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Of coyotes, rabbits, Remington and Winchester

3 min read

This time of year finds many sportsman’s clubs holding a hunt for the coyote. Many of these hunts offer quite a large amount of money for first prize. Canonsburg Sportsman’s Club on Allison Hollow Road is a bit different.

Their annual hunt is for rabbits. The Canonsburg Sportsman’s Association annual rabbit hunt will take place Saturday Feb. 16, starting at 1 p.m. There will be a $10 fee and food, drinks and prizes. For more information call Bill Brooks at 724-986-1414 or Brian Brooks at 724-986-2115.

  • I have been asked what I think is the best standard sporting style rifle on the market. For some time, it probably would have been close between the big 3. Winchester, Ruger and Remington dominated sales and probably rightly so. Back a few years, I would have picked the Remington 700s, which were offered in a wide variety of chambering and styles. Today things have changed a bit with the Ruger American a best buy among the lower priced offerings.

One could hardly argue against my choice of the innovative Ruger American. Rugers have always been known for their reliability and good value. In second place, I would pick the much improved Mossberg Patriot. Unlike the Ruger, they offer a nice rifle with the added option of a synthetic or wood stock. I have had the chance to shoot one and it did quite well at the bench rest range. While both are offered at a good price, I would choose one of my next pair of Aces.

My choice of the best standard production rifle would be either the Kimber Hunter or the CZ American. The Kimber is made in the United States while the CZ comes from the Czech Republic and is nothing more than the old but highly respected BRNO.

Today I would like to own all of them but if push came to shove, I would chose the Kimber Hunter. As most serious shooters know, it is hard to get a lightweight rifle to shoot well but this Kimber is guaranteed to shoot sub minute of angle groups at 100 yards. I have one that will, when I do my part, shoot ½ inch groups despite weighing 5 ½ pounds. Not only that, it balances very well in one’s hands. It is also a beautiful gun. Yes, you can’t go wrong with any of Kimber’s rifles.

Finally, if I were to choose something other than a bolt action rifle it would be a Henry and I would lean toward the big bore in 45-70.

  • Don’t forget to attend the Washington County Sportsman’s Show next weekend at the Crown Center Mall. As always, there will be a lot of booths, both hunting and fishing. I plan to be there measuring deer on Saturday and if needed Sunday. I hope to get a good turnout of bucks and maybe a few big bucks. We will also present our George H. Block Conservation Scholarship Award to our deserving recipient at 1 p.m. in the center court.

It is a good time to get together with our State Senator and Game Commissioner to check on the local news in hunting changes and laws. I am well aware of some recent reports in the area of archery hunting and will be verifying all my facts at this show. I also plan to have scholarship forms available for next year’s scholarship at the show.

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