I'm not really sure how to best answer this lol. This might be way more than you were wanting too, but like I said, I wasn't really sure how to best answer this. I've never been good at describing my credentials or background lol. So anyway, here goes:
Hunting is, and has been, a big part of my life. I grew up on a farm in Iowa and was blessed having land to hunt year round. We could only use shotguns and slugs during the firearms portion of deer season there at the time. I never enjoyed that and hated how much devastation the slugs would leave. I think maybe that was what first started the spark of looking for ways to alter the terminal performance and amount of wounding on animals. I began experimenting with different slugs and different gauges. I also did a lot of coyote and varmint hunting with rifles. So as I got older, I got to be a better shooter and better hunter, and I started stretching out my shots. Long range hunting has been the only natural continuance of it all and something that's kept my passion fully alive. It's made me dive even deeper into all the intricacies of it and do a TON of self educating, actual formal educating on the subject, endless hours of research, testing and experimenting, dissecting bullets (as well as animals), etc, etc. I've also had some amazing mentors to share their wisdom with me and fill in a lot of gaps that I have in my own experience; guys that have personally harvested 9k+ head of game, for example. Getting samples of that experience straight from the source and being able to exchange experiences, ideas, and theories is an unreal and amazing blessing. Also, I live in Missouri now and fortunately can use rifles to hunt deer here, so no more shotguns for this guy lol.
Doing write-ups like this is just a culmination of all the years of tinkering and playing around with this stuff. I've been doing it for years now and I just try to keep good notes lol. I think me being a bit of a nerd helps a lot too lol. This stuff seems to have always clicked in my head and makes sense to me as I go. Having a passion for it definitely helps too lol.
I'm also pretty experienced in reloading as well. I've been reloading for 20+ years now and am always involved in the cutting edge methods and processes, trying to find better and more efficient ways to achieve precision. I've tried about every method you can think of to develop loads, size brass, prep brass, etc. I've loaded quite a few different cartridges and load new ones all the time. I run a gunsmithing/ammosmithing side business, to include a precision brass prep service I just recently added to the repertoire. It's fun and rewarding loading up precision hunting rounds for customers, and I'm working towards making my own hunting bullets and hunting ammo to add to the market. That will be what I do full time after I retire from my current full time gig. I'd love to have the opportunities though to hunt more (wouldn't we all) and test even more bullets. It would be a dream job. When I look at all of what Nathan Foster has done, for example, that's what I would like to do or be doing myself.
I don't try to talk anyone out of something. I'll offer my advice if it's asked for, or if I feel I should, but I try to respect the customer's wishes and desires. That carries over in groups and forums like this. In the end, dead truly is dead and there are countless cartridges and bullets that are quite capable of the task. I'm only trying to help achieve the same ultimate goal, just the best way I know.
And if it matters, I've been in the Air Force for 17 years now as an A-10 crew chief. That's my day job. It's been great, but it sure keeps me busy and sends me all over the world and forces me to miss out on opportunities with this stuff. I was stationed in Europe and South Korea the first part of my career and that sure didn't help me keep up with this stuff lol. Having three kids now, heavily involved in sports, doesn't help either lol.
Does this help answer your questions? I'm not an official ballistician or anything, unfortunately, unless I'd refer to myself as one for my own business lol. I really appreciate your kind words, and everyone else's. I'm always reluctant to post stuff like this for a few reasons. You typically get mixed reviews and those that disagree and want to argue, and it really is a lot of work and takes a ton of time, even to just put all the words together in a write-up like this. Then, when you post it publicly like this, it's hard to guarantee you'll keep your name tied to it and it won't get copied and stolen. Since my ultimate goal though is to help out the hunting community if I can, I decided to post it anyways. I'm not trying to profit off of it.
