airedale

I made up about 20 lbs using a modified breakfast sausage recipe, I go the bulk route and do up 1 1/2 lb vacuum sealed packages. I use a 2 to 1 venison to bacon ratio for the meat and the ingredients in the proper proportions below. The finished result tastes nothing like breakfast sausage it has a flavor all it's own and I must say it is very good. Al

A friend of mine on the Airedale board treed one with his dogs a couple of days ago in Wyoming. Al

With the reliability of todays modern bullets on Deer I really do not have one that is a standout above all others. I have used most styles and brands and all have done their job well when it comes to the kill as long as the shot was placed correctly. I do not see a Deer as an animal that is particularly hard to kill so I stick with traditional regular grade bullets for the most part. I have a couple of times had the occasion to go out west and Canada to hunt for big stuff, I will use the premium bullets like Nosler Partitions for those Animals. What I do like is fine accuracy and will try different loads, bullet weights and brands to find what shoots best in a particular rifle. I like the confidence of knowing when I pull the trigger of where that bullet is going to hit and the bullet that gives me that confidence is the one I will choose. While just about every brand is plenty accurate enough more often than not handloaded "Sierra" bullets will shoot the best groups in my rifles. Al

Standing against a tree or on the ground or stump sitting on my hot seat with my back against a tree or something else to break up my silhouette. Al

When woods hunting I move around a lot so I go light and carry a pair of good quality compact binoculars no matter what game I am after, they are indispensable for identification of everything. In open country for Deer and Varmints I will sacrifice a bit of weight and carry higher power full size binoculars of good quality for the same reason as above. Al

There is a lot to be said about both types of hunting and I do like both types for different reasons. Hunting with family and friends is a social event, the laughs, the tall tales, ball breaking and the food are almost as important as the hunt itself. A weekend at the Deer camp with the gang in one word is fun! For me most of those days are gone, like Cynthia mentioned above many of the family and friends I hunted with when I was young have passed on and there is not many youngsters replacing them, like she said "do while you can," there is a lot to be said for memories. One of my favorite memories from over 50 years ago at Deer camp on the last weekend, day and hour of season my Dad scored a doubleheader on a Deer and Bear. In the photo below my Dad on the right with one of his best friends doing a little celebrating. Still I like to hunt on my own a lot also and do not mind doing so, I get a bit more serious about things when hunting alone and have had better success overall.

You can hunt small game during Deer season, I do it all the time, but I think assisting others hunting big game without a valid tag is not allowed. Al

I will be 71 November 30, Lyme Disease will make you feel 171!

I have been fighting a severe case of Lyme disease since early fall so my hunting has been almost nil, at 71 years of age the fatigue was getting the better of me and I just had no energy to hit the timber. Slowly I have been coming around and I am just now getting to feel like my self again. I had enough gumption this morning to get out and watch a stand of Oaks that had a good acorn crop and it looked like Deer were hitting the area pretty good. Not long after the sun came up I spotted a Deer at around 125 yards scratching up the leaves for acorns, a look through my binoculars showed it had horns and legal. I was hunting with my newly acquired 250 Savage 99, I cranked the variable power up to 5X and used a tree for a rest and put the crosshairs behind the front shoulder and touched her off. At the shot the Deer bounded 20 or so yards and stopped and then it walked off into the woods where I lost sight of him. Went to the spot I last seen him and there he was dead as a doornail. The handloaded 90 grain Sierra Game King did it's job, upon field dressing it showed a hit directly in the heart with a lot of internal damage. Now that I am getting around a little better hopefully I can drill a few Squirrels before the snow gets too deep. Al

Exactly, only 300 savage ammo will work in that gun The box will say 300 Savage, the 300 Savage cartridge is pretty much the same as the 308 power wise with just slightly less velocity. There is plenty of good choices for ammo with most manufacturers loading both 150 and 180 gr bullets. Able Ammo carries most manufacturers including Remington Hornady and Federal https://www.ableammo.com/

When I carry both what I try to do is have one firearm that somewhat complements the other, in other words what one can do a bit better than the other in certain situations. For instance when hunting small game with a shotgun I may carry a 44 or 357 if big game season is open. The opposite when hunting big game, usually something light in weight, a rimfire or smaller caliber centerfire for a small game opportunity if I wanted to take one. Al

The 35 Remington is very capable of making a 150 yard killing shot as long as the rifle being used has the accuracy, sighted dead on at 100 yards with a 200 gr bullet it is only 3.5 inches low at 150. The 308 has more power and slightly flatter trajectory. Go with what you have the most confidence in. Al

No problem as far as I am concerned as long as it was in an area I could legally take the shot, below are a couple of trajectory charts for 44 mag loads zeroed at 125 yds, one for the Hornady 225 gr. soft pointed 44 bullet, the other for the Hornady 300 gr. An easy shot with a capable rifle and if one can shoot.

Just one more thump on this dead horse, it can not be understated enough the difference in velocity and power when a 44 mag cartridge is fired out of a 6 inch barreled revolver compared to being fired out of a rifle length barrel with no cylinder gap. As much as 200 to 400 feet per second, that difference is huge and elevates the 44 mag ballistics to a whole different level. The difference between a 30-06 and a 300 Winchester mag is about 300 to 400 fps. Al

Just about every gun I have is fed ammo handloaded by me, my 44 rifle is sighted in with handloaded 300 gr Nosler HPs. So to be honest I really don't know enough about factory ammo to give an honest educated opinion. Factory ammo from any of the brand names firing a 240 gr Jacketed HP full power load should do a good job on Deer. The load you have listed above may kill great but my experience with soft cast lead bullets fired at high velocity is that they will severely lead the barrel bad even with a gas check. It can be a lot or work getting the lead out especially if you do a lot of shooting. Al

Sometimes it is more about the gun itself than the cartridge. A light weight small frame lever action rifle with a 16 inch barrel is an easy carrying sweet fast handling weapon well suited for moderate range woods hunting and is all that is needed to do the job of killing a Deer. There is always a grin on my face when I pick up my little Marlin, it is a rifle that I just like in many different ways an in no way do I feel under gunned hunting with it. As for the 44 mag cartridge yes it was originally developed for a handgun but I can assure you it is no slouch when it comes to killing Deer and fired out of a rifle it gains a bit more power. Most of the half dozen Deer I have killed with the 44 fell within a feet of where they were standing, one made a 50 yard sprint before piling up. I have also killed 4 deer with a muzzleloader using the same 44 mag bullets in a sabot loaded to about the same power as a 44 mag cartridge weapon and again no problem dropping Deer. Al

I have killed a half dozen Deer with the 44 mag cartridge, 5 out of the 6 with a S&W model 29 revolver and one with a light weight Marlin 94 lever action with a 16 inch ported barrel. The 44 mag is a proven cartridge and with proper shot placement it will take Deer with no problem. My old eyes don't do as well with handgun open sights as they once did and that is the reason I purchased the light weight fast handling Marlin to use as a woods gun in the early part of the Deer season when the leaves are still on and ranges relatively short say out to 100 yards. I shoot 300 gr Nosler HP handloads out of the Marlin and it's accuracy with those loads is very good, the bullet performance is typical first rate Nosler, you do your part and they will do theirs. For the way it is used by me the 44 mag Marlin 94 it fit the bill exactly and gets a 10 ranking Al

When still hunting in bitter temps the Cabelas 100% heavyweight wool windshear lined sweater is my favorite second layer over the poly underwear. I wear a lightweight Browning Hells Canyon Jacket over it. I move along very slow so while I do sweat some it is not excessive as when shoveling snow or doing chores. For stand hunting in the cold I will switch the light Browning out for the good old Woolrich PA Tux parka and pants or sometimes an LL Bean Camo unlined Wool Jacket, yes they are a little heavy but boy they are toasty warm besides I am just sitting most of the time so it is no big deal.

It wicks beautifully, when doing my chores during the winter I wear the military poly against my skin, then usually a heavy Carhart hoody coat and on top of that a unlined heavy nylon windproof jacket, I am never cold. When I come into the house after finishing the chores and take that nylon jacket off, it and that Carhart is soaked with sweat and looks like someone threw a pail of water on me. The military poly is relatively dry and I am still comfortable. Al

I do not have to worry much about falling into an ice cold stream at this stage of the game, I did have to go for a swim for various reasons a few times back in my Coon hunting days with temps in the 20s. most times I would always take my coat and boots off before taking the plunge. When I got back on dry land and if I had several miles to go to get back to my truck I would stay right where I was and start a fire and strip down buck naked and put on just my coat, I would then hang my clothes over the fire to dry as best as possible, most of the times it would take to daylight for them to be dry enough to wear. Al

I am not someone that jumps on the bandwagon and endorses anything because of something I read somewhere. I have been wearing and using military poly for thirty years, most of my experience using it is not hunting but for every day wear here on my farm all winter long regardless of the sometimes sub zero temperatures and extreme windy conditions. It works by far better than anything else I have tried and I have about tried it all, you can take for what it is worth. Al

When it comes to the base layer that is against your skin Polypropylene is the best material, there is a reason the military chose poly for extreme cold weather underwear for troops. Through stringent testing in a wide variety of conditions it comes out on top. I have for over 50 years wore and used Wool for my hunting outerwear garments, love it and still wear it today but for underwear against the skin poly by far better than wool for wicking moisture away, and moisture is what starts the beginning of getting cold and staying cold. It comes in different weights to suit the temp conditions, the genuine US military issue stuff is the best.

I love eating Squirrels, they are one of the tastiest game animals in my opinion. The only downside is they can be a little on the tough side especially when fried. They can be par boiled but par boiling leaches the flavor out of them. I make mostly stews and soups, there are plenty of soups and stew recipes that use meat so just use one that you personally like and use Squirrel meat. The good old crock pot method will make the meat tender and fall off the bone and recently I have been using a pressure cooker that works as well as the crock pot but gets things done in a fraction of the time. Al