New Long Range Shooter from Twin Falls, ID.

Gone Ballistic · #1 09-12-2010, 12:34 PM

Hello Fellow Long Range Shooters!

I am very new to this sport and am really enjoying it so far. I'm extremely glad to find a site that caters to people with this passion. I'll give you a little insight about me.
I have been a hunter since I aquired a Red Ryder BB gun when I was 6 yrs old. The longest wait I had in my lifetime was for my 12th birthday, so I could get my first hunting license. That was in July of 1958. I also got a .410 bolt action shotgun that I couldn't hit anything with. My uncle traded me a Mod.12, 12 gauge for it two years later, out of love and sympathy, and I became a marksman. Later I bought a .22 bolt action, with money I made, and have been hunting one thing or another every since. I had a thirty two year period that I hunted just about everything with a bow until an injury stopped me. I have taken over 70 mule deer, 6 whitetails, 26 antelope, 22 elk, 8 javalina, and a terrific Shiras moose. The moose was my greatest experience, as it took me over 40 years to finally draw an Idaho one-in-a-lifetime tag. I spent 58 days hunting for him and turned down 17 different ones before finding him. I got him in the worst place a person could ever down one, for the hardest recovery I've ever done in all of my years of hunting.
I would love to hear from any of you that would be willing to lend me a hand in getting the new rifle I had made shooting like I want it to.
I'm glad to be aboard a very fine group.

ss7mm · #2 09-12-2010, 01:55 PM

Welcome to LongRangeHunting. Sounds like you've had some pretty good years chasing critters. You should have chased that moose a little closer to a road.

Gone Ballistic · #3 09-12-2010, 02:12 PM

Thanks for the welcome!

No one, more than me, would have liked to have been able to do just that. The big problem with the ones close to the road is that they don't seem to live very long. Hence, they don't grow great racks. This one measured larger than the third largest ever registered as killed in Idaho and only missed tying second largest by 1/8th. I look up at him every day and relive the trip. Just wish it would have happened 20 or 30 years earlier in my life.

ss7mm · #4 09-12-2010, 02:27 PM

20 or 30 years earlier probably would have been easier on you but at least you had the chance to have a once in a lifetime experience and that's more than a lot of people get. If you have a picture of the moose maybe you can put it up for us to see.

Chas1 · #5 10-17-2010, 12:46 PM

Welcome, glad to have you here. Lots of good folks and lots of good info. Enjoy.

Gone Ballistic · #6 10-21-2010, 03:18 PM

Thanks for the hardy welcome!
I'm very happy to find a source for questions and answers in this sport, as it is very new to me. I'm taking a rifle I've been working on for the past seven months out to break the barrel in and see how well it shoots certain loads I've worked up.
It's been months of anticipation built up to get to today. I'm sure I'll be posting a big "HELP" sign up on a forthcoming blog after today!

winmag · #7 10-21-2010, 10:25 PM

Glad you found L/R/H,
Always good to see members from Idaho. One of my absolute favorite places in the world to hunt.
So whats the new mystery rifle you had built? Oh, and ya, start now trying to learn how to post a pic, maybe in 5 or 6 months youll figure out all the secrets, and then it wont be too hard

. That was the hardest thing I had to learn how to do here on L/R/H. Congrats on the Moose.
Theres plenty of great, polite people here with more knowledge than any one person can soak up, trust me Ive tried. I always show up hungry, and leave plum stuffed every time I log on. Hope you enjoy L/R/H as much as we do.