airedale

Finally got my power back on last night, there are still many with no power, this was a big time mess. Al

Watched a hen Turkey scratching around in one of my pastures with a nice batch of poults in tow, hopefully they will grow up to maturity. Al

Pretty good blow went through this part of the state this morning, about as much lightning as I have ever seen, Power has been out since 4Am. The upstate map still shows a slew of outages so it will probably be a while before power is restored, the old generator is earning her keep. Al

I have handloaded the Speer 105 gr 243 bullet and fired it out of two different rifles, a Ruger Number 1A and a Remington 660 carbine. Both rifles grouped that bullet fairly well, I killed one Deer with that bullet fired out of the Ruger, a double lung shot and it did not go far. Never tried the Berger 105 gr so I can not give a solid recommendation, give them a try and see how they group. If they shoot well enough, I would not hesitate to hunt Deer with them. Al

Just polished off a reprint of Jack O'Connor's early 1950s Gun Book, typical O"Connor wit and common sense. I have probably learned more about firearms, shooting and hunting from reading his stuff than everybody else combined. I think I have just about everything he has authored. Al

Went to Walmart's site and see they no longer carry higher end Coolers in their house Ozark Trail brand, might be able to find old stock on a shelf. Al

I have been using Coleman coolers almost from day one and have been satisfied on their performance for how I use them. The old green original steel belt model is a favorite of mine and while they are far cheaper than a Yeti, they still are not what I would call cheap. My big party cooler is also a Coleman and again I am totally satisfied with it. I think some of the Ozark Trail Walmart coolers for the money are a best buy, they have roto formed bodies similar to Yetis but at a much better price. Al

I have not seen anything to that effect as of yet. Al

As stated above, to be legal ammo has to be shipped to an FFL, a genuine pain in the ass and that is what this state loves doing to it's citizens, "make everything gun related as hard as possible"! Being a handloader I can avoid most of this hogwash, but when it comes to rimfire ammo I have to jump through the hoops and pay through the nose. I can mitigate the cost somewhat by ordering in bulk, my FFL is The GunWorks of central NY located in Verona NY, they have a straight fee of $20, so if I purchase a couple of cases of ammo it is still within reason. I buy mostly from Target Sports and they ship directly to GunWorks, when it comes in,I just run over there and get the paperwork out of the way, pay the fee and pickup my ammo. Al

Ran off a few cartridges this afternoon to get this barrel sighted in, it is wearing a Nikon 2X7 scope. Shot a few lead Missouri Bullets that duplicate the old 25-20 load and was disappointed in their accuracy. I then tried some full power loads firing the Sierra 90 gr HPs and like the model 62 Levermatic they were grouping ragged holes like they do in just about every gun I have tried them in. I have yet to fire the Barnes 80 gr copper, I will give those a shot when I get a chance. The mosquitoes just about ate me alive out there. Al

Stinking phones and social media! Al

Found a Thompson Center Encore custom shop barrel chambered in 256 Winchester Mag and happily snapped it up. I am a big fan of the TC Encore platform and thrilled to get this ultra rare barrel. The little 256 Win Mag is a dynamo and I love messing around with the Marlin Levermatic 62, and if this TC barrel is up to snuff I will be enjoying it too. Al

H&N pellets have produced very good accuracy across the board in all of my air rifles. Al

I would say your best bet is to hit a Cabelas or a Bass Pro's fishing department and they should be able to outfit you for whatever type of fishing you are planning to do. Al

Raining fairly hard this morning and right on schedule Turkeys paraded out of the woods, at least nine and seven were Toms and Jakes. Al

No reel, just heavy line tied to the tip of a long rod that will give a lot of leverage. The Asian Carp are the ones you see jumping out of the water when boats pass them by. They look like they would be a blast to catch and seem to put up a tremendous fight. In Asia they are not a trash fish as they are thought of here in the US, when they get caught they are eaten.

Have a good one Grampy!

Yikes! A splatter job! Al

There is a game on youtube with Phil playing against a very good Alabama team, although LT lost mostly because they were outmanned, Phil had a decent game and looked pretty darn good to me. Al

Years ago, when town dumps were common I would hunt rats on them, night hunting was always the best. Once it got dark out they would be out in good numbers crawling around through the garbage. I would use my car's headlights to spot and pick them off. Al

When it rains hard around here it is a pretty good bet the local Turkeys will be coming out of the woods and heading into more open areas. I believe they feel the rain and wind in the woods makes for conditions that take away to some extent their keen senses, I think they feel safer in open areas where they have good vision of their surroundings. I have these guys patterned pretty well. Bottom line, if I still hunted Turkeys I would be hunting the edges of woods on rainy days. Al