Badgers, Bullets, Buddies and a Barranti Shuck
Apr 14, 2015 17:28:52 GMT -5
2 Dogs, boatswainsmate, and 10 more like this
Post by hoover on Apr 14, 2015 17:28:52 GMT -5
Sixgunners can be a tough and grizzled lot. Beneath their tough exterior of sun cracked, weathered skin, grey streaked facial hair, and hard, callused hands, lays a softer, sentimental side that most sixgunners recognize, but hardly admit. They like a connection to their guns, or gear, that makes them feel like they belong to them. Be it family heirloom, gift, or something that reminds them of a special moment, or memory of someone, it ignites emotion in their soul. It is a true tested companion that has never left them down, by its own fault.
For me, the tenacious badger conjures up thoughts of some good sixgun buddies. The first of these close friends is Dick Thompson, aka sixshot on the forums. I first met Dick through the Internet on the Ruger gun forum. I was going through a rather tough time, as we all do, from time to time. It was the middle of August ’09, and my mother was dying of cancer. I was still a motor cop and working the county fair detail. We’d close the fair down at midnight, rounding up the stragglers on our Harley’s, much like herding cattle thru the chute of an open pen. We were then cleared, to secure for the night. Due to the late hour, we were allowed to ride our motors home. I enjoyed the tranquility of these rides, as it was a chance to cool off, and dry off, from sweat, working in the hot, dusty conditions. The late summer night was cool, with just a hint of fall in the air, as I would glide home on two wheels, thinking of my mom. When I’d get home, my faithful black lab, Ruger, would greet me, as I removed my Sam Brown belt, stripped down to my T-shirt, and grabbed a cold, malted beverage from the fridge. By this time, it would be 1:00 in the morning, and I was still wired and wide-awake. To unwind, I would fire up the computer and peruse the Ruger Forum. The more I scrolled, and read, the more I noticed stories from this fella out in Idaho posting pictures of himself with things he’d killed with a sixgun. Badgers, rock chucks, ground squirrels, rabbits, it didn’t matter. Further digging showed this same guy with elk, moose, deer, mountain lion, all killed with a sixgun. It was a great way to unwind, and distract me from the harsh realities of mom. Soon, I was sending Private Messages to this guy. I revealed a deep respect for Elmer Keith, and this guy actually met Elmer on a couple of occasions, when he would venture up to Salmon, for a visit. Naturally we hit it off and kept the communication going. Mom died the last day of August.
About a week later, Dick invited me to Idaho, to go on a handgun hunt for elk. With the fresh feeling of “life is too short” in my mind, I graciously accepted his offer. It was one of the greatest decisions I ever made! I made my first handgun kill on this trip, taking a cow elk with one shot of my Ruger Bisley Hunter in .45 Colt, loaded of course, with a Lyman 454424 Keith SWC bullet. Glenn Swaggart was also on this hunt, and we have become fast and close friends. I also got to meet Dick’s sidekick, Steve Call, or callshot.
More importantly, thru this trip, I’ve made many more lifelong friends. Dick told me to call this guy that lived right by me, 4 hours away, by the name of Barranti, who lived in Pittsburgh. By now, it was January, and his mom was dying. Being in the same shoes as him, only a few months earlier, we had an instant connection and also hit it off. Thru Mike, I was introduced to Fermin Garza. All of us have become very good friends, all on account of Dick having this hunt. We are a band of brothers.
Back to badgers! Nicknamed natures backhoe for its ability to dig and submarine itself beneath the ground in pursuit of its favorite fodder, ground squirrels, these tenacious carnivores are aggressive, mean, nasty, and always in a foul mood. They are North Americas version of the Tasmanian devil! They could carve your calves in a split second and work to points north in a flash. No wonder you get the adrenalin pumping when pursuing this formable foe. Dick Thompson has been known to chase these devils in high wheat, where he could only see the wake of the wheat sway as he gave chase. Dick has killed a pick up truck bed full of badgers in his lifetime, most with a sixgun!
Doc’s Badger
Back in the summer of ’10, I went to visit Dick with my daughter, Samantha. “Doc” Barranti was also there. However, his last day was my first day of the visit. We were driving around an old homestead, looking for a badger for “Doc” to collect on. He was carrying his “Mary” gun, named after his mom, a 4” Smith, model 29-2, loaded with .44 special loads consisting of some Lyman 429421 HP slugs, cast by Dick, and pushed by 7.5 grains of Unique, the Skeeter load. As we were driving in Dick’s truck, crossing an old culvert, something caught my eye. I yelled, “badger!” Dick hit the brakes! I bailed out and took the backside of the galvanized culvert pipe. “Doc” took the close end. The snarling, growling badger was furious he had been outmaneuvered, and was now stuck in the culvert pipe, with either end blocked by a guy carrying a loaded sixgun, with bad intentions on his very existence. “Doc” cautiously sliced the pie of the pipe opening, and could see the Badgers nose sticking out, testing the air, as it was. POW! The first shot punched thru the pipe, striking the badger in the head. A quick second shot finished the job, and ol’ “Doc” ran up to the badger and grabbed a handful of fur to pull his prized trophy out! Dick and I just looked at each other and laughed, saying we would have poked the badger with a stick first, to double check if it was, in fact, dead. Dick knows! He once retrieved a dead badger that made its way back to its hole, and pulled it out by the nose with a pair of Leatherman pliers, only to have the thing resurrect itself, and start snarling at him. Anyway, “Doc” got his badger, and it is a beautiful mount.
Callshots shot
Every good sixgunner needs a sidekick! For Dick, it would be Callshot. They eat, shoot, laugh, hunt, and play tricks on each other nonstop. I got to meet callshot on the elk hunt with Dick. We also hit it off very well. Callshot had always wanted to get a badger, but had limited time to play in the world’s biggest playground, Idaho, in his pursuit of one. Callshot was the sole caretaker to his wife, Betty, who was bed ridden with MS. But Steve would occasionally sneak out on Badger and ground squirrel safari’s with Dick, to catch a much needed breather from his commitment to care for Betty. On the predicted Last Day of the World, Judgement Day, May 21, 2011, Dick and Callshot decided they might as well go on a ground squirrel/ badger hunt! While scouting around a local farm, Dick and Steve observed some freshly dug dirt. Callshot was packing his 5.5” Ruger Bisley Flattop, in .44 special, a special gift from a group of guys, acknowledging all he has done for his wife the past years. The gun was loaded with some home cast bullets by callshot, from a mold Fermin had given him. As they were driving down a canal road, Dick saw what looked like a large piece of plastic in the field. Dick played it cool, and slowly drove past the “plastic”. The plastic was a badger! After going about 200 yards, Dick turns around, tells Callshot to cock his gun, and get ready, keeping his thumb between the hammer and frame of the gun. As the truck crept back to the badger, the badger dove back into its hole. Dick knows badgers are curious, and told callshot to ease himself out of the truck, to a pole fence and get ready. A short time later, they see the badgers nose ease out of his hole, and then exit his den. When he was fully out of his den, callshot center punched him at a distance of 37 yards. At the shot, the badger just slumped down, and took its final dirt nap. When Dick and Steve got to the badger, they noticed it had a steel snare digging tightly around its neck. The badger also had a broken lower eyetooth. The snare had a one way slide lock on it, so anything caught in the snare, the more they fought, tugged, and pulled, the tighter it cinched around whatever was caught in it. This old boy was figuring this out, and decided to chew his way thru the steel cable, to regain his freedom, and in the process broke off his tooth! Smart? Tenacious? Ornery? Along with tough, mean, and nasty? You betcha! No wonder the badger is such a formidable foe! The steel cable snare was imbedded in the badgers hide. There is no telling how long that badger was suffering until Steve put it out of its misery.
Thinking back, I owe a lot to Dick Thompson. He helped lift my spirits during a tough time in my life, introduced me to some life long friends with the same interests, and taught me a great lesson! Sometimes great things happen following a terrible event. Whenever I see a badger, a thought of Dick soon follows. He’s the original badger blaster in my book!
I’ve recently been testing out a Ruger Single-Seven in .327 Federal, and have become quit impressed with it. Pushing 120 grain cast bullets of my own making, just shy of 1,500 fps, with matching accuracy, has given me a lot of confidence and affection for this sixgun. Such a gun is deserving of a special holster, and I knew just where to turn. My good friend, Mike “Doc” Barranti is the premier leather man, shuck maker, custom designer of leather carvings, bare none, in my mind. He is simply, the best… I told Doc my wishes, and he made it happen! I call the rig my badger buster, as it has the perfect ballistics, speed, and punch, for such a ornery critter.
As I look at that carved badger, waives of memories wash over me, like the pounding surf on the sand. It sparks memories of good friends, past hunts, and the respect and admiration of such a tangible foe, the tenacious badger. This rig tells a story, and one that I am proud to share with anyone curious enough to ask. As the years pass, whenever I reach for the badger buster rig, the nostalgic thoughts and memories will spew forth, warming this sixgunners heart and soul. What could be better? Isn’t that what we all really want?
The “Badger Buster” shuck for a 7.5” Ruger Single-Seven.
Doc didn’t have a picture of a Badger to work with, but he said don’t worry, I have pictures of Fermin. I wanted a mean looking Badger, and Fermin would be a perfect model.
The “Badger Buster” with the mounted Badger Doc shot in the story!
Doc, Dick, and me celebrating on Callshots front porch after Doc shot his Badger.
Here I am cleaning up in callshots one holer after the Barranti Badger hunt.
For me, the tenacious badger conjures up thoughts of some good sixgun buddies. The first of these close friends is Dick Thompson, aka sixshot on the forums. I first met Dick through the Internet on the Ruger gun forum. I was going through a rather tough time, as we all do, from time to time. It was the middle of August ’09, and my mother was dying of cancer. I was still a motor cop and working the county fair detail. We’d close the fair down at midnight, rounding up the stragglers on our Harley’s, much like herding cattle thru the chute of an open pen. We were then cleared, to secure for the night. Due to the late hour, we were allowed to ride our motors home. I enjoyed the tranquility of these rides, as it was a chance to cool off, and dry off, from sweat, working in the hot, dusty conditions. The late summer night was cool, with just a hint of fall in the air, as I would glide home on two wheels, thinking of my mom. When I’d get home, my faithful black lab, Ruger, would greet me, as I removed my Sam Brown belt, stripped down to my T-shirt, and grabbed a cold, malted beverage from the fridge. By this time, it would be 1:00 in the morning, and I was still wired and wide-awake. To unwind, I would fire up the computer and peruse the Ruger Forum. The more I scrolled, and read, the more I noticed stories from this fella out in Idaho posting pictures of himself with things he’d killed with a sixgun. Badgers, rock chucks, ground squirrels, rabbits, it didn’t matter. Further digging showed this same guy with elk, moose, deer, mountain lion, all killed with a sixgun. It was a great way to unwind, and distract me from the harsh realities of mom. Soon, I was sending Private Messages to this guy. I revealed a deep respect for Elmer Keith, and this guy actually met Elmer on a couple of occasions, when he would venture up to Salmon, for a visit. Naturally we hit it off and kept the communication going. Mom died the last day of August.
About a week later, Dick invited me to Idaho, to go on a handgun hunt for elk. With the fresh feeling of “life is too short” in my mind, I graciously accepted his offer. It was one of the greatest decisions I ever made! I made my first handgun kill on this trip, taking a cow elk with one shot of my Ruger Bisley Hunter in .45 Colt, loaded of course, with a Lyman 454424 Keith SWC bullet. Glenn Swaggart was also on this hunt, and we have become fast and close friends. I also got to meet Dick’s sidekick, Steve Call, or callshot.
More importantly, thru this trip, I’ve made many more lifelong friends. Dick told me to call this guy that lived right by me, 4 hours away, by the name of Barranti, who lived in Pittsburgh. By now, it was January, and his mom was dying. Being in the same shoes as him, only a few months earlier, we had an instant connection and also hit it off. Thru Mike, I was introduced to Fermin Garza. All of us have become very good friends, all on account of Dick having this hunt. We are a band of brothers.
Back to badgers! Nicknamed natures backhoe for its ability to dig and submarine itself beneath the ground in pursuit of its favorite fodder, ground squirrels, these tenacious carnivores are aggressive, mean, nasty, and always in a foul mood. They are North Americas version of the Tasmanian devil! They could carve your calves in a split second and work to points north in a flash. No wonder you get the adrenalin pumping when pursuing this formable foe. Dick Thompson has been known to chase these devils in high wheat, where he could only see the wake of the wheat sway as he gave chase. Dick has killed a pick up truck bed full of badgers in his lifetime, most with a sixgun!
Doc’s Badger
Back in the summer of ’10, I went to visit Dick with my daughter, Samantha. “Doc” Barranti was also there. However, his last day was my first day of the visit. We were driving around an old homestead, looking for a badger for “Doc” to collect on. He was carrying his “Mary” gun, named after his mom, a 4” Smith, model 29-2, loaded with .44 special loads consisting of some Lyman 429421 HP slugs, cast by Dick, and pushed by 7.5 grains of Unique, the Skeeter load. As we were driving in Dick’s truck, crossing an old culvert, something caught my eye. I yelled, “badger!” Dick hit the brakes! I bailed out and took the backside of the galvanized culvert pipe. “Doc” took the close end. The snarling, growling badger was furious he had been outmaneuvered, and was now stuck in the culvert pipe, with either end blocked by a guy carrying a loaded sixgun, with bad intentions on his very existence. “Doc” cautiously sliced the pie of the pipe opening, and could see the Badgers nose sticking out, testing the air, as it was. POW! The first shot punched thru the pipe, striking the badger in the head. A quick second shot finished the job, and ol’ “Doc” ran up to the badger and grabbed a handful of fur to pull his prized trophy out! Dick and I just looked at each other and laughed, saying we would have poked the badger with a stick first, to double check if it was, in fact, dead. Dick knows! He once retrieved a dead badger that made its way back to its hole, and pulled it out by the nose with a pair of Leatherman pliers, only to have the thing resurrect itself, and start snarling at him. Anyway, “Doc” got his badger, and it is a beautiful mount.
Callshots shot
Every good sixgunner needs a sidekick! For Dick, it would be Callshot. They eat, shoot, laugh, hunt, and play tricks on each other nonstop. I got to meet callshot on the elk hunt with Dick. We also hit it off very well. Callshot had always wanted to get a badger, but had limited time to play in the world’s biggest playground, Idaho, in his pursuit of one. Callshot was the sole caretaker to his wife, Betty, who was bed ridden with MS. But Steve would occasionally sneak out on Badger and ground squirrel safari’s with Dick, to catch a much needed breather from his commitment to care for Betty. On the predicted Last Day of the World, Judgement Day, May 21, 2011, Dick and Callshot decided they might as well go on a ground squirrel/ badger hunt! While scouting around a local farm, Dick and Steve observed some freshly dug dirt. Callshot was packing his 5.5” Ruger Bisley Flattop, in .44 special, a special gift from a group of guys, acknowledging all he has done for his wife the past years. The gun was loaded with some home cast bullets by callshot, from a mold Fermin had given him. As they were driving down a canal road, Dick saw what looked like a large piece of plastic in the field. Dick played it cool, and slowly drove past the “plastic”. The plastic was a badger! After going about 200 yards, Dick turns around, tells Callshot to cock his gun, and get ready, keeping his thumb between the hammer and frame of the gun. As the truck crept back to the badger, the badger dove back into its hole. Dick knows badgers are curious, and told callshot to ease himself out of the truck, to a pole fence and get ready. A short time later, they see the badgers nose ease out of his hole, and then exit his den. When he was fully out of his den, callshot center punched him at a distance of 37 yards. At the shot, the badger just slumped down, and took its final dirt nap. When Dick and Steve got to the badger, they noticed it had a steel snare digging tightly around its neck. The badger also had a broken lower eyetooth. The snare had a one way slide lock on it, so anything caught in the snare, the more they fought, tugged, and pulled, the tighter it cinched around whatever was caught in it. This old boy was figuring this out, and decided to chew his way thru the steel cable, to regain his freedom, and in the process broke off his tooth! Smart? Tenacious? Ornery? Along with tough, mean, and nasty? You betcha! No wonder the badger is such a formidable foe! The steel cable snare was imbedded in the badgers hide. There is no telling how long that badger was suffering until Steve put it out of its misery.
Thinking back, I owe a lot to Dick Thompson. He helped lift my spirits during a tough time in my life, introduced me to some life long friends with the same interests, and taught me a great lesson! Sometimes great things happen following a terrible event. Whenever I see a badger, a thought of Dick soon follows. He’s the original badger blaster in my book!
I’ve recently been testing out a Ruger Single-Seven in .327 Federal, and have become quit impressed with it. Pushing 120 grain cast bullets of my own making, just shy of 1,500 fps, with matching accuracy, has given me a lot of confidence and affection for this sixgun. Such a gun is deserving of a special holster, and I knew just where to turn. My good friend, Mike “Doc” Barranti is the premier leather man, shuck maker, custom designer of leather carvings, bare none, in my mind. He is simply, the best… I told Doc my wishes, and he made it happen! I call the rig my badger buster, as it has the perfect ballistics, speed, and punch, for such a ornery critter.
As I look at that carved badger, waives of memories wash over me, like the pounding surf on the sand. It sparks memories of good friends, past hunts, and the respect and admiration of such a tangible foe, the tenacious badger. This rig tells a story, and one that I am proud to share with anyone curious enough to ask. As the years pass, whenever I reach for the badger buster rig, the nostalgic thoughts and memories will spew forth, warming this sixgunners heart and soul. What could be better? Isn’t that what we all really want?
The “Badger Buster” shuck for a 7.5” Ruger Single-Seven.
Doc didn’t have a picture of a Badger to work with, but he said don’t worry, I have pictures of Fermin. I wanted a mean looking Badger, and Fermin would be a perfect model.
The “Badger Buster” with the mounted Badger Doc shot in the story!
Doc, Dick, and me celebrating on Callshots front porch after Doc shot his Badger.
Here I am cleaning up in callshots one holer after the Barranti Badger hunt.
Never been badger bustin but it sure sounds like a good time 
