The Ram Hunt

I drove to Leroy's place to meet up with him to share the ride down. It was great to meet him and see his shop. Where such an impressive gun like the Gargoyle actually gets made, piece by piece by hand. Then we drove to TX to get the whole group together and all met up and had a great lunch at a local BBQ place to kick off the hunt. Then we went to the cabin and got settled in. It wasn't very long before the guns came out and lead was flying down range. It was awesome to see and shoot a lot of the guns I had read about and seen on line, Eric's Destroyer and Gig Green Monster, J's DAQ pistol, Stephan's 20mm, The gun Brian won LASSO with and a couple of beautiful Gargoyles. I was like a kid in a candy store! I sighted in my Gargoyle at 50 yards for this hunt. I finished with a nice 3 shot, one whole cloverleaf group and figured I was good to go. The Hunt. The next day everyone decided what they would hunt and we set out. First up, the ram hunters. I got to tag along with J, his wife Sherry, and Jason on their hunts. Jason was the first to collect his trophy and then J's wife Sherry shot her very first big game animal and did a great job! It was nice to see someone get their first animal. Then it was J's turn. I don't want to spoil the story but I have to say it was awesome, great stalk and an unreal performance on the part of him and his high-powered DAQ pistol. I didn't get to see Brian make his long range shot on his ram or Bob's hunt but I did see their nice rams back at the truck. Then it was Stephan’s turn and Eric and I Went along. Stephan chose to hunt an emus and that was a blast to be along for. I'm sure he will tell another great hunt story later! Lastly, Eric and I went out to hunt. Eric chose to hunt a big ram and I got to go along since the animal I was after was in the same general area. We parked the truck walked in and all over the place looking for just the right animal for him to take. The terrain at The Wildlife Ranch is wild. The area we hunted was full of huge boulders, steep rocks and deep ravines. Eventually, Eric saw the monster he wanted. He is very patient and waited for the ram to come out from behind some cover and give him a perfect broadside shot. One shot, 75 yards, great hit. He took a couple steps and it was over. I was excited to have been able to be on a hunt with such an experienced air gun hunter, and, see him take a nice ram. Then it was my turn. I chose to hunt an axis doe so I could put some good meat in the freezer. Eric went along. It ended up being very challenging and we got very close to getting a shot on a doe but she never came clear. We walked around for a while climbing up and over steep rocks and ridges looking for that axis doe and couldn't get any where near them without spooking them, very weary animals. I decided to take either an axis or fallow deer depending on which one we had a shot on first. We crept over a small rise and there they were. A small group of fallow does was working their way between two of these ridges. One of the fallow does paused just long enough, standing broadside. As I leaned down on to a rock for support I heard Eric from behind me say "56 yards". Bang! She ran about 40 yards and piled up. I had managed to place the shot through both lungs and the end came quickly. This was my first kill with a big bore air rifle and the Gargoyle performed beautifully. So did the Devastator bullet at 205gns that Eric had made for me. It punched through a rib going in and going out. The exit hole through the rib was almost twice the size of the entrance, meaning it had fully expanded on entry. Perfect performance. It was recovered just under the skin between the rib cage and skin. Once it was skinned and gutted it looked as though it had been hit with a center fire gun. What an experience to hunt in such an awesome place with great people and such a sweet gun and to have Eric along for my first kill with a big bore. It just doesn't get much better than that! Overall, this trip was a blast. It's to bad bill had been ill, as I wanted to hunt with him too. I met so many cool people and had a great time with all these guys. They treated a total noob to the big bore air gun hunting world like one of them and my thanks goes out to them all!!! The worst part will be waiting for the next hunt to roll around. The Gun. I took my BGMF,Gargoyle on this hunt. For those of you not familiar with it it is a .452 caliber PCP Made by Leroy Roduner. It is very nice, the fit and finish is unreal. It has proven very accurate so far. I have not shot it at long ranges yet but will soon. It shoots a 205gn slug at around 1000fps at around 450fpe. I say around because I haven’t chronied it yet. One of my favorite features is the single bolt design. Another is the wood, this stock is comfy to shoot. I couldn't be happier with this gun.