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I knew this hunt would not be easy. It was going to be spot and stalk all the way. There would be no shooting the animal from a vehicle. Also, from previous experience, I learned that Sylvilagus, being about the color of brush and oregano, could be very difficult to see.
I knew I would have to get fairly close to see the animal and would have to be ready for a charge. The selection of a proper weapon/cartridge combination was of paramount importance. Magnum "calibers" can of course "zip right through" doing very little damage so a magnum was out. Before thinking this through, I had thought of using a 500 S&W Magnum but knew the bullet would be going much too fast. A buddy of mine, used to have a 25/06 that would shoot it's bullets at "4,200 feet per second" so I knew that a 500 S&W Magnum would probably send its bullets much faster.
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I had a 458 Lott available which I thought would be about perfect. It's set up for dangerous game with quick detachable Talley mounts and a Leupold 2-7X scope for close charges. I have been a bit confused about this cartridge since the case has a belt and the 500 S&W Magnum has no belt. I thought magnums were supposed to have a belt but no matter, the gun manufactures must know what they are doing and if they say it's a magnum I'm sure it's a magnum.
I knew the ammunition chosen would be of prime importance. I settled on 350 grain Speer Hot Core bullets. In retrospect, I should have used 500 grain Woodleighs. I was risking a bullet blow up and a superficial wound and I'm not proud of that.
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I got my binoculars and stealthily set out on my quest. I carefully glassed the areas where Sylvilagus was known to hang out under trees and near bushes. I wanted a mature animal; a good representative of the species. Finally I spotted it in the long oregano; my worst fears had come true.
Now, I'm not one for just sniping away at game animals from 500 yards away but I wasn't anxious to get too close either. Then I thought about it. What better way to have a good hunting experience then to get close to a dangerous animal and risk death before it's capped? I'm proud to say that I stalked within 4 yards (actually about 11 feet) before I took my shot. I made sure I had extra cartridges ready to go in case of a charge.
I didn't use a range finder and I'm not proud of that either. If my calculations of trajectory weren't right, I could risk losing the animal. This animal did have good mass and length but, just to be safe, I decided on a head shot. I lined the crosshairs up and BLAMMM!!!
Sylvilagus was in the bag. It only went about 2 yards after the shot and a single shot was enough. I should have shot it again just to be sure it was really down but I didn't and I'm not proud of this either. Another error was that I didn't check for a corneal reflex with the muzzel of the gun before I got close but, in my defense, I couldn't see an eye to test. Fortunately, it really was dead so I wasn't injured. If I had to do this over, would I do anything differently. Probably. Since I took a head shot, the cape was ruined so I can't get a shoulder mount. On the other hand, no edible meat was ruined.
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