked at Riddle. “Dang!”

These little pellet guns pack a punch. Only a 20 yard walk to where he lay, the cottontail rabbit was stoned cold dead, not even convulsing. Not wanting my Brittany Spaniel, Ziggy, getting interested in rabbits, I walked quickly past the backseat of my Dodge Ram Quad Cab (Ziggy staring at me, and the just-departed Sylvi in my hand, from the backseat), and put Sylvi in the back of the truck payload.

In an hour, Riddle and I would be back at the Native Hunt Lodge, checking the doneness of the pig in the Caja China, and skinning Sylvilagus auduboni deciding which review volume I’d be referring to in order to cook the prime pink cottontail meat and its heart, liver and large kidneys: The River Cottage Book, The River Cottage Meat Book, Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The Time-Honored Ways are the Best – Over 700 Recipes Show You Why, or maybe even Pot-Roasted Rabbit with Prunes and Pinot-Noir from Chef John Folse’s eloquently illustrated and easy to follow gamecook’s bible After the Hunt: Louisiana’s Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery, with a Papapietro-Perry 2007 Peters Vineyard Pinot-Noir from the Russian River Valley.

COMING UP

1. On the Track of the Wily Wild Boar Babi Guling
2. The River Cottage Meat Book by Michael Fearnley-Whittingstall [Book Review]

Special Forces operator's bullet-holed 3.5x15x56mm scope

The ad was simple and straightforward: a photo of a 3.5x15x56mm scope with green 100 mph tape adhesive remnants along it. Right next to the zoom ring a bullet hole. The caption said that the US Army Special Forces operator who carried it in Iraq shot with it for another three days, only making the adjustment of covering the bullethole with the 100 mph tape—no change to the zero!

Always wanting to show the brightest qualities of the mildot reticle that I learned during my war days, I read up on this one designed by Nightforce Optics. Unlike the old ones we remember that really haven’t changed (other than one’s the Marine’s [football dots] and the other’s the Army’s [soccer ball dots]) these by Nightforce are an amazing innovation. They not only have the Army style mildots, but they’re shaped in the form of a bull’s-eye with a dot within the ring, the ring the same diameter as a normal mildot. A great improvement for those wanting to shoot at ranges where the target appears smaller than the mildot.

Innovative Nightforce MilDot, illuminated and non-illuminated.

Now, there has been a controversial movement to learn how to shoot game at long range. And some of you, because of my solid interest in further sound wildlife management practices, would think that I’d be against this. Actually, I’m very much for hunters who can shoot longrange…and this is the biggest qualifier: EFFECTIVELY!

I’ve seen a hunter cripple a wild pig at only nine feet and seen another hunter drop an elk in its tracks at 600 yards. Which one was the ethical and efficient hunter?

To understand it better, the one who crippled the pig had never picked up a rifle and thought it was just like shooting a shotgun, which he did with great frequency for ducks. Arrogant enough to think that having a scope on the rifle somehow imbued the firearm with magical powers of accuracy, far outreaching the abilities of his shotgun that was sighted with only a bead and ventilated-rib, but that dropped most of his ducks, he only went to the range the day of the hunt to make sure the rifle was sighted in.

Much more responsible, the one who shot the elk at a solid long range that most hunters would never attempt, was a well-practiced competitive shooter who successfully shot at ranges out to 1,200 yards every weekend in the desert.

My vote for the ethical, and conscientious, hunter goes to the one who took the 600-yard shot at the elk.

But, then we get into the ethics of shooting an elk at 600 yards. How come the hunter didn’t sneak up on the elk and shoot it at 100 yards, or well within bow range?

I used to think the same thing, especially after I returned to US from the shadow years of my life, from that secret little south of the border war we had against Raoul Castro and the KGB from 1977 to 1991: It’s not sporting…I’d rather take that pig or deer at a nice close 20 yards with my longbow.

One of Bill Casey's Boys: Cork Graham after recapture of a building from the FMLN, circa 1986

…That was until I started really looking at hunting not from sport as so many are wont to do these days. Instead, I looked at it from the point of view of a wildlife conservationist, who understands the importance of hunting as a tool of wildlife management in keeping a healthy animal population. It’s something I’m going to talk about in a later piece along the lines of that masterpiece of an essay by Aldo Leopold, titled Wild Lifers vs. Game Farmers: A Plea for Democracy in Sport [1919].

Suffice it to say, it’s the importance of taking that animal in the least amount of pain and greatest efficiency. A hunter who can take an animal accurately and cleanly at 600 yards, at peace and enjoying a grazing, is far more along those lines than a hunter who stumbles on a deer that breaks and the hunter, though he made his shot at 20 yards, hits it in the paunch and spends the rest of the day tracking that deer, all the while it’s hidden and slowly dying from that wound, possibly never to be recovered unless the hunter also has a good dog to help in that tracking.

So, yes, I’m very much into long range shooting, because I put the time in to be accurate and I make sure the equipment I use is the best I can get.

That means putting the time in and using a rifle that shoots at least an MOA. My Remington Model 700 BDL SS DM shot an MOA out of the box, and when I replaced the stock with an HS Precision Sporter, traded the trigger for a Timney, it shot 1/2 to 1/4 MOA. Crowning it with a Nightforce 3.5-15x56mm was the next best option toward improvement and customization for accuracy.

Over the years, I’ve reviewed the different ballistic drop compensating (BDC) reticles available on the market. They do have impressive qualities and for someone who’s not willing to put the time at the range, it might seem a viable option…at least at first. The new offerings sure beat the first BDC scope I purchased as a teenager back in the early 1980s, called the Redfield Illuminator with Accu-Range and Accu-Trac: its use in the field, along with buck fever driven by the largest blacktail buck I’d ever seen, ended up in a total miss.

The problem was that I was shooting at a buck that was well within my range (too many hunters think that a target is much further than it really is and that 200-300 yards requires some sort of adjustment for a high-power rifle sighted in for 200 yards—not!) and I thought it was much further; and, for a young teen to be fiddling around with the Accu-Trac BDC knobs was a little much.

Nightforce came out with a new “zero-stop” capability that enables you to quickly get back on zero. Created for those heated moments in combat, or hunting, or when shooting in dark conditions where you’re best served by getting back on zero through feel, it’s a great modification. It does change my intended zero for a .300 Win. mag. which was going to be 300 yards, but I’ve zeroed for 200 yards and if I need to shoot at something at 300 yards I only have to raise slightly, putting the cross just under the back for a deer.

Nightforce Optics "Zero-Stop" turret.

USMC Captain Jack C. Cuddy designed mildot in the 1970s. A mainstay of tactical riflescopes ever since, the mildot continues to perplex many shooters, both the calculation of range and drop compensation, whether using the mildots themselves to make an adjustment or the target knobs to make that adjustment in trajectory.

The calculations are actually quite simple and can be done much quicker with a Mildot Master, than a calculator. The Mildot Master will even enable you to do an adjustment for angle, as everyone who has ever missed on a downhill or uphill shot can see the importance for.

An innovation about the Nightforce 3.5x15x56mm scope is that the reticle can be illuminated with a pull on the parallax adjustment turret. It might not seem that important, but there’s a very big difference between shooting at a target 500 yards away and requiring that fine center reticle, and as I found myself last Saturday, up close in brush and putting that crosshair on a wild boar’s chest-especially with the Nightforce non-solid posts, outlines of the normal solid mildot post.

Though the glass is hard to beat for clarity and brightness, with the 30mm tube and large 56mm objective, finding that fine crosshair among those branches would have been a chore had they not been lit red by the illumination. With the illumination, I was on the pig in a second, which was all I had before it started getting up with its brethren, and drilled him.

What about those empty posts? I love them: they not only permit another point of measurement added onto the mildots themselves (you can use the lines that form the posts to bracket a target vertically and horizontally), but they also let you see what’s below the target: not that important with a target only 200 yards away, but definitely important if they’re 600 to 800 yards away. Eight hundred yards is the furthest I’d ever shoot at an animal-a 180 grain .300 caliber bullet can do only so much as it loses its speed, and therefore its force; and there’s a difference between why and how we shoot animals in hunting situations and people in war conditions.

As a final test of my Nightforce Optics 3.5x15x56mm NXS, and because a friend of mine has twice driven to Colorado to hunt elk and each time his scope was off zero when he got there, I purposely put my rifle in the back of the bed of my truck and on its side. If there’s vibration, it’s going to be in the back of a truck bed with a light load.

When my friend Michael Riddle and I arrived at Native Hunt, I checked the zero and it was right on. That’s what I like about Nightforce, they test not just for back and forth shock of a high-powered rifle being fired. They test for shock perpendicular to the length of the scope.

There’s a reason that sniper teams choose the Night Optics 3.5x15x56mm NXS over all others to mount on their scope-demolishing .50 caliber rifles.

Here’s a snippet from the upcoming episode of Cork’s Outdoors TV where we’re editing on how to mount a scope on a rifle and sight it in properly…And stayed tuned for the upcoming episode of COTV, where we use this scope in tight brush after wild boar!

COMING UP

1. Hunting Central California Cottontails with a .22 Pellet Gun
2. On the Track of the Wily Wild Boar Babi Guling

There was so much there, I didn’t even get to the first floor! On an introspective level, I noticed that in the time that I was away, there was a stark increase in the percentage of tactical to traditional hunting equipment. In my search I found those highlights that can be used not only in straight tactical events, but in hunting, too:

Visiting our friends at Nightforce Optics, Brian Gearhart gave us a talk through on the new Velocity Reticle.

A stop at TAPCO gave us an opportunity to talk with Kevin Miller about aftermarket products to make your Ruger 10/22 rifle that much more comfortable to shoot.

Jim Gianladis offered a great walk through on the new products coming out in the next two months from Caldwell, Tipton under the Battenfeld Technologies, Inc. umbrella.

Ed Schoppman talks about EOTech, Inc’s holographic sight system that really takes your  CQB (Close Quarter Battle) turkey hunt to a faster and much more accurate sight picture.

Last, but definitely not least is clothing, which when you pick the wrong type can get you killed in the field. Here’s Blackhawk!’s innovative 3-Layer system.

NEXT

1. Sighting in with Nightforce Optics

2. Small game hunting with .22 cal pellet guns