Your right Ron🙌When I was a kid almost 70 years ago they had peasants everywhere here in oregon. I lived in southern oregon down on the Rogue River and next to my house where lots of fields and everyone was filled with lots of peasents🥰
As for the best gun for a Mt hunt used to be my Sako in a 300wsm but this month I purchased a used pre64 and chambered in a 270 win. And it’s going to be my main hunting rifle for deer and sheep size game just like Jack O’Conner used and my latest pre64 is the nicest I have ever owed being a collector over 60 years and seeing what Jack took with his 270 win.
Ron I just spent 4 days hunting SD centered around Woonsocket on public land. We started off slow, but got it dialed in by the 3rd day. We did see a lot of birds and had some flushes with more than 20 birds. Our biggest obstacle was them flushing 40 yards out. The strong winds were a challenge for us interpreting the dog's point, which could be for a bird further out than we had anticipated. We had a great experience and learned a lot for our first trip to South Dakota pheasant hunting. Loved it!!!
10:28 where I live in western Washington, we had quite a few pheasants right here in this county, we used to see them in the football field of my high school. The state outlawed private game bird keepers who used to raise and stock the local area and I haven’t seen any since except for in the wdfw release sites.
A few months ago, I asked my local Cabela’s about the 6.8 western. He recommended against it and said it’s going to die off. Well after doing more research I found out how great this round is. Comparable ballistics to the 7 rem mag and 7 prc, in a short action with a bit less recoil. It’s a really efficient cartridge. I ultimately went with a browning xbolt 2 speed in 6.8 western and couldn’t be more happy. So my point is, go do some research yourself. Your local sporting goods employees may not know what they are talking about. It’s up to people like us to keep the 6.8 western alive and thriving.
Why is it an advantage to have a short action vs a long action? I have a 6.5 prc with a short action, and a 7 PRC with a long action. I can’t tell the difference or why it would matter. 6.8 western has it’s place, just don’t see why a short action is a plus?
@@ryanswanson1150 it’s a little quicker to cycle, but the main reason is weight savings. You can get the same exact rifle, but 6-8oz lighter. Not too much of a difference, but when you’re hiking 15-20 miles a day, the lighter the better.
Rotational grazing practices (keeping livestock restricted to one small section of the pasture and rotating what section they have access to daily) promotes more grass both in density and in height in a pasture. This becomes more economical for farmers who have to rely less on hay in the winter and can stock more cattle on the same ground AND provides better nesting cover for pheasants who like to lay nests in grass heights between 9-12 inches. That's EASILY attainable with rotational grazing but very hard to maintain throughout the nesting season if using "traditional" free grazing "techniques". Fence rows that often surround said pastures can provide some of the cover once the brood hatches. Good for pheasants. Good for cows. Good for farmers. Additionally, The state should provide incentive to farmers to make their roadside ditches functional for wildlife. Give them a reduction on the taxable acres for each quarter mile of ditch that they burn off the useless short grasses and instead seed with tall and strong native prairie grasses. At a minimum this provides cover so there are at least breeding populations and as a bonus, many states already allow hunting the ditches. Implement and promote a program like that and you could add THOUSANDS of acres of publicly accessible land within a couple years. Partnerships with organizations like pheasants forever could even provide the seed and some of the labor possibly. Also states should offer a bounty on racoons and other nest raiding predators. Hunting license sales and partnerships with PF could help pay for that also. Ultimately, you would have to sell all this to the legislators as a revenue generator by bringing in out of state hunters because all they care about is the money. They care nothing for building and maintaining anything for future generations.
Rotational and rest rotation grazing systems are a great idea, GSP. Alas, traditions die hard in the ranching/farming community. As for predators, that is a secondary issue, but certainly worth addressing because raccoons, opossums and house cats are essentially invasive species that take a HUGE toll on native birds, especially nests and chicks. I know farmers and ranchers who have culled as many as 50 raccoons in a small area in one night, as many as 30 from a single fruiting tree, in areas that used to be prime quail or pheasant producers. Surely that density of nest robbers impacts upland bird production, especially in areas with poor habitat. A bigger stumbling block are all the 5 to 20-acres rural "estates" on which folks not only turn loose a few house cats, but graze pastures down to dirt with hobby horses, then mow vast acres of "lawn" and roadside ditch. It all looks very orderly and "clean," but absolutely destroys any chance for upland bird survival. Thanks for sharing your insights.
A lot of people don't understand how much corn the deer will eat. And a good number of farmers are happy to have the hunters help Keep them under control.
47:45 Winchester and browning have both produced centerfire pump action rifles both new and old times. I feel like Stevens did, too. I recently saw a savage pump action .30-30 at the local Cabela’s. I was very interested, but didn’t buy it. 49:09 I don’t know about scope bases, but in automotive work it’s usually recommended that fasteners NOT be lubricated due to the fact that it can lead to overtorquing. If it’s your car, it could result in, I don’t know, your transmission falling off on the highway. On your rifle you could potentially break off a screw in the action, resulting in expense and sadness.
Ron, nice video. Great to hear Betsy from the important side of the camera. Hard to believe this was episode 399. Anything special planned for milestone 400? I'll just wait and see. Betsy, enjoy that coming up elk hunt. Regarding the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts, they are both STILL fine deer cartridges. Just hard to find ammo anymore. But I managed to score 2 cases of 257 Roberts last night. Lucky me. I find it interesting that the 243 and 244 kind of ended the run of the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts. I agree that they did, I just find that the 25's are better. I also find it interesting that the 244 faded away while the 243 prospered. The 244 is balisticly superior to the 243. Nearly a 243 "Magnum ". The 244 always had the knock that it can't handle 100 gr bullets. Hogwash. But what is interesting is that many of todays "DEER" loads for the 243 are 85, 90 and 95 gr bullets. Granted they are todays "super" bullets, that didn't exist in the 50's, 60's and 70's when the 243 killed off the 244/6mm. Shooters/hunters are a fickle bunch. Sadly we'll never see the 244 Rem, 250 Sav or 257 Rob make a comeback. You may find it interesting that I've dedicated one of my 250 Savage 99s as a walking/stalking/snowshoeing coyote rifles. Odd choice, but I like it. Wish a factory would load some 87 gr again. In regards to the Savage pump 30-30. Once upon a time I owned one. Slick action, neat little rifle that appealed to deer hunters that used a pump shotgun on birds. I'd love to tell you that it was a great shooter. I never shot it. Picked it up at the fairgrounds for a song and more than doubled my investment before I left the fairgrounds that day. The good old days were a much simpler time. All the best to you and the family this Christmas season. Cheers, Jeff
10:47 horses are native to North America, originally. They were wiped out by the early humans who got here (probably the number one introduced species in North America) but moved west through Asia to Europe and were ‘introduced’ back to their homeland by Europeans. Species have always been mobile and for numerous reasons. We see this as a problem because we have a limited time window that we think is important.
James, while it is true that many forms of ancient horses exist in the fossil record, the most recent being Equus scotti which went extinct during the Pleistocene era about 10,000 years ago (along with cave bears, wooly mammoths, camels, saber-tooth cats, lions, cheetahs, several types of pronghorn, rhinos and dozens more), there is no absolute proof that humans were the proximate cause. I've always wondered why/how humans could have wiped out lions, cheetahs, and saber tooth cats in N.A., yet not lions, leopards, and cheetahs in Africa and Asia. The same applies to horses, pronghorns, and all the rest. Certainly humans ran rampant over all the wild resources they could before figuring out sustainable harvest, but why did they wipe out some species and not others? Why the giant bison but not today's surviving plains bison? Why the N.A. cheetah, but not the mountain lion? Why giant cave bears but not smaller black bears? Nevertheless, what remained is what drove the distribution and balance of the biotic community that European man discovered when reaching these shores, and neither horses nor pigs nor cats were part of it. If we desire to protect and maintain a healthy piece of the N.A. biotic community circa 1492, we probably should not tolerate European horses, swine, and domestic cats anymore than yellow star thistle and kudzu. Without also re-introducing mammoths, mastodons, narrow-faced rhinos, cave bears, dire wolves, and dozens more Pleistocene species, we should not be introducing a distant relative to the horse that was here. We are operating with insufficient knowledge. But you are certainly right about us working/judging within a limited time window. We do the same with weak and limited climate records covering a few hundred years at most when there's plenty of evidence that over millennia the poles were tropical and the equator was once over ice fields, long before we were driving Chevys to cause it. Human alterations made to increase our security and comfort result (farmland, highways, cities, reservoirs, golf courses, oil fields, solar farms, cattle herds...) in the deaths and sometimes extinctions of many species. We have a fair understanding on the balance of what's left of what was here 500 years ago, so stand a chance of protecting, augmenting, and perpetuating that. Permitting unbridled increases in invasive species like feral horses is anathema to that. I see invasive species as a problem because it see their effect on native pronghorns, mule deer, sage grouse, desert tortoises, desert bighorns, healthy grasslands, native wild flowers and so much more. The sad reality is that we have pushed native wild things into tiny, fragmented islands of severely compromised native habitats that cannot survive additional pressures from invasive species. And now we are adding some ten million additional humans to N.A. every few years, all of them demanding more housing, energy, water, highways, food, and a "piece of the pie." Other than that, everything's hunky dory.
Was just in S Dakota. Birds everywhere. The place we hunted farms and raises beef. Plants Milo strips for birds. They leave the tree heads in between the fields with grass underneath. They leave the low spots covered in grass for cover. Grass so think you can’t see your feet. The birds tuck into it and you’ll never find them. Cows are let into the Milo patches after the season. They also do predator control. Saw plenty pheasants and rabbits.
42:24 huh, I’d had to force a round into the chamber, I think I’d be concerned about a few things which I think would all have the possibility of increasing chamber pressure. A) you might have forced the bullet into the rifling B) you might have forced the case neck against the chamber, possibly increasing crimp on the bullet and C) you may have changed the bullet seating depth when the bullet engages the rifling. I guess if you’re not already seeing pressure signs, maybe it wouldn’t become instantly catastrophic, but I think I’d investigate further before pulling the trigger.
I have a picture back in the late 40s early 50s of a days hunt of pheasants of my grandfather, my father and uncle's. My grandfather's 80 acre farm in NW Ohio. An eight foot section of barnyard fence was hung full of pheasants. Must have had at least 50 to 60 birds on it. We had pheasants, quail all the way up to 1978. The big blizzard of 78 knock them out and never recovered. That was about the same time the ditch banks, fence rows all cut back and their habit was gone. Since then their habit has came back some but the coyotes, badgers, foxes and other predators have kept them in check. Never had coyotes in NW Ohio.
A buddy of mine had a brother who was killed in a car wreck. I bought a Savage pump 30/30 out of his collection. It had a Tasco 3-9× scope on it. With Remington 150 and 170 gr. Corelokts, i got 3-4" groups at 100 yds from the bench. Then i tried my handloaded 150 gr. Barnes TSX loads. Oh my---- 3/4" groups. I was stunned! I did not rest the pump handle on front bag. I held pump in my left hand and i rested my hand on front bag. I never hunted with it yet. I hear Savage made a .35 Remington in the model 170 pump too.
Really enjoy your channel, I heard you say you are not a fan of the Core-Lokt bullet, could you please give us some feedback about this. I have used it for 50 plus years and it has never failed me, I have used it in many calibers from 22-250 to 7MM Rem Mag, it has always been my goto round. Always enjoy your advice, Thank you
Interesting.... i have used a lot of Core Lokt ammo over the years on thin skinned game like Whitetails and always had good luck and very good accuracy for factory loads. More than anything though I have always been impressed with the very good accuracy of Core Lokts. A few times, when working up hand loads and getting mixed results, the ol Core Lokts to check to see how the gun is shooting with something I know that will shoot good. Understand that guys like Ron are bought and paid by the industry and they want you to buy new stuff....that is basically the same thing as the old stuff but with new names and maybe barrel twists...
To John out there I too am hunting with a Savage model 170 pump in 30-30 this year. Sadly I also have yet to take a deer with it. For anybody who doesn't know anything about this rifle it's almost an exact pattern of a Savage model 30 shotgun, it has a tube type magazine and loads from the bottom the same as a shotgun.
Ron, can you do a few episodes on 1. Best caliber to teach your children to target practice for hunting, 2. An experimental with a temp gauge and barrels (steel and CF) to estimate the variability between barrel temp and a zero sighted grouping drift, how long to cool, etc. and 3. How what you use to cook after harvest, favorite field recipes, etc - I know it’s out of place but hard to get anyone’s attention these days, thanks for all the amazing content
Josh, #1 is easy: 22 rimfire. #2 is, I think, unnecessary because if one cannot kill his deer, elk, sheep, or even squirrel with one to three shots, barrel heating changes are the least of one's concerns. And every barrel would be different, so the experiment would be of limited value. We're working on several field dressing, meat boning, cooking videos this winter. May have to put them on RSOTV due to YT sensitivities to reality. Stay tuned.
Hi Ron, you talking about hand loading again brings me back to my question, are you going to put out some reloading videos either on your website, since you can't do that on RUclips, or, for us to purchase? Because I'll just say that if you did put them out for purchase, I would definitely buy them! I would really like to learn from you as you are very detail oriented and I enjoy all the information you give on a subject. Thanks!
I have lived in the Willamette Valley my whole life and I remember when I was a child (70's) having pheasants and valley quail on our rural property. Always enjoyed hearing the pheasants bellow out their distinctive raspy crow. I still live in the same area and I don't see or hear pheasants anymore and haven't in a very long time. I have only recently had some transient covies of quail on my property and hope it is a sign upland birds might be coming back but not feeling optimistic. One thing I have noticed is it seems that over the same years the raccoon and coyote population has increased. I'm not a game biologist but I think that might be part of the problem.
Yes, we've been taught to discount predation because it's "natural," but raccoons and opossums, not to mention roaming house cats, are invasive species in the Northwest and Plains states, etc. I was recently in on a depredation control shoot of coons in an orchard where they removed 86 coons in three nights! On no more than 10 acres. Imagine how many ground nesting birds were negatively impacted by that many 'coons. But good habitat is still the #1 driver of good bird populations.
yes, Locktite is bad news is bad news. Oil the correct method. If you have an pld gun with a pesky screw that shoots loose scrape pencil lead to make some powdered graphite. oil the screw then dip it in th powder snd screw it in and torque to spec. Ive also used liquid moly and finger nail polish as a non adhesive gap filler
As much shooting and loading as Ron does you would think he would know by now to have the rifle your loading for right there beside the loading bench so you can measure distance to lands internal mag length and the function of the brass in that rifle after sizing it!! Once you take all these measurements and write them down you don’t need the rifle right there anymore but this should all be checked every time you change anything!! Even changing from one shell holder to another will change the base to datum measurement!! Once I run everything through a rifle I keep that die shell holder and everything together if I change anything I take all those measurements again and write those down!! This saves a lot of hassle!!
The 243 displaced the 25's because it was the quintessential dual purpose caliber "6mm" not to big for varmits and predators "55 to 80 gr. Bullets" and still having enough oomph to use on medium size game utilizing the higher BC/SD 90 to 100 gr bullets.
Ron I own a REM 7mm mag.. it has never let me down,however a bit heavy. I’m looking to purchase a Mossbegr patriot 30-06 as an alternative for some of the PA deer hunting I do. What are your thoughts on that?
Trajectory curve of the 30-06 with similar bullet weights to the 7mm RM isn't much different out to 300 yards and energy levels are similar, so should be an even-Steven kind of swap unless you want to shoot farther than 300. Then the 7mm begins to really take the advantage.
Not much point, like ron said they just aren't much different at within 300 yards. If your rifle is a bit heavy a cheaper option you may want to look at instead of a new rifle is a new stock for the one you have, you can always put the heavy one back on and its only a few screws to change between them for whatever your doing that day. Im always for a new rifle but depending on what your actual needs and desires are the stock may serve you better. If you really want a new rifle for whitetail something a bit more different like a 243 may be a better pick as it has less over lap in utility then 3006 and 7rem mag.
Might be a different story here vs there, but in Wisconsin the voluntary public access really becomes a program to help farmers make sure they have some guaranteed money. What this is going to mean is come fall when we are deer turkey or waterfowl hunting it’s going to be over a plowed field and you’re hoping that it’ll at least be close to trees. It’s not ideal sure, but it does at the minimum open up some extra land to hunters who may not have access to their own hunting land.
I'm going to say 300 win mag . All the 6.8 is a repackaged 270win that may not have the velocity of the 270win . Don't over look the 270 weatherby either
I went Pheasant hunting with my Dad in Tulare County CA in the early 60tys and now all of that area has become Subdivisions, I remember him getting a few every hunt. I wonder how the CA population of them are doing
Hello Mr. Ron Spomer, I have a few thoughts and questions that I would like to hear your opinion on. I’m currently 25 years old living in upstate New York (specifically the Northern Catskills). Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to apply for an elk tag, and I think I’m gonna start looking into doing that. I currently have a Ruger M77 in 270 and a Sako Forester in 308. I know that both calibers are known for taking elk specifically under that 200 yard range. I do have a few concerns with using these rifles for elk. One is that these are probably the smallest calibers I would personally use for an elk. If I accidentally make a bad shot and I can’t find the elk, I’m gonna feel sick about it for the rest of my life. The second thing is that my rifles feel like they were setup for the Northeast. 150 yards is very generous for where I hunt. Unless I have permission to hunt in a farm field, the furthest I can see most times is probably 50-75 yards on the ground before trees and brush start getting in the way (potentially 100-120 if I’m in a stand). Also because of the distance I’m shooting, I’ve never needed an ultra high powered scope. Finally, if I do see an elk that I can shoot, but it’s over 200 yards, I wouldn’t feel comfortable shooting it with a 308 or 270 at that range. (These might be excuses for trying to get a new rifle but I would like to hear your thoughts) I’ve always been a fan of Ruger, and they’ve had a good reputation for quality control since I’ve been born. I was looking at a Ruger Hawkeye Hunter in 7mm Rem Mag, and I think it would be a good elk gun. Do you have any experience with this rifle, and do you have a scope recommendation for it (preferably a scope around $500)? Coincidentally, while I was looking at the Ruger Hawkeye, my dad decided to do a Ducks Unlimited raffle where they’re giving away a gun 3 days a week in 2025. Most of them are shotguns, but they do have a few rifles available too. In February, they are giving out a few Browning AB3s in 300 (they did not specify if it was chambered in Win Mag or WSM), and in June or July they are giving out a Winchester XPR in 7mm Rem Mag. Should I hold off on the Ruger until after the raffle? (I’m in no rush in applying for an elk tag, just want to hear what you think) Finally, what is your opinion on hunting preserves? I’m mostly talking about going after exotic animals that can be hunted here in the US instead of traveling to other countries (personally, by the looks of it, I don’t think it would be fun to go after a whitetail that has been farm raised, fed corn, and has had human interaction). In central New York there is a preserve that offers a guided red deer hunt on 3,000 acres. They claim to have the “… best natural hunting habitat in New York State, making it one of the largest private hunting preserves on the East Coast. The property is a mix of hardwood forests, streams, ponds, and dense cover-the ideal environment for deer to thrive”. If the deer are living naturally off the land, and they aren’t being baited in, and don’t have lots of human interaction, it sounds like a good deal, and a more authentic hunting trip. Also, it definitely saves the hassle of bringing a rifle to another country. Hope you and or your team get this, Kris
Kris, the 308 Win and 270 Win are capable elk options out to 500 yards. The right bullet is more important than horsepower or even caliber. You will need to train to shoot reliably to whatever max distance you can or want. I suggest 450 yards as max even though either cartridge could kill at much longer distances. But odds for wounding increase with distance. You should be safe and deadly to 300 yards for sure. I'd use controlled expansion bullets, 130- to 150-gr in 270, 150 to 180-gr. in 308. The 7mm Rem Mag is nigh perfect for all N.A. game. As for those preserves, yet, free roaming and breeding exotics on large spreads can be legitimately "wild" as far as being able to avoid hunters. Often they are spookier than game outside the preserve due to more hunting pressure inside. But few, if any, preserves can afford to depend on natural production. Instead, they breed and release to keep herd sizes up and customers happy. That said, there are high quality preserves that do let their animals self perpetuate. They maintain good numbers by limiting hunting. Such may be required to sustain hunting in the latter half of the 21st century, given the massive influx of human population and the demand for housing, energy, food, water. Wildlife is a direct product of good habitat, and more humans do not lead to more wild, open lands. So-called "green environmentalists" who also favor unfettered immigration are no friends of wildlife. Good luck with your hunts. Do them now, while you can.
My buddy & his father were just in S. Dakota. They got there limit every day on state land. And its rather reasonable. I'm in MI. which used to be loaded with pheasants. Farming, chemicals & coyotes have made all the pheasants gone. Makes me sad but it's fact.
But probably not the coyotes, Billy. They are not an effective bird hunter. Coons, skunks, opossums, and red fox are much worse since they routinely hunt nests and eat eggs. Quail researchers in TX discovered that more coyotes increased quail because the coyotes decreased numbers of smaller predators including, of all things, ground squirrels, which also eat eggs.
IAre these two cartridges effective for Elk as well Ron? 6.8 and 300 wby mag? The 300 WBY Im sure os and I have a Sako Finnbear deluxe in 7mm mag that should be fine as well as a Tikka X3 in 6.5 PRC as well that should be ok also.
i just saw a group of birds (looked ground dwelling) that had fury feet and black and white striped feathers in black hills of wyoming. any idea what they are?
31:50 not saying it would be my choice but the guy with the 12 gauge could get extreme penetrator steel buckshot. War wolf ordnance makes some that has 10 .31” diameter chrome plated steel balls and is firing them at 1750 fps which would of course greatly outperform typical regular lead 00 buckshot. Again, still wouldn’t be my choice but would make more sense if he’s dead set on using a shotgun
Off subject but could you please reiterate on how essential management is for the preservation of wildlife, some folks don't get how much stuff has already been driven away or to extinction. If they don't care tha8a different story. Thanks
Late in listening to this podcast, but the issue we see in western Kansas with pheasants is over hunting from the out of state guys. Kansas sells far too many out of state tags and licenses for everything. And those guys typically don’t respect boundaries, and will hunt any piece of ground until nothing flies. Us local hunters have to get private permission to have a chance at getting anything. I haven’t shot a pheasant in 10 years, and lately I’ve only pheasant hunted when checking deer cams on private land I get to hunt. My grandpa also swears the “chemical farming” is lowering the population as well.
I'm encouraged by your concern for pheasant populations in your region, TRX, but I doubt that nonresidents are shooting them all. No research ever conducted has shown that seasonal sport hunting pressure depresses pheasant numbers. If I remember my biology and numbers correctly, 1 rooster can fertilize 10 hens. So, in rooster only seasons, hunters could take out roosters until the sex ratio was 1 rooster to every 10 remaining hens. The closest to that ratio any state has ever recorded is, I believe, 1 in 5. Even if we choose to disbelieve the biology and those numbers, I think we've observed, as hunters, a significant decline in hunting activity when bird numbers are low. The effort is not worth the return, so we give up. This is why most hunt opening week, few in late season (unless weather events concentrate birds.) Also, claiming that nonresidents hunt without respecting boundaries and kill everything that flies demands some proof. Why would a hunter from Ohio or Florida kill more birds than a resident of Colby or Sublette? Jut doesn't sound likely, sir. However, your grandpa's observation about chemical farming has considerable validity. Modern farming obliterates good pheasant escape and brood rearing habitat. The reduction in nutritious insects really hurts chicks that depend almost exclusively on insects for food. Merely walking across a square mile winter wheat field in winter demonstrates its unsuitability to pheasant production. Multiply this by the millions of acres of similar croplands and you have the recipe for a bird population crash.
@ The local guys I know pheasant hunt opening weekend for tradition, then not much else. Some of the private land I hunt is adjacent to walk in, and we have had lots of people crossing the fences when hunting (not respecting boundaries). Most days I have been on those properties, there will be one group after another hunting the walk in, often 3-4 groups per day, and most of the vehicles have tags from other states when I’ve driven by. I can only assume they shoot only roosters, and I hope they do. Many of my friends that deer hunt have had similar experiences with pheasant hunters on walk in. The bird numbers are low, and I’m just stating another possible reason contributing to it. I tend to hunt only in western half of the state, and haven’t seen hardly any birds anywhere. The northwest and north central part has a lot of ideal prairie grass habitat, but also lots of walk in, and has been in a long lasting drought. PS, I do love listening to your podcast.
Ron ,,I’m the nut that said you would shoot your best groups ever with a half inch dot on a paper plate ,,,have you tried it yet ,,,lol ,,,, when you do ,you will be shocked ,,,this leaves nothing to think about but hitting the dot and leaves only the sight of that dot to look at.
As far as your comment about not using LOKTITE on your base screws. Well, i always do and have never had a problem with any screws coming loose. The few people that i know that brag that they dont use blue loktite, they usually have issues on target range down the line. First thing i tell them is --- your base screws are loose. Guess what---- THEY WERE!
Hey ron im from south central south dakota you actually traveled threw my town and took a picture with the big pheasant lol anyhow the pheasnts hunting around here anymore is just chicken farming most to all the birds around are released birds not very many wild birds left
@RonSpomerOutdoors it is and it's sad but you can't kill 50 to 60 pheasants a day for 4 months straight and thats multiple 10 to 15 lodges each and expect any wild birds to be around they've been gone for a while if there is any wild birds it's the survivors of the released offspring
That's odd, Craig, because I've taken four mnt. goats and none with a 300 Wby Mag. How'd that happen? Kidding aside, the 300 wby. Mag. is certainly capable, but certainly not necessary. My goats gave up the ghost easily when hit with 270 WSM, 284 Win, 7mm-08 Rem., and 300 WSM.
*_6.8 Western > PRC_* All of them... [Wink] Perhaps I am alone in this thinking, but frankly, I am tired of hearing about Hornady. Market saturation can be counterproductive. As we shall soon see with the PRC lineup. IMHO, of course. _"A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one."_ *~Henry Ford* Stay classy my friends.
As a petite/buxom woman, I can safely say that the 6.8 Western is FAR MORE enjoyable to shoot than my husband's .300 Win Mag or _any_ of the PRC offerings. While I cannot speak for all women, I will say that the PRC line just seems to be more stout than the 6.8 Western. FWIW, I can keep my target in-focus when I am behind the 6.8 Western. However, the same cannot be said for the PRC series. 6.8 Western for the win, folks! 💜~Kitten
Pheasants aren’t disappearing people are multiplying. Where pheasants used to live is now residential developments, Walmart, bank, and grocery stores. Throw in a change of farming practice and a sprinkle of avian flu boom. No more pheasants. Pennsylvania used to rival South Dakota. Now it’s hardly a pheasant in the state that isn’t stocked. More important it’s not something most people care about.
Pheasant don't do that well by themselves ! I live in England, brought up in the country, and I have seen millions of the damned things. I'll bet about 1% of them were wild bred. If a farm stops preserving game you won't see many pheasants in a couple of years. Thing is,everything eats them, and their eggs, they seem to be magnetically attracted to traffic and they are easy to shoot ! One thing nobody has mentioned is that they prefer to roost over 8' off the ground, often much higher and they won't travel far from their roosts. So no tall scrub and low woods, no pheasants.
@@CrimeVid Intresting observations, Crime. In SD and KS the vast majority of pheasants roost on the ground, preferably in surprisingly short grasses, even wheat stubble. They need more dense cover for winter shelter (tall prairie grasses, cattails, bulrushes, some shrubs/brush, kochia weeds.) Strips of man-planted trees (shelterbelts in SD) provide cover in deep snow winters, too. Our pheasants have proven for decades that they don't need tall scrub and low woods. Until you've seen a stand of 4 to 5-foot high prairie grasses or cattails/bulrushes, it's hard to understand. The pheasants on Dancing Springs Ranch do well all by themselves at 5,000 to 6,000 feet on native sage-shrub grasslands with minimal crop fields a mile or two away.
As migration explodes our population the natural result will be new subdivisions in former country areas. They are popping up everywhere around us. City lights where there was former dark skies. Even between the cities a lot of former farm/ranch/hunting land is becoming highly populated. Subdivisions and shopping centers on former hunting land. I am concerned for the next generations after us. Hunting is fast becoming a rich mans sport with more and more scarcity of hunting land available for the average person.
I disagree on the corporate farms. They are specifically designed to ruin habitat so as not to allow hunting. This in return requires you to buy store bought. Corporations and big government do not want you to be self reliant because there is zero profit in that. On a side note, most of those corporate farms are planting foods that are generically modified and cause health risks (Monsanto, GMO crap). Just an opinion, take it for what it is.
Dear Ron I have been watching an other you tube channel I figured given the company name they would be a good group of hunters they shot at last light and go back to find it in the morning and have lost multiple animals to scavengers and unable to find them drives me crazy it makes us all look bad to anti hunters
Former .30cal guy here... I absolutely love the 6.8 Western!
6.8 Western is under rated for sure!
I went with a browning xbolt 2 in 6.8 western. Excellent cartridge.
6.8 western needs more ammo makers stat.
Needs more rifle options to….
Already at 100K subs! Well done!
Thanks Glock. I owe it all to you guys.
Your right Ron🙌When I was a kid almost 70 years ago they had peasants everywhere here in oregon. I lived in southern oregon down on the Rogue River and next to my house where lots of fields and everyone was filled with lots of peasents🥰
A lot of it is because of the changes in farming we used to leave a row along the fence now we go right up to the fence
As for the best gun for a Mt hunt used to be my Sako in a 300wsm but this month I purchased a used pre64 and chambered in a 270 win. And it’s going to be my main hunting rifle for deer and sheep size game just like Jack O’Conner used and my latest pre64 is the nicest I have ever owed being a collector over 60 years and seeing what Jack took with his 270 win.
270 Weatherby Magnum 150gr. Bullet
I haven't seen a pheasant in west central indiana in 20 years. My uncle goes to South Dakota every year and bags out both days opening weekend
The economics of changing set ups means im sticking with what i have and that a 300wm
Ron
I just spent 4 days hunting SD centered around Woonsocket on public land. We started off slow, but got it dialed in by the 3rd day. We did see a lot of birds and had some flushes with more than 20 birds. Our biggest obstacle was them flushing 40 yards out. The strong winds were a challenge for us interpreting the dog's point, which could be for a bird further out than we had anticipated. We had a great experience and learned a lot for our first trip to South Dakota pheasant hunting. Loved it!!!
Sounds as if you're learning fast.
Was definitely hoping for more discussion on 6.8 vs 300wm. Currently debating between 6.8 Western and 300 wsm.
Go old school! 270 or 30-06. These are overlooked so many times thinking they’re out of date.
If it ain't broke...
10:28 where I live in western Washington, we had quite a few pheasants right here in this county, we used to see them in the football field of my high school. The state outlawed private game bird keepers who used to raise and stock the local area and I haven’t seen any since except for in the wdfw release sites.
A few months ago, I asked my local Cabela’s about the 6.8 western. He recommended against it and said it’s going to die off. Well after doing more research I found out how great this round is. Comparable ballistics to the 7 rem mag and 7 prc, in a short action with a bit less recoil. It’s a really efficient cartridge. I ultimately went with a browning xbolt 2 speed in 6.8 western and couldn’t be more happy. So my point is, go do some research yourself. Your local sporting goods employees may not know what they are talking about. It’s up to people like us to keep the 6.8 western alive and thriving.
TBH Cabela's guys are just retail employees they don't have any innate knowledge or training
Why is it an advantage to have a short action vs a long action? I have a 6.5 prc with a short action, and a 7 PRC with a long action. I can’t tell the difference or why it would matter. 6.8 western has it’s place, just don’t see why a short action is a plus?
@@ryanswanson1150 it’s a little quicker to cycle, but the main reason is weight savings. You can get the same exact rifle, but 6-8oz lighter. Not too much of a difference, but when you’re hiking 15-20 miles a day, the lighter the better.
I do appreciate the comments on habitat loss.
Wish Browning made the BAR in 6.8 western
Rotational grazing practices (keeping livestock restricted to one small section of the pasture and rotating what section they have access to daily) promotes more grass both in density and in height in a pasture. This becomes more economical for farmers who have to rely less on hay in the winter and can stock more cattle on the same ground AND provides better nesting cover for pheasants who like to lay nests in grass heights between 9-12 inches. That's EASILY attainable with rotational grazing but very hard to maintain throughout the nesting season if using "traditional" free grazing "techniques". Fence rows that often surround said pastures can provide some of the cover once the brood hatches. Good for pheasants. Good for cows. Good for farmers. Additionally, The state should provide incentive to farmers to make their roadside ditches functional for wildlife. Give them a reduction on the taxable acres for each quarter mile of ditch that they burn off the useless short grasses and instead seed with tall and strong native prairie grasses. At a minimum this provides cover so there are at least breeding populations and as a bonus, many states already allow hunting the ditches. Implement and promote a program like that and you could add THOUSANDS of acres of publicly accessible land within a couple years. Partnerships with organizations like pheasants forever could even provide the seed and some of the labor possibly. Also states should offer a bounty on racoons and other nest raiding predators. Hunting license sales and partnerships with PF could help pay for that also. Ultimately, you would have to sell all this to the legislators as a revenue generator by bringing in out of state hunters because all they care about is the money. They care nothing for building and maintaining anything for future generations.
Rotational and rest rotation grazing systems are a great idea, GSP. Alas, traditions die hard in the ranching/farming community. As for predators, that is a secondary issue, but certainly worth addressing because raccoons, opossums and house cats are essentially invasive species that take a HUGE toll on native birds, especially nests and chicks. I know farmers and ranchers who have culled as many as 50 raccoons in a small area in one night, as many as 30 from a single fruiting tree, in areas that used to be prime quail or pheasant producers. Surely that density of nest robbers impacts upland bird production, especially in areas with poor habitat. A bigger stumbling block are all the 5 to 20-acres rural "estates" on which folks not only turn loose a few house cats, but graze pastures down to dirt with hobby horses, then mow vast acres of "lawn" and roadside ditch. It all looks very orderly and "clean," but absolutely destroys any chance for upland bird survival. Thanks for sharing your insights.
A lot of people don't understand how much corn the deer will eat. And a good number of farmers are happy to have the hunters help Keep them under control.
47:45 Winchester and browning have both produced centerfire pump action rifles both new and old times. I feel like Stevens did, too. I recently saw a savage pump action .30-30 at the local Cabela’s. I was very interested, but didn’t buy it.
49:09 I don’t know about scope bases, but in automotive work it’s usually recommended that fasteners NOT be lubricated due to the fact that it can lead to overtorquing. If it’s your car, it could result in, I don’t know, your transmission falling off on the highway. On your rifle you could potentially break off a screw in the action, resulting in expense and sadness.
Great episode Ron!
Ron, nice video. Great to hear Betsy from the important side of the camera. Hard to believe this was episode 399. Anything special planned for milestone 400? I'll just wait and see. Betsy, enjoy that coming up elk hunt.
Regarding the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts, they are both STILL fine deer cartridges. Just hard to find ammo anymore. But I managed to score 2 cases of 257 Roberts last night. Lucky me. I find it interesting that the 243 and 244 kind of ended the run of the 250 Savage and 257 Roberts. I agree that they did, I just find that the 25's are better. I also find it interesting that the 244 faded away while the 243 prospered. The 244 is balisticly superior to the 243. Nearly a 243 "Magnum ". The 244 always had the knock that it can't handle 100 gr bullets. Hogwash. But what is interesting is that many of todays "DEER" loads for the 243 are 85, 90 and 95 gr bullets. Granted they are todays "super" bullets, that didn't exist in the 50's, 60's and 70's when the 243 killed off the 244/6mm. Shooters/hunters are a fickle bunch. Sadly we'll never see the 244 Rem, 250 Sav or 257 Rob make a comeback. You may find it interesting that I've dedicated one of my 250 Savage 99s as a walking/stalking/snowshoeing coyote rifles. Odd choice, but I like it. Wish a factory would load some 87 gr again.
In regards to the Savage pump 30-30. Once upon a time I owned one. Slick action, neat little rifle that appealed to deer hunters that used a pump shotgun on birds. I'd love to tell you that it was a great shooter. I never shot it. Picked it up at the fairgrounds for a song and more than doubled my investment before I left the fairgrounds that day. The good old days were a much simpler time.
All the best to you and the family this Christmas season.
Cheers, Jeff
10:47 horses are native to North America, originally. They were wiped out by the early humans who got here (probably the number one introduced species in North America) but moved west through Asia to Europe and were ‘introduced’ back to their homeland by Europeans. Species have always been mobile and for numerous reasons. We see this as a problem because we have a limited time window that we think is important.
James, while it is true that many forms of ancient horses exist in the fossil record, the most recent being Equus scotti which went extinct during the Pleistocene era about 10,000 years ago (along with cave bears, wooly mammoths, camels, saber-tooth cats, lions, cheetahs, several types of pronghorn, rhinos and dozens more), there is no absolute proof that humans were the proximate cause. I've always wondered why/how humans could have wiped out lions, cheetahs, and saber tooth cats in N.A., yet not lions, leopards, and cheetahs in Africa and Asia. The same applies to horses, pronghorns, and all the rest.
Certainly humans ran rampant over all the wild resources they could before figuring out sustainable harvest, but why did they wipe out some species and not others? Why the giant bison but not today's surviving plains bison? Why the N.A. cheetah, but not the mountain lion? Why giant cave bears but not smaller black bears? Nevertheless, what remained is what drove the distribution and balance of the biotic community that European man discovered when reaching these shores, and neither horses nor pigs nor cats were part of it. If we desire to protect and maintain a healthy piece of the N.A. biotic community circa 1492, we probably should not tolerate European horses, swine, and domestic cats anymore than yellow star thistle and kudzu. Without also re-introducing mammoths, mastodons, narrow-faced rhinos, cave bears, dire wolves, and dozens more Pleistocene species, we should not be introducing a distant relative to the horse that was here. We are operating with insufficient knowledge.
But you are certainly right about us working/judging within a limited time window. We do the same with weak and limited climate records covering a few hundred years at most when there's plenty of evidence that over millennia the poles were tropical and the equator was once over ice fields, long before we were driving Chevys to cause it. Human alterations made to increase our security and comfort result (farmland, highways, cities, reservoirs, golf courses, oil fields, solar farms, cattle herds...) in the deaths and sometimes extinctions of many species. We have a fair understanding on the balance of what's left of what was here 500 years ago, so stand a chance of protecting, augmenting, and perpetuating that. Permitting unbridled increases in invasive species like feral horses is anathema to that.
I see invasive species as a problem because it see their effect on native pronghorns, mule deer, sage grouse, desert tortoises, desert bighorns, healthy grasslands, native wild flowers and so much more. The sad reality is that we have pushed native wild things into tiny, fragmented islands of severely compromised native habitats that cannot survive additional pressures from invasive species. And now we are adding some ten million additional humans to N.A. every few years, all of them demanding more housing, energy, water, highways, food, and a "piece of the pie." Other than that, everything's hunky dory.
6.8 western seems like the perfect cartridge too me.
A LIGHTWEIGHT rifle, in WHAT your comfortable with. -- you dont need the latest FAD! (Good old 30-06 is fine)!
Was just in S Dakota.
Birds everywhere.
The place we hunted farms and raises beef.
Plants Milo strips for birds. They leave the tree heads in between the fields with grass underneath.
They leave the low spots covered in grass for cover. Grass so think you can’t see your feet.
The birds tuck into it and you’ll never find them.
Cows are let into the Milo patches after the season.
They also do predator control.
Saw plenty pheasants and rabbits.
42:24 huh, I’d had to force a round into the chamber, I think I’d be concerned about a few things which I think would all have the possibility of increasing chamber pressure. A) you might have forced the bullet into the rifling B) you might have forced the case neck against the chamber, possibly increasing crimp on the bullet and C) you may have changed the bullet seating depth when the bullet engages the rifling. I guess if you’re not already seeing pressure signs, maybe it wouldn’t become instantly catastrophic, but I think I’d investigate further before pulling the trigger.
I have a picture back in the late 40s early 50s of a days hunt of pheasants of my grandfather, my father and uncle's. My grandfather's 80 acre farm in NW Ohio. An eight foot section of barnyard fence was hung full of pheasants. Must have had at least 50 to 60 birds on it. We had pheasants, quail all the way up to 1978. The big blizzard of 78 knock them out and never recovered. That was about the same time the ditch banks, fence rows all cut back and their habit was gone.
Since then their habit has came back some but the coyotes, badgers, foxes and other predators have kept them in check. Never had coyotes in NW Ohio.
A buddy of mine had a brother who was killed in a car wreck. I bought a Savage pump 30/30 out of his collection. It had a Tasco 3-9× scope on it. With Remington 150 and 170 gr. Corelokts, i got 3-4" groups at 100 yds from the bench. Then i tried my handloaded 150 gr. Barnes TSX loads. Oh my---- 3/4" groups. I was stunned! I did not rest the pump handle on front bag. I held pump in my left hand and i rested my hand on front bag. I never hunted with it yet. I hear Savage made a .35 Remington in the model 170 pump too.
Really enjoy your channel, I heard you say you are not a fan of the Core-Lokt bullet, could you please give us some feedback about this.
I have used it for 50 plus years and it has never failed me, I have used it in many calibers from 22-250 to 7MM Rem Mag, it has always been my goto round.
Always enjoy your advice, Thank you
Interesting.... i have used a lot of Core Lokt ammo over the years on thin skinned game like Whitetails and always had good luck and very good accuracy for factory loads.
More than anything though I have always been impressed with the very good accuracy of Core Lokts. A few times, when working up hand loads and getting mixed results, the ol Core Lokts to check to see how the gun is shooting with something I know that will shoot good.
Understand that guys like Ron are bought and paid by the industry and they want you to buy new stuff....that is basically the same thing as the old stuff but with new names and maybe barrel twists...
To John out there I too am hunting with a Savage model 170 pump in 30-30 this year. Sadly I also have yet to take a deer with it. For anybody who doesn't know anything about this rifle it's almost an exact pattern of a Savage model 30 shotgun, it has a tube type magazine and loads from the bottom the same as a shotgun.
Ron, can you do a few episodes on 1. Best caliber to teach your children to target practice for hunting, 2. An experimental with a temp gauge and barrels (steel and CF) to estimate the variability between barrel temp and a zero sighted grouping drift, how long to cool, etc. and 3. How what you use to cook after harvest, favorite field recipes, etc - I know it’s out of place but hard to get anyone’s attention these days, thanks for all the amazing content
Josh, #1 is easy: 22 rimfire. #2 is, I think, unnecessary because if one cannot kill his deer, elk, sheep, or even squirrel with one to three shots, barrel heating changes are the least of one's concerns. And every barrel would be different, so the experiment would be of limited value. We're working on several field dressing, meat boning, cooking videos this winter. May have to put them on RSOTV due to YT sensitivities to reality. Stay tuned.
6.8 Western is a outstanding cartridge, I chose it over 7 PRC because I wanted a short action that can push a 175 grain bullet 3,000 FPS😊.
Hi Ron, you talking about hand loading again brings me back to my question, are you going to put out some reloading videos either on your website, since you can't do that on RUclips, or, for us to purchase?
Because I'll just say that if you did put them out for purchase, I would definitely buy them! I would really like to learn from you as you are very detail oriented and I enjoy all the information you give on a subject. Thanks!
I have lived in the Willamette Valley my whole life and I remember when I was a child (70's) having pheasants and valley quail on our rural property. Always enjoyed hearing the pheasants bellow out their distinctive raspy crow. I still live in the same area and I don't see or hear pheasants anymore and haven't in a very long time. I have only recently had some transient covies of quail on my property and hope it is a sign upland birds might be coming back but not feeling optimistic. One thing I have noticed is it seems that over the same years the raccoon and coyote population has increased. I'm not a game biologist but I think that might be part of the problem.
Yes, we've been taught to discount predation because it's "natural," but raccoons and opossums, not to mention roaming house cats, are invasive species in the Northwest and Plains states, etc. I was recently in on a depredation control shoot of coons in an orchard where they removed 86 coons in three nights! On no more than 10 acres. Imagine how many ground nesting birds were negatively impacted by that many 'coons. But good habitat is still the #1 driver of good bird populations.
yes, Locktite is bad news is bad news. Oil the correct method. If you have an pld gun with a pesky screw that shoots loose scrape pencil lead to make some powdered graphite. oil the screw then dip it in th powder snd screw it in and torque to spec. Ive also used liquid moly and finger nail polish as a non adhesive gap filler
As much shooting and loading as Ron does you would think he would know by now to have the rifle your loading for right there beside the loading bench so you can measure distance to lands internal mag length and the function of the brass in that rifle after sizing it!! Once you take all these measurements and write them down you don’t need the rifle right there anymore but this should all be checked every time you change anything!! Even changing from one shell holder to another will change the base to datum measurement!! Once I run everything through a rifle I keep that die shell holder and everything together if I change anything I take all those measurements again and write those down!! This saves a lot of hassle!!
In Alaska the troopers use shotguns with slugs for bear defence.
Browning did have a pump action centerfire rifle, the BPR (Browning Pump Rifle), but I think it was discontinued around 2000 or 2001.
The 243 displaced the 25's because it was the quintessential dual purpose caliber "6mm" not to big for varmits and predators "55 to 80 gr. Bullets" and still having enough oomph to use on medium size game utilizing the higher BC/SD 90 to 100 gr bullets.
bought 4 candles , you got me lol.....
Loving my 300 PRC
Ron I own a REM 7mm mag.. it has never let me down,however a bit heavy. I’m looking to purchase a Mossbegr patriot 30-06 as an alternative for some of the PA deer hunting I do. What are your thoughts on that?
Trajectory curve of the 30-06 with similar bullet weights to the 7mm RM isn't much different out to 300 yards and energy levels are similar, so should be an even-Steven kind of swap unless you want to shoot farther than 300. Then the 7mm begins to really take the advantage.
Not much point, like ron said they just aren't much different at within 300 yards. If your rifle is a bit heavy a cheaper option you may want to look at instead of a new rifle is a new stock for the one you have, you can always put the heavy one back on and its only a few screws to change between them for whatever your doing that day. Im always for a new rifle but depending on what your actual needs and desires are the stock may serve you better. If you really want a new rifle for whitetail something a bit more different like a 243 may be a better pick as it has less over lap in utility then 3006 and 7rem mag.
We’re restricted to buckshot only in a lot of the areas I hunt. It’s devastating and an instant stopper at 10 yards on deer and black bear.
The savage 170
Came in 30/30,410 shotgun and 35 Remington
I have 30/30 in savage 170c
Was my 1st deer 🦌 gun other than 50 cal muzzle loader
Might be a different story here vs there, but in Wisconsin the voluntary public access really becomes a program to help farmers make sure they have some guaranteed money. What this is going to mean is come fall when we are deer turkey or waterfowl hunting it’s going to be over a plowed field and you’re hoping that it’ll at least be close to trees. It’s not ideal sure, but it does at the minimum open up some extra land to hunters who may not have access to their own hunting land.
an hour long episode?! , we just got an early present
I'm going to say 300 win mag . All the 6.8 is a repackaged 270win that may not have the velocity of the 270win . Don't over look the 270 weatherby either
338 lapua minimum for goats and 50 BMG for Elkies, but i just use a 270 win with 130 gr bonded boat tails and 150's for elk
I went Pheasant hunting with my Dad in Tulare County CA in the early 60tys and now all of that area has become Subdivisions, I remember him getting a few every hunt. I wonder how the CA population of them are doing
Hello Mr. Ron Spomer,
I have a few thoughts and questions that I would like to hear your opinion on.
I’m currently 25 years old living in upstate New York (specifically the Northern Catskills). Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to apply for an elk tag, and I think I’m gonna start looking into doing that. I currently have a Ruger M77 in 270 and a Sako Forester in 308. I know that both calibers are known for taking elk specifically under that 200 yard range.
I do have a few concerns with using these rifles for elk. One is that these are probably the smallest calibers I would personally use for an elk. If I accidentally make a bad shot and I can’t find the elk, I’m gonna feel sick about it for the rest of my life. The second thing is that my rifles feel like they were setup for the Northeast. 150 yards is very generous for where I hunt. Unless I have permission to hunt in a farm field, the furthest I can see most times is probably 50-75 yards on the ground before trees and brush start getting in the way (potentially 100-120 if I’m in a stand). Also because of the distance I’m shooting, I’ve never needed an ultra high powered scope. Finally, if I do see an elk that I can shoot, but it’s over 200 yards, I wouldn’t feel comfortable shooting it with a 308 or 270 at that range. (These might be excuses for trying to get a new rifle but I would like to hear your thoughts)
I’ve always been a fan of Ruger, and they’ve had a good reputation for quality control since I’ve been born. I was looking at a Ruger Hawkeye Hunter in 7mm Rem Mag, and I think it would be a good elk gun. Do you have any experience with this rifle, and do you have a scope recommendation for it (preferably a scope around $500)?
Coincidentally, while I was looking at the Ruger Hawkeye, my dad decided to do a Ducks Unlimited raffle where they’re giving away a gun 3 days a week in 2025. Most of them are shotguns, but they do have a few rifles available too. In February, they are giving out a few Browning AB3s in 300 (they did not specify if it was chambered in Win Mag or WSM), and in June or July they are giving out a Winchester XPR in 7mm Rem Mag. Should I hold off on the Ruger until after the raffle? (I’m in no rush in applying for an elk tag, just want to hear what you think)
Finally, what is your opinion on hunting preserves? I’m mostly talking about going after exotic animals that can be hunted here in the US instead of traveling to other countries (personally, by the looks of it, I don’t think it would be fun to go after a whitetail that has been farm raised, fed corn, and has had human interaction). In central New York there is a preserve that offers a guided red deer hunt on 3,000 acres. They claim to have the “… best natural hunting habitat in New York State, making it one of the largest private hunting preserves on the East Coast. The property is a mix of hardwood forests, streams, ponds, and dense cover-the ideal environment for deer to thrive”. If the deer are living naturally off the land, and they aren’t being baited in, and don’t have lots of human interaction, it sounds like a good deal, and a more authentic hunting trip. Also, it definitely saves the hassle of bringing a rifle to another country.
Hope you and or your team get this,
Kris
Kris, the 308 Win and 270 Win are capable elk options out to 500 yards. The right bullet is more important than horsepower or even caliber. You will need to train to shoot reliably to whatever max distance you can or want. I suggest 450 yards as max even though either cartridge could kill at much longer distances. But odds for wounding increase with distance. You should be safe and deadly to 300 yards for sure. I'd use controlled expansion bullets, 130- to 150-gr in 270, 150 to 180-gr. in 308. The 7mm Rem Mag is nigh perfect for all N.A. game. As for those preserves, yet, free roaming and breeding exotics on large spreads can be legitimately "wild" as far as being able to avoid hunters. Often they are spookier than game outside the preserve due to more hunting pressure inside. But few, if any, preserves can afford to depend on natural production. Instead, they breed and release to keep herd sizes up and customers happy. That said, there are high quality preserves that do let their animals self perpetuate. They maintain good numbers by limiting hunting. Such may be required to sustain hunting in the latter half of the 21st century, given the massive influx of human population and the demand for housing, energy, food, water. Wildlife is a direct product of good habitat, and more humans do not lead to more wild, open lands. So-called "green environmentalists" who also favor unfettered immigration are no friends of wildlife. Good luck with your hunts. Do them now, while you can.
@ thank you very much for your reply!
To get a lisense fer like goats and sheep don't you have to apply and sometimes wait years. I'm from pa.
Can they make a Ballistol scented candle? Lol
My buddy & his father were just in S. Dakota. They got there limit every day on state land. And its rather reasonable. I'm in MI. which used to be loaded with pheasants. Farming, chemicals & coyotes have made all the pheasants gone. Makes me sad but it's fact.
But probably not the coyotes, Billy. They are not an effective bird hunter. Coons, skunks, opossums, and red fox are much worse since they routinely hunt nests and eat eggs. Quail researchers in TX discovered that more coyotes increased quail because the coyotes decreased numbers of smaller predators including, of all things, ground squirrels, which also eat eggs.
300 win mag is a more powerful and versatile cartridge than 6.8 western, and plenty of availability worldwide.
Remington list the 7mmRM as 1:8 twist in all of the Model 700 rifles
That's good to hear. They told me 3 years ago they were going to do this. Glad to see they did.
IAre these two cartridges effective for Elk as well Ron? 6.8 and 300 wby mag? The 300 WBY Im sure os and I have a Sako Finnbear deluxe in 7mm mag that should be fine as well as a Tikka X3 in 6.5 PRC as well that should be ok also.
Absolutely. All those are great.
i just saw a group of birds (looked ground dwelling) that had fury feet and black and white striped feathers in black hills of wyoming.
any idea what they are?
i was thinking maybe sharpies?
Sharptailed grouse most likely. Legs feathered right down to the toes is a mark of a grouse and sharptails are in Black Hills meadows and rangelands.
31:50 not saying it would be my choice but the guy with the 12 gauge could get extreme penetrator steel buckshot. War wolf ordnance makes some that has 10 .31” diameter chrome plated steel balls and is firing them at 1750 fps which would of course greatly outperform typical regular lead 00 buckshot. Again, still wouldn’t be my choice but would make more sense if he’s dead set on using a shotgun
If my house didnt already smell likes hoppes i couid go for a candle
Like the roadrunner does to Wylie coyote bl as la. Blallaw
Off subject but could you please reiterate on how essential management is for the preservation of wildlife, some folks don't get how much stuff has already been driven away or to extinction. If they don't care tha8a different story. Thanks
Late in listening to this podcast, but the issue we see in western Kansas with pheasants is over hunting from the out of state guys. Kansas sells far too many out of state tags and licenses for everything. And those guys typically don’t respect boundaries, and will hunt any piece of ground until nothing flies. Us local hunters have to get private permission to have a chance at getting anything. I haven’t shot a pheasant in 10 years, and lately I’ve only pheasant hunted when checking deer cams on private land I get to hunt.
My grandpa also swears the “chemical farming” is lowering the population as well.
I'm encouraged by your concern for pheasant populations in your region, TRX, but I doubt that nonresidents are shooting them all. No research ever conducted has shown that seasonal sport hunting pressure depresses pheasant numbers. If I remember my biology and numbers correctly, 1 rooster can fertilize 10 hens. So, in rooster only seasons, hunters could take out roosters until the sex ratio was 1 rooster to every 10 remaining hens. The closest to that ratio any state has ever recorded is, I believe, 1 in 5. Even if we choose to disbelieve the biology and those numbers, I think we've observed, as hunters, a significant decline in hunting activity when bird numbers are low. The effort is not worth the return, so we give up. This is why most hunt opening week, few in late season (unless weather events concentrate birds.) Also, claiming that nonresidents hunt without respecting boundaries and kill everything that flies demands some proof. Why would a hunter from Ohio or Florida kill more birds than a resident of Colby or Sublette? Jut doesn't sound likely, sir. However, your grandpa's observation about chemical farming has considerable validity. Modern farming obliterates good pheasant escape and brood rearing habitat. The reduction in nutritious insects really hurts chicks that depend almost exclusively on insects for food. Merely walking across a square mile winter wheat field in winter demonstrates its unsuitability to pheasant production. Multiply this by the millions of acres of similar croplands and you have the recipe for a bird population crash.
@ The local guys I know pheasant hunt opening weekend for tradition, then not much else. Some of the private land I hunt is adjacent to walk in, and we have had lots of people crossing the fences when hunting (not respecting boundaries). Most days I have been on those properties, there will be one group after another hunting the walk in, often 3-4 groups per day, and most of the vehicles have tags from other states when I’ve driven by. I can only assume they shoot only roosters, and I hope they do. Many of my friends that deer hunt have had similar experiences with pheasant hunters on walk in.
The bird numbers are low, and I’m just stating another possible reason contributing to it. I tend to hunt only in western half of the state, and haven’t seen hardly any birds anywhere. The northwest and north central part has a lot of ideal prairie grass habitat, but also lots of walk in, and has been in a long lasting drought.
PS, I do love listening to your podcast.
Jack had it right,. .270 Winchester
We grow more food than we can eat!
Ron ,,I’m the nut that said you would shoot your best groups ever with a half inch dot on a paper plate ,,,have you tried it yet ,,,lol ,,,, when you do ,you will be shocked ,,,this leaves nothing to think about but hitting the dot and leaves only the sight of that dot to look at.
Curious have you ever hunted in Arkansas
A few times. Near Peckerwood Lake. Took a pretty good whitetail there. Several fine flooded timber duck hunts near Stuttgart.
As far as your comment about not using LOKTITE on your base screws. Well, i always do and have never had a problem with any screws coming loose. The few people that i know that brag that they dont use blue loktite, they usually have issues on target range down the line. First thing i tell them is --- your base screws are loose. Guess what---- THEY WERE!
Hey ron im from south central south dakota you actually traveled threw my town and took a picture with the big pheasant lol anyhow the pheasnts hunting around here anymore is just chicken farming most to all the birds around are released birds not very many wild birds left
If true, that's too bad.
@RonSpomerOutdoors it is and it's sad but you can't kill 50 to 60 pheasants a day for 4 months straight and thats multiple 10 to 15 lodges each and expect any wild birds to be around they've been gone for a while if there is any wild birds it's the survivors of the released offspring
Cackle funny I hear them running circles around me and I have to laugh
Only one cartridge for Goats 300 Weatherby Magnum
That's odd, Craig, because I've taken four mnt. goats and none with a 300 Wby Mag. How'd that happen? Kidding aside, the 300 wby. Mag. is certainly capable, but certainly not necessary. My goats gave up the ghost easily when hit with 270 WSM, 284 Win, 7mm-08 Rem., and 300 WSM.
*_6.8 Western > PRC_*
All of them... [Wink]
Perhaps I am alone in this thinking, but frankly, I am tired of hearing about Hornady. Market saturation can be counterproductive. As we shall soon see with the PRC lineup. IMHO, of course.
_"A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one."_ *~Henry Ford*
Stay classy my friends.
profit reaping cartridges (prc)
As a petite/buxom woman,
I can safely say that the 6.8 Western is FAR MORE enjoyable to shoot than my husband's .300 Win Mag or _any_ of the PRC offerings.
While I cannot speak for all women, I will say that the PRC line just seems to be more stout than the 6.8 Western. FWIW, I can keep my target in-focus when I am behind the 6.8 Western.
However, the same cannot be said for the PRC series.
6.8 Western for the win, folks!
💜~Kitten
300WM vote here!
slug over buckshot fot sure.
Pheasants aren’t disappearing people are multiplying. Where pheasants used to live is now residential developments, Walmart, bank, and grocery stores. Throw in a change of farming practice and a sprinkle of avian flu boom. No more pheasants. Pennsylvania used to rival South Dakota. Now it’s hardly a pheasant in the state that isn’t stocked. More important it’s not something most people care about.
Pheasant don't do that well by themselves ! I live in England, brought up in the country, and I have seen millions of the damned things. I'll bet about 1% of them were wild bred. If a farm stops preserving game you won't see many pheasants in a couple of years. Thing is,everything eats them, and their eggs, they seem to be magnetically attracted to traffic and they are easy to shoot ! One thing nobody has mentioned is that they prefer to roost over 8' off the ground, often much higher and they won't travel far from their roosts. So no tall scrub and low woods, no pheasants.
@@CrimeVid Intresting observations, Crime. In SD and KS the vast majority of pheasants roost on the ground, preferably in surprisingly short grasses, even wheat stubble. They need more dense cover for winter shelter (tall prairie grasses, cattails, bulrushes, some shrubs/brush, kochia weeds.) Strips of man-planted trees (shelterbelts in SD) provide cover in deep snow winters, too. Our pheasants have proven for decades that they don't need tall scrub and low woods. Until you've seen a stand of 4 to 5-foot high prairie grasses or cattails/bulrushes, it's hard to understand. The pheasants on Dancing Springs Ranch do well all by themselves at 5,000 to 6,000 feet on native sage-shrub grasslands with minimal crop fields a mile or two away.
Choices these days are more to do with factory ammunition availability than anything else.
I don't even have to watch this to know where it's going.
As migration explodes our population the natural result will be new subdivisions in former country areas. They are popping up everywhere around us. City lights where there was former dark skies. Even between the cities a lot of former farm/ranch/hunting land is becoming highly populated. Subdivisions and shopping centers on former hunting land. I am concerned for the next generations after us. Hunting is fast becoming a rich mans sport with more and more scarcity of hunting land available for the average person.
I disagree on the corporate farms. They are specifically designed to ruin habitat so as not to allow hunting. This in return requires you to buy store bought. Corporations and big government do not want you to be self reliant because there is zero profit in that. On a side note, most of those corporate farms are planting foods that are generically modified and cause health risks (Monsanto, GMO crap). Just an opinion, take it for what it is.
I think a simpler, more accurate assessment is that corp. farms are designed to maximize production and income and to hell with wildlife.
I don't think GB meant the population of birds as a whole wasn't thankful, i took it as more tongue in cheek about the birds in the pictures
270
Dear Ron I have been watching an other you tube channel I figured given the company name they would be a good group of hunters they shot at last light and go back to find it in the morning and have lost multiple animals to scavengers and unable to find them drives me crazy it makes us all look bad to anti hunters
I don't think the bear debate is a thing, if you are in bear country get the black slugs. there is nothing more emphatic
Throw out the 6.8.
Lost your sense of smell several years ago!? Thanks Dr. Fauci.
6.8 west or 300 win....Neither
I've seen one pheasant in my life here in Kentucky a friend of mine shoot it I don't hunt with him anymore
I guess he don't know where his hamburger comes from and how it was killed