Big Game Hunting with Suppressors

Many articles have been written on the technological advances in the hunting and shooting sports over the past decades.  New calibers, new composite materials, etc.  I plan to talk about many of these advances over the course of a few blogs, but today I want to talk about big game hunting with suppressors and the benefits of doing so.

Suppressors are becoming more widely accepted in today’s day in age.  Hollywood has done us no favors in portraying how suppressors truly work.  They don’t silence a firearm, in fact, they are still extremely loud, but they do make hunting much safer, more conservation-friendly, and fun.

This past fall, I was able to go on my first elk hunt in New Mexico.  To say I was excited would be an understatement.  I have been hunting my entire life, starting at a very young age tagging along with my dad.  Later in life I got into some competitive shooting and was introduced to suppressors through my father-in-law.  This elk hunt was going to be a special one for me, as it would be a first on two accounts: my first elk, as well as my first harvest using a suppressor.

I was on this adventure with a friend of mine, who had harvested animals while using a suppressor before, so it wasn’t new for him.  After arriving at the Outfitters lodge, we needed to check zeros on our rifles after our long flights.  The outfitters were trying to determine where would go to shoot, to not spook off the game until they saw we were both hunting suppressed.  They were extremely excited to see this, and we quickly confirmed zero on our rifles outside the lodge at the range.

Now some might be asking, why would outfitters love suppressors?  Well, communication is one of the major benefits.  After locating your target game, even after the first shot is fired, your ears aren’t ringing, you can continue a conversation about shot placement and next moves with the guide.  All while maintaining a soft voice and not giving away your position to the animal.  Communication is key when it comes to safety, especially in mountainous areas.  Making sure you have a clear plan in place on how to either get a follow-up shot on the animal, or how you are going to retrieve the animal.  All of this is difficult to do when your adrenaline is pumping, but it is even harder when your ears are ringing.  Making sure that animal is harvested in the most ethical way is an utmost priority for any true hunter.  Sometimes, when your sound signature is ignored, it can spook off a wounded game, leading to a lost animal.  

This leads me to my next point; the animals are not spooked nearly as much.  I was able to witness this firsthand, as my friend on the trip harvested a mature bull, we heard two others bugling behind us, so he stayed put and the guide and I took off to see if we could locate the other bulls.  Within five minutes, and 200 yards from the previous bull being shot, we had two bulls in our faces screaming their heads off.  It was a sight to see, to say the least.  The suppressors had muffled the noise enough that they were not spooked.  We passed on these bulls, but I was able to harvest a bull that evening not too far from that location.  The area remained undisturbed, and the animals felt safe and had no pressure in the habitat.

Fast forward to this hunting season when I was extremely excited to have a repeat trip to the outfitter, but this time after a Mule Deer and a Bull Elk. This trip has been one that I have been wanting to go on for years!  This experience of hunting with a suppressor was going to be a little bit different though.  On this trip, I was able to use the new Savage AccuCan AC30.  A few things were noticed by the guides and fellow hunters in camp.  First overall weight.  The suppressor weighs in at just over 10 oz.  I plan to talk about overall weight later, but having a lightweight suppressor on the end of the barrel allows for better balance and more stable shots from sticks or off-hand.  Second, the suppressor has a decibel rating of 136.6 for a .300 Winchester Magnum out of a 20” barrel, which is precisely what I was using.  OSHA considers 140 decibels of a short blast to be “hearing safe” so we were well under that.  We did not need to carry around heavy and bulky ear protection to protect our hearing.  This is a huge benefit, as most people who have hunted, have experienced the ringing after a volley of shots. 

During this hunt, when I harvested my Mule Deer, we were able to experience all of the above benefits in one setting.  After stalking the animal for a few hundred yards through a canyon, we had shot that presented itself right at 300 yards.  I was able to get a very stable rest and took my first shot.  Now I would love to say, that I am an excellent shot, but with the adrenaline pumping, I hit the animal just a little bit low.  He ran about 30 yards and stopped.  He was wounded to the point that he was going to expire, but I wanted to make sure the animal was not going to suffer, so I got into position and was able to get another shot at him.  Once he was down, and we approached him, the other deer in the group were standing 50 yards away, trying to figure out what was going on.  They were spooked, but they had not run off.  After field-dressing the deer, the others in the group finally trotted off, but they were not badly disturbed.  They went back to grazing in their natural habitat.

Hunting with suppressors has revolutionized the overall hunting experience.  As technology continues to improve, and with the launch of products like the AccuCan line, more and more people will be exposed to hunting with suppressors and it will be beneficial for the industry, safety/health, and conservation.