Hunting in Hondo

[Bosco]

Howday all,
Some friends and I were out to Hondo this last weekend. Four hunters took 6 animals from the ranch. Everyone had a great time with 86er, and the crew. If you have been "on the fence" about making your way to Hondo and hooking up with 86er, let this but a little push towards running out there some time. The crew, accommodations, and ranch are all good. Every one in our group accomplished their goals and would return in the future if we can get it organized.
I was able to take an Oryx for meat and ate the tenderloins with my family for dinner tonight. Great stuff.
I brought my Browning 1886 SRC. Joe suggested that I use some of his Grizzly cartridge loads that have been working so well for him. We confirmed that the gun was on with them and went out the next day for the target animal. Talk about expansion! The load worked great and I ordered a couple of boxes from Mike R.
Joe, thanks for showing us a great time at the ranch. I look forward to hunting with you again in the future!
Sincerely, Bosco

[Griff]

Bosco,

I heard a little about your trip down there from 86er this evening. Sounds like a good time was had by ALL. Congrats on yer hunt!

Edit: Where's the PICTURES????

[86er]

Thanks for the compliments. I'll help out with the first round of photos:

Scimitar Horned Oryx taken with a 1886 in 45-70 with 405gr Kodiak bullet:


Black Hawaiian Ram taken with 30-06 Rem pump action:


Bison taken with 7mm Rem Mag, 160gr Nosler Partition:


Red Deer Stag taken with Browning BLR in 308:


Blackbuck taken with 30-06


Aoudad Ram taken with 7mm Rem Mag - No Photo - sorry

[rjohns94]

Looks like a great hunt indeed. Congrats. 86er does a great job on this hunts. works hard for the customers.

[crs]

Nice animals and pictures, all.

[kimwcook]

It's nice to see everyone had a good time and was successful in their endeavors. Good job, Joe.

[O.S.O.K.]

Another successful hunt in Hondo! Congrats to all! Thanks for the pics

[dr walker]

That oryx is fantastic. Nice animals all around.

[Modoc ED]

Nice job fellas. Where exactly is Hondo -- if ya don't mind telling.

[octagon]

Hondo is just the other side of Devine Texas.

[okdee]

About 40 miles west of San Antonio, Texas.

[kimwcook]

Joe must of threatend them boys with bodily harm if they smiled. The guy with the stag might just be tempting fate. In all the pictures I've seen of Joe he's never cracked a smile. I'm beginning to wonder if he can.

[TedH]

Looks like a great time. I'd sure like to get down there some day.

[RKrodle]

Bosco,
That is a very nice oryx, looks like a good time was had. I looking forward to the April Levergun hunt and meeting all the forum members. I sure it will be a success and a good time also.

[Bosco]

RKrodle,
It was a great time. We were able to put a fun sneak on the Oryx. The whole deal was as good as I had hoped. I wish I had enough time and money to get in on your guy's hunt also, but you know how that goes.
Good luck, enjoy, be safe. Bosco

[RKrodle]

That 45-70 with the Kodiak bullet that Mike loads really puts a whack on stuff don't it . I seen 86er use it on several animals and it's amazing how well that bullet expands and still retains weight. I took an Oryx back in June or July and was using some 405 Rems that I loaded up. They did just ok. They are not near the bullet as the Kodiak and I'm not able to come close to the speeds Mike gets.

[piller]

If Joe ever smiles, his wife will probably take a bat to him in order to find out what mischief he just accomplished. Seriously, he does smile when he is off camera. I can hardly wait until going back to Hondo.

[Bosco]

That 45-70 with the Kodiak bullet that Mike loads really puts a whack on stuff don't it . I seen 86er use it on several animals and it's amazing how well that bullet expands and still retains weight. I took an Oryx back in June or July and was using some 405 Rems that I loaded up. They did just ok. They are not near the bullet as the Kodiak and I'm not able to come close to the speeds Mike gets.

I did some measuring when I got home. The first bullet shot expanded to 1.0 and retained 93.5% of its weight (377.7 grains) I believe Joe figured we were around 100 yards or so at the shot. The second bullet was expanded to .90 at the widest point. (This bullet was not circular in expansion like the first round.) It retained 91% of its weight (368.6 grains). The distance of the second shot was very short, maybe 15 yards? The animal was still trying to sit up. In order to expedite the obviously inevitable Joe instructed me to put another round right next to the first one. This is the latter bullet.
I too have used the Remington 405 grain bullet a few times, always on Minnesota whitetail deer. I do not recall ever seeing this kind of expansion form that bullet at factory speeds-(1300fps estimated.) I need a chronograph.

It is very exciting to me that this Grizzly Cartridge load is approaching 450 Alaskan velocities. I wonder how close one can get with the products available today.
Bosco

[RKrodle]

It is very exciting to me that this Grizzly Cartridge load is approaching 450 Alaskan velocities. I wonder how close one can get with the products available today.
Bosco

If I remember correctly that load is running between 2000 and 2100 fps out of Joe's 86. You can probably safely get to within about 200fps of that, depending on barrel length. Mike has access to special bends of powder that we can't get. Well, you may could but you would have to buy such a LARGE volume that it wouldn't be practical. Getting 100%+ expansion with that kind of weight retention is outstanding to say the least. Again, congratulations on a great hunt!