Doc

Here are some pictures of my Marlin model 81 that show more detail than what I was able to describe in words. This might help with determining if your .22 is indeed a Marlin mod81. Hope this is of some help.

I may not be the most prompt guy in the world, but as promised ..... Something weird about the camera/lighting .... the gun and scope are not green but black.

Taking advantage of our "Deer Anatomy" thread, I was looking at the last picture on the first page. That is the only one that really shows the location and size of the brain and also clearly shows all the other areas that can be hit if you are just a couple of inches off. I too have seen a deer with it's lower jaw swinging like a piece of hamburger. Not real pretty. Yes it is a lethal shot. Lethal in that it will eventually starve to death over a rather long period of time until (if it's lucky) the coyotes take it down. Meanwhile on that same picture, we see this huge heart-lung absolutely lethal target. To me the choice is rather obvious.

http://lbfc.legis.st...gun_webpost.pdf Here is one of the links to the study. However, let's try not to hijack the thread. If you want to dispute this study, please start another thread.

Somehow it just doesn't feel like hunting, does it? There is something to be said for hunting in an area where you can feel a connection with nature with some pretense of wildness to it. At least that is the way it is with me. I don't want to hear neighbors arguing, radios blaring, doors slamming, and kids screaming and playing. And then there is the thought of some bloody old deer flopping around in the some neighbor kid's sand box while little pre-schoolers scream in terror ..... Well, ok that's a bit of over dramatization ..... lol. However, it is a fact that once you shoot at a deer in those kinds of compressed population conditions there is the reality that you have absolutely no control over what direction and how far that critter will run, or through how many yards it may go before (or even "if") it drags itself to a halt for good. It's not the kind of impression I want to leave on the neighborhood as the story gets repeated and embellished over and over and maybe even with some gruesome pictures. Sure isn't my kind of hunt.

Sure is comfy, as you can tell by the stool, thermos and big bag full of my famous fried egg sandwiches ..... lol. No way for a deer to sneak up on you. And gun rests on three sides. I build these things for all day hunts so comfort and convenience are important.

If I didn't know that my knife is downstairs, I would have thought that was a picture of it....lol. I bought mine years ago at the flea market at the National Hunting and Fishing Days at the region 8 DEC headquarters for $5. Pretty darn cheap! I didn't expect much in terms of quality, but the price was right and it looked cool. Well, the first thing I discovered is that having sharp edges on both sides of the end of the blade is not a real good idea when gutting a deer I managed to cut my finger with it. I took a grinder to it and eliminated the short length of cutting edge on the top side of the blade. After a while, I realized that the darned thing had held it's edge for a heck of a long time, and yet when I did have to sharpen it, it was very quick and easy to put a super scarey sharp edge on it. That was when I started to suspect that I had a knife with some rather high quality steel in it. I've had that thing for decades and have used it for everything from skinning squirrels to hacking down some sizeable saplings. It basicly does everything I could ever ask of it. If it had any collector value, I destroyed that when I ground that second edge off. But then, I'm sure whatever value that it may have has been surpassed by all the years of actual use and all the years that I may continue to use it. In other words, it ain't for sale at any price.

I was checked years ago when I was coming off the lake after a night of spearing in the West River swamp with my brother-in-law. I have never been able to row in a straight line, and it was interesting as I zig-zagged my way toward shore and saw the flashlight moving way to the right and then way back to the left and back and forth as the guy did his best trying to guess exactly where I was actually going to be coming ashore. No problems, he checked the fish that we had and our licenses and our gear and then went on his way. Another time I was checked for required safety equipment while fishing on Canandaigua Lake. Again no problems. gear was there and licenses were in order. I have never been checked for any kind of hunting or trapping violations in all 50+ years of hunting and all the decades of trapping.

I'm thinking a good way to ID the rifle would be to take it to a qualified gunsmith. They may know ways of identifying it a bit more specifically. If I can ever think of it, I will take some pictures of the parts on my Marlin 81 for comparison.

How the heck can you pull off a decent shot when you are hanging on for dear life. It's pretty ugly when you have to lead the deer a bit because you and the bow are flailing around in the wind .... lol. On the other hand, I don't know how it's been where the rest of you have been hunting, but my impression of this year is that it has been one of the calmest in memory. Yes there have been a couple days where the wind was out of control, but in general, most of the days have been either dead still or just a gentle breeze. You don't usually see that this time of the year.

A one-pointer! pretty neat.

I've read about the one study, and I have read a few rebuttals to it. But primarily I have seen plenty of evidence that not all hunters shoot in safe directions, and as I have pointed out, backstops are not often required by all or even very many hunters. All hunters simply are not responsible. However getting back to the original thread, rifle or shotgun, I have to agree with nyantler ..... what the heck reason does anyone have for plagueing a neighborhood with any kind of close-in shooting? Just because it is legal? To me, a little consideration for the residents is in order even if you totally ignore the safety implications.

Ha-ha .... too late. I already bought it (.270 Ruger American). But I can't ignore the obvious.

How often in real hunting situations do you actually have a "good backstop" behind the deer you are shooting at? And I am defining a good backstop as an earthen embankment that will stop a bullet. Look at any rifle range and you will see what a "good backstop" really is ...... cleared to the target and beyond up to an earthen bullet catcher. Let's face it, most shots are taken at game that is in a level-ish wooded setting (sometimes a brushy thick background). Given the real-life kind of actual backstop shots that are close to other houses make you start wondering just how safe the 500' requirement really is. Legal? .... yes - safe? ..... probably not. Add in the use of rifles, and the proximity situation does make some of this stuff kind of "scarey". I can certainly understand the apprehension that a resident with or without kids might experience when someone is taking advantage of every legal foot when shooting.

There's some more of that "discretion" again ..... lol. I call it "laws that are written for arbitrary enforcement" and the conservation law books are riddled with it. Ah, but what are you going to do about it? ..... nothing you can do.

Aside from a little rally before legal light on opening day, the state land near me went deafeningly quiet. It was unreal, and I'm sure there are still some deer around that don't even realize there's a season in progress. For the last several years, I have been of the impression that there are a few things afoot in that regard. First of all, I believe that almost all hunters take a stand and just sit there until they are bored enough and then go home. With all the modern cold-weather clothing, nobody gets cold anymore or starts walking, moving deer. Second, I believe that hunters today lack a lot of enthusiasm and have become part-time hunters, often leaving the woods at noon and may or may not return after lunch or even the rest of the season. And third, specifically as regards state land, I do believe that many hunters have just been scared to death by the horror stories regarding hunting safety on public lands. The stories are favorite mythology, and they seem to grow in scariness each time they are told. I know several people who will not hunt state land because they have been convinced that it is unsafe and yet will hunt some heavily hunter infested private land where there are drives and all kinds of random scarey shots and 5-shot volleys going on. The unsafe state land theory has been over-sold. Fourth, there probably are some parcels of state land that have truly been over-harvested in previous years and hunters get frustrated and go elsewhere. And then there was this year when there were absolutely no acorns or apples. That sure has made a lot of people believe that there's not a deer left in the valley ..... lol. Whatever the reasons, I have noticed a distinct change in recent years and hopefully there will come a time when deer populations and ages begin to increase because of it.

Yet another well-intentioned (arbitrarily giving the benefit of a doubt here) assault on law abiding citizens because of misuse by the bad-guys. Now you can see just how far that mentality can dig into the personal rights of the average citizen. Banning airguns for crying out loud ..... lol. Have they outlawed the toy cap pistols yet? If anyone says "yes", I have to admit that I will not be shocked or surprised in the least.

Yeah, I know my memory is on it's way out, but am I the only one who remembers a video posted here that showed a sequence of pictures (taken from a video I assume) that depicted a rather large, healthy looking buck being taken down and killed by some coyotes? I have no idea how to locate it, but I'm very sure I saw it here somewhere. Anybody else remember that thread and the pictures? I can't even remember how many coyotes were involved, but it certainly answered the question of whether healthy adult deer can be killed by coyotes.

With the exception of the trigger guard, the rifle looks exactly like my old .22 given to me by my Dad when I was just a teenager. The one big difference is that my gun has a paragraph engraved on the barrel ..... lol. It may be an earlier model of my gun. The screw holding on the stock is 6-1/2" from the center of the trigger. The tubular magazine has an attachment bracket that is welded on to the lower side of the barrel at approx. 3-3/4" from the end of the magazine. It has a slide safety (back and forth) that has deep grooves formed in the top of it and is on the R.H. side. Mine has a plastic trigger guard but it looks like yours is sheet metal. So yes, there are a few differences in a couple of the details, but there looks to be many more similarities. Overall, the shape and proportions look identical. Mine is: Marlin Firearms Co. Model 81 New Haven Conn Usa --22-S-L-LR-- I'm thinking yours is an earlier generation of this make and model. Of course it's just a guess without having the two side by side.

Next time I go by it, I will take a picture of my crushed ground stand where a tree (about 24" in diameter) mangled the whole thing. Thankfully, I was not in it. But hunting from the ground offers up no guarantees that you can't still get squashed. Lesson learned .... Even in ground blinds, or even just still hunting, be aware of the condition of trees that you are near (especially on windy days).

I have no problems with wardens, but then I don't give them any problems either. They have a job to do, and knowing the nature of some of the hunters out there, I can probably thank them to a huge extent for the fact that our critters aren't cut down to nothing from poaching. Of course I have never received a ticket or even a warning, and that may help with my attitude .... lol.

I thought I had read recently that these kinds of guns were now classified as firearms by NYS. I believe that ruling was made within the past year so many people are not aware of the change. That is probably what Walmart's hang-up is.

Well, there's that word "discretion" again. It shows up a lot in these kinds of discussions and official answers. Tell me, how are you supposed to protect yourself against "officer discretion"? Does it involve some form of mind-reading? LOL .... look that term "discretion" up in the dictionary. It basicly means that you are completely at his mercy or in other words, pretty well screwed if he happens to be in a bad mood or looking for something to hang on you. And then too, what difference does the fact that you have "coyotes or bears in the area" have to do with laws about loaded guns after dark? Is that something to do with self-protection? I swear these guys at the DEC make it up as they go ..... lol. Whenever I ask the DEC about laws, e-mail is the only way that I feel safe. Having written legal descriptions at least gives me something that shows what I was told and the fact that I did inquire. I wonder how you would make out if you asked them to quote the exact passage in exact words out of the law books.

In the third picture, one thing that is not too obvious is the far hill across the valley. It is kind of faded out, but that is where most of the few shots that I heard were coming from. It is kind of interesting to listen to the shots and try to pic out exactly where they came from. It's amazing the mental games you come up with to keep yourself entertained .... lol. Our house is down at the base of the hill. Also in the first picture you can see the empty shotgun shell that took my deer last year stuck on a branch stub of one of the stand logs. He came down the hill from behind me. It's usually a great stand, and I have taken quite a few deer from just about every direction there over the years. I have to be looking all the time and in every direction. Wind direction doesn't mean a whole lot there because they come in from any and all directions. Unfortunately this year it was pretty quiet and no one was moving the deer the way they usually do.

Opening day stand. all set up and still waiting ... lol left downhill right, downhill View uphill behind me. That's where I shot my buck last year. None of these pictures really show how steep that area is. The camera tends to flatten everything out.