Ammo shortage- how did it affect your season/is it still affecting you?

[glockgod]

Have enough squirrel ammo in shotgun and 22 to last me the rest of my life. 45-70 components are in good shape as are 44 mag for the 1894. Oodles of stuff for .357 1894c and 30\30. .223 and .22-250 likewise. I learned my lesson from the Odumbass years!!

 

[EIB0879]

I didn't hunt last season for the first time in several years so the ammo shortage didn't affect my season. I good on ammo for a long time I think unless I buy another caliber.

 

[Vlad3572]

Like alot of others fellas, I have more components for pistol and rifle then I'll probably ever use. That said I am working up a few loads with different hunting bullets then usuall.

I was a bit concerned about .22 LR. I recently bought a heavy used gun cabinet with a "stuck" bottow drawer for $30 at a garage sale. Pried the door open and found about 4000 rounds mixed .22 LR. Now no concerns.

 

[Rubone]

No shortage for my needs here, and I have multiple calibers to fall back on. I drew an Antelope tag and a Cow Elk tag for this year. I can use .243, 25.06, .270, 270WSM, 7.62X39, .308, 30.06, .300WM, or even .35 Rem. Plenty of ammo for hunting needs.
I wish you all luck on your hunts!

 

[George P]

I think we have heard and experienced enough talk and pain about the ammo situation in general, but I'm asking specifically about how hunters dealt with it. As for me, I had enough hunting ammo on hand that I was OK for 2020-2021 deer season. Not that I keep a whole bunch of that stuff "in reserve", but I did have several boxes of my couple of different calibers I use, along with sufficient BP pellets, sabot projectiles, and 209's for BP season. My normal M.O. is to wait until just before gun season starts, and do a zero/test fire/practice session with my hunting rifles, normally firing a box through each. The change I made this year, is I only fired 1 3-rd confirmation group from each rifle. 1 rifle was slightly out of adjustment, so I made the necessary corrections, and fired 3 more that were POA/POI, boresnaked all of them, and put them back in the cabinet. The 4 additional rounds I fired through the deer season resulted in 3 deer in the freezer, and 1 missed coyote (it was on the run in the treeline and my position was horrible, but at least I made it go away). Lots of people in my neck of the woods (not me) like to hunt deer with dogs using shotguns loaded with buck. I slid a few rounds to some friends who were running short on buck so they could fill a couple of tags. I turkey hunted this morning with my 300 BLK (legal in Fl on private land) but no luck. I carried the 300 BLK due to the coyote/pig problem where I hunt. I also have about half a box of 12 gauge longbeard shells if I hunt any public land later. With a 2 bird statewide season limit, I'll be OK whatever I end up using. I also have enough 75 grain Hornady 223 to kill a few hogs and/or coyotes at night, at least for a while. I also have what I need in 22 LR to deal with various "pests" around the house. I would like to get a box or 2 of Hornady 110 gr GMX in 300 BLK for deer season- for next year. Hopefully (?) things improve in the next 6 months or so that I will be able to get them without selling a kidney or plasma. So what did everyone else need to do in the ammo arena just to put some meat in the freezer this year? Did everyone else have enough left over from last year, or did you need to take other steps? Have you thought about next fall?

300 BLK is one of the rounds I have seen regularly available in both BASS and Academy

 

[FL-NC]

I was a bit concerned about .22 LR. I recently bought a heavy used gun cabinet with a "stuck" bottow drawer for $30 at a garage sale. Pried the door open and found about 4000 rounds mixed .22 LR. Now no concerns.

Some guys get all the luck!

 

[Wolfshead]

I would like to be able to say that I have enough components to last for years but that’s not quite the case.
I have enough components for my hunting ammo for a coup,s of years and hopefully that will be enough to last until this shortage is over.
Problem is I now have family members who are not prepared wanting me to load for them now, and that also means having to work up loads for their particular rifles.
The thing that I have to deal with the most is not being able to shoot as much as I like
I guess time will tell

 

[Deadeer]

Hunting-wise I've got enough components to go past my life expectancy when it comes to whitetails and small game. I'm slightly concerned in trying to work up a load for a planned elk hunt next in 2022, as I cannot find .308 either 180 Accubonds or Partitions. I've got several Email alerts pending, so when some come available I'll get a couple boxes.

The match stuff is concerning...Shot a 3gun match on SAT and surprisingly we had over 50 shooters, just about on par with a normal year. my bi-monthly IDPA matches are seeing less participation as the non-reloaders are having a hard time finding ammo. I'm probably going to cut back to a couple matches a month, but it's more a function of free time than it is ammo at this point.

I have 180 and 200gr .308 Partition blems I can part with. PM me sometime.

 

[jmorris]

I had always just bought 30-30 for the loaner gun at the farm as a 20 round box would last years. It was easier to just reload it this last time.

 

[BigBore44]

The shortage didn’t affect me at all. All my guns get handloads except my 22 and shotguns. Buy my shotgun ammo by the case. And I have enough 22 to probably last till I die.

 

[dh1633pm]

Any shortage? What ammo shortage? Well it has. Couldn't find double 0h's. So I purchased everything to load myself. Lee shotgun loader, lead, lead mold, lead pot, primed hulls (lots of them), and everything else I needed. Now I have an ample supply. I have been shooting more airguns only because I can shoot them behind the house without bothering the neighbors.

 

[Chuck R.]

I have 180 and 200gr .308 Partition blems I can part with. PM me sometime.

Thanks for the offer, but patience paid off, I've now got a couple boxes. Kind of a sticker shock though when sitting next to my original 50 bought in 1994..

 

[Deadeer]

Ok, good to hear.

 

[daniel craig]

Not a bit. Hunting ammo was hard to come by anyway even before covid. I take a round or two to check zero and 3 to shoot all season. At 5 rounds a season I can can get 4 full seasons from one box of Ammo.

With the reloading stuff I’ve been given by helpful members here I can probably reload enough hunting ammo to get me at least 5 more boxes. That’s like 20 years worth of ammo.

Plus with my bow, the ammo shortage is largely irrelevant in regards to hunting.

 

[bsparker]

Hopefully the shortage will level out before I’m in too much of a pinch. I don’t have a lot, maybe 150 rds for each of the rifles I could take deer with (30-30, 30-06, .243). This should last me a bit, although I won’t spend much time practicing before the season. I’ve had a harder time getting hunting rounds for .45colt and .357mag. I’ll use pistol and rifle to take deer, but this is more of a challenge aspect than a hunt necessity. (I got hit by the reloading shortage also, as I was just getting into it a month before the pandemic hit...poor timing.)

To offset Ammo shortage impact, I’ve picked up some more archery items. Going into the local county parks for deer management this year. Archery only, hunters get five tags in addition to the five we get for regular hunting.