By Emile Smit

I recently bought a Tikka T3 rifle in .308 Winchester, after doing a lot of research about various rifle manufacturers and calibers. I was looking for an all-round rifle and calibre that would be suited to hunting the majority of plains game in South Africa. Although there are many great all-round calibers that would have sufficed, the venerable .308 Winchester was my preferred choice.

The Tikka T3 got the nod as it was lighter that the other rifles that I was interested in and they are known to be very accurate out of the box. I know a lot of people prefer a heavier rifle which ensures a steadier aim and a reduction in recoil, but I prefer to carry a light rifle when I am walking long distances in the bush.

Even before I took ownership of the rifle, I was advised by many people to reload my own ammunition when the time comes, in order to achieve optimum accuracy with my rifle and with the added benefit of savings costs. I applied for my firearm license at the SAPS and after a few months my application for the Tikka was approved.

I then obtained my own re-loading equipment and I was ready to load my own ammunition. When I started out I referred to the Somchem (a South African propellant manufacturer) booklet and I loaded from the suggested minimum load upwards in 0.5 grain increments, to 0.5 grains below the specified maximum.

This method is called the “ladder method”, where you shoot multiple 5 shot groupings with different loads (in 0.5gr increments), after which you pick the smallest grouping to develop further. You can then fine tune the load by shooting additional 5 shot groupings with minor changes in the load and the COL (cartridge overall length). This is then done until a 5 shot grouping with the desired MOA accuracy is obtained. This is however dangerous as the only signs of high pressure are visible signs and there is no other indication of pressure.

After getting good results at the range with 150gr Hornady Interbond bullets, Hornady unfortunately stopped producing them. I was then advised to opt for Nosler Accubond bullets, but there weren’t any available in South Africa at the time. I then went for Nosler BT (Ballistic Tips) which was the closest thing that I could get to the Accubond bullets. This however meant that I had to start over from scratch with my load development. At this stage I had probably shot more than 200 rounds of ammunition (+- R3000) with no load (or grouping) to show for it.

I learned the hard way that the R2300 for QuickLOAD from JMS Arms is more than worthwhile, as the cost of brass, propellant and bullets don’t come cheap. My goal was to shoot as few as possible rounds of ammunition on the range in order to get the most accurate load for my rifle. This was my main motivation behind acquiring QuickLOAD as I had already paid my school fees.

The QuickLOAD software assists the re-loader to understand certain important aspects such as pressures, velocities, effects and the importance of changing a single variable in the reloading procedure. Keep in mind that each rifle is different; it doesn’t matter if they are both of the same caliber, have the same specifications or is from the same manufacturer.

All rifles have different chamber dimensions, maximum cartridge lengths etc., thus the rifles will handle pressure differently. So NEVER give someone a load which worked in your rifle and expect the same for his, as this has led to many injuries and exploded guns.

Getting Started

In order to calibrate a QuickLOAD, the following information is needed:

(Example)

Rifle and Caliber: Tikka T3 in .308 Winchester
Bullet: Barnes TTSX BT 150gr
Brass: Lapua Cases – H20 volume: 54.95gr
Barrel length: 570mm
Measured COL: 71.71mm
Primer: Fiocchi large rifle primer
Propellant: Somchem S321
Case length: 50.95mm
Average velocity: 2601fps with 41.5gr S321

When you open QuickLOAD the following screen will appear:

Step 1
On the left hand side of the screen, you will find a drop down field (Selected Cartridge) where you can select the desired cartridge. When you select this cartridge, in this case .308Win. (SAAMI), the data fields below will change to adapt to the specifications of the chosen calibre. This is relevant to the maximum pressure; core sectional bore area, the groove calibre etc.

Step 2
Now select the required bullet (Selected Bullet) to continue. In this case it is .308, 150, ‘Barnes TTSX’BT 30875. The data fields below will again populate with regard to the selected bullet’s specifications. The affected fields will be, bullet length, the bullet diameter etc.

Step 3
The next step is to adjust the cartridge length and case length (the standard default length is already visible) to your specific load.

Step 4
Change the default barrel length to match that of your own rifle, this is measured from the bolt face to the crown of the barrel (make use of a cleaning rod).

Step 5
The next and final variable to be altered on the left hand of the screen is the maximum case capacity overflow. Measure the H20 volume of a few fire formed cases, taking into consideration that the water must be exactly level with the case mouth. Add one teaspoon of Sunlight dishwashing liquid in the water, as this helps the water not to bulge over the mouth of the case. Use a minimum average of 5 cases, which is then measured in grains. An electronic scale will be needed in order to weigh the brass.

Weigh the empty fire formed brass first and then weigh the brass filled with water. After doing this you can subtract the empty weight from the full weight. The answer will then give you the H20 volume of each case. Please remember to number each case before weighing them, or you will not get accurate results (for obvious reasons).

Step 6
We then move over to the right hand side of the screen. Here the first option available is to select the powder/propellant that you are using (Selected Propellant). You will see that all the fields beneath the propellant are greyed out; this is the properties of the powder (we will go into more detail about this at a later stage).

Step 7
Insert the charge into the field beneath the propellant property and press calculate on both sides. The results will now appear in the fields at the bottom of the screen.

A few important numbers to take into account are the following:

Pressure max – If you go into red, it’s getting dangerous.
Filling of the case – Performs better close to 100%.
Ballistic efficiency – It is best above 30%.

It is important to understand the roles which each of the individual variables play in the outcome of the proposed load. Only then will you also understand what influence the variables have on the pressure, velocity etc. of the selected calibre and bullet.

Step 8 (Advanced Calibration)
The first thing that we need to talk about is OBT (Optimal barrel time combustion) and what it means. Each rifle barrel has a specific node or nodes where the rifle will perform at its best. QuickLOAD helps you to predict the velocity that you must achieve in order to get to one of these nodes in your rifle with a certain bullet.

First make sure that all your variables (step 1 to 7) have been entered correctly. Prepare 5 rounds at a safe charge (the prescribed minimum) and make use of a chronograph to capture the speed of the bullet which will then enable you to calculate an average velocity for the load. After calculating an average speed, enter the data in QuickLOAD as well as the charge weight that you used to get the speed.

You will see that the velocity you get from the chrony might differ from the velocity (fps) that QuickLOAD initially predicted. This can be due to a number of reasons such as: different batches of propellant, a tight barrel, the twist rate of the barrel, different types of primers etc. We now have to calibrate the propellant to give the same speed as what we measured with the chrony at the range.

Click on the hand with the pencil icon next to the propellant selection field, this will open the previously hidden fields below to be edited. We will only change the Burning rate factor (Ba) up and down to get to the range velocity.

The next step is to calculate the node or OBT. This is done by entering your barrel length in an Excel calculation sheet which will then display your different nodes. Your goal is to reach the highest node without exceeding the maximum pressure. This is done by increasing and decreasing your charge weight which changes your OBT in the process in order to match one of the nodes calculated in the spreadsheet.

As you can see, node 5 can be reached at a velocity of 2657fps and a projected charged weight of 42.5gr.

Conclusion

Please be advised this is just a brief overview of QuickLOAD, merely to demonstrate that it’s not as complicated as it seems to some. The software is definitely worth every cent, especially if you have more than one rifle and you wish to reload different bullets weights for each rifle.

Remember that it is absolutely essential to own a chronograph before acquiring QuickLOAD, as you have to measure the speed of your bullets, otherwise QuickLOAD will be of no use. Also remember that the chrony has to be placed 5m from the muzzle of your rifle and that there should not be any direct sunlight on the chrony itself when measuring speeds.

*Please note that neither I or Guns and Fly Fishing will be liable for any damages, injury or fatality caused by making use of the above-mentioned information. All information regarding the QuickLOAD software and the reloading of ammunition is used at your own risk. It is advised that you seek professional assistance before attempting to use QuickLOAD or to reload ammunition.

© 2015 Guns and Fly Fishing. All Rights Reserved.

By Geno Van Niekerk

For the better part of 300 years livestock farmers (and more recently game farmers) in Southern Africa have been plagued by Black Backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas) and Caracal (Caracal caracal). It is estimated that Black Backed Jackal and Caracal kill approximately 5500 Lambs PER DAY in South Africa and Namibia. Those 5500 Lambs could have fed in the region of 165 000 people were they to reach a mature age.

Multiply that by 365 and you could have fed 60 225 00 (60 million odd) people over a year’s time with the livestock killed (approximately 2 007 500 sheep) by Black Backed Jackal and Caracal. Now in a country (and continent) where we have a high rate of poverty and where millions of people go to bed hungry each night, you can see why there is a need to control these animals that are killing the livestock.

Disturbing images such as these are seen by game and livestock farmers on a daily basis:

Now my intention is not to deliberately bad-mouth Black Backed Jackal and Caracal, as they do play an important part in the ecosystem, as all God’s living creatures do. They do have a role to fulfill in their natural habitat, as scavengers and by controlling vermin populations. Unfortunately Sheep (and especially Lambs) are an easier and softer target for a Black Backed Jackal that to kill than a Hare for instance. The other problem is that they do not necessarily kill and consume one lamb but they will kill a number of them and not utilize all of the carcasses.

The Black Backed Jackal – Canis Mesomelas

Jackal have an average shoulder height of 45cm and adults can weigh anything between 6-14kg. Jackal are mostly nocturnal in areas where they kill livestock but in some reserves, they can be diurnal as well. Jackal are omnivorous creatures, with their diet consisting of birds, reptiles, carrion, berries, mammals and the reason we hunt them; livestock.

They form pairs that mate for life, unless one dies then the other will take on a new mate. When 2 Jackal pair up, they will establish a home territory. They will defend this to the death. In this territory, they will mark the area with urine and also with their scat along certain points. They also mark the territory vocally by making territorial howls and barks. In this area will be food, water and suitable cover.

When you see a Jackal during daytime the chances are good that you are in its home territory. This is an excellent area to call for them during night time. A pair of Jackal will start preparing to mate in April of each year. We do not normally start off with a Jackal call when hunting them at this time of year, but rather food calls such as: Rabbits, Steenbok and other small animals. This carries on to the end of July when the pups arrive after 61days of gestation.

Jackal give birth to 1 to 6 pups, but as many as 8 have been recorded. When the pups arrive, it gets easier to call in the Jackal. We then use their protective instinct against them. Sounds that work well are food calls, single Jackal calls and distress sounds of pups. We always try to kill the parents first, and then we dispatch of the pups. Both parents help rear the pups and they visit the dens regularly. They also carry food to the dens, where they regurgitate it in order to feed the pups.

From mid-November through to February/March is when you target the younger Jackal. In this time, the pups are running around, exploring, learning to hunt, and cause havoc with stock, as they generally catch and injure but don’t necessarily kill Sheep. We start off with social Jackal calls and 9 times out of 10, the young ones react. We also use fight and distress calls to utilize their curiosity instinct.

Around January/February, they get the distinctive black saddle on their coats from where the name Black Backed Jackal comes from.

The Caracal – Caracal Caracal

Also known as “Rooikat” or Lynx, this beautiful cat can cause major damage to live stock and game animals. They stand about 50cm high, and can weigh up to 27kg in extreme cases. 1 to 3 kittens are born after a gestation period of around 80 days. Caracal have large territories and they lead a nomadic lifestyle. They are exceptionally strong animals, with a medium sized Caracal being capable of catching a Mountain Reedbuck without any difficulty.

They occupy rocky and dense, bushy areas. Young Caracal walk with their mother for a very long time, so if you shoot a female Caracal, just look around for her young. The chances are good that they will be in the vicinity of where the mother was spotted. Caracal respond very well to raspy sounds suck as Springhare, Scrubhare, and Jack Rabbit distress calls. The “Kiss of death” call also works well. It’s a kissing sound that you make with your lips, similar to when you call a dog.

They are relatively easy to shoot when you can spot them with a light at night time. Keep the light on them and drive towards them until you get inside shooting distance and take the shot. If you come across an animal killed by a Caracal have a look to see if the animal’s carcass has been covered with sand and grass. It’s a tell-tale sign that the Caracal will return to feed at a later stage. Wait from late afternoon for the Caracal to return to feed again, and then shoot it.

Equipment

To be efficient and successful, you need the following equipment as a bare minimum:

1. A reliable truck (bakkie).

2. Hessian or camo netting to cover your bakkie, especially if it’s white (we use vinyl wrapped trucks nowadays).

3. Paint colours of a vehicle (if no netting is used) that work well are: Black, red, green, blue, sand, brown.

4. A rotating shooting chair or shooting frame. Chairs can be built by one self, or commercially manufactured chairs can be bought.

5. A proper shooting light fitted with a dimmer (not a red filter) as well as a handheld spotlight. I use a Lightforce 170RMSM fitted with a dimmer: http://www.lightforce.com/products/p…ntedspotlights

6. Remote callers such as: Foxpro (any model), Western Rivers, Tewis Van Oudshoorn, Cass Creek and the like. Personally, I believe Foxpro is the best for calling Jackal and Caracal.

7. Mouth calls like Critr’ call, Foxpro Skyote, Foxpro Keychain, Johnny Stewart, Primos work very well when used correctly.

8. A rifle shooting varmint bullets at a minimum of 3300fps and preferably 3500fps and above.

Popular calibers are:

.223 (Rem and Ackley improved)
.243 (Win and Ackley Improved)
.25-06
.22-250
.220 Swift
6mm Dasher
6mm BR (and BRX)
.204 Ruger

I use a custom built 6mm Dasher with 55gr Nosler Ballistic Tips at 4000fps, a Ruger M77MKII VT in .25-06 Rem with 75gr Hornady V-Max bullets at 3700fps and a Howa 1500 Hogue in .204 Ruger that shoots 32gr Hornady V-Max and Nosler Varmageddon bullets at 3870fps.

9. A rifle scope with at least 8x magnification and 44mm objective diameter. We at G&G Varminting recently started using March optics (2.5-25×52).
Other good optics are: Zeiss, Diavari, Swarovski, Meopta and Schmidt & Bender.

10. A handheld GPS to plot stands, dead Jackal, dens, water and to use bearings to get to Jackal that react to calls.

Stand setup and Tactics

One can easily make 6-8 stands per night. Firstly, you need to know whether or not there are any Jackal in the area you decide to hunt in.

Core-territories are usually the following areas:

– Where Jackal are seen in daytime.
– High ground.
– Close (within 1km) of water.
– Where tracks that go both ways are seen.
– Where Jackal call late afternoon and early morning.

These are very good areas to set up a stand. Find a high spot with a 300m undisturbed view downwind, then you are in business. Dead ground, gullies, treelines etc. are things you definitely don’t want down-wind of you. A Jackal will smell you and associate you with danger.

A good friend and full time Jackal hunter, Taffie Muller has a saying: “a Jackal’s classroom is 450m downwind!” If you want to turn a dumb Jackal into an educated Jackal, then allow them to smell you.

This is what the ideal stand layout looks like:

A Jackal will typically come in, and work around the caller, trying to get down-wind of it.

The following image shows why we put the caller diagonally into the wind:

This gets the Jackal nice and close for an easy shot. Red line is the Jackal’s approach.

If you have any problems with Jackal or Caracal killing your game or livestock, please do not hesitate to give G&G Varminting a call:

Geno Van Niekerk – 082 535 4100
geno@ggvarminting.co.za

© 2015 Guns and Fly Fishing. All Rights Reserved.

By Luka Geertsema

My favourite South African freshwater species to target on fly is without a doubt the Smallmouth Yellowfish. But the most challenging and rewarding freshwater fish for me on fly is the Largemouth Yellowfish. Largies are stealthy hunters and can be difficult to catch on fly. They live in water that is hard to get to and they put up a very brave fight. To target Largies, you have to understand how largies hunt and feed.

Although these fish will also scavenge for food by picking up crabs and other available food from the bottom, they are predominantly ambush predators, especially the larger specimens. In order for a fly fisherman to catch one of these magnificent creatures on fly, it is vital that to fully comprehend their ambush techniques and feeding behaviour. When targeting these fish you have to think like the ambush predator that it is. Similar to Largemouth Bass, their strategy involves ambushing baitfish, dragonflies, freshwater shrimp and amphibians.

Largies prefer water with ample structure and some depth. I have found the best structure to find them in and around includes some kind of cover such as vegetation of some sort where small baitfish and other prey can hide. The Largemouth Yellow will usually position itself in such an area, ready to strike as soon as something like herons or catfish disturb the baitfish, causing them to scatter from the cover and making them vulnerable to other lurking predators.

Another thing to remember is that Largies don’t have teeth and therefore they have to suck in their prey. For this specific reason many strikes are missed as the takes are sometimes very subtle. Clear water is essential for hunting Largies as they rely mainly on sight to locate prey. Their eyes face forward and upwards which suggests that they prefer hunting from deeper water, targeting their prey above and ahead of them. We have also noted that deeper water generally yield the larger fish. This is sometimes referred to as the aquarium effect.

On the Vaal River we prefer to target Largies during the winter months and mainly because of two reasons. Colder water carries more oxygen and results in the fish being more active. The second reason is that the water clarity of the Vaal River is better at the end of winter which is as previously mentioned, key in order to target them.

In order to successfully target Largemouth Yellowfish on fly, you preferably need a small inflatable boat equipped with a trolling motor and fish finder. This ensures not only that you can find the fish but also that you can approach any potential structure from a distance wich reduces the possibility of spooking any fish present in the area.

The first step would be to cast toward the bank or any other identified structure. Get your fly as close to the structure as possible (rocks, trees, logs etc.), let the fly sink to the desired depth and start strip-retrieving. Retrieving must be very slow but you can play around with the movement of the fly in order to imitate the swimming action of baitfish.

Long and accurate casts are critical, especially so when the water visibility is more than 3 feet. Our usual setup would consist of at least 6/7wt rods, quality large arbour reels with a decent drag system and loaded with either a sinking or an intermediate line. There is a lot of information and suggestions about Largie flies out there, but any fly which can imitate a swimming action, is 1 to 2 inches in length and is tied in a darker colour will work; even more so if placed in the right spot and retrieved correctly.

Remember to rather use heavier gear than being under-gunned for Largemouth Yellowfish. With lighter gear you will exhaust the fish past the point of recovery and off course, catch and release is non-negotiable with Largemouth Yellowfish. Every Largemouth Yellowfish that is caught, MUST BE RELEASED!

I have been catching Largies on fly for many years with my good old friend Jan-Harm Vorster from Kimberley, who has made thousands upon thousands of casts whilst targeting Largemouth Yellowfish. As well as being an active member of the Yellowfish Working Group (which promulgates catch and release of all Barbus species) Jan-Harm is also a registered tag and release angler and he has tagged hundreds of fish over the years in the Vaal River. He has guided many anglers in the Northern Cape for Largies and he has contributed more than most toward the conservation of our Yellowfish in South Africa.

When a tagged fish is caught please contact the YFWG and provide them with the date, place where the fish was caught, its weight, length (from fork in tail to tip of nose) as well as its girth measurement.

I have been blessed with this beautiful lady (tag no. Z99) of 8,1kg (17.85lbs) which I caught near Barkley West in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It was truly an unforgettable moment when I released her back into the river and I saw her dissapearing into the depths.

Although development, agriculture and pollution is taking a toll on our Yellowfish population, there are still some monster Largies prowling our waters and if you put in the effort, spend time on the water and have a bit of luck on your side, you might catch one of these alpha predators on fly.

Good luck and tight lines.

© 2015 Guns and Fly Fishing. All Rights Reserved.