Wow, titling this post, I just had a flashback to my auditing career days. Before retiring in 2019, for over 25 years, my teams would work with the people who executed the processes and worked with the technologies to deliver business solutions. In the spirit of hunting continuous improvement, this post highlights some significant gear upgrades, additions to my hunting trusted experts, and adjustments to shooting practice allowing for technology, people, and process enhancements respectively. Improving in all three of these areas will support the Dead Eyes Duo mission to get better that was introduced in the Humbled Dead Eyes Duo – Thanks Heroes Ranch post.

BETTER TECHNOLOGY

Gear upgrades include a new rifle, new scope, and enhanced tripod.

The Rifle

The Ruger American Rifle Generation II chambered in 6.5 PRC is a right handed bolt. I still plan to shoot left handed, but find working the bolt with my right hand with the rifle mounted on a tripod is smooth and straight forward.

While researching the 6.5 PRC on the Hornady Manufacturing, Inc

Website and listening to The Hornady Podcast, I found myself reliving my youth. Back in the 1980s, numerous nights before a Nebraska coyote hunt were spent helping dad reload using Hornady equipment. As I learned more about this relatively new cartridge that was developed by a company in Nebraska, coupled with memories of time spent with my dad, I decided this was the correct next gun choice.

For ammunition, I plan to start shooting Hornady Precision Hunter 143 grain. The theory is that the lower recoil will help improve my accuracy, while still sending a 143 grain bullet down rage with high velocity. Because Hornady claims match accuracy with this hunting load and the only piece of nostalgia I grabbed off the reloading table is a powder trickler, sticking to factory load seems to be a wise choice.  

Finally, an arca rail from Salmon River Solutions Was added to the rifle to attach the gun to the tripod.

The Scope

The optics on top of the rifle is an AGM Global Vision Spectrum Lrf 4k scope. Key features influencing choice of scope included Shot Activated Recording (SAR), low light clarity, and future support and availability. The scope can be configured to have wi-fi on when starting up, which will allow me to eliminate one step that required sighted assistance to complete at the start of every hunt.

The scope uses the AGM Connect app which will allow my hunting companion to start the live feed from the scope and control settings wirelessly using and iPhone or iPad.

The Tripod

In the Better Gear – Barker Outdoors BOG Adapter post  the steps followed to upgrade my tripod with a ballhead was covered. The BOG saddle clamp mount is no longer needed because the arca rail added to the rifle allows for a stable mounting of the rifle directly to the arca clamp on the ballhead. In fact, the legs from the tripod are the only gear still in use from my prior hunts.

BETTER PEOPLE

Lets make it clear, Kirk and I are not going away. Afterall, this is my site and I hope to add many more posts describing our successful hunts. I am especially looking forward to Kirk’s signature “smoked it” call after a well placed shot.

As mentioned in the Heroes Ranch Thank You post, Kirk and I were humbled and returned from that hunt with a mission to get better. In short, we did not execute a good shot due to multiple factors. No one factor could be singled out as the root cause for the poor shot. As the trigger man, I take full responsibility and I am committed to getting better before pulling the trigger on my next animal.

Luke Baker, Ranch Manager for Heroes Ranch, along with other ranch guides were able to track and recover Big Nine. More work than they bargained for, but I am grateful their efforts turned my poor shot into a successful hunt.

While at Heroes Ranch, Kirk and I were like kids in a candy store. We asked Luke many questions, which usually resulted in him sending us a link to a site for more details about guns, scopes, flashlights, tripods, feed, etc. In addition to a thumbs up regarding selecting a Ruger American chambered in 6.5 PRC, Luke sent a link to John Ray Sharp contact details.

John Ray is owner of Sharp Gun Works providing various gun services: cleaning, sighting-in, custom projects, and Reloading.

 In early February, he hunted with Luke as his guide at Heroes Ranch. He harvested a gigantic trophy whitetail. You can read more about John Ray’s hunt on Facebook.

The below photo was taken on April 10 at Sharp Gun Works. John Ray got my new rifle, installed the arca rail, and bore sighted the scope in record time. The quick delivery means I will not have to make a second No Gun Still Fun post. The Dead Eyes Duo thanks Luke and John Ray for their valuable insight and service.

BETTER PROCESS

One of the first action taken after returning from Heroes Ranch was  to purchase a yearly membership at Blackwood Gun Club. The staff at Blackwood are very accommodating and do not blink an eye to me shooting on their range. The yearly membership at Blackwood will allow for more range practice time and recognizes Blackwood’s excellent customer service.

WRAPPING UP

I have found that as with many challenges, “making the right connections, using the correct technology, and commitment to process improvement can turn something you did not think was possible into an accomplishment”.

Check out the Heroes Ranch category for additional posts that feature the getting better theme. In addition, future posts in the Hunting category will feature use of this better gear at the range and in the field.