Savage’s refined, expansive lineup of firearms offers something for every hunter, especially if they’re in the Lone Star State.
Savage Arms has come a long way in the last decade. A brand rooted in providing outdoorsmen and marksmen with quality firearms at an affordable price, Savage has gradually shifted into a staple name within the outdoors industry.
Throughout their evolution, they’ve led the competition while expanding on their product lines to include a wider variety of guns for both hunting and shooting purposes.
Rifles have become more modular, giving hunters and shooters the ability to achieve the perfect fit for optimal performance. New innovations have opened doors for those who indulge in niche hunting activities. The quality has remained a constant across the board, as each new Savage project strives to reset the standard for the entire firearms industry.
As a group of hunting fanatics, the Wide Open Spaces crew has taken notice of Savage’s ability to deliver on its promise to meet hunters’ needs, and found ourselves spitballing about how we would put each of their hunting firearms to good use.
Being based in Texas, we decided to keep it local and pick a hypothetical hunt in the Lone Star State for each of our favorite guns.
110 Precision
While this particular long distance modern sporting rifle would work best at the range, if we needed to choose a quarry, the first that comes to mind is predators. If you’ve ever camped in Texas before, chances are you’re no stranger to the harrowing howl of a coyote.
They’re phantom-like in that you never see them, but you almost always hear them. The hardest part of predator control is getting them close enough for an ethical shot (that is, unless you have some kind of predator call).
However, distance is less of an obstacle for a 6.5 Creedmoor, which typically thrives within precision shooting parameters. However, with its elite ballistic coefficient, a predator hunter can be sure of his or her shot, regardless of wind, temperature or weather.
When you’re staring at a coyote from 300 yards away in the middle of the night, the less you have to worry about, the better.
MSR-10 Hunter Overwatch
Though the MSR-10 Hunter is also available in 6.5 Creedmoor, it would only make sense to go with a .308 Winchester rendering just to mix it up.
A .308 is similar to a 6.5, though there are slight differences in ballistics. A 6.5 carries a superior ballistic coefficient, but the .308 delivers a touch more knockdown power, which you find yourself wanting on a big Texas feral hog.
Make no mistake, though, a .308 can easily reach out to 800 yards with the right shooter behind the trigger, making it a do-it-all option for those Texas hunters who want to eradicate hogs from their deer lease.
The MSR-10 Hunter Overwatch also features a compact design to minimize weight, as well as a MAGPUL black MOE buttstock and pistol grip to make you more efficient should you have to leave your stand and go mobile.
Renegauge Waterfowl
This revolutionary shotgun calls for its own list of Texas hunts, as the state offers such a wide variety of game birds, particularly waterfowl. However, if you’re going to hunt in Texas, you might as well indulge in its most iconic hunting opportunities.
Instead of reaching for the low-hanging fruit in picking a certain duck or goose hunt, we landed on a sandhill crane hunt in the Texas Panhandle.
Widely referred to as “the ribeye of the sky,” sandhill crane meat is delicacy among Texas outdoorsmen, and the hunts are different than any other wingshooting experience.
Savage’s innovative D.R.I.V. (Dual Regulating Inline Valve) gas system makes excess gas vent before driving the bolt, which creates consistent ejection, less recoil and a blistering cycle rate.
An adjustable stock allows hunters to set the perfect length of pull, comb height and drop and cast. Also, hunters will never feel limited with the Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades camouflage pattern.
110 Ultralite with AccuFit
Every big-game hunter knows trekking through the backcountry means cutting down on weight. One of the heaviest items a hunter carries into the mountains, of course, is a rifle.
Savage addressed the backcountry hunter’s needs with the 110 Ultralite with Accufit, which weighs only a mere 5.8 pounds.
If you’re going to go on one backcountry, big-game hunt in Texas, the only option is an aoudad hunt southwest near Big Bend National Park. While you’ll have to pay for a tag from a landowner, there’s something about stalking an aoudad through the Texas mountains that makes it a really special experience.
This particular rifle would undoubtedly get the job done thanks to weight, or lack thereof, but it offers far more than an easy-to-pack firearm.
It also features Savage’s AccuFit stock, which offers an adjustable comb height, length of pull and overmold surfaces. Hunters are also protected against harsh weather, thanks the rifle’s exclusive PROOF Research carbon-fiber-wrapped stainless steel barrel.
If you could go on four trips to get the best Texas hunting experience, you couldn’t go wrong with any of these Savage guns, and they would undoubtedly get the job done.
Which hunts would make your top four?
NEXT: THE SAVAGE ARMS FACTORY: A LOOK AT THE “MADE IN AMERICA” GUN MANUFACTURING PROCESS
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The post Tour of Texas: Hunting with Savage Through the Lone Star State appeared first on Wide Open Spaces.
