Unlucky duck hunting and another trip trying to find grouses

I went duck hunting to a small lake, where normally can be found lots of ducks. But not this time, I only saw six mallards, which were flying so high over the lake, that I didn't even try to shoot them. I also took Ruska with me, so that she could run freely in the forest. But for some reason she didn't want to go run around, maybe she was afraid of lynxes?

A few days after the unlucky duck hunting, we went to another scouting trip, trying to find grouses and capercaillies. We didn't find any live ones, only one dead grouse, which some animal had eaten. Next time we are going to go there in the morning, when the birds are eating berries and more likely to be found.

My new camouflage suit Anglija Jagel, the Russian version of Finnish M05 camo. I think that this version is better than the original, as its cut is more loose, pockets are better and hood is also a big plus.

 

Almost like a bonsai.



A bear has been eating maggots out of rotten trees.

Squirrel's dinner.

Ruska found the remains of a dead grouse.

Scouting the hunting area

The wood pigeon and duck hunting seasons have started, but I'm not that interested in them. But on the 20th day of August, it was again legal to let dogs run free at hunting areas, so me and Ruska went for a little scouting trip. We were also testing the new Garmin Astro dog-tracker.

Here's some photos of the trip.

 

 

The "grouse-swamp"

The leftovers of northern goshawk's dinner.

Lot's of blueberries for grouses to eat. Too bad the summer has been so cold and rainy, so the young grouses might have had hard time surviving to this point.

Lots of moose tracks all around the place.

Lunch time!

Nomnom.

Trekking in Yyteri

Did a little trekking in Yyteri with my friend. We walked around 12 kilometers from the Yyteri beach to Selkämeri national park in marshes and back. Weather was good, it had just stopped raining when we started, so the air was cool and it was easy to breath.

Here's some photos:

Start of our walk. We passed by Munakari, which is a small island near the beach. Normally you can only go there by boat, but now water was quite shallow, only meter or so. Maybe we'll go there sometime.

Ruska spotted a raccoon dog in the woods. It was Ruska's first time seeing such a creature, so she was a bit confused at first. She didn't know that was it an enemy or a friend.

Quite a lot of blueberries already.

Another creature for Ruska to wonder and try to eat.

Two weekends of long range shooting

May was a good month, as I had time to go to two different long range shooting areas.

The first one was in Hätilä, which is located near the city of Hämeenlinna. The shooting area is actually an anti-tank weapons range, where soldiers from Armored Brigade conduct their training.

The furthest distance to set targets was at 750 meters. Me and my buddy set our steel targets at 550 m and 750 m. We were using my .308 Tikka T3 and .223 AR-15. Wind was quite challenging, so it was a good training opportunity for us.

Here's some photos from Hätilä:

The shooting area in Hätilä and some targets.

Firing position.

View trough Vortex Recon R/T 15x50 monocular at 750 meters.

Target at 750 meters. Diameter is 50 cm.

Target at 550 m. Dimensions are 30 cm x 20 cm.

Our firing position.

My friend was using a shemagh as a shell catcher.

Fine precision rifles. Sako TRG's, Accuracy International AW's and AX's, Remington 700's, Tikka T3's, H&K MR338, Dragunov and some custom rifles.

The other shooting area was in Niinisalo, which is a training area of Pori Brigade. The range where we were shooting is normally used as a weapons testing range, mainly for artillery pieces.

I only have one photo of that day, as we weren't allowed to take photos of other people and their equipment.
We were shooting reactive targets, which were scattered at different distances between 530 m - 930 m. We trained how to shoot using shooting sticks and DIY wooden tripods, and how to shoot with the weapon canted sideways. We also practiced different shooting positions such as sitting, kneeling, standing and using your buddy as a support.

The shooting range in Niinisalo.

Sako TRG M10

I had a change to shoot the new Sako TRG M10 in .308 WIN caliber. A few years ago I shot the preproduction model in .338 Lapua Magnum, so this allowed for comparison between the two caliber setups.

The civilian model of M10 comes in two caliber choices, 308 WIN and .338 LM. The .308 WIN has two barrel lengths available, 509,5 mm and 656 mm, and the .338 LM has a 689 mm long barrel.

The rear stock is fully adjustable without tools and it also folds. Rifle's aluminum chassis has a full length 30 MOA picatinny rail and positions on side and bottom for accessories. 

The trigger set is adjustable and barrel change can be done without gunsmith tools in minutes.

The test rifle had a Steiner Military 5-25x56 MSR scope on it, which is one of the best scopes on the market today. The reticle is designed by Finnish snipers, and it allows fine range estimation and corrections for second shot.

As the rifle is designed around .338 LM caliber, it's not at it's best when in .308 configuration. The bolt movement is long and the magazines are comically large. The rifle is quite heavy, around 6 kg without optics. Magazine release and safety switch can easily be operated on both sides. Barrel has a muzzle thread, which allows installation of muzzle break or suppressor.

The rifle is really nice, but for non-military personnel it might not be the best choice. Sako TRG-42 or TRG-22 are less than half the cost of TRG M10, and they perform on the range as well as the M10. But for military operations the M10 is the ideal sniper rifle.

Long range .22 LR shooting

I visited my parents this weekend and had a chance to shoot my father's old trusty rimfire rifle. It's an old Baikal Toz-17, made in Soviet Russia. I put a Pilad 4x32 "mildot" scope on it, using Sako Optilock bases and rings. I had some trouble zeroing it, as the dovetail wasn't centered over the rifle's receiver. Fine Russian craftmanship indeed!

After zeroing the rifle, I used a chronograph to measure  muzzle velocity. Then I added the velocity and bullet information to Applied Ballistics software on my tablet. After tapping in the atmospheric conditions, it gave out a range table.

The Pilad scope isn't a true mildot scope, as the dots aren't 1 mrad (mils) apart from eachother. In reality, they are 3 mrad apart. So I had to do little calculation the get the range table right for the scope.

I went out to a nearby field, where I set up a few 30 cm x 20 cm metal targets at ranges 100 m, 160 m and 210 m. 100 meters was easy, first shot hit. 160 meters was bit more difficult, my wind call was a bit off, so after correction I got a second shot hit. 210 meters was quite hard, as the magnification of the scope wasn't high enough to see splashes at that range on muddy ground. I got a few lucky hits, but nothing consistent.

The ammunition I was using was Remington Thunderbolt, which isn't the best choice for long range shooting. That's because it's muzzle velocity is supersonic, which causes it to fly at transsonic speed at one point, which lowers accuracy at longer ranges.
But shooting the Baikal was fun, it made me start planning on building my own long range rimfire rifle. Cheap to shoot and good training.

Ruska's first birthday

My dog had it's first birthday this week. Here are some photos starting from the day she came to my house.

 First toy in the new home.

Tiny tail!

Getting used to car rides.

First time in the woods.

Ruska with her great-grandmother Ronja.

Blueberries as a snack.

 

First kill.

Ruska's best buddy, Rötkö-Pötkö.

Little problem with eyes.

'

 

Winter hunting.

 

 

Enjoying Easter-leftovers.

 

Gotta keep eye on the ducks.

 

 Getting ready for training time with a dead hazel grouse.

 

 

 Damn rabbits!