Hunting Story: Strike Action

After my ‘golden ticket’ trip with Norma on their Moose Hunt in 2015, where I shot a very nice bull, I got the chance in 2016 to go to the Czech Republic for some boar shooting. It was a journo event organised by Norma to showcase their new ECOSTRIKE and TIPSTRIKE ammo, on the range and in three days of driven hunting.

Wrong calibre

We were asked, where possible to bring our own rifles and ammo would be supplied. Norma was supplying both rounds in 308, 30-06 and 300 Win Mag and I do not posses anything on my FAC in those calibres. I took my 270 Winchester Blaser R8 Professional Success and they supplied 150-grain Oryx.

TIPSTRIKE is a more traditional lead-cored ballistic tip (BT), whereas ECOSTRIKE is a non-lead BT design. Here’s what Norma says about them: “TIPSTRIKE™ is developed for stopping power, combined with a penetration deep enough to reach the vital organs of the game. The polymer tip assures the expansion and gives a devastating shock effect due to the construction of the bullet jacket. To maintain a high retention weight, the jacket is reinforced with a mechanical lock, thus making TIPSTRIKE™ an outstanding bullet for driven hunts and other forms of hunting where an immediate stop is crucial.” 2016 Available calibres: 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 300 WSM. With more to follow in 2017!

“ECOSTRIKE™ A light bullet surpassing a heavy one? ECOSTRIKE™ makes the impossible possible. To make the bullet lighter and prevent it from fragmenting, the lead has been replaced by copper and nickel.

With ECOSTRIKE™ we meet a new hunting era, where the sense of being one with nature has reached a higher level. The bullet and its characteristics, takes into account of the rifle, the game, the environment and the meat.

ECOSTRIKE™’s ambition is to always give a positive impact, and to make it a rewarding hunting experience.” 2016 Available calibres: 7x65 R, 7x64, 7 mm Rem Mag, 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 300 WSM, 8x57 JRS, 8x57 JS, 9,3x62, 9,3x74R.

Popular 30’s

So what did the three calibres supplied offer? (see chart)

Impressive figures I think you will agree and all calibres acquitted themselves very well on the pigs. Though I favour 30-06 and larger for wild boar; truth is, 308 Win can pretty much do it all!

On the range

On the range, we all got the chance to shoot the products plus zero our rifles. My 150-grain Oryx load was quoted at 2854 fps/2714 ft/ lbs, probably a tad less from my Blaser’s 22.5” barrel. Zeroed at 50-yards it was shooting tiny, bug hole groups; good enough for Oryx! R8 Professional Successes seemed to be the most popular choice of rifle amongst us, making up at least 50% of the guns there. Norma supplied three Remington 700s in 308 Win. Two sporters and my Danish colleague Jans Ulrik Høeg got a heavy barrelled tactical gun in an MDT chassis system with muzzle brake. Hardly the sort of thing for boar shooting but he did OK with it!

I had rigged my R8 with a Swarovski Z8i 1.7-13.3 x 42 scope, which proved to be for me near the ideal specification, as at 1.7 it’s good for driven, with enough top end mag to reach out! I also took my Blaser Carbon bipod that plugs into the forend of the R8. And a leg off my Spartan Precision Kapita tripod to act as a walking pole, which also plugged into the forend and offers a good support for moving shots. Being driven, I was wearing my Browning XPO parka in blaze camo.

A guy name Ted

As usual, it was a mixed bag of journos from Europe and me the only Brit, plus three Americans. The Editor of Safari Club International (SCI), Norma’s US rep and a guy called Ted. It turned out Ted was not in the ‘bizz’ but had won a competition for the hunt, first time I’ve ever met a competition winner. As it was he’s a keen hunter and organises global hunting trips, he also turned out to be a huge Monty Python fan, which was good enough for me! As did the German guy and his wife who run an internet hunting show. He was an ex-squaddie like me, so we got on well.

Another pleasing surprise was Maria Jurova from Slovakia, who was our translator, and as I discovered, a huntress in her own right. I’m a huge fan of women getting involved in shooting, no matter what the discipline. Maria seems to know her business and has offered me some articles to publish.

First blood

Martin, our local, Czech PH, organised the hunt and we used different syndicates over the period. The primary species was boar but there where opportunities for Red Hinds and Mouflon but with strict rules on size and gender. We were all expecting cold weather, which never happened and as we walked up the first massive hill to the stands I was sweating and cursing the fact I brought my loden trousers. For the next two days the weather stayed very mild and I wore my moleskin trousers instead. After re-inflating my lungs, as I was ‘cream crackered’, I stood on my peg working out my angles with the usual excitement, only to hear shots popping elsewhere.

It was Norma’s Carin Höglund who drew first blood, with a nice yearling boar; waidmannsheil! After two more stands I’d still not seen a pig, though I saw some really nice Roebucks, which were totally off limits.

One notable old boy stood broadside on at 50 yards, I’m sure just to mock me! The Germans have a saying: ‘every day is a hunting day, but not every day is a shooting day’; story of my life! I think in the end the bag was around nine animals; one, a big boar shot by Jens Ulrik with his tactical rifle. He said he heard it coming, shouldered his gun and fired and it went into its death run as they do down a hill. It was good pig!

Broken!

Day two for me was much the same and I’m sure my; ‘right place, right time machine’ was well and truly broken! I was put on some nice stands with good backdrops and arcs of fire and nothing. I did see two pigs that were approaching my position through heavy cover so not shootable and heading for open ground about 50 yards from me. But they stayed in the cover turning right and not appearing until 200 yards away. However, there was lots of shooting and in the end the day’s bag stood at, I think, 27 animals of all sizes.

Day three dawned with rain; well, we’d been lucky up until now! But it soon stopped and things again brightened up. It was decided that there would be two large drives, as opposed to three. Drive 1 was once again a no show for me and we headed back to base for an early lunch, which was impressive. Masses of cold meats etc and goulash as an alternative choice, I tried not to eat too much but the goulash was irresistible!

At last

The last drive saw us in a deep wooded valley with low cover in the middle, it was very pretty. We all stood around for an hour with nothing happening when suddenly five pigs appeared on the far side of the hill, all hammering down its steep slope like racehorses. They came on into the low cover; yes one or two must come my way but no, they all went left and a Finnish guy to my left got one. With others taken by those further up the line; such is life!

It went quiet again and then another rush of pigs about seven this time, all of which went left. Three made for the Finn and he dropped two with a yearling getting past him and running up the far slope. I was clear to shoot and missed with my first but connected with the second; at last! As it happened he swung onto it too and we fired at about the same time, so who knows? This is not uncommon in driven as two hunters up the line also shared a kill!

Overall, some good hunting and I think that the bag was 13 beasts, so a total of 49 by my reckoning. The majority of pigs (big and small) were shot using ECOSTRIKE or TIPSTRIKE and the majority of rifles were in 308 Win. Proving to me that whether you favour the traditional or green approach, both bullets work well. My thanks to Norma for the invite- it was fun.