Short challenge

As far as shooting firearms go, there's little better than banging away on a long gun at range in my estimation. It's where I feel at home from a firearms/shooting perspective; it's my niche, a discipline I've spent years learning and am good at it; not ego, just fact. I love the way so many scientific elements come together in order to send a projectile accurately out to a mile and more, and over the years I've unlocked many secrets allowing me the abilty to lay down behind my long guns and put a round on target accurately, first time, and repeatedly.

I use these skills in my side-gig as a registered shooter, culling on a cattle farm, which helps keep my skills sharp although I usually shoot at very close range in this situation, out to about 350 metres (382 yards) which is relatively straightforward. The reason is that head shots are required under regulation to ensure humane dispatch of the animal. I refer to kangaroos here, with deer it's unregulated. Bullet flight-time at greater distances means there's a chance the target could move and, with kangaroos being unpredictable, I play it safe. At 350 metres, using my culling rifle-system, flight time is 0.42 seconds and I bracket the target meaning I account for any slight movement the target may make to still ensure a good impact; at 1000 metres it's 1.36 seconds meaning more time for the target to shift out of the flight path. Considering the small size of a kangaroo's head it leaves too much to chance.

The other day I decided I'd like a little more of a challenge, just for fun, and took my Warwick WFA1 to the farm instead of my culling rifle. You can see it pictured. This short rifle is chambered in .223 which is very similar to the 5.56 NATO round, only with less pressure. The 5.56 is for military applications and the .223 for civilian generally. This rifle is custom-built to compete in run and gun events in which I generally would only shoot out to 200 metres (273 yards) on torso-sized targets. I have it set up with a red-dot scope with only 2x magnification so at long range it's virtually useless. The calibre and rifle combination are accurate well past 200 metres though, and I'd confidently shoot to 500 metres with the appropriate scope to get a good sight picture on the target.

I chose to take this rifle as I'd need to work my way far closer to the targets than with my long-range guns and that's the challenge, the stalk.

One doesn't simply walk up to a kangaroo in the wild, tap it on the shoulder and say g'day, certainly not one that remembers being shot at. They are flighty, have excellent sense of smell and hearing and their vision is keen. Once they register a threat (or anything out of place) they bound away (generally), and the opportunity is lost. Stalking them is an exercise in patience, positioning and silent movement. I typically stay rock still until they bend down to crop grass and then move, rolling my feet from heel to toes as I walk being mindful of where each footfall goes; gum tree bark and fallen leaves crackle like eating corn chips (but louder). Approaching them from downwind is, of course, required. With my WFA1 I'd need to get within about 100 metres to make a headshot and ensure a humane dispatch.

I love shooting this gun, it's just so much fun. The recoil is low, thanks to the calibre itself and muzzle brake, it's relatively light and manoeuvrable and I'm able to shoot it quickly when required. I carried it around during my stalks and shot it a couple times at just over 100 metres with predictable results. It's certainly not the ideal rifle-system for this sort of thing but the fun factor makes up for that.

The last time I fired this rifle was in competition and it was a whole lot of fun; on this occasion it was less about the rifle and more about the stalk, the challenge of getting close to the target which, with kangaroos, is incredibly difficult. I had a good time, got a sore back from standing in place and hunched over for lengthy periods and enjoyed blowing the cobwebs from this rifle. (And if you believe there's cobwebs in my rifles you're bloody bonkers.)