Bullet performance: then & now

[Fred Flinstone]

Go back in time with early settler when women would chop wood days on end while men were out in the woods hunting. Hunters used solid homogeneous projectile: when a wildgame was hit the wound inflicted was minimal, if an unexperience hunter aimed at non-vital area the wounded animal would die off in the wild instead of ending in the diner plate, this promoted marksmanship. Since the wound areas were small it was a custom to bleed(slit throat) an animal, if this was'nt done the heat from the body of an animal would tend to increase the toughness of meat. Farmers nowadays do this also to beef when one breaks a leg, if the beef is'nt killed within 1 hour of fracture the beef will start increasing its temparature and end up like a rubber sole in a plate. Men were precarious with their life: The leeding was done to any big game, dangerous or not. I remember seeing a photography of an early white African settler catching a lion bare-hand with nothing other than a net. So the image of the wild frontiersman in our mind is'nt there for nothing. It was a way of life to keep a dagger(not just an ordinary knife) at ones waist, a few knife mfgrs. still produce these hunting daggers which were common during the 18__-1939 in Germany.

As soon as high performance bullets came to the scene, the good habits of these frontiersmen soon went thru the back door. These hunters took for granted these bullets would perform flawlessly(leaving a big exit hole, thus no need of bleeding an animal) if aimed at vital areas then they started aiming at non-vital areas & still bagging the wildgame due to bullet's high performance. This ended up giving tough meat for lunch.

Bottom line: aim at the heat/lung area even with high performance bullets as to end-up with a tender meal, we owe it to our ancesters.

[troublemaker71]

Fantastic!

In this regard I'll let you know I'm currently shopping for a knife.  Big knife.

Still working on the marksmanship.  Found the skull recently of a nuisance hog I had to take awhile back.  When I zapped him I had to leave him to the buzzards and soil due to the time of day and other pressing factors.  This was in very dense foliage in a remote area, so I didn't get to examine my work too closely.  So, recently I stumble accross the skull which had been drug into a clearing by scavengers, and see a perfect bullet hole right between the eyes (which happens to be where I was aiming).  Kind of gave me the gigglies.

Not really a difficult shot distancewise.  Challenging factors included heat and fatigue from long tracking with gear under a humid jungle-like canopy casting bizzare shadows and seemingly devoid of oxygen.  Constant distraction from endless spiderwebs, mosquitos, sweat and insect repellent in the eyes, steamed up eyeglasses (thank you Leupold for making a scope impervious to this kind of mess).  Kind of interesting when Fall and Winter finally defoliate an area like this so you can retrace your steps and actually see a level of nature and activity obscured by life and growth just weeks before.

Tristan

[Fred Flinstone]

Hi Tristan,

I had the same misfortune with a moose that was shot late one day, due to bad circumstances we found the carcass half divoured by wolves 2 days after  

What kind of knife are you looking for: a skinner, utilitarian, Bowie, hunting dagger?

Are you the same Tristan who used to post in another Czech Rifle e-discussion site a year or so ago?

[troublemaker71]

Fred,

I'm sort of undecided right now.  

What I really need is a cheap surplus machete or Khukri to whack through vines, reeds, and small tree limbs.   I'm just not willing to carry such a big implement.  Has to be smaller and lighter.  A hunting knife would probably do the trick but it has to be relatively inexpensive yet sufficiently sexy   for me to buy it.

An alternative I've been considering:  Southord.com is selling a very basic Mikov military dagger for $21.95 which might do nicely (maybe not optimal for skinning game).  Of course it'll be a combat knife used for more general purposes, but I've heard good things about Mikov and the price and size are right.  Sufficiently sexy and inexpensive.  Plus, on rare occasion I encounter rural litter-bugs (illegal dumpers  ) and other unwelcomes, and it helps when they see accoutrements of death strapped to my body.  

There are some decent hunting blades at the local sporting goods store which would probably be just as good but they definitely lack the Mikov's unique provenance.  

I'd love to $plurge but I'm broker than a stick right now and would probably end up losing a really nice knife.    Plus, if I buy an expensive knife it's going to be a medium-small folder for everyday use.  I love the little value-priced Kershaw D.W.O. I currently carry but it just won't hold it's edge.

Quote:Are you the same Tristan who used to post in another Czech Rifle e-discussion site a year or so ago?

I wish I could say otherwise but I don't recall participating in any Czech rifle forums other than what we've got here.  I'll definitely let you know if later I remember otherwise.

Tristan

[Fred Flinstone]

I've only heard good about Mikov, the Czech Republic Army seems to be supplied by them, latest CZ-UB catalogs seems to have nothing but Mikov knives except for 1 or 2 knives(good lookers but soft steel). It is of the outmost importance to have a knife with the hardess steel blade possible(Rockwell hardness of 59-60 on up) as to make sure blade does'nt come dull from use or that the blade does'nt bend under extreme usage. A high carbon steel machete or a higher steel quality knife bayonnet are easily available for a fairly low price. Most stainless steel blades are too soft and will get dull if you're skinning a big animal(moose, bear, deer,etc). Go with a thick full tang blade which is sturdier than most design. Above is available for less than $20.00 if your a patient shopper.

[m2830]

Kinda late here on the discussion but still...

Fred,  I wholeheartedly back you opinion on responsible hunting. Since we have all the power being on top of the food chain (in most cases, anyway ) we also have a responsibility to kill the game as painlessly and effectively as possible.

In my opinion, any big game hunter CAN afford to buy the very best bullets/cartridges for the hunt. Most of us don't fire more than perhaps half a dozen shots at big game per season and in any case the cost of hunting ammo is definitely negligible compared to the amount of money spent on the range.

Hunt responsibly and respect the game,

m2830