Fudds, why do they resist change?

Perhaps because they don't need the change?

Elk hunting in Washington. Eventually I figured out that the elk were much lower, out of the heavy snow. Elk may have been smarter than me in that regard, but eventually I got one that year. Rifle is walnut stocked Remington 700 CDL in 30-06 and at that time had an old 2-7x Leupold scope in Leupold STD mounts. That year it brought me black bear, elk, pronghorn antelope and mule deer. Not bad for such an obsolete rifle and cartridge!

Have been reading online a lot about “Fudds” meaning older shooters & hunters who refuse to change, refuse to embrace the latest and greatest tech and ideas. It’s a derogatory term, meant to insult, bringing up images of the cartoon character Elmer Fudd who was always outwitted by the Wascally Wabbit.

We live in a time when new cartridges are introduced often, each one supposedly better than the last one and absolutely better than the old classic cartridges. Rifles come with stiff synthetic stocks, weatherproof finishes, rails for scope mounting and threaded barrels finished often with a muzzle brake even on such light-recoiling cartridges as the 6 Creedmoor and the 6.5 Creedmoor. Scopes are bigger, brighter and far more dependable. They’re made to be adjusted often for different ranges.

Why then do the “Fudds” often refuse to change? Why do they hang onto the same old rifle topped by a simple scope and chambered for a cartridge that’s been around for 50 or perhaps even more than 100 years?

Because that combo works just fine.

I’ve nothing against the newer rifles, scopes and cartridges. My buddy Gavin often hands me one of his latest creations and asks me to try it out. Sometimes I have to get coached on how to use a particular scope. His rifles are amazingly accurate and typically stone reliable. They’re built for precision with micarta stocks or aluminum chassis and typically thick barrels. They shoot amazingly well. The best groups I’ve ever shot were from a rifle he calls the “223 Trainer.”

Incredibly accurate, the “223 Trainer” is a complete custom build and much to heavy for walking around with while hunting. It is very easy to shoot well, particularly with 77 grain Bergers.

What do I prefer for hunting though? My good old walnut stocked rifles by Remington, Ruger, Marlin and occasionally Winchester. Chambered in radical cartridges like the 30-06, 25-06, 308, 30-30, 45-70, and even a couple of those outdated belted magnums, the 7mm Rem Mag and the 375 H&H… Some of my rifles have something odd called “iron sights” - most have a simple fixed power scope or a variable that’s only 2-7x or maybe a 3.5-10x. Mostly bolt actions, a couple of lever actions, and my pair of prized single shot Rugers. Why do I stick with them?

Oregon elk taken at 405 yards in a stiff crosswind with the walnut stocked 30-06 topped by a simple 6x scope zeroed at 200 yards. I hunt a lot with that Remington and am very familiar with it. Several years ago I took a good sized grizzly with that rifle in the Brooks Range of Alaska, wood stock and 200 grain Nosler Partitions for that hunt.

Because they bring down game reliably, accurately, time after time through the decades. There’s nothing wrong with the new stuff, but… is there anything really wrong with the old stuff? Not typically. If a hunter has a rifle that he’s used year after year for decades, perhaps it is even a family gun, passed down through generations, he’s not likely to be eager to replace it with something that at least for him is untried, unproven. Not even if even intellectually he’ll admit that it may be better in some ways.

A year ago I took a muley doe with my newest rifle, a Bergara in 6.5 Creed, topped by a fancy new 3-15 Leupold scope and shooting 140 grain Berger Hybrid Hunter hollow point bullets. Only after I replaced the obnoxiously noisy muzzle brake with a thread protector and re-stocked in a more traditional Boyds laminate stock did the rifle really feel good to me. It did a fine job.

My newest and most up-to-date hunting rifle, a Bergara in 6.5 Creedmoor. It’s accurate and reliable with a great scope too. The Boyds stock helped it fit me better and helped with the handling as well.

This fall I didn’t do much hunting but I took a couple of hogs and an Axis deer with two old favorite rifles; a 45-70 Marlin and my much appreciated 25-06 Remington. Fixed power scopes on each of them too! They worked just fine, as I knew they would. Just as they always have. Deer haven’t gotten tougher, smaller, or harder to hit. Most of us could probably benefit more from additional practice time rather than a new up-to-date rifle and scope in some fancy new cartridge…

My first Axis deer, taken with the good old 25-06 Remington topped by a 6x Leupold. I’ve used this rifle and the near twin in 30-06 for much of my hunting over the past 20 years and have taken mule deer at 400 yards and coyote a bit farther than that.

The Marlin 45-70 with a fixed 2.5x scope dropped this eating sized hog instantly at about 25 yards - and I can’t think of a rifle I’d have rather had in hand at that point.

I’m a life long hunter, a law enforcement and NRA handgun and rifle instructor, a USMC veteran and a retired police officer with 12 years of SWAT experience. Catch my firearms and ammunition videos on Ultimate Reloader on Rumble and YouTube. Photos in this article are a combination of mine and those taken by Ultimate Reloader.

Shoot well, Guy Miner