Gun control advocates want Americans to believe that military-style semi-automatic rifles are designed for one thing and one thing only: spree killing. (e.g., “Such weapons are nearly useless for self-defense but perfect for mass murder.”) Gun rights advocates counter than AR-style rifles are the Swiss Army knife of long guns. They fulfill many roles, from target practice to home defense. And hunting. For some reason, the anti-gun crowd treads carefully around the hunting issue—as if taking game is a sacred American right that transcends day-to-day politics. Which, of course, it is and does. So I present to our fence-straddling friends in urban environs a picture of a scary black gun that’s ideal for deer hunting. If you dare, check out Wilson Combat’s marketing copy [after the jump]. It doesn’t shy away from the fact that a good hunting gun is a good self-defense gun is a good hunting gun. Why is that so hard to understand? Or accept?

Designed for tactical/defense applications as well as hunting for medium sized game such as deer and feral hogs. The 7.62×40 WT (Wilson Tactical) has very useful tactical applications with soft point and hollow point bullets providing reliable terminal performance on soft tissue while the Barnes TTSX will easily penetrate tough barriers. For hunting the 7.62×40 WT vastly out performs the 5.56 and is on par with the 6.8SPC at ranges out to 175-200 yards. The VERY mild recoil of the 7.62×40 WT also makes it ideal for female and younger shooters as well as anyone that’s recoil sensitive.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

76 COMMENTS

  1. But but but…its so black and scary looking. That cant be used for hunting. And the pistol grip! Do you see the pistol grip!? thats not for hunting either, unless you’re hunting people! Dont even get me started on the adjustable buttstock.

    • My all Black Syn Stocked H&R .223 has a flash Hider, a 16″ barrel, and had that funky looking pistol grip stock. Assaulting Deer 1 shot at a time.

    • Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone knows that deer explode when they see an AR. They would be lucky to just “drop dead”.

  4. it’s actually an american tradition that 1 gun does all jobs. the musket used for militia duty also served to put meet on the table. and to keep predators away from the livestock.

  5. I’m not usually into ‘tactical’ featured and looking black guns yet that is one fine looking photo.

  6. The AR platform is the America Rifle, and it will perform nearly any task you ask of it. If it doesn’t, the right modification is just 3 Day Ground away.

    OT, I thought Wilson had given up on 7.62×40 WT trying to compete with .300BLK in the new .30 caliber wars.

    • Nope. The 7.62x40WT is still around and has a good following. Has a little more oomph than the .300 wipe out. Also, the .30HRT looks very promising.

    • There was a story on here awhile ago about WC now offering uppers in .300 blackout. I thought the same, that they were dropping 7.62 x 40, but I guess not.

  7. We really shouldn’t be trying to justify rifles to the “hunting” argument the antis trot out. Why? Because it feeds into a false argument that hunting has anything to do with a person’s God/nature/universal rights. Hunting doesn’t have a damn thing to do with the 2A. The 2A was penned for the people’s ability to resist and overthrow oppression. and we do NOT need to make excuses as to why we should be unshackled in our pursuit to own weapons that are specifically (or generally) designed for defense.

    I don’t hunt, but I own an AR. For defense and whatever scenario may present itself. Don’t like it, antis? Tough. Get out or get bent.

    • BUT what we really need to win over are the enemies of 2A within our own camps. The very relevant and politically active hunting crowd.

      I’ve seen MANY articles and comments from “hunters” stating that there’s no reason one would need more that 5 rounds or an “assault weapon” to hunt. We gotta join ALL gun owners together then we won’t have to worry about “useful idiots”.

    • “I don’t hunt but own an AR!!!”
      The one thing I don’t hear much about on forums? Fun!!!
      I don’t hunt. Did for many years.
      I am not a go to war guy. Tacticool!!! Have not seen a Zombie yet.
      I don’t CCW, but have a permit to do so, that helps with buying guns. Plus I can if I want too.
      I own AR’s, AK’s, etc… Just because they are fun to shoot.
      I own handguns for fun.
      I own shotguns for fun.
      Shooting a gun is relaxing to me. I fire around 300 ~ 500 rounds a week. Why? It makes me feel good, and have fun.
      Like throwing darts, the more you do it, the better you get.
      I wish more people would talk about the fun factor!!!
      I have friends that fish. Friends that hunt. Friends that Golf. Friends that do a lot of things. Why, because they enjoy it!!!

      I shoot for fun.
      I don’t like anybody that want’s to take away my simple pleasure!
      There are many reasons to own Firearms. I know that the 2nd right only covers one. Hunting and fun are not covered.
      But the “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” In the Declaration of Independence means I should be able to do what makes me happy does it not?
      I hurt no one. I break no laws. I am safe. I am happy shooting.
      Guy22

      • Finally someone has expressed why a lot of us really have
        guns – it’s just plain fun!
        I’m in the process of getting a CHL for the very reason that without one FFL transfer cost is $45.00, with a license it’s $25.00.
        Come from ranching family on my mother’s side, so have been around guns my whole life but came late to actually acquiring weapons, joining a womens shooting league. Practice by putting more rounds down range in a month than most LEOs do in a year. More than my husband or brother have in a lifetime.
        More and more women are arming themselves for protection and the fun of mastering the art of shooting well.
        Where guns are restricted folks have less opportunity to discover the fun factor to the 2nd. Amendment. And it empowers women to take responsibility for their own safety.

  8. Frankly, I think it would make a better boar hunting rifle than a deer rifle. Wild boars traveling in herds with no bag limits presents the perfect opportunity for multiple quick shots, requiring magazines that hold at least 20 rounds. The pistol grip allows a more secure grip in swampy conditions. Also, much boar hunting is done at night, which justifies multiple rails to mount lights, night vision, lasers, etc. and the flash suppressor is also required so as to not destroy the shooters night vision with bright muzzle flash, spoiling the hunt. See how all the goodies are pretty much required for hog hunting? Might even be a use for the stock thingy that goes up?

  9. Your wasting your time. Those who get it, got it. Those who never got it, never will, and they don’t want you to have guns.

  10. Many non-gun owners (and some gun owners) see an AR 15’s looks; it looks like a military weapon (which, lets face it, are desinged to kill or wound an enemy), and then determine that citizens don’t need that much power.

    What often is not made clear is that the look does not describe the functionality. My XD is a semi-automatic weapon, just like the AR. If I do an efficient tactical reload, I can get 33 rounds from 2 magazines. Rifles in 7.62 and 5.56 have been used for hunting and defensive purposes for a long time. The look does not make the weapon any more deadly than any hunting rifle in those calibers.

    I think every time that the AR, Assault Weapon, etc., issue comes up, the gun should be compared in functionality to a .25 or .32 caliber semi-automatic pistol. While not nearly as powerful as the larger rifle cartridges, they are about the same diameter (slug), and a semi-automatic means the same for pistol and rifle. Might make the AR seem less “scary”.

    • Funny, while traveling through NYC I often see someone with a Ferrari and I say the same thing…does one need that much power to go grocery shopping or taveling 35mph in the city……yet nobody complains…hmm!

      The pro-gun crowd has a PR problem and does not always address stupid gun-control arguments in the correct way.

      Add to this the media images or soldiers and terrorists or rebels and for most people who do not know or do not care to learn the difference it is all scary stuff.

    • The media should report the caliber and function of firearms… which is exactly what happened with yesterday’s DGU in Augusta Maine. The guy’s AR has been described as a “semi-automatic rifle in .223 caliber.” Of course, the choice of terms might have to do with the fact that only bad guys were shot. Telling the public that a man defended himself with an “assault rifle” might just be too confusing.

  11. The thing to point out to gun control advocates is that the choice of military rifle has dictated massive changes in civilian gun ownership tastes in the past.

    Example from the “good old days” of 100 years ago. Before WWI, the most widely sold rifles in the US were lever action, with some falling block (Sharps, High Walls, etc) in the market.

    Then came WWI and the Springfield/Enfield bolt action rifle designs.

    By WWII, the civilian hunter/shooter was buying bolt action rifles in droves. The power of cartridges was increasing rapidly as a result. This evolution away from lever and falling block rifles was driven directly by the returning Doughboys who had seen the accuracy and power of the 1903 Springfield/1917 pattern Enfield in .30-06.

    After WWII, returning vets wanted to sporterize Mausers and turn out sporting rifles from military rifles. The Garand made semi-auto rifles worth a look for sporting uses, and semi-auto sporting rifles were introduced by the big gun makers in the US. In Europe… semi-auto sporting rifles were unknown and remain unknown.

    Since 1991, we have millions of young men and women who, coming out of the US military, know the M-16/AR-15 platform. They know the limitations and upsides of the platform and it is “their” rifle, every bit as much as a bolt gun was the Doughboys’ rifle. I would expect nothing other than a huge increase in the popularity of the AR as a result.

    Because the AR-15 is black and scary, it causes newspaper writers/editors to lose bladder control, but this evolution of choice of rifle in the civilian population is absolutely nothing different than we’ve seen before in the US.

    • the same goes for the cartridges in military issue rifles. 45-70, 30-40, 30-06, 308, 5.56, . civilians take to whatever the troops carry. throw in handguns and you have both 45’s, revolver and auto, 38 and 9mm. all winners and all readily accepted by the shooting public.

    • Well said. I also like to add that the Civilian Marksmanship Program was chartered by Congress specifically to promote instruction and competition with military-style AR-15 “high power rifles,” particularly among the youth.

      Lever-actions saw only very limited military use, but they were the “assault rifles” of the day. The Henry rifle was famously (perhaps apocryphally) called “That damned Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week.”

    • If I may; it might be me but the damage done at Virginia tech was done by a Glock 19 and a Walter, damage done at Ft. Hood; a 5.7, // at Aurora CO; nothing has been released about the weapon that cause the most damage.//
      At the Sikh temple a 9mm. Do you see the trend, usefull idiots really get under my skin. It seems to me that handguns have a higher effectivity rate in murders than an AR. I wonder why????
      To follow the line of thought from prior; there is no difference between a modern musket and the original, except for technology. Both are designed for defense, hunt, and protection. Not all enemies are foreing. That is why my oath as a military officer addresses this very well; my loyalty is to the constitution/and I will defend this nation from all enemies foreing or domestic. my 2c.

    • Actually, I don’t give a flying rat’s ass for hunting, and consider drawing a bead — unless hunting is my only source of food — on a critter that hasn’t done me any harm and can’t return fire, to be despicable. The firearms I own are for fun, and, if the need should arise, to protect me and mine. All the talk about the anti-gun folks not being interested in hunting rifles is obfuscatory. The antis ARE interested in firearms of a type that I, and others, want to own, and those of us whose weapons are self-defense tools shouldn’t have to be mealy-mouthed and pretend that their primary purpose is hunting. That’s sure as hell not the primary purpose of mine.

  12. I have to agree with Dyspeptic Gunsmith on this.
    Nice break down BTW.
    I personally know the AR platform very well. I was thinking about getting a 308 upper for an AR and also have a 223 / 556. This way I can swap uppers from target / range work to hunting. The longer barrel with a descent scope should be good out to 250 yards I would expect and that should be fine for most game. Not that I really care what everyone else thinks. I like the idea of being able to swap parts and basically have a totally different rifle.

  13. I see that they now sell walnut stocks for AR rifles and 5 round mags ,, must be a hot seller in Calif.

  14. I’m with bontai Joe on this one. Almost every deer hunter I’ve ever known hunted with a lever- or bolt-action rifle. Those types of rifles are traditional tools for deer hunters. Hog and varmint hunters, on the other hand, love their black rifles, which seem to be perfect for the job.

    The real issue isn’t what tool to choose. The real issue is whether you get to make the choice in the first place. Gungrabbers want to make damn sure that you don’t. They are, after all, nothing more or less than little tin gods with delusions of adequacy.

  15. I object to capitulating to the use of the gun-grabber term, “military style” when talking about firearms. These rifles are not “military style” any more than a lever gun is a “ranch style” rifle or a muzzle-loader is a “colonial style” rifle.

    For true “military style”, as with the term “assault rifle”, select-fire capability should be the criteria to be met.

    Truth be told, most rifles are based upon (or are derivative of) what were once military designs. From muzzle-loaders, to bolt-actions, to semi-autos, one would be hard-pressed to find a rifle or shotgun that isn’t based on or derived from the design of some weapon, used by some military, somewhere in the world, at some point in time.

  16. All my firearms feature the Hello Kitty color scheme, in fact I may have to pay for a franchise license!

    Anyway those pink “shoulder things” really confuses the gun grabbers!

  17. I took a deer with a .308 CETME this year. It is a very scary black gun with a telescoping stock, pistol grip and flash hider. The ability to fire, and hit, with two quick shots ensured that the deer went down very quickly.

    • My thoughts exactly. I have heard folks taking everything except maybe moose with a 308. Being able to double tap on target is us being humane. you know just before we go vegan and all.

      • Most of all it’s the man behind the rifle,,skill commement, Honor, respect
        All in one instant, one micro instant of respect, love, acknowlagment and regret.
        Men do not create such places in the universe. It is a personal deed

  18. I can tell not many people here are serious hunters, at least not those commenting. I don’t know a single hunter that would be caught dead out in the field with an AR. It is NOT a hunting rifle for many reasons. Top among them is aesthetics. Yeah, aesthetics. It looks like you are going to war with the animals you are hunting. Then there is the cartridge which although can kill deer size game is far from ideal. That goes for the 7.62X40 too. Yes, if you move up to an AR-10 and the .308 it is then a near ideal cartridge for most American game but you still have the other problems of an AR platform.

    Lastly there is the fact that it is a semi-automatic. Hunting is a sport, not a war. Personally I won’t hunt with anyone that has a semi-auto. They inevitably tend to be of the spray and pray variety of shooter/hunter. They are also illegal in many jurisdictions I have been to for hunting. In fact I can’t think of single country in Africa where a semi-auto is legal. Maybe there is one but I don’t know of it. Why? It isn’t a gun control issue it is a sporting issue. They powers that be feel that semi-auto encourage wounding game. I agree. You may not but you should understand that the vast majority of hunters shy away from people that carry semi-autos except in vary special circumstances. Although not a general hunting rifle there are times when it is OK and even ideal but never in the standard AR-15 calibers and generally not for sporting use but for culling.

    It is really only a novice hunter that wants a semi-automatic rifle. I have seen people with these, even AKs and inevitably they fall into three groups. Total novices, people that have the guns and are trying to justify them by using them hunting which they know nothing about, and foreigners who for whatever reason tend to favor AKs. The idea is to kill the game cleanly and humanely not spray it and hope for the best.

    If you honestly think that an AR is a hunting rifle I would say you either know little about hunting or have ethic issues about hunting. Because some company trying to sell their product tell you something doesn’t make it so.

    Oh, I do own an Bushmaster AR in 6.8 SPC. I have no problem with owning them, shooting them, using them for self-defense but don’t tell me they are hunting rifles. They are not. Also when it comes to bird guns, yes I think semi-autos have a place and in fact own and have owned many and have shot thousands of birds with them. In fact semi-autos are the favorite for dove shooting in Argentina. However, no one would recommend an AR for hunting big game there or anywhere else. Well anyone that knows the first thing about hunting that is.

    • Jeff,
      I just handed down my sks(7.62×39)to my son. I have harvested many whitetail with this rifle and I find it a perfect brush gun(under $200). The 7.62×39 is very similar to the 30 30, one of the most popular deer caliber ever. The 7.62×40 with a 125 nosler is superior to both the 30 30 and the 7.62 x39. I used my semi auto sks because of the cheap purchase price but I don’t think your idea of what a real hunter shoots holds water. While I agree that the spray and pray technique has no place in the field,I disagree with you about the 30 cal. Please explain why they don’t work in Africa because they do work well in the Midwest.

      • I am not sure how you got to think I that I said .30 calibers don’t work in Africa. If I implied that I didn’t mean to do so. Of course they work and I have shot more game in Africa with a .30 caliber than I can count. What I said, or meant to say is that semi-automatics are illegal for hunting in every African country I have hunted in. The reasons are moral not functional. It is thought that they lead to wounding of animals and they are simply out of place in the hunting field. I agree with that.

        Again, I own an AR but I don’t use it for hunting and don’t feel that I need to have to justify its existence by saying it is a hunting rifle. It isn’t. That is not what it was designed for nor what most are used for. Certainly you can kill game with any such rifle and it has been done many time. You can kill game with a true assault rifle too. Most people would call that unsporting but it is done. A lot of game have been wounded by assault rifles in Africa. My ex killed an elephant that has 7 AK-47 bullets in it. That is not unusual at all in any African country that has has recent or ongoing wars which is practically all of them. This doesn’t make an AK-47 a hunting rifle.

        I find it rather strange that people here shout about the the 2nd Amendment not being about hunting yet seem to think it is necessary to claim an AR is a hunting rifle. Do you need a 30 round magazine in a hunting rifle? The 2nd Amendment isn’t about hunting and you don’t have to justify your AR as a hunting rifle. Mine certainly isn’t. Of all my rifles, and I would have to sit back and count them, it would be the very last center fire rifle I would take hunting. No, second to last. I have a pre-64 Model 70 target model that weighs a ton. I wouldn’t want to carry that any distance although it is very accurate and smooth as hell like all tuned M70s.

        My comment is that just because a rifle can be used for hunting doesn’t make it hunting rifle.

        • I still need to disagree with you. My ar in 204 is an awesome varmint gun. The 26″ barrel ,optics and camo finish are all options for hunting. AR,s chambered in 308 ,300 & 338 can all be accesserized into hunting rifles. That is the beauty of this platform,it can be customized for many purposes. As more of us come home from the middle east the AR will only grow in popuarity. This is the rifle of choice for the next generation. I’m sorry its aethetics offend you. High capacity mags are illeagal to hunt with here so we buy aftermarket 5 rnd mags. I think it is important to show a legitimate sporting purpose for firearms given the current political atmosphere. Saying what “real hunters” are is very presumtuos and counter productive. I think you woud be better served teaching ethics rather than banning guns for hunting.

          • Coery says:

            “I think it is important to show a legitimate sporting purpose for firearms given the current political atmosphere. Saying what “real hunters” are is very presumtuos and counter productive. I think you woud be better served teaching ethics rather than banning guns for hunting.”

            Well I don’t think I have any need to prove a gun has a hunting purpose to be legitimate. That is for people like you. Tell me, how do you prove your 9mm is a legitimate hunting gun? Huh? Hunting is different from self-defense. I really doubt you have hunted much at all. Honestly. There are ethics in hunting, something that is talked about all the time. An assault rifle with a 30 round magazine doesn’t qualify as a ethical hunting weapon in most hunter’s opinions. Don’t believe me? Ask.

            I will keep my AR but not pretend it is a hunting gun and the hell with what people think. It is legal and I own it. I am not going to make believe it is an ideal deer rifle. Give me a break.

          • Corey says:

            “And btw did you know that the “far from adequate” 7.62×40 is a 30 cal?”

            Yes I do. Duh! Do you think I am an idiot or what? What’s your point?

        • This past weekend I took a hog with a Remington 7400 chambered in .308. The hog weighed in at around 100 lbs. The .308 blew one shoulder to bits and ruined the meat there, wasting around 5 lbs! The Remington 7400 is a semi-auto. Did I fire more than one shot at the pig? Nope. Was I a spray and pray hunter? Nope. Did the second shot I fired go into another pig? Yep. Head shot, no waste. For that reason I’m switching to a .300 BLK. You aren’t much of a hunter yourself. Read the rules, magazine capacity is restricted in most states to 10 or less! Semi-auto’s are not restricted at all! The .300 BLK is an excellent round for deer and hog. I have not researched to 7.62×40 but seeing as it is slightly longer it should do just fine as well. Semi-auto’s illegal in Africa? Who is hunting is Africa and how does that fit this discussion? This is America.

    • While I agree with you that when your globe trotting around on hunts packing an AR10/15, you probably would have more of an issue explaining yourself to the local powers that be. Just on the aesthetics issue alone. But since most of us don’t hunt internationally this won’t be an issue.

      I’ll have to disagree with your statement though that,

      “Hunting is a sport, not a war”.

      By stalking and sniping to impose deadly force you are in fact engaging in a wartime activity. If you want to say that hunting was around first and it’s a sport, and that in war you use hunting skills. Then one would also have to argue that the inverse would also be true, that stalking and sniping in wartime is a sport. Which it clearly isn’t.

      Then with your statement,

      “Personally I won’t hunt with anyone that has a semi-auto”,

      you’re starting to sound a little elitist. I don’t believe you are, but it started to sound that way. Now not everyone can afford to have a gun safe full of choices and I’m truly glad that you can. So one has to choose the most versatile weapon they have available, whether it’s self defense, target shooting, or hunting.

      Sorry I also can’t buy into your statements,

      “If you honestly think that an AR is a hunting rifle I would say you either know little about hunting or have ethic issues about hunting”, and
      “It is really only a novice hunter that wants a semi-automatic rifle”.

      I believe that had it been available to them Daniel Boone, Davey Crocket, any of the founding fathers/colonists or frontiersman from our past, would have chosen semi-auto over what they used in their day or even your Mauser 93 clone. BTW I’ll bet they knew more about hunting (needing it for daily survival and all) then you or I will ever know.

      Now since you discount semi-auto’s you may not have considered this when you made the statement,

      “However, no one would recommend an AR for hunting big game there or anywhere else”,

      as the Beowolf 50 cartridge will take down some game.

      But if this is true and how you feel,

      “The vast majority of hunters shy away from people that carry semi-autos…”

      Well I don’t have a problem with that, it’s their loss and yours as hunting is also about bonding and camaraderie.

      Perhaps you were correct after all,

      “Personally I won’t hunt with anyone that has a semi-auto”,

      as I guess we won’t be going hunting together. My .02

      • You can hunt with me. The deer here in southern Wisconsin eat so much corn they are almost high speed beef. Ive never hunted in Africa so I guess I’m not a “real hunter” but I filled tags in 10 of the last 15 years.

        • Good job Corey, filled tags are a filled freezer! “High speed beef”, LOL. Sounds good but I’d have to coordinate with Oshkosh if at all possible, coming from Commifornia and all.

      • Bryan,

        I am sorry to hear that you feel you are at war with the animals you hunt. I am not and the idea that people are is not something I like to hear. However, I can’t do anything about the way you think. To me hunting is no different than fishing, just different equipment. I am not at war with the fish or the game. Maybe it is something you can’t understand.

        • Well I think I understand perfectly, and I’m sorry that it’s not something you’d like to hear. You are obviously correct when you say,

          “Hunting is no different than fishing, just different equipment”.

          But you may be deluding yourself when you say,

          “I am not at war with the fish or the game”.

          Since I’ve previously mentioned that you hunt by stalking and sniping, you now would like to add fishing. Fine, when you have a “Fish On”, moment you’re actually battling with the fish.

          If the animal your hunting knew in advance that you were going to shoot it’s ass off, stuff and mount it, would they stick around? No, it would either run off to safety, or as a combatant, charge you with the only weapons at it’s disposal. Those being antlers, fangs, horns or tusks. That’s why you snipe them if at all possible.

          Or if the fish knew that by taking your bait they would soon be filleted and fryin’ in a pan, would they go without a fight? Oh wait they do, it’s called battling.

          http://biggamebattle.com/
          http://youtu.be/s8pVQumtklw

          Sniping and battling are both war environment terms used when overcoming an adversary, thus you are at war. I’m not suggesting that the animals/fish can think about it just that it’s an instinctive thing.

          Just as you, I personally like to both hunt and fish but we are at war, just sayin’.

          BTW since first my father, and now my wife couldn’t/can’t do anything about the way I think, what makes you think that you can? LOL

          • Well Bryan it is like this. I am a professional fisherman. I kill crab and cod and in great numbers but still don’t think of the process as war. However when I sport fish or hunt it is an entirely other thing. I don’t expect a person like you to understand because you obviously think you are at war with with animals. I am not. The funny thing is that you wouldn’t last two days on my crab boat on the Being Sea and that is a fact. How do I know? Nothing against you but hardly anyone can do the job and I seriously doubt you are one.

            So go to war with animals all you want. I won’t do it with you.

        • I do understand as a professional fisherman you do what you have to do to provide for your family. What you do is actually more akin to harvesting though isn’t it?

          My commentary is based on the one on one confrontations that we encounter in the wild. Be it with bullet, arrow or fishing line. Not the wholesale nuking of your adversary via cages/nets! LOL

          The fact that you think I wouldn’t last two days is also very funny, I wouldn’t even get on the damn boat! LOL Thirty years ago I might’ve taken that challenge, I grew up on boats but now get sick anywhere out of the harbor, go figure.

          Besides that I like watchin’ “Deadliest Catch” on TV and if that’s what you do, you guys are friggin’ nuts! I have great respect for what those guys do, but I see no need for myself.

          Although I’m beyond my prime, the one thing age has proven to me over and over again, is that you can never know what a man (or woman) knows. What they have done or are capable of, just by seeing them on the streets.

          • Well having been on the program Deadliest Catch I can tell you that it isn’t exactly true. They don’t falsify things exactly but they do edit. It isn’t true that every single time we walk out on deck there are huge waves there to knock us about. We actually have nice days, although not many in winter but they exist. Still it is a tough job, at least for the guys on deck. I don’t work on deck anymore and it is just pencil pushing for me. The job is NOT as difficult as it was a few years ago either. We have gone to what is known as an IFQ system meaning individual fishing quota. That means we don’t have to work in any weather or for extremely long hours despite what the TV program shows. I never work my guys more than 18 hours a day on crab these days. However, cod fishing, which we do with pots as well, is still derby fishing meaning an overall quota and he who works the hardest catches the most and we actually work harder at it although it isn’t as much money.

        • All Hollywood editorial licensing aside, don’t sell yourself short. While hard work is hard work and the element of risk is always there, I’m glad conditions have gotten better for you and the others on board.

          The leaving of any port for inclement weather and the thrill of running up and down the decks sideways, hasn’t been lost on me either. And while I know you won’t go with me to war with the animals 😉 you have my respect sir.

          • Thank you very much! It is strange though for some of us that have been in the business for decades that now we can’t go anywhere in the world it seems and say what we do for a living without people looking very strangely at us. I mean I was in the middle of nowhere Argentina and I confessed to being a crab fisherman. Everyone one to the people there had seen the show. I read somewhere that it is the most popular show for detainees at GITMO! Figure that one out!

            Although I didn’t agree with their finished product the people filming were the most professional I had ever seen. I can’t remember for sure but I think the company is called Original Productions. They would bug the hell out of me but they got what they wanted and I would tell myself they are only doing their job. No one could have imagined then, not even the film crew, that the show would become popular. Sig is recognized everywhere and he eats it up. Sig is a good guy and we often work together but we are just different. Fame is something I never wanted. I like to be anonymous and to tell the truth my name isn’t Jeff!

            If you’re ever in Seattle drop a line and we can have some king crab. Well if there is a season this year that is!

  19. You can buy a 6.8 SPC upper and use it on your AR 223 lower. They are interchangeable. the 6.8 SPC has 44% greater energy and power than the .223. It can be used on medium size game shooting a 115 g bullet with a 26 round or 30 round mag. A much heavier bullet not as effected by every little cross wind.

  20. I took two does this year with my 5.56 Nato Double Star upper/PlumbCrazy lower AR-15 and love it!!! Loaded with Winchester 64 grain PowerPoints, I got complete pass thoughs on them at 40 yards and one not knowing what they were hit with would have thought I was using a 30-30. Having shot more than a few deer in past with cast bullets from handguns and rifles, the wound cavity was equal to any 45-70 slug driven at 1500 fps. Best woods rifle I ever owned.

    But the point that is most missed by the pro AR-15 crowd in this argument is a photo of a Brown Bess beside a Kentucky Rifle, a Springfield 03-A3 beside a Winchester 70, a Garand beside Browning BAR and an AR-15 and beside an M-16. The point the anti’s at once fail to realize or don’t want thier useful idiots to realize is that throughout the history of arms development civilian/military arms share the same evolutionary patterns.

    And add me to the list of those who know that the 2nd is not about hunting or sporting purposes.

          • Really? You have never heard of spray and pray? I am guessing you are not a hunter then. It is a common term among hunters at least in my region, the PNW and Alaska. So maybe it is regional. It applies to hunters that use quantity instead of marksmanship. Obviously it is a derogatory term.

  21. Well, in the coastal South there are a lot of hunters that go after deer with guns that can fire 124 thirty caliber “rounds” in seconds without reloading. Some of those guns are semi-automatic and some are manually operated!

    Yep, a lot of buckshot is sold in the South.

    Say, didn’t the Germans protest the use of shotguns by the Americans in WWI… ?

  22. JW; first time, now I have heard other terms about that but they relate to a whole different scenario, ex, my boy is back from A–gan and we went shooting at the local range, later he was kidding me that he prefers “accuracy by volumen” he is a M240 gunner with the USMC/ :))))

    Must assume y’all don’t use “buckshot” at all up there.?????

    • No, buckshot is legal and there are some crowded areas where shotguns are mandatory such as Island County which is as its name implie is composed of islands. However, I have never heard of anyone using buckshot except for me for turkeys. I used to use #4 buckshot on turkey and whack them 70 yards or more. Its use was outlawed I guess because someone thought we should all hunt the way they do back east.

      For deer, elk, bears, cougar, etc., it is a rifle for the most part except of course in the bow and muzzle loading seasons.

      • You use buckshot for turkey? You do realize that buckshot is intended for…wait for it….bucks! I find that statement humorous. There wouldn’t be any meat worth eating on the bird! BTW Spray and pray is not a hunting term it is a military term for suppressive fire by a belt fed automatic weapon like a M-240, adopted by law enforcement to describe the shooting habit of modern day “gangstas”.

  23. JW, you have to post season and episode now, have too/ lololoo

    do remember your way of thinking and seen things is different than us down here.
    you don’t go after bass with a net or cage.

    but you don’t go after fish with dynamite either/lololoo

    • Sorry. I am kind of a private guy and only reluctantly agreed to being on that show. That was before we knew what they were doing. They said they were doing a documentary. We had documentary crews before, a French one and National Geographic whose entire film was destroyed in the Dutch Harbor X-ray machine! They were upset. Well it didn’t take us long to realize that the people filming for the Discovery Channel were not making a documentary but rather entertainment.

      I will tell you another thing about that show. The guys are acting. They are not to told to act a certain way but it didn’t take long to realize that this is what the audience wants. And some of it is staged for certain. How long do you think a crewman would last that went up to the wheelhouse and told the captain how to fish? I mean in any job that wouldn’t work. It is staged for drama. They have to think of more and more things to do because it gets old just watching people work. The rumor is there is only two more years left however I have been hearing that for a few years.

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