Dawsons First Goat

4:45am came early for the Rivera Boys today! By sun-up we were glassing a group of antelope on cloud creek. However the buck we were looking for had apparently been taken yesterday or possibly pushed into another area. So we headed to our backup spot on alkali creek. We had seen a nice freak and some heavy beamed bucks in an out of the way spot only a week earlier. With Dawson being sick yesterday, we missed opening day and were hoping that our "backup" bucks were still hangin' tight. I parked the truck behind a ridge and walked to the top to see what I could see. There were antelope everywhere in our little honey hole. The bucks were all fired up and rutting heavy. They were chasing does and keeping smaller bucks at bay. In the very bottom of the drainage I spotted a thick horned buck herding four does in our direction. I scrambled off the ridge to the truck and grabbed the boys to plan a sneak. We closed a lot of distance behind a rimrock before peeking over to see the buck at only 200 yards. No sooner had we seen him, and he fed down into a small draw out of sight. We tucked Mason under a small overhang on the rimrock and told him to stay put.

Dawson and I then scurried to the top of the rise to wait for the buck to re-appear. We hadn't quite made the crest when I spotted the does feeding up the opposite ridge. Dawson instinctively kicked out the bi pod and assumed a shooting position. Within seconds of getting ready the buck came into view. "Two twelve" I whispered to Dawson as I lowered the rangefinder. "When he stops let him have it" I instructed in a low voice. The buck took another three steps and as if willed to do so stopped quartering slightly away facing right. "Take him Smallz" I said. Dawson must have been well into his trigger slack, because the rifle barked instantly. The buck hunched and hopped about three times and stood again. "Reload kid!" I shouted. Mostly because my ears were ringing so bad. I heard the bolt cycle and waited for the report of the rifle again. At the second shot the buck stumbled and lunged forward collapsing within ten yards.

Mason had already covered the twenty or so little steps between us and him, and had begun his usual litany of questions. We assured him that Dawson had gotten the buck, and the three of us went to confirm the hits. Dawson's buck is a magnificent first buck. With great mass, good length and decent cutters he has everything you could want in an antelope.

Wyoming Hunting Guide Episode 3 D.I.Y. Hunt

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Wyoming Hunting Guide Episode 2 Part 1 D.I.Y. Hunt

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Wyoming Hunting Guide Episode 2 Part 2 D.I.Y. Hunt

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Wyomng Hunting Guide Episode 1 D.I.Y. Hunt How To

Mason's 10/22 Gets The Custom Treatment

With my youngest son Mason about to turn seven, I decided to do some custom work to his Ruger 10/22 rifle. After all, what 7 year old boy doesn't want a customized .22 rifle capable of shooting one hole groups at 50 yards? Up to this point his existing rifle was mostly stock save for an aftermarket hammer and a recoil buffer.

My plan was to shorten and inlet the factory stock, re-install the factory butt plate, eliminate the barrel ring and install a .920 heavy barrel. I started by cutting two inches off of the butt stock. I have found that if you run a piece of masking tape around the stock and make the edges line up where they overlap, giving you a very straight cut. Next I inletted the barrel groove to accept the larger .920 barrel.

I removed the majority of the material with a router, finishing it with a one inch dowel wrapped in abrasive paper. I then lopped off the piece of forend where the factory barrel ring went, and began re-fitting the butt plate.

After getting the radius close with a jig saw, I used a used a small bit in a router to make the recess on the top of the stock where the butt plate screws on.

I used a fiberglass bondo to fill the viods (my screw up's) between the plate and the stock. Once sanded and prepped, I gave the stock and barrel a couple of coats of grey primer. My intention is to let Mason choose the paint scheme.
As it sometimes goes with best laid plans, my timing was such that the completion of the rifle directly conflicted with the opening of archery antelope for my oldest son Dawson. So as of yet, we haven't been to the range to shoot any of those "one hole groups" with Mason's custom shooter.

P. Doggin On The 4Th of July

Thought I would share some pics of my two favorite boys enjoying some hot prairie dog shooting on the forth of July! We headed up to my favorite "Honey Hole" in the southern Bighorn Mountains on the morning of the 4th with some bottled water, juice boxes and hot dogs on ice! As much as I wanted to unleash the VTR on some 600 yard dogs, I decided to leave it home on ths trip. I really wanted my six year old son Mason to crater his first dog! Mason was shooting his slightly modified ruger 10/22, and Dawson his heavily modded Ruger 10/22. Right off the bat My youngest connected with a big un at 62 yards, doubling it over for a second shot to the bean! Then My oldest game hogged three out his side of the rig. The rule is, whomevers side of the truck the critter gets spotted on, that's which boy gets to shoot it. It works out to be pretty fair, but not perfect! My new girlfriend, Kaycee was ridin shotgun, and got so wrapped up in the fun, she decided she would take a crack at a few! Now you gotta understand, this is a girl who although born and raised here in Wyoming, had never before fired a weapon at a live animal. Her first one fell dead after one shot at 22 yards. Now here was my problem, I had three shooters, and only two shootin' irons...... All I heard ALL afternoon was, "My Turn, My Turn, My Turn"!! After about five hours of devastation, and "sharing nice", I told them we should finish up, bbq those hot dogs and head back to town in time to see the fireworks. My youngest replied with,"Dad, we can see fireworks anytime. Can't we just shoot a little while longer?" I Can't argue with six year old logic! We stayed another couple of hours, roasted our hot dogs, and celebrated our Forth Of July one bang at a time!

New Mule Deer Hotspot!

So, I know it's been a while since the last post, but your ol' buddy Lucky has been busy makin his own way in the world of business. The good news is, I now have plenty of time to explore new areas and find exceptional animals. Such is the case with yesterdays trip to Riverton and Lander. After calling on a couple of prospective clients, I decided to explore. The area I chose to explore was not entirely new to me, but not entirely familiar either. I had lived in the area as a young boy, before moving to Bairoil at age 12 and had not been back since. The thing that prompted me to look into the area again was the nearly 100% draw odds in the region combined with huge amounts of public land. In the early 1980's My Dad guided non-resident hunters from our house in the small, now abandoned oilfield town. As I recall most were from Michigan, and all by word of mouth. The one thing that stands out in my memory is the feeling of anticipation that filled the conversations and activities the day before their hunts began. These men would clean rifles, hone knife edges, oil their boots, and some would even carve crosses in the tips of their soft point bullets. All just nervous energy manifesting itself in different ways, some of which I still see happen in my hunting camps as an adult. My Dad was a great hunting guide. In those days he was a professional wrestler, and in peak physical form. It was nothing for him to drag a mature buck deer a mile or more for a client. He was legendary. He could fill entire days afield with stories about pulling pranks on Andre Roussimoff(Andre The Giant) or hitting the gym with Terry Bollea(Hulk Hogan). Those hunters couldn't get enough of my dad's well delivered stories. Some of the bucks that came out of this area in the 1980's were absolute monsters. One hunter guided by my dad won a local Big Buck Contest with his buck scoring almost 190 points.
The country hasn't changed much since the 80's mostly dry with deep sage and plenty of rimrock. The springs still flow quite well in places. It is those places where I expect the concentrations of animals to be. Because it was mid-day and almost 90 degrees, I didn't expect to see a whole lot of activity. The critters would most likely be layed up in the shade. What I did find however was an area with some excellent habitat and very good draw odds that has historically produced trophy quality deer. A few more trips and cooler weather should have me looking at what type of bucks this area is producing in the new millennium.

The Rifle Stock Is Here, or Maybe Not!

So Nick had ordered the rifle stock about a week ago, and had been tracking it online. The site indicated that the stock was on a local "The World On Time" delivery truck. Arriving home at around 7 pm, he found no package on the porch, or in the bushes nearby.(which he says is where the delivery drivers usually throw them)
Upon calling the local office, he was told the package was on the truck at the terminal, and he could come pick it up. Five minutes later Nick was standing at the terminal requesting the package he was told would be there. The guy behind the counter spent 15 or 20 minutes in the back looking for it, only to return to the service counter empty handed and scratching his head." Um, the driver said he already delivered it." The apologetic terminal manager told Nick."How Long Ago?" Nick Asked."Bout 45 minutes ago." The man replied."Yeah, I was just at my house 30 minutes ago, and there wasn't any package there." Nick explained. "Could be the driver delivered it to the wrong address." The man sheepishly told Nick. "You should go check the same house numbers on 14th and 16th streets." He instructed a now heated Nick. Some time later as Nick was searching his neighborhood for the lost package, his phone rang. "Uh, we found your package Mr. Hawthorne." The voice on the other end said. "Where is it?" Nick asked. "Well, it's here at the terminal on the truck that was supposed to have delivered it." Was the response from the phone. "We can get it right out to you sir." Came the man's half hearted offer. "No thanks, I'll come pick it up." Was Nicks reply before pressing the end button on his cell.

The exchange at the terminal was awkward for the shipping clerk, but un-eventful. Once at home Nick removed the stock from the box and began to test fit the action. Because the aftermarket trigger is a slightly different configuration than the factory trigger, the stock needed to be altered. A small amount of stock material needed to be removed just in front of the trigger opening. This was done with a very complex set of inletting tools. Some just call these tools, Vice Grips, and a Saws All blade! Only a small amount of material needed removed to allow the new trigger to function. The rail under the fore end is an odd setup, and the supplied bipod lug needed some work in order to be solid. Overall, we are happy with the style and quality of the stock, and we would like some feedback on what color the stock should be painted. Any suggestions???

The Savage Action Arrives

A Savage Model 110 barreled action which is currently chambered in .270 Winchester, sans a rifle stock entered Nick's gun room today! It's a very base model completely original, blued finish, right handed, pre-accu trigger, .270 Winchester.

The first order of business was to get the barrel separated from the action. Using the action wrench, and barrel nut wrench. Once the barrel nut is loose, the barrel unscrews fairly easily. When re-installing the new barrel on the action, head spacing can be achieved by using a go/no go gauge. With the "go" gauge chambered, thread the barrel in to the action with the bolt closed, and locked until the barrel is tight against the gauge. After the barrel is tight, and the "go" gauge removed, the "no go" gauge can be chambered. The bolt is then pushed forward. The bolt should not close completely on the gauge. Side note: If you don't have a "no go" gauge, you can place a piece of scotch tape on the back of a "go" gauge, and the thickness of the added tape should not allow the bolt to close completely.

We picked up an aftermarket Sharp Shooter Supply trigger for our project. It's a fairly simple swap, and took only a few minutes. A good trigger should be light and crisp, you should not feel the trigger move at all until it breaks and the rifle goes off. A heavy trigger with creep will make a nice shooting rifle very difficult to shoot with consistency.

The .307 Powder River Magnum

The .307 Powder River Magnum (.307 PRM) is a long range hunting cartridge intended to fill a niche, between a .308 Win. and the larger Belted Win. Mag/ Rem. Mag cartridges. I would like to stress that We are NOT trying to re-invent the wheel with this cartridge. The cartridge is just a small, but integral part of a complete shooting system. The end goal of the "System" is to have a, lightweight, inexpensive, Do-it-yourself rifle capable of consistent, reliable accuracy at yardages between 400 and 600 yards. The parent case chosen for the .307 PRM is the venerable .284 Winchester. It was chosen because of it's efficient design, powder capacity, and ability to chamber in a short action. The cases will be loaded with .30cal 155gr. high coefficient boat tail hollow point hunting bullets. Load data will follow the completion of the first rifle.

The rifle action chosen for the build is the Savage Model 110. Chosen for it's low cost, quality, and availability. You can hardly walk in to a pawn shop in my area without seeing at least one Savage 110 rifle on the shelf! However, the primary reason for choosing the Savage bolt action rifle is the fact that the average gun owner can order a barrel and install it themselves saving money on gunsmithing services.

Please be aware that this is NOT an illustrated "How To" on building your own custom rifle. It is merely a step-by-step accounting of how two country boys with an idea built a cheap long range hunting rifle!!