jusputtn

If you don't find one right off, keep an eye on the DEC's site. Woodlawn Sportsmen's Club will have one in August (the 27th, one day as it's a home study) and one in September (the 22nd & the 24th). You can attend a course anywhere in the state and WSC is just west of the county line a bit. Also, there's a shortage of courses in this area, we had over 200 calls for the course last week with 25 slots available (i.e. don't wait until the last minute to try to get in). I believe Guan Ho Ha holds course, don't know their schedule. They're only a bit farther away in Glenville.

@ Toruk-Makato, I don't think the Eastern Coyote fits in your invasive species list. They weren't transplanted and they didn't hitch any free rides. My understanding is that they hoofed it in and, being of low moral character, interbred with wolves on the way. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/science/28coyotes.html Though most are around 35 or 40 lbs, one shot in Broadalbin a few years ago weighed 80 or 85 lbs. Not that any of this info would prevent me from shooting one on site, in season of course.

European sparrows and Starlings are invasive species, which is why they are unregulated...or is it a regulation to say anytime/no limit? So shooting them does a service to our native song birds which they compete with. Check the hunting syllabus on the regs. I don't try to memorize them, just keep them handy to refer to. If you don't find the answer, contact the DEC with the question.

http://www.airguns.net/trajectory.php Here's a link to a trajectory calculator on an airgun site. The nice thing about physics is it really doesn't care if you punch in the data for an airgun load or a high power rifle load. Once the data is entered and trajectory calculated, you can highlight the whole trajectory chart, copy and paste it into Microsoft Excel or Works. After running the data for a couple of different wind speeds, I created a single chart, played with the font size, printed it and laminated it with a photo lamination sheet from Target to create a pocket sized chart to carry in the field. I pasted one below that is for my .243 Winchester. Had to take a best guess on velocity from the reloading tables as I don't own a chronograph. It's a bit of a mess but the concept is there. Drft is wind drift & value above it is MPH. Clicks U/D is scope elevation up or down for a 1/4"/100 yd adjustment. [table] [tr] [td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Traj Chart-243[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td].243, 85 gr, Sierra #1530, mv=3000 fps, bc=0.282, scp 1.5"/brl[/td] [td] [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]Clicks[/td] [td] 5 Drft [/td] [td]10 Drft[/td] [td]15 Drft[/td] [td] 20 Drft[/td] [td]Vel[/td] [td] Enrgy[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td](yds)Turret[/td] [td]U/D[/td] [td] (in.)[/td] [td] (in.) [/td] [td](in.) [/td] [td](in.) [/td] [td](fps) [/td] [td](ft.lbs.)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]50[/td] [td]3[/td] [td]0.1[/td] [td]0.1[/td] [td]0.2[/td] [td]0.2[/td] [td]2934[/td] [td]1625[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]100[/td] [td]0[/td] [td]0.2[/td] [td]0.4[/td] [td]0.6[/td] [td]0.8[/td] [td]2870[/td] [td]1555[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]150[/td] [td]2[/td] [td]0.5[/td] [td]0.9[/td] [td]1.4[/td] [td]1.8[/td] [td]2807[/td] [td]1488[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]200[/td] [td]5[/td] [td]0.8[/td] [td]1.6[/td] [td]2.4[/td] [td]3.2[/td] [td]2746[/td] [td]1423[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]250[/td] [td]8[/td] [td]1.3[/td] [td]2.5[/td] [td]3.8[/td] [td]5.1[/td] [td]2685[/td] [td]1361[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]300[/td] [td]12[/td] [td]1.8[/td] [td]3.7[/td] [td]5.5[/td] [td]7.3[/td] [td]2627[/td] [td]1302[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]350[/td] [td]16[/td] [td]2.5[/td] [td]5.0[/td] [td]7.6[/td] [td]10.1[/td] [td]2569[/td] [td]1246[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]400[/td] [td]20[/td] [td]3.3[/td] [td]6.6[/td] [td]9.9[/td] [td]13.3[/td] [td]2513[/td] [td]1192[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Put ballistic compensator cap C1 on it. [/td][td] [/td] [td] [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Matches this chart by click count.[/td] [td] [/td] [td] [/td] [td] [/td] [/tr] [/table]

A quill pig wintered in that tree hollow. I've also read that they'll winter outside in a fir tree, spending their whole winter in the same spot.

And here is one of the problems with gun owners protecting/expanding their rights; nitpicking. United we stand.

Wow, long thread so I just skimmed it. Here's my 2 cents: The best camouflage is immobility. Sit still, move slow, use the shadows, use the brush/trees to break your outline. Some of my hunting clothing is camo as it's getting very hard to find non-camo hunting clothing. I bring 2 blaze orange hats during gun hunting seasons. A nit hat for when I'm cold and a baseball hat for when I'm not. I carry a small flashlight for moving in/out of the woods at dawn/dusk. I don't believe blaze orange should be mandatory unless everyone wears it; hunters, hikers, farmers, dog walkers, people stepping out into their backyards, etc. I don't want hunters to get the idea that it's ok to shoot if they don't see orange. I've been shot at. Blaze orange wouldn't have helped. A flashlight would have. A buddy and I were on our way to our stands 20 years ago. It was an hour before shooting light as we were allowing plenty of time to get to our stands so as not to get sweaty. A guy touched off a 12 gu from about 20 yards away. Missed us both clean, don't know where the shot went. He said he was shooting at a deer. Bullshit! Since then the land has been posted and we've become very selective on whom we allow to hunt it.

Tail_Hnt, Don't forget it. Call or write your Congressman and tell him/her you want reciprocity. You may want to think of other ways to express your view than "stupid fíng laws", though I couldn't agree with you more. I find it hard to believe that people whom legally posses a handgun in their home state can not be trusted to do so in NY. To add further insult to injury, there are several states that will recognize my NY permit. So you've got these states which require no permit to possess a handgun. They are not experiencing anarchy. If anything, they're experiencing less crime. So why are handgun permits necessary at all? Here's a link to a site that has information on this issue. http://www.handgunlaw.us/ The site gives the caveat to verify the info.

Another reason to shoot pellets is that they're more accurate. Using my son's Crosman Recruit, I get about a 2" group at 50 feet with BB's and a 3/4" group with pellets, when shooting from a sitting position. I want him to be encourage with more hits so we use pellets. Paper targets bored him pretty quick. We've used tin cans, clay pigeons and even toy soldiers. The airguns have given us more opportunities to shoot. At family B'BQ's we'll go off to the side and pop a few targets. No bother to anyone.

Just wondering if anyone has played around with air rifles. Got my son a Crosman Recruit when he was 8 as I liked the practicality of the adjustable stock feature. It's essentially a 760 pump gun. In the beginning I had to be pretty hands on helping him shoot. But I realized that when he eventually is able to shoot it on his own, I would have to sit there and watch him have all the fun (actually a clever excuse to buy my own ). So I did a little web searching and ended up getting an RWS Diana Model 34 in .22 cal. It's a break barrel cocking action with a pellet velocity of about 800 fps. Lotta fun to shoot. Plus the air rifles give us more opportunities to shoot. Due to being quiet, we can shoot off to the side of a family b'que without causing hate and discontent. I've taken some grackles with it but haven't taken the time to go after squirrels/rabbits yet. Anyone used theirs for small game?

@ Wellsley Have you seen RCBS Universal Decapping Die? Works in any press, easy to use and saves the bullet. @ Landowner Most dies are 7/8" dia. with a universal thread. I've used Lyman and RCBS dies in Lee and Dillon presses. The Rockchucker is a good solid press from what I've heard about it. Haven't used one myself. On the single vs progressive. Singles are simpler to learn with and many people use them exclusively for rifles rounds even if they have a progressive, which they'll use for pistol. You'll also have to lay out less cash for a single while you feel out the waters of reloading, not to mention with buying accessories to reloading different cartridge types. I'm the odd man of the lot as I'm going to start using my progressive press for rifle as well. (Motivated by my buddy wanting to get back into reloading. Hey, he let me use his Lee Turret for close to 20 years for free.)

Yes. "The golden rule of thumb is 1,000 ft lbs at terminal range for any CPX Class 2 Animal. The 40 is incapable of that meeting that demand at except point blank range".." Actually, the 40 only gets to about 500 ft lbs and is fairly close to the 357 mag. The 44 mag, which I believe most consider to be more than adequate for deer sized game, gets about 1000 ft lbs. These values are at the muzzle. IMHO, folks are getting too focused on arbitrary values. Shot placement is far more important, not to mention getting some practice in. ( see http://www.10-32supply.com/firearms/winchester/centerfireballistics.htm for ballistics source) Enough said as this dead horse has been beaten beyond recognition. I'm done with the subject. :-X

I feel the need to dispel one reloading myth. You won't save any money reloading, however you will get to shoot more with the money you spend. I've been at it for a while with rifle and pistol. There's a lot of satisfaction with tightening up your groups with your own concoction. Though there can be some frustration until you get there.

@WNYBuckHunter IMHO, I think you're doing the right thing by looking for a decent bullet option and setting a reasonable effective range. One thing I have trouble understanding is why someone will trust a particular handgun to save their life against a person, whom could be over 200 lbs and full of who knows what drugs, yet discount said handgun to humanely dispatch a 200 lb deer. A deer that will be shot at under much more favorable conditions than a self defense situation. Hunter ed instructors are also taught that people's ethical views will vary even in situations where everyone is in the right.

Sounds like a good excuse to get into reloading.

12 GU Ithaca Deer Slayer w/ irons. Got a 2 to 3 inch group at 50 yds with Remington Foster slugs. Shot a lot of deer with it over the years but it's retired now. My county started allowing rifles a few years ago.

Yes. Particularly because your thinking about what the effective range of the round would be. I'd search some of the ammo manufacturer's websites to see if any 40 ammo is designed for hunting. I searched on Hydra-Shock and saw it described as a rapid expansion bullet producing a wide but shallow wound channel. Think I'd try to find something not "rapid expansion". I expect that I will be in the minority with my opinion on this.

You can't determine the design of all bullets just by looking at them. Some hollow points are designed for big game and some varmint bullets are not hollow points. Check the manufacturer's websites for use guidelines. IMHO premium big game bullets are not needed for deer. Far too many deer had been killed with standard grade bullets before premium grade bullets ever hit the market. I'd use the bullet designed for your intended use that shoots well from your gun. You don't need a 1" or 1 1/2" group to kill a deer but it does help with one's confidence when the moment comes.

Redhawk in 44 Mag w/ a 2X Leupold. I've gotten two over the years with it. Sometimes I carry it, sometimes a long gun. Depends on my mood, how I feel like hunting. I use a 210 gr Sierra JHC over H110. Have a 357 w/ irons that I carry less and haven't had a shot with yet.