McNett's Doubletap Blog

My outfitter/PH Jacques Swartz

My PH and taxidermist Jan Jacobs

Another PH, Ruan, who walked a lot of miles with me.

We started out the last day of hunting beating the brush close to the same area where I had wounded the oryx last week.  We hoped that they would want to hang around that area once again since we had not been there for more than 5 days.   Within a half mile we spotted a herd of oryx.  Jan and I slowly made our way toward them trying to keep the element of surprise in our favor.  We saw a couple of good looking bulls in the group, but none of the size that I had wounded.  We decided to glass for a while longer to make certain that we saw the whole herd.  About 100yds from the herd Jan pointed out a large oryx that was as still as a stone under a tree.  Through the binoculars he looked great and my PH told me that he was easily as big as the one that I had wounded.

We stalked toward him, keeping the tree between us.  I set up on the shooting stick at 211yds.  BOOM! The Doubletap 250gr. Barnes TTSX hit him square on the shoulder and he was down!  We made our way toward him with care after a few minutes.  They have been known to come at you if wounded and we didn’t want that to happen today.  He was still moving his head around when we got to within 25yds, so I hit him again in the spine.  We later recovered that bullet (the only one recovered the entire trip) after it had penetrated 5 feet of oryx while retaining 100% of its weight!

He is a beautiful animal that I really worked hard for on this hunt.

I told the skinner and Jan that I wanted a full mount on this animal, so the skinner took extra care with the hide.  Thank goodness for that decision because while he was doing hid job he found where I had wounded him 5 days prior!  That is right, it was the same animal.  I had initially hit him low.  It had pierced the fatty skin below his ribcage and exited without doing any harm.  He had a fresh wound from another oryx’s horn which explains why he was not with the herd.   He was a tough old boy that will always have a place of honor with me.

Look for part 2 this weekend with the conclusion of this action packed day!

Gorgeous S African sunset after a day of rest and dove hunting.

The next day we enjoyed some needed rest in the morning followed by a scheduled bird hunt that afternoon.  Shane, Jesse, and I shot a lot of doves.  It was truly a good time had by all.

The next morning I went out with Jesse along with PH Ruan and Jan to try and get a wildebeest for Jesse.  As we were making our way down the dirt track, out popped a really nice Oryx/Gemsbok!  Dawn had just broke and the light was not great, but we tried really hard to see if it was the one that I had wounded four days prior.  We couldn’t see anything indicating that it was the one.  It was really odd that it was by itself, though.  It really got me thinking about oryx again.  I had already wounded one and would have to pay the trophy fee for it.  Should I try for another? I decided to go for it and come home with one if at all possible.

My PH for the day, Ruan and I hit the brush hard ALL DAY LONG for that one…or any other oryx that we could find.  Jesse ended up sneaking up on a herd of wildebeest in the morning and getting a really nice one!

Jesse and PH Jan Jacobs with a big wildebeest shot with Doubletap 270WSM 130gr Barnes TTSX

After lunch Jesse and Shane both joined me in my quest to get an oryx.  With six guys hitting the brush hard we hoped to at least see some game, but it was not to be.  We left and went back to the lodge for some needed rest.  Tomorrow was the last day of our hunt.

Man, I hope that we have a good day of hunting.

Thanks to www.atmarulahunt.co.za for another great day hunting.

This is what you walk through daily!!

We started out the next morning looking for kudu.  Jacques and I walked miles and miles trying to locate a big bull.  Toward the end of the day as the sun set we saw a really large bull trotting off into the bush!  Darn!  I couldn’t get a clean shot.  The hunting day was over and it was time to head toward the campfire.

The next morning we set out with the intent of finding another big bull (or maybe even the same one).  We hunted through the thick brush and thorns all morning with only a few kudu cows spotted.  After a quick water break, we spotted a small bull with some cows.  It didn’t seem probable that that many cows would be with such a young bull, so we followed them through the thick stuff for about a mile.   We were on the edge of a clearing looking at the cow kudus when a big bull silently moved into the clearing!  He walked behind a tree and started to eat the leaves while we watched.  I set up on the shooting sticks and ranged him at 250 yds while my PH looked really hard at the size of his horns.  Finally, he moved a little bit more to the side of the tree giving me a view of the vitals and Jacques a good view of the antlers.  ”Take him!” was all that I heard before I shot.  BOOM!  The Doubletap Barnes 250gr TTSX hit him right through both shoulders and anchored him.  The bullet passed completely through him and took a chunk from his heart as well.  It was a quick, clean kill on the biggest animal that we took on the safari.  The kudu is as big or bigger than a huge elk, but with another foot of height from its very long legs.  A magnificent animal on the hoof.

A nice 50" kudu bull that we worked hard to get.

My outfitter Jacques from @marulahunts and myself looking at the big body of the kudu

We were able to get the kudu loaded up and sent to get processed, then it was time for lunch!  Once we were fed we headed out to a local farmer’s field (8000acres of them) to try and cull some problem animals.  Jacques and I sneaked up to the edge of the first field and immediately saw a good sized warthog walking in the sunflower field.  He was about 90-100yds away and he offered me his head for a shot.  I went ahead and aimed between his eyes and BOOM!  The shot was about an inch and a half high striking his forehead and the Doubletap 260gr. Nosler Accubond dropped him in his tracks.  We collected his body and found him to be about 12″ each side.  Not bad.  A truly ugly bugger!

Later, we ended up hunting a couple of miles away in another field where my partner Shane took a steenbuck, Jesse took another warthog and I was able to get a duiker.  The duiker was really hammered by the 375H&H, unfortunately, but the meat was very good.   All in all, a very good day in the S. African bush!

This goes to show you how many warthogs are in S Africa!

Starting out the day with a unique view of huge giraffes.

At first light we were treated with the view of these giraffes chewing on the tops of the trees.  You can never get used to it. They are so tall, it is amazing.  After we watched the show, we moved into the brush where we hoped that the oryx might be hiding.  After only about a half of a mile, we saw 8 cows and a bull.  My hunting partner Jesse was looking for oryx too, so I told him to take it.  The PH, Jon Jacobs of  http://www.1shotsafaris.com/ , said it was good so Jesse lined up and gave it a 165gr 308Win at about 200yds.  It broke its back and he gave it another as we got closer to finish it.  It was a beautiful animal, much larger than a mule deer and slightly smaller than a big bull elk.  In my opinion it is the most beautiful animal in Africa.

Jesse Smith's oryx bull. They are beautiful.

To our surprise, after two shots and a lot of pictures, out pops another bull oryx from the bush about 100yds away.  None of us were prepared for it to be there (ain’t that always how it goes?)  and by the time I had my rifle up and Jon told me it was a definite shooter, it was running like a race horse.  At 125yds, I took a broadside running shot.  It immediately hunched up from the impact and ran into the bush.  We immediately started to track it…..and track it……and track it, well you get the point.  All day was spent trying to find that bull in the thick stuff.  No luck!  We had found blood, but no bull and I was feeling really bad for the animal and myself.  As the day ended we made a plan to try again to look tomorrow.  We started to head back toward the truck when we saw off in the distance a herd of wildebeest.  My outfitter Jacques ( www.atmarulahunt.za.co ) who had joined to look for the wounded oryx,  saw a big bull hanging around the edge of the group.  His eyes got even bigger when he saw it through the binoculars.  He said, “If you want a big blue wildebeest, this is it!”  They were about 300yds away and I didn’t have to shoot through any long grass, so I set up the shooting sticks and took a deep breath (trying not to remember the shot earlier in the day).  BOOM!  The Doubletap 375 H&H 250gr. Barnes TTSX hit him hard.  He went down and never got up.

This is a tired, yet happy guy with a 28.5" Blue Wildebeest

He was later measured at 28.5″ by which should put him in the Rowland Ward books.  A truly big and beautiful animal.  We admired his “war wounds” from other bulls that he had on his nose and shoulder.  As well as the thoroughly worn horns from fighting.  A fine animal and a fine shot followed by great bullet performance.  The bullet broke both shoulders and exited.

After we took the pictures and shook hands, my thoughts wandered back to the oryx.  A truly bittersweet day in the African bush.

Our hike started with us watching some ostrich clear out

We had searched the entire day for a proper Gemsbok and we intended on doing the same again today.   We watched some ostrich jump up and clear out right away.  It was very surreal to see them walking not too far away.  We dug into the grass and brush into which we found all types of wonderful plants that wanted to make you bleed.  It was an education to say the least.

My hunting partners Shane Adair and Jesse Smith smacked a pair of warthogs to start the day!  I was pretty excited, they were BIG!

Jon, Shane, Jesse and Ruan with two nasty warthogs!

After lunch we walked 5 or 6 miles through the brush trying to catch some game in the open.  No luck!  We had a lot of fun seeing new things and animals though.  There was always something new to look at and keep you on your toes.

Right after sunset we turned back toward the truck (bucky in S.Africa).  Whoosh!  Out of the brush darts a bushpig running very close to the ground, but away from us.  Jon tells me that it is a smaller one…..he spoke too soon.  Whoosh.   Another  one jumped out 10ft in front of our feet!  He says ” #&$% that one’s a a big bas$%*@!”  The first one ran in a semi circle back toward the heavy brush and the big one followed.  There was a brief moment when it hit an opening.  Boom!  The Doubletap 375H&H 250gr. Barnes TTSX really smacked it!  Jon let me know that a wounded bushpig (especially that size) would be vicious if wounded.  We waited about ten minutes for it to settle, then we walked to where it was hit.  It was dark enough that we needed to use flashlights to see the tracks.  We couldn’t miss the chunks that the 375HH had blown onto the dirt as well as the four skid marks from where the hooves has dragged sideways 3ft upon impact!  He was hit hard and it was time sort him out.   I turned the quick releases on my scope and loaded it with Doubletap 350gr Woodleigh Weldcores.  We turned on our headlamps and started into the bush.  Right then we hear a truck coming down the trail.  It is our outfitter and guide Jacques along with his little Jack Russell terrier named Milo.  Plans changed and Milo led the way followed by myself with my rifle ready.  Within 25ft we came upon the bushpig lying down and approached very carefully.  He was dead and we all sighed in relief.

Big bushpig hit hard by Doubletap 250gr. Barnes TTSX

As you can see, I did not lead him as he was sprinting through the grass and it hit him right through both kidneys.  It was a humane shot, he expired very quickly. Man, those rounds hit hard.  After the pictures were taken, we headed back to the lodge for dinner.  By the time that we got there we saw this:

Milo and his quarry resting peacefully after a long day.

Milo had cuddles up to the bushpig for its warmth.  Another long and eventful day in the bush was finished.  Time for bed!

Another beautiful morning heading into the bush

The fourth day in S Africa brought even more surprises and excitement.   We started out the day looking for Gemsbok.  As we got into the bush my hunting partner Jesse Smith shot a very nice zebra. What a great way to start the morning.

After tending to the zebra we headed in a different direction to look for game.  As we crossed a huge field of tall (5-6ft) grass, we saw a lone blessbuck that looked a like a nice one to harvest.   We got to within about 200yds and I setup for the shot.  Today, the Doubletap 375H&H 260gr. Nosler Accubonds were going down range.  I pressed the trigger and the blessbuck went 8ft in the air!  I was pretty excited and we went to where he was shot to find nothing but a blood trail in the long grass.  Dang!  He can’t be far, but it is really hard to see more than 10ft away in the thick stuff.  We looked for at least two hours when our tracker Jon found it in the grass.  We walked up on the antelope sized animal and Jon bent down to grab the horn to move it…..Whoa!  The blessbuck jumped up after him with his horns slashing at his backside!  Jon was for a short time the fastest man alive!  The blessbuck ran the other way to get away and was dispatched eventually with the 260gr Accubond load.  The long grass that I had to shoot through moved the impact of the bullet more than 18 inches to the rear of the animal.  The 260gr load that I used really hit it hard or he would have been lost.  A very tough animal that I will never forget (and neither will Jon)!

Me, Ruan, Jon(PH), and Jon(tracker). Tough animal the Blessbuck.

After taking pictures and getting him to the lodge, we set out again for the elusive (to me at least) gemsbok.  We hunted through some very thick brush and walked about 5 miles trying to find their herd.  The sun set and we headed back toward the truck.  Crossing the dirt track (pikey) in front of us at about 100yds came some young warthogs followed by a sow warthog.  My PH Jon Jacobs told me to look for a boar following up the rear.  BOOM!  The warthog trotted onto the road and it had big tusks, and I was ready because of my PH’s advice.  The 375 H&H Doubletap 260gr Nosler Accubond crossed the distance quickly and smacked him on the shoulder and exiting the far shoulder.  He fell where he was shot.

13" warthog.

We headed back to the lodge tired and happy.  Look for my next day in the bush on the next blog!

Greetings,

Thick thorns and long grass make for tough hunting

I just got back from South Africa where I tested out two of our 375H&H loads on plains game.  I used a new load using the brand new Barnes 250gr TTSX bullet @ 2900fps as well as our best selling load using the 260gr Nosler Accubond @ 2900fps.  Both shot to within 1/4″ of each other at 100yds.  Perfect for what I needed it for on this trip!  Both loads grouped under an inch @ 100yds from my Winchester Model 70 Stainless Classic.

This is the zebra taken on the first day.

After flying 22hrs on the jet to Johannesburg, we hit the ground ready to hunt.   What a beautiful country!  Full of game and good people.  I met up with Jacques from www.atmarulahunt.co.za  and we were good to go.  We went in search of zebra and ran into a herd mid-morning.  We were more than 400meters away and wanted to get in closer, so we leopard crawled to 160 meters (about 185yds).  We peeked up from the long grass and found the one that I wanted, then I squeezed gently on the trigger….BOOM!  It hit it on the point of the shoulder and the Barnes 250gr TTSX exited behind the far ribs.  A good way to start the hunt and a genuinely beautiful animal.

Next up was to search for kudu, so we went on a loooooong walk after lunch through the really thick thorns and brush.  We saw some wildebeest in the distance as well as a few warthogs running around.  All of then are really neat to look at for the first time.  As the sun started to set, we see two impala really going at it ramming their horns together and wrestling to see who is top dog.  They were about 125yds out at first, but they fought their way to within 30yds of us.  They didn’t even know or care that we were there.  Finally the larger one prevailed and drove off the smaller ram.  My PH told me that he was a really good one so I hit him with a Doubletap 250gr Barnes TTSX load.  He went right down with the shot, man those loads hit hard!   A truly beautiful animal!  The impala is similar in size to the antelope that I am used to in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, but the coloring is really striking.  This impala’s horns measured at just about 23″.

Impala are not very large, but they are stunningly beautiful animals.

With the first full day of our hunt complete, we headed back to the lodge to get some well earned dinner and conversation.  Africa. What a place.

Look for my account of the next day in Africa later this week.  It just keeps getting better.

-Mike McNett

Hey Doubletap fans!  This is the first post in the new Doubletap Blog!  Let me tell you a little about the company.

I started Doubletap in 2002 in my garage in Salt Lake City.  We originally had 4 10mm loads in the lineup.  Over that first year sales went through the roof.  People couldn’t believe that they could still get full-power 10mm ammunition.  Over the last 8 years we have grown to be the largest manufacturer of 10mm ammunition on the planet.  We also have expanded our offerings to include more than 60 calibers of ammunition and 250+ loads.

GUNSITE SHOOT

Two weeks ago we co-hosted an event at Gunsite along with Crimson Trace (Thanks IAIN! ) , Smith&Wesson, Trijicon, Woolrich, and Galco.  What a blast!  We had industry reps as well as gunwriters and bloggers attend.  All were able to shoot the course using the product from the companies that were involved.  We provided our 9mm+P 147gr JHP load for the S&W M&P 9mm’s and our 223 62gr. FMJ-BT load for the S&W M&P 15′s.  Function, accuracy and feeding were perfection.  We did handgun and carbine drills for three days and we were able to do night drills both nights.  We shot up the playhouse and the funhouse scenarios offered and everyone really had a great time.

On Wednesday I was able to take a few hours and let everyone shoot a cornucopia of loads that we offer in these calibers: 10mm, 40SW, 9mm, 9mm+P, 380ACP, 500SW, 32H&R, 223Rem, 357Sig, and 9×25 Dillon (2100fps 80gr load!).  This lead to a lot of smiles on a lot of faces as they were able to take our ammo and test it through the chrono and ballistic gel right then and there.  I think that we received the best response from our 9mm 80gr TACXP load at 1400fps from a 3.5″ bbl. It does this with seemingly no recoil in compact guns.  It went 13.5″ in bare gel and expanded to .63″.  Another standout was the 380ACP 80gr TACXP load.  It went 10.5″ and expanded to .60″.  The 32H&R 60gr TACXP load put a smile on everyone’s face as it is really easy shooting.  Though it has a gentle recoil, it still hits hard.  It went 14.0″ and expanded to .51″.  Not bad for a .32!!!  One of the funniest parts came when I realized that I had forgot the .45 ammo for testing! At Gunsite with no .45′s!! Sacrilegious!!!  No problem, though, because a gunwriter pulled his personal .45 from his hip and dumped the mag.  Inside were Doubletap 185gr. Nosler JHP’s!  Ballistic tests could now begin on .45′s. Thanks goodness for gunwriters!  That load really impressed with 10.0″ of penetration and .85″ of expansion.  He shot 5 in a row in the gel and got identical results EVERY time.

I have more info, but I think that I will wrap this one up.  We are here for you, our customers and I sincerely thank you for reading this blog and shooting our ammunition.  We are 100% customer driven on loads that we offer.  You are welcome to suggest any load that is possible, you never know, we might just make it a part of our lineup. Please visit us at www.doubletapammo.com  You are welcome to use the promo code THANKS11 in the promo code box during checkout for 15% off your order.  This is the deepest discount that we have ever offered and it ends May 31, 2011.  This promo cannot be combined with other offers, but is good on anything that we sell.  Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Mike McNett

President/CEO

MCNETT’s DOUBELTAP Ammunition

www.doubletapammo.com