A Word on Rifle Slings

It is no secret; if you can't shoot offhand, you are going to miss opportunities at game. In Gun Culture 2.0, we've moved away from hunting marksmanship in favor of defensive marksmanship and competition marksmanship. With the exception of rifle events in Cowboy Action and 3-Gun, offhand proficiency with a rifle has largely waned. Certainly, in the modern hunting world long-range shooting from a backpack, bipod, or improvised rest is more en vogue than it has ever been. That's all well and good---it takes solid equipment, considerable skill, and lots of trigger time to make those quarter to half mile shots. But, it does zero good when that grey-muzzled and sag-bellied whitetail buck springs up from a blow-down.

 Clinton & Charles Robertson from RAF Lakenheath, UK & San Marcos, TX, USA & UK

Enter the sling. There has a been a good deal written on the rifle sling and numerous authors have made the distinction between a sling and a carrying strap. When most people think of a rifle sling, they think of it as a carrying strap. These folks are missing out on a huge advantage in offhand shooting. A proper sling makes for a more stable shooting platform and can really make the difference in taming that buck fever. In this brief article, I'll discuss the three slings that made me a believer in the value of having a quality sling on a hunting rifle. 

I was first cured of my LSU Disorder (Limited Sling Usage) after reading up on the superb marksmanship challenge, Project Appleseed. Project Appleseed is a rifle shooting course hosted by the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. Appleseed recommends a USGI web sling, like those issued for the M1 Garand for its shooters (http://www.appleseedinfo.org/as_faq.html). This sling is cheap (I paid $16 for mine), easily adjustable, and excellent for wrapping around the forearm. This sling provides an economical and effective way to reduce wobble. However, I have noticed that when considerable tension is applied to the sling via the forearm wrap that the length adjustment buckle has a tendency to slip. Your miles may vary based on material (cotton or nylon), but this is a decent option for the sportsman on a budget who a wants a real sling. 

USGI Web Sling mounted on AR-15

The best sling option for offhand shooting is the Ching Sling popularized by Lt. Col Jeff Cooper. The Ching Sling uses three mounting points and a large loop to allow the shooter to wrap the strap around the tricep. This is considerably more stable than the hasty sling method mentioned for the USGI web sling. The downside, of course, is that the Ching Sling requires the installation of additional sling studs on most rifles. Depending on your firearm of choice, this can be impractical or unpleasing to the eye. An alternative to the storied Ching Sling is Andy Langois' Rhodesian Sling (http://www.andysleather.com). The Rhodesian Sling provides most of the support of the Ching Sling without requiring the extra sling stud. Setup is simple. Adjust the loop so that it can be quickly and tightly pulled around the tricep and the adjust the length of the remaining sling. If you so like, you can trim the excess leather (there is quite a bit) to prevent snagging and flopping. I have found the Rhodesian Sling to be considerably better in providing stability than the web sling, but it sacrifices a little speed in the process. Did I mention it is leather? Not the crappy, plasticized leather found in your wife's purse but honest to goodness real leather. It smells as good as rare backstrap tastes, and that is saying something.

 Rhodesian Sling mounted on Winchester 1885 Highwall

If supported shooting isn't your aim, but a lightning fast mount is, then the ideal sling for you is the Boonie Packer Safari Sling (http://www.redi-mag.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=14). This extremely unorthodox sling carries the rifle in front of the shooter, and the elongated straps actually run through the sling swivels and over the barrel and buttstock. This sort of sling takes a bit to get used to, but it provides the fastest time to sight picture of any that I have tried and offers excellent muzzle control. With good irons (receiver aperture, ghost ring or express leaf) or a low-power scope this setup provides truly remarkable speed. With a little practice, you'll be envisioning yourself putting heavy rounds into an incoming Cape Buffalo.

The author with a Winchester 70 riding on a Boonie Packer Safari Sling

As someone who enjoys hunting on the ground and in particular still-hunting, these slings have greatly improved my ability to make offhand shots quickly and accurately. Though someone who lobs rounds in the next county from a stable prone may not benefit from them as much, they are not limited to this shooting discipline. While browsing a large outdoor retailer recently I stumbled across a obscene mechanical arm that mounts to a treestand's footrest and provides a benchrest like platform for rifle shooting. If I recall correctly, it ran about $300. At the time, I thought it was absurd and couldn't understand why my shopping buddy thought it was worth purchasing. Then, I remembered. I know how to use a sling. 

Red Hand of the Hunter

Red hand of the hunter

filled with the swept blade—

deft strokes unlimber

muscle, sinew, and bone.

Kneeling before the quarry,

back to the sinking sun:

red hand of the hunter,

the work has just begun.

Red hand of the hunter,

proficient from years gone by

in a craft too savage

for the naïve, urban eye.

From field, to truck, to gambrel—

a harvest grateful held!

Red hand of the hunter,

it so reverently felled.

Red hand of the hunter,

not a blemish, but a badge

on each of the kindred brethren

unwilling to beg or cadge. 

Bear Country

Wet alders stand, where
broken branches cost dearly.
Old Ephraim bristles—
five chambers fully loaded—
a clash of bone and lead nears.

Ode to the Shotgun

I would rather have a shotgun than a car, home or steady career. In the well-crafted shotgun is the spirit of adventure, the soul of nostalgia and the dream of wilderness. A shotgun justifies the worn boot-leather of a wayward traveler. A shotgun provides a brace of game to both the pampered nobleman and the famished vagabond. A shotgun is the only worthy rival to the dog as utmost friend of man. The broken double-gun bespeaks the raw character of the olden sportsman for whom the beckoning fields are not an escape, but home itself. When the trigger is broken and the charge is sent to greet fur or feather the heart beats with a vigor rarely witnessed. A shotgun is the nobler firearm simply because its nature is that of fluidity and grace. As the cock flies in the copper-burnished sunset so the tempered barrels swing to it with equitable beauty. Even the residual trinkets of a sporting encounter are romantic. Those red hulls topped with gleaming brass release the fragrant curls of nitro—their pungency is the greater peer of bergamot. Hands that have not cradled the form of a fine shotgun have no more claim that those that have not touched smitten lass. Neither person should be entitled to the designation of “man”. Such is the understated merit of the shotgun!

Natural Law

Hunting is elemental.

We trade brass and lead for bone, cedar and steel for flesh.
Life is broken down—simplicity reigns. The struggle resides. Whether the cocked hammer or the bent limb hides in the brush, the plot is no different. The cycle is unstoppable. Nature gives and man takes. Soon it will be his turn to give. A breath is drawn, a breath released. The Earth gracefully turns. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes; the dirt and worm both have a claim. Divine design cannot be eschewed. Nature reigns supreme.

The Deadliest Warrior: Not a Warrior at All?

Spike TV rarely quickens my heart, but there is one particular show that I do enjoy watching: The Deadliest Warrior. I suppose that it is a guy thing, but seeing a variety of ancient and modern weapons brandished is always exciting. I do like the fact that they TRY to be scientific with their measurements. The fact is that quite often they are not. However, the results are still quite impressive. A blade or bullet can do some interesting things to bone and ballistics gelatin. In the past I've rooted for the Samurai and William Wallace as my favorites, but I have one to top them all now!

I offer for you consideration the deadliest warrior of them all (who is not really a warrior):



Well, okay. Not Roosevelt HIMSELF, but African hunters in general (especially those dashing British army officers). First of all, hunters excel in bushcraft and deception. I would say even more so than most basic military forces. We are sneaky people by nature! Secondly, hunters bear very, very powerful firearms. Oftentimes these firearms are chambered in cartridges that are vastly more powerful than their military counterparts. Finally, the first white hunters in Africa were current or former British army, so they had both military and hunting experience. That is a combination that is dang tough to beat.

A man is only as good as his weapons though, and luckily for the African hunter of say, the 1920's the options were good!

Firstly, I present to you the Webley Mark VI Service Revolver:


Yes, it is old. It is also UTTERLY RELIABLE and fires a quite powerful round, the .455 Webley. How powerful, you may ask? How about a 265 gr. bullet at over 750 feet per second? The famed .45 ACP, of 1911 heritage, fires a 230 gr. bullet at 830 feet per second. That is not bad at all. The Webley also has a lot of other stuff going for it. As mentioned before, it is very reliable and performed excellently in the mud and trenches of two world wars. It also is a break-open revolver, which means the it loads quickly. In addition, there was a considerable amount of accessories for the pistol, including a bayonet, quickloader, and a carbine stock.

Next, I offer you the mainstay, the Lee-Enfield Rifle:


What can one say about the Enfield? Again, it was a British Army mainstay and different versions of it have been in service from 1895 to present. It is capable of considerable accuracy and was used effectively as a sniper rifle. It also has a large capacity for a bolt-action (10 rounds) and by using the "volley-fire" technique one can easy shoot a round per second. What is more, it is chambered in the .303 British cartridge, which fires a 150 gr. projectile at around 2770 feet per second. This approaches the velocity of modern the .308 Winchester (7.62 NATO) round. It was used to kill every imagineable enemy of the British Empire and even elephants by some (See Walter "Karamoja" Bell). What is more, it was even used by the Irish to kill the English. Suffice it to say that if you design a weapon and your enemies decide it is good enough to be used against you then you are onto a keeper.

For extremely close range the African hunter would have a panga or machete.



There isn't much that needs to be said. Whether you are felling trees, enemies, or beheading buffalo, the machete will get the job done.

That brings us to the final offensive weapon of the African hunter. What a dandy it is! I will preface this by saying that there isn't a single specific weapon, but rather a class of weapons that fit the bill. These are the classic British double-rifles chambered in cartridges intended to stop big game. These cartridges range from the .450-400 Nitro Express 3" to the behemoth .700 Nitro Express.



For our purposes I'll take the middle ground and standardize the .470 Nitro Express as the cartridge of choice. The .470 pushes a 500 gr. bullet at 2150 feet per second. That is enough to stop an elephant, hippo, or cape buffalo in its tracks. It is also enough to blow completely through an engine block. This makes it an effective choice for taking out light vehicles. What is more, you don't have to pack around some awkward RPG and can shoot from concealment much more easily. If the .470 isn't enough for you, you could easily go with the .700 Nitro Express, which actually has more energy at the muzzle than the .50 BMG. Either way, you've got a rifle that has loads of power and can be fired very quickly in succession.

Finally, the African hunter would wear a stylish pith helmet:



These helmets were first made out of pith and then later cork. Not only are they stylish, but there can be soaked in water to cool the wearer and can be camouflaged as necessary. It goes without saying that they are super-classy!

Well, there you have it! That is my nomination for the Deadliest Warrior! What can stand against that?

Life in Creek County Oklahoma

Wishing I Were on the Hillside

The prairie grass dances and tickles my side. I sit on the hilltop and look out over the ranch. The increasingly crisp autumn breeze caresses my face as if to say that I am truly home. I pluck a stalk of Indian-grass and place it in my teeth—the flavor of grain and loam completes my sensory euphoria. I am relaxed in my natural haven, yet contemplative. Should there really be more to life than this? I turn and look towards my home. Smoke from the first fire of the year rises lazily from the chimney. Post-oak. I guess Mom is cold already. I’m not. I am perfect. In this moment my very spirit is satisfied. I see the garden, turned, and brimming with stubble. The fresh corn is gone now, but I can still taste it. An ear of corn, and a diminutive quail roasted over coals. Has anyone ever dined so fairly? My eyes shift; my contemplation broken by movement on the horizon. A nervous coyote steals down the hill and towards the timberline. Are he and I so different? He is better at the game of life than I am. No doubt. Coyotes don’t have to make excuses or meet deadlines; coyotes don’t worry about taxes or getting into grad school. Coyotes just exist. They eat, sleep, love, and live. He melds into the brush before we can connect too strongly and I miss him instantly. I have lost a brother. I want to call for him, but I don’t have the words. Do we ever? I howl anyways. I howl about who I am, how I feel, and what I lack. Whitman and I both sound our barbaric yawps over the rooftops of the world. Two doves afflicted by my wail cross hastily over the surface of our pond and alight on the dam. As they flee the sound of their wings makes my heart beat faster; I swing an imaginary shotgun to intersect them and then smile. From the brush I am taught in the linguistics of the wild; a howl emanates from behind a pecan tree. My brother hasn’t forgotten me. I am humbled by his consideration. I dust off my hat and amble towards the oil lamp in the distant window. Life goes on.

Game Recovery and Presidential Ambitions

I came across an interesting news article via Field and Stream's website this morning. Apparently, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty wounded a whitetail buck but was unable to recover it. Pawlenty now is being criticized by both hunters and anti-hunters for not recovering the deer and instead leaving for a Republican Party fund-raiser in Iowa. I am pulled in opposite directions regarding this event. Here are some observations:

(1) Every good hunter knows that an ethical, lethal shot is an absolute requirement to participate in the sport. If you can't make the shot, don't take the shot.

With that being said, (2) the wilderness is not a laboratory and sometimes things simply go wrong. Animals move, people flinch, branches are not seen, yardage is poorly estimated, and sights shift. Every hunter who spends any time the field is going to have difficulty recovering game at one point or another.

This brings to mind the fact that (3) the art of recovering lost game is as important (if not more so) than the ability to be stealthy, make the shot, and be sportsmanlike. Tracking and game recovery must be something that taught to every single new hunter.

(4) Hunters collectively lack this ability. Far too often I have heard of shooting of numerous deer by a single hunter without the recovery of a single head of game. This is one of the most enraging actions that I can possibly think of and results in the degradation of the image of a hunter---both in the eyes of other hunters and those who oppose hunting altogether.

Finally, (5) it is good to see a politician who actually goes out and hunts. I'm not going to get into this debate about whether Sarah Palin does or not, but John Kerry's publicity romp at the sporting clays range and Joe Biden's unlikely affection for his Beretta shotgun have left me with something to be desired. Here's hoping that Pawlenty gets another chance at a buck and enjoys the full experience of one of America's greatest traditions.

The AP article covering Pawlenty's hunt is here:
http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/Gov.Tim.Pawlenty.2.1304292.html