11/20/2021
The Hunting Rifle and Hatton Ranch
By: Keith R. Schmidt
Over the last twenty years, my hunting partner Mike Guarr and I have used a variety of rifles hunting at the Hatton Ranch.
For deer and hogs, we’ve used .243, 257 Roberts, .257 Weatherby Magnum, .6.5 Creedmore, 270 Winchester, 7 x 57, 7 mm Remington Magnum, .308, 30-06, .300 Winchester Magnum and .300 Weatherby Magnum. We’ve used mostly bolt action rifles but also a Savage lever action model 99, a Ruger No. 1 Single Shot rifle and a Browning BAR. Any of these rifles reliably take Hatton Ranch Trophy Deer. And, good quality hunting bullets in your rifle help assure a quick harvest. If you shoot a .243, the Hatton Ranch requires use of a 100-grain bullet. Every hunter after Hatton Ranch deer relies on a good quality rifle scope.
Guarr and I always make a point of sighting in rifles at a local range a few weeks in advance of our trip testing ammunition and/or our pet reloads for consistent accuracy and also firing a few shots from different shooting positions. There are always stories of some hunter showing up at a hunting ranch with a just purchased, unfired/untested rifle with the scope only bore sighted by a store employee. Does it happen? Probably, just a rural legend.
Strong Safety Emphasis
Hunters should keep in mind the four cardinal rules of gun safety:
- All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
- Identify your target, and what is beyond it.
When not actively hunting, I personally prefer to keep my rifle bolt/action open so that its condition is obvious to anyone. If you have a question on firearms safety protocol on the hunt, just ask your hunting guide or Rich Clonts, Hatton Ranch owner. They are there to help you and assure a safe hunt. Likewise, if you have any safety concerns, be sure to let them know.
Generally, hunters carry unloaded rifles to the hunting area and load after climbing into the blinds, which are elevated for a good view.
Most likely you, or your group of hunters, will be the only ones on the property hunting, which to me is a great attraction of the Hatton Ranch.
Not because Clonts doubts the shooting ability of his hunters, but because he wants to assure a scope has not lost it’s zero during transit; he invites newly arrived hunters to a brief 100-yard range session. Usually one or two shots are all that’s needed to give the newly arrived hunter confidence his scope is “on” for the hunt.
Hunts usually begin in the morning before sunup with a return to cabins by mid-morning offering an opportunity for a late morning cabin brunch…then, out again mid-afternoon and return to the cabins for a late dinner. For those without a hunting partner that likes to prepare meals, the Hatton Ranch can provide a professional chef.
Distances of the majority of shots on Whitetails at the Hatton Ranch range from about 80 yards to perhaps 135 yards most often from a rest position in a blind, but not always. Sometimes, heading out to the blind an opportunity may present itself and then it’s jumping off the four-wheel drive UTV to “find a good position, load and shoot.”
For the hunter, high on a “need to bring” list are binoculars, flashlight, water bottle, a small sandbag to help steady your shooting position for that long shot from the blind opening, a hard cushion to sit on that is comfortable but also gives better elevation to shoot from a blind opening and extra ammunition for hogs or varmints. A camo face covering a good idea. A rifle sling a necessity and I really value a leather butt cuff on my rifles that allows quick and easy access to extra ammunition. Dry weather at the Hatton Ranch means a lot of fine dust on rifles and scopes and wet weather can soak rifle and hunter alike, so scope caps and cleaning kits a must have.
“My favorite rifle before this year was a Browning .270 A-Bolt II Stainless Stalker,” said Guarr. “After this year’s hunt my new favorite may be the Tikka T3x in 6.5 Creedmoor stainless with synthetic stock that I just used.”
For me, a classic deer hunt at the Hatton Ranch deserves a classic rifle, and one I’ve used a great deal is a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 Super Grade .270 made in 1950 with a Griffin and Howe side scope mount holding a 3.5 x 10X Leopold. There’s no telling how many hunts this rifle was on prior to my ownership in 2008. But, with my handloads of 60 grains of H4831 and the 130 grain Nosler partition, I feel confident to place that bullet from this classic old rifle where I want to at distance. I usually use a second rifle for Whitetail Does. It is most likely my Winchester Model 70 Sporter in .257 Roberts that really likes 110-grain Nosler Accubond Bullets. The .257 Roberts caliber a personal favorite of Hatton Ranch Hunting Guide Michael Millican.
Going after varmints, we most often bring along .22 rifles and I’ve used a .22 hornet for longer distance shots. Hogs and predators most likely targets of opportunity so that deer rifle you’re holding in the blind will most likely be what you will use for that hog or coyote.
Keith R. Schmidt, long-time patron of the Hatton Ranch, is a writer and hunter living in the Houston area. Story copyright retained by author.