I just got back from a fantastic maiden voyage hunt with my Aero Precision M5 308. This was the hunt I built her for, and she performed like it was her job. We “did some work” together!
Hawks Double Mountain Ranch in Texas was the host of this LACE ladies hunt event for hogs and cull doe. It was a huge success for everyone, but especially for me personally and my built-it-myself Aero Precision rifle.
From sight-in to hog-down and doe-down, my Aero rifle was a pleasure to run. She cycled smoothly and consistently. She loaded and ejected every round with perfection, and the .308 recoil was virtually unnoticeable – partly from adrenaline, but mostly because the VG6 muzzle brake did its job so well.
This gun made that boar hog drop like a sack of potatoes when he received a dose of 168 grain Black Hills Ammunition to the brain. It was a crazy thing to watch since I had no experience with hogs, but it was right there in my Vortex scope. I mistook his “air running” death throes for a not quite perfect hit, so I gave him another one for good measure. Turns out it wasn’t needed. He took a humane bullet in his ear on the first hit. (We recovered the second round when we processed him.)
I was vibrating with adrenaline in the blind and teared up a little just from the reaction, but the Aero did her job with my first big animal harvest! I even patted her like a dog and exclaimed “Good Girl!”
My Aero also performed admirably on a little cull doe. It was about a 135-yard shot, and that doe piled up over the hill in about 20 yards and was done. What a great feeling!
I know that many hunters take their first large game when they’re age twelve or so. It’s a given and a right of passage. But for me, it took fifty-six years and it is a BIG deal for me. It was a long time coming and I am so happy and proud of myself!
I will have my very first venison and hog in the freezer this holiday season because of this self-built Aero Precision M5 .308. There are few better feelings of accomplishment in the world than to harvest your very first large game animals with a gun you built with your own hands.
Thank you so much, Aero Precision! I’ll think of you when I’m eating pork chops and backstrap this winter!
