Hunting with milsurps.

Over the years I've hunted with just about every milsurp I've ever owned but that was before the time of smartphones. Rarely I carried a camera but upon occasion one of us did and I'm glad someone did on this trip as it is the only time I ever bagged a deer with my Trapdoor Springfield. This nice Mule Deer was taken in M.U. 4-01 in the far S.E. corner of British Columbia in the Flathead valley. It was especially satisfying since the cartridge used was completely hand rolled by me, including the bullet. I replicated the .45-70 500gr. To bag this deer I hiked up a ridge in the dark to get above the deer and waited until they moved up out of the valley to bed down for the day. I quietly and slowly then worked my way down and caught this big guy in his bed and shot him from about 40 yards. He never knew what hit him as his attention was down slope and a 500 grainer at virtually point blank range in the boiler room negated the need for a reload.

I have no pics of course...but I used my LL M1 SA 328219 to bag my first deer back in about 1980 here in the area of Sooke BC. I was using hand loads of course with 150 SP and took one shot at about 75 yds. Four of us had just shook out into a line to advance and I was left flank, he stood up and looked at me. The next man to me saw me come up to aim and thought I was checking sights when I fired and he saw the fur puff of the hit. At least I have pics of the rifle...

I had the prerequisite "can I hunt with it" mindset whenever I bought a milsurp which is why I only just bought an M1 carbine. My first hunting experience was with a borrowed M96 Krag infantry rifle at 16. Borrowed a M94 Winchester for the next season at 17. Next milsurp hunt was my M1909 Argentine Mauser infantry rifle, another 5 footer at 18. Then came my Fazakerly No5 which became my mainstay hunting rifle for the next 29 years with my M1A, Yugo Mauser, Swedish Mauser, Ishapore 2A1 and a M1917 mixed in every now and then. However that's behind me now as I've been using my 1939 vintage family heirloom Savage 99 in 300 Savage for the last 15 seasons. Unfortunately no hunting for me this year with the retina detachment.

I have hunted twice with milsurp rifles. The first time was 1980 at Ft. Benning, GA. Most hunting areas on the fort were shotgun only because of the thick overgrowth but there was one area up off of Wildcat Road that was open to high-power. I had a Remington 03A3 and went and found a tree stand in an oak tree and waited. I figured the acorns would attract the deer and I was right. Just before sunset two of the prettiest does came out of the underbrush and started eating acorns. I gave them a few minutes and then tried to scare them off with shouts and whistles, even throwing branches down. They would look around unconcernedly and go back to browsing. At one point, I even touched off a round into the air. They didn't even look up at that! I finally gave up because now it was too dark to hunt, so I slung my rifle, climbed down the tree. As soon as my foot touched the ground, two heads swung around with the "deer in the headlights" look and 'poof!' they were gone.

My second milsurp hunt didn't go any better. In 1988, a friend and I went to Kodiak Island to hunt Sitka Blacktails. I was using a Springfield M1A (not exactly a true milsurp) with a five round magazine of 150 grain soft tips. Three days a walking mountain ridges and valleys gave us sore feet and sore backs and no deer. Curses, fouled again! I did carry another 5 round magazine with armor piercing ammo just in case some Brownies happened upon us.

BEAR

Ft. Benning, Ga, Airborne. Dad was an instructor there before he shipped over and linked up with the 11th Airborne.

Hunting with milsurp is something I've always wanted to do. If God grants me another year or two, I might just get the chance.

Enjoy the Hunt!

Later 42rocker

That is a dandy buck! Impressive rack. That deserves a spot on a living room wall!

Took a caribou with an as issued Brazilian M968 Mauser in 7.62x51 with 150gr Silvertip. Also used a sported Savage No. 4 Mk. I*.

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Originally Posted by old tanker

That is a dandy buck! Impressive rack. That deserves a spot on a living room wall!

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Thank you. The Mule deer bucks grow quite large in B.C. Unfortunately, when I moved from Canada to Texas I distilled my life down to one pick-up truck load and there wasn't room for everything. The only trophies I kept were a Grizzly bear rug, my one and only Mountain goat, and a very nice Whitetail buck I shot. Everything else was sold, sadly.