The fall hunting season has begun

Archery moose and Dall sheep hunting are both underway as we speak. It’s time to start getting ready for any upcoming hunts you may have planned. That means, besides getting other gear organized, you make sure your firearm is sighted in and ready to go.

I’m about halfway through physical therapy for my shoulder joint replacement so it remains to be seen how much actual hunting I’ll be able to do this fall. I do plan to try doing some though, even if it only amounts to road hunting.

I usually carry a sidearm when hunting and I’m thinking the Glock 10mm Model 40 MOS handgun I bought a few years ago would work nicely. The 10mm cartridge is effectively equal to a 41 Magnum revolver round in power. The Glock holds 15 rounds in the magazine as opposed to six in the revolver and is fast to get on target with a red dot sight. I currently have an open emitter red dot on the gun, but I’m in the process of getting a closed emitter green dot mounted (the gun is in the shop waiting for the correct base plate on which to mount the sight).

I bought the handgun during a sale and paid only a small amount over wholesale dealer cost for it. At the time, the Glock was the only 10mm gun I could afford. I’m not a major fan of Glock pistols, but they are safe, affordable, and shoot well enough for my intended uses. They are also essentially weatherproof, and for a firearm intended for hard use outdoors, that’s an important consideration.

The closed emitter dot sight is weatherproof, waterproof, shockproof, and makes a good, sturdy sight for a gun which will see the bumps and bruises which typically befall a hunting gun. I have experience with red dots but have read that a green dot is easier to see for the average person under all light conditions. I’ll find out as I use this new set-up.

Several years ago, I mounted a red dot sight on a single-shot, 30-30 rifle which I used when deer hunting on Afognak Island. One day, my wife and I were out hunting, and my wife took a shot at a deer about fifty yards away. The deer turned and started walking toward some thick woods. I asked if she thought she had hit it and, with the “Yes” answer, I immediately raised my rifle to finish the harvest.

I was amazed at how quickly the red dot superimposed itself on my aiming point on the deer, and with the offhand shot at about 100 yards, the deer dropped in place. We approached the deer and started checking for bullet wounds to see where my wife’s shot had gone. Nothing was apparent. Later, after skinning and gutting the deer, there was only one bullet hole we could find – mine.

After I get the handgun back from the shop, I’ll be visiting the Diamond D company in Wasilla. They make top quality holsters in both leather and nylon for carrying your handgun either on your belt or across your chest. They make a holster model called the Denali which is chest mounted and constructed of rugged nylon. I’ll be looking for the one with the optics cutout which allows for the red dot sight mounting.

With this combination of weatherproof handgun, red dot sight and holster, I’ll be set for any situation whether it be snowmachining, ATVing, fishing, hunting, or just a walk in the woods. Another major advantage of the Glock set-up is weight. I’ve got big steel revolvers and holsters to carry them, but they’re all quite heavy. I would expect the Glock set-up, complete with holster and a spare loaded magazine, would weigh maybe half what my Smith and Wesson Model 57 in 41 Magnum caliber with a set of reloads would weigh. That’s a lot easier on my back and shoulders!

I’m also thinking I might mount the red dot I’m taking off the pistol onto my Remington 11-87 12-gauge shotgun for bird hunting. I’ve read that using the red dot on a shotgun can make hitting a flying target easier because of the reference point of the red dot in the sight picture. It would also help with any stationary shots at sitting birds, like a wounded duck in water. I’ll have to find a mounting plate that fits, and we can see if this set-up helps too.