Crazy lucky shot

[Thumbcocker]

Mrs.Thumbcocker and I are going to Africa later this year. I am going to take this hunter model. 44. It has been worked on a bit and I have shot it a lot. A whole lot. I also dry fire it every day.

I came into a quantity of golf balls. I don't golf. As I have been shooting more or less weekly I have tried to find new targets to keep things interesting. Hmmmm. Deciced to try to hit a golf ball at 50 yards. I do like a challenge. Got to where I could move a golf ball around pretty often and hit it once in a while at 50 yards.

Shot at clay birds on the 100 yard berm. Mrs.Thumbcocker is my spotter. One day I was shooting and said I was going to try for a golf ball. She asked "at 50 or 100?" I do love her confidence in me. But that stuck with me and burrowed deep into my brain. Golf ball at 100. No way. Can't be done. But....... maybe I should try.

Started trying at 100. Seated backrested per Elmer. Still dry firing every day.

Well today the stars aligned. Dark berm, cloudy sky, no shakes. Clear my brain. Golf ball moved. Went to check. Lead smear on the golf ball. Fat guy happy dance. Tried on a second golf ball. May have hit it because it flew about 12 feet into the air and was lost in the brush on top of the berm. From shooting golf balls recently that is consistent with a ball hit at the base but no way to verify.

Anyway. Elmer said if you practice enough you get more lucky hits. I guess he was right.

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[Milky Duck]

good stuff...Ive played .22lr golf,great untill you get a solid hit...then you cant find golf ball anymore as they move quite a long way...surprised your cannon isnt making them dissapear into next county.

[HWooldridge]

Elmer was right…good shooting.

[Iwsbull]

It is amazing how luck goes hand in hand with practice.
Great shooting and good luck on your upcoming hunt.

[45workhorse]

"Fat guy happy dance."
Got to see pictures of that!!!!!!
Hopefully more dancing to come.
Just be careful don't want to throw something out of whack before the trip.

[Thumbcocker]

"Fat guy happy dance."
Got to see pictures of that!!!!!!
Hopefully more dancing to come.
Just be careful don't want to throw something out of whack be the trip.

I can't post pics of the happy dance. This is a family site. I could not risk the possibility of some impressionable girl seeing that and ruining her chance to have a husband and family of her own some day.

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[Winger Ed.]

That's good.

I always thought a fun new sport would be to combine either golf or baseball with skeet.

[Texas by God]

Every time I pulled my 870 out of the golf bag, everyone ran……��

[45workhorse]

I can't post pics of the happy dance. This is a family site. I could not risk the possibility of some impressionable girl seeing that and ruining her chance to have a husband and family of her own some day.

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Nicely done

[NyFirefighter357]

I firmly believe: Aim small, miss small or hit small. I used to use glass car fuses, laying horizontally facing me at 25yrds to practice with my .177 Webley Omega.

[gc45]

Wow! Thumb, that is some super shooting. What will you and the Mrs. be hunting in Africa?

I once spent a lot of time shooting my Win 61 22Lr at 200yds, the targets were .410 cases standing up on a fence rail. Having a concrete bench helped, also the little Luepold 4x Rimfire scope that barely had enough clicks..

[HWooldridge]

I firmly believe: Aim small, miss small or hit small. I used to use glass car fuses, laying horizontally facing me at 25yrds to practice with my .177 Webley Omega.

Agreed. I have always had a practice of shooting at anything convenient that would show a bullet hole then aim at the hole for repeat shots. We used to plink in a garbage dump and there were many targets. Put a hole in an old car muffler then back off and aim at the first one.

[Thumbcocker]

Plains game. Nothing that bites or stomps old fat guys. I'm hoping for a Kudu, Impala, and a warthog. Mrs.Thumbcocker wants a zebra rug. There are other critters in the package but I don't care if we get them or not.

[HWooldridge]

Plains game. Nothing that bites or stomps old fat guys. I'm hoping for a Kudu, Impala, and a warthog. Mrs.Thumbcocker wants a zebra rug. There are other critters in the package but I don't care if we get them or not.

Best of luck and stay safe.

[elk hunter]

Plains game. Nothing that bites or stomps old fat guys. I'm hoping for a Kudu, Impala, and a warthog. Mrs.Thumbcocker wants a zebra rug. There are other critters in the package but I don't care if we get them or not.

Where in Africa? If South Africa, or somewhere close, Kruger Park is well worth the time and expense to visit for a day or two.

Kudu, Impala and Warthog should be relatively easy to get, if they have any amount of them around. You say the Mrs. wants a Zebra rug. If she hunts and wants to shoot her own great. if all she wants is a rug then buying a hide somewhere over there should be cheaper in the long run then paying to hunt one.

Most people that go say that it will be a one-time thing but once Africa gets hold of you you will want to go back.

Good luck. Have a great time and post lots of pictures.

[Bloodhound689]

I was stationed in Japan for 2 1/2 years and every day I walked through the golf course on my way to work and picked up the golf balls that I found so now I have a large bag full of them to use for this very thing. I am now just waiting to move onto the land I purchased a few months ago to do the very same. I may need to start out at 10 yards though. Good shooting!

[contender1]

Good shooting!!!!!! Lots of quality practice will make the trip even more rewarding when you impress the PH's & such with handgunning skills.

About a year ago,, a member here,, (sixshot) had a handgun hunting trip to Africa. One of the animals he took was a Cape Buffalo. His telling of his trip is worth the read if possible. (I think he posted it here,, but I know he posted it elsewhere.)

I've never been to Africa to hunt,, so I'm going off what sixshot mentioned. He made a comment about handguns must have at least an 8" or 8-1/2" bbl to be legal there. (I can't recall exactly.) Have you gotten the ok to use that Ruger as I think it has the 7-1/2" bbl? JUST asking POLITELY as I'd hate to hear you got there & wasn't allowed to use that handgun!

[Johnch]

Nice shooting

Back in the late 80's and early 90's I shot IHMSA Silhouette
That was before I had a 6 bay a week job
But for part of the time I was shooting a 14" TC in 45/70
They made a limited run , sights and no brake or ports
I shot a 400 gr GC cast bullet
One of the years I shot in the Ohio state shoot at Elmore CC
I got in a shoot off for my class
Non of the 3 of us was missing
So they changed targets , 50 meter chickens
But facing us head on , so we were shooting at a 1/2" wide target
I missed on my 3th charging chicken and got 2 place
So I do know that a lot of practice , lets those "luck" shots happen a lot more

John

[Thumbcocker]

Good shooting!!!!!! Lots of quality practice will make the trip even more rewarding when you impress the PH's & such with handgunning skills.

About a year ago,, a member here,, (sixshot) had a handgun hunting trip to Africa. One of the animals he took was a Cape Buffalo. His telling of his trip is worth the read if possible. (I think he posted it here,, but I know he posted it elsewhere.)

I've never been to Africa to hunt,, so I'm going off what sixshot mentioned. He made a comment about handguns must have at least an 8" or 8-1/2" bbl to be legal there. (I can't recall exactly.) Have you gotten the ok to use that Ruger as I think it has the 7-1/2" bbl? JUST asking POLITELY as I'd hate to hear you got there & wasn't allowed to use that handgun!

Sixshot's write up, some pics, and a few calls got me to book the hunt. Mrs.Thumbcocker and I flew to Salt Lake to the big hunting expo to meet the outfitter and just missed Sixshot. (Drat). The outfitter seemed like a stand up guy but it was real hard to get face time with him. It seemed like half of the convention center knew him and wanted to chat. Communication is not their strong suit. We booked a basic plains game package, nothing bitey or stompy. Mrs.Thumbcocker has been shooting a Tikka. 308 enough to be pretty salty out to 200 yards. She will go for her own Zebra rug. There are a couple of critters that we really aren't interested in shooting. Wildebeest and steenbuck just don't appeal to us. Hopefully we can trade or upgrade. If not no big deal.

I will double check on the handgun. I know it needs to have a scope on it to come into the country.

[contender1]

Glad you saw sixshot's write-up. He's a GREAT guy. He had custom work done to be legal there. Just wanted to make sure you would be able to regale us with similar wonderful stories of the prowess of handgun hunting the Dark Continent.