airedale

I buy hunting clothes mostly by their quality and the way the perform and fit, through the years it has ended up being an assortment color wise of some camo, red plaid and a lot of solid green of various materials. On public land for big game where sure to run into other hunters I will wear some blaze orange and my red plaid stuff, my concern is making sure as much as possible of being seen by other hunters. At home on my own property I will wear camo on occasion. Never had a Deer spot me no matter what colored clothing I was wearing so long as I sit still and have the wind. Al

Hare will hold very tight this time of year, as their coat changes over to winter white they seem to sense they are easily seen and hide themselves in heavy cover. As long as they do not raise them selves off the ground while sitting tight they do not give off hardly any scent. Many years ago I decided I wanted to get an early season brown colored Hare to get mounted and had a heck of a time getting one. I was standing in a large dried up swamp that was full of Alder saplings and tall brown swamp grass and that was lying pretty much flat on the ground. I had hunted this area many times before in the winter with snow on the ground and always found many Hare there but my Beagle was having zero luck getting one started. Anyhow there happened to be a loud sonic boom and suddenly there were a half dozen Hare poking their heads up out of that swamp grass where they were sitting as tight as could be and just as quick as they had popped up they ducked back under the grass.. I walked over to the closest one and could see him hiding, called my Beagle whom I do not mind bragging was about as good a Rabbit-Hare dog as they come. She ran over the top of that Hare twice, he did not move and she did not detect him. I walked in a gave him a boot and as soon as he raised up and bolted she caught his scent and the race was on with her in hot pursuit. I ended up taking him out about two hours and several large circles later. Al

As far as I am concerned a firearm should be capable of detonating all of the manufacturers primers. Change the spring and hammer and make sure all ammo fires reliably, if it does not cure the problem ditch the gun. Imagine the big Boone and Crocket guy stepping out and you draw down and get a click and he bounds away without a scratch!! Al

A trio of hunting bred Airedales from years past, gone but certainly not forgotten, they were good ones. Nicky, Michaila, and Tucker Al

I just picked up one of these Rad Power Bike Minis and I have to say it is one fun bike. While it can just go along on it's own power I use what is called the pedal assist mode which in essence makes the manual peddling as easy as one wants it to be depending on how much assist one wants. Charged it up yesterday and I rode it all over my property, up hill and dale through the woods and pastures and down the road and it made riding pretty easy for this soon to be 70 year old goat. This little guy folds up nicely and compact, will easily fit in the back of my hatchback car or pickup truck, just wish I had picked it up earlier in the summer. Beats the Hell out of exercising on my Schwinn Airdyne! Al

Back in your Dad's day optical sights and scopes did not have the sterling reputation for reliability that today's equipment have. Back 40 years ago when I worked in a gun shop I was constantly boxing up and sending scopes back to manufacturers for repairs, broken lenses, crosshairs and fogging were the main maladies. See through and flip over and detachable mounts were common back in those days to save the day in case of a scope failure. I mounted many setups for customers exactly as Stormy's Dad's 742, the see throughs raised the scope a bit too high for a good cheek weld but they did actually work as intended. I tried to talk customers into spending a bit more for a Leupold scope because of the perfect reliability but many thought I was just giving them a sales pitch and after more cash. Live and Learn Al

I have had a few memorable shots but a hunt and shots taken that still stands out today in my mind after many years have past. As a young fellow I was on a general small game hunt along with a friend. We were pushing through an Alder thicket-swamp to see what we could jump out, my gun that day was a Mossberg three shot 16 Ga bolt action that had a poly type adjustable choke on the end of the barrel. Three Woodcock flushed one after another and I dumped all three. Al

I have actually used all the choices you have listed and have by far taken the most Deer with the semi auto 12 Ga shotgun. The shotgun made the most kills not because it was the firearm of choice but because back in the day I hunted a lot in shotgun only areas of the state. My preference of the four choices would be either of the rifles as long as they fit me right and I have complete confidence in my ability to shoot them well. I like rifles over slugs because of a little less recoil and their accuracy edge, If there is an edge to be had I like to take it. Al

Handgun hunting with traditional handguns, the available bullets and calibers in my mind is quite a bit like archery hunting. Get close and shoot when you have a shot you have confidence in making. There was a time I did quite a bit of hunting with handguns, the two cartridges I used for large game were the 357 mag and the 44 mag. I took several Deer and a couple of Boar mostly with the 44 mag, my favorite bullet was and still is the old Speer half jacket HP, the 44s were 225 gr and the 357s were 146 gr. I hunted with these bullets for several reasons, first there were several gun writers of the day that used them, publishing glowing performance reports on game in their magazine articles, and second they were extremely accurate along with getting good velocity in my S&W and Colt revolvers. My limited experience with these bullets concurred pretty much spot on with what was written about them, they shot good and killed good. Below is a photo of two Speer 44 225 gr HP bullets recovered from a decent sized Boar much bigger than any Deer I have ever shot, both shots were hits behind the front shoulder at around 40 yards. They went clear through to the opposite side and were found mushroomed nicely under the tough hide, the Boar by the way stumbled around and keeled over within a few feet of the first shot, the second shot was probably not needed but taken just to be sure. Now the 45 ACP is no 44 mag but I have a 44 Special revolver which ballistically similar to a 45 ACP, I have handloaded those same Speer 225s to use in that gun. That being said I would not hesitate using that 44 Special to draw down on a Deer that presented a good clear shot and that was close enough. Todays bullets have come a long ways since my days of fanatical handgun hunting, they hold together much better and expand well. In recent years I have used Hornady XTP hollow points in my black powder rifles for several Deer kills and I could not ask for better performance, I see no reason why they will not work in a handgun loaded properly. Al

So sorry for your loss, I do understand what you are going through, there is something special about using your Dad's hunting equipment and icing on the cake when a hunt is successful, it keeps alive that connection! I use my Dad's stuff all the time and will continue to do so until I croak. Al

Sounds to me that you are a first class jerk! As a kid I picked beans in the summer for $7 a day along side black migrant workers to buy my school clothes and my hunting equipment, so your mean spirited posts and notion that young people do not get into hunting because they are so broke is laughable to me. Hell if we were all so bad off as you are making it sound everyone would need to be hunting just to keep food on the table. Anyone that is serious about getting into hunting can buy equipment that fits them even on a tight budget, you do not need a Weatherby and designer Under Armor hunting clothes to participate in this sport. My family did not have a lot of disposable income when I was growing up but my Dad scraped up enough to get me a used single shot Savage 22 and a used 16 Ga three shot Mossberg bolt action shotgun. Made do with what I had and many of my fondest hunting memories were at the time I used those firearms. I bought my first new gun the first summer I was out of school working my first job making weekly payments of what ever money I had left over. The young folks today have more money than I ever dreamed of having at the same stage so it ends up being a priority on how that money is spent. As other have said the lack of access to good hunting lands within reasonable distances of where they live is the biggest factor for the decline in sport hunting. Now as an old coot myself I sure you will tell me I am full of crap too so I think I will sit back and slam another tumbler of prune juice to take care of that! Al

Looks like offspring from a Carp that got romantically involved with a Smallmouth Bass. Al

I collect binoculars like I do firearms, I have all powers, sizes and styles. My favorite brand has been the upper end Bushnells specifically the Legends in both compact and full size. As someone who wears glasses I need binos with longer eye relief to get a full field of view, I like screw down eye pieces and the Bushnell brand accomplishes that for me. For open country when glassing long distance for woodchucks and crows size and weight do not come into play much, I carry higher powered full size binos in 10X For still hunting I like to keep the weight down and use light weight compacts in medium powers For the woods where the distances are shorter high power is not so important I need a wide field of view and like 7X. I picked up a pair of full size Nikons last spring to keep in my truck, did not pay a lot for them but have been impressed, wide angle with huge field of view, crystal clear and screw down eye pieces. Probably the best buy I have ever made for a good pair of binos, now how they will hold up over the long haul is yet to be seen but so far so good. Al https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001EFIGG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have been wearing glasses my whole adult life for both gun and bow and have had no problems with Deer spooking from glare or reflection having had them walk within feet of me with no detection. If I get busted it is from not having the wind right, making a noise or movement at the wrong time. Al

Those forms have always been around as long as I can remember. I have been on several hunts in Canada and have always filled out one of those forms for any firearm I brought in going back almost fifty years. Theses days Canadian border crossings are not so casual as they once were, it is not a big hassle and only takes a few minutes of time to take care of and makes everyone happy. Like Uncle Nicky stated above if you put up what they consider to be a red flag they will pull you aside. I once witnessed someone's vehicle and contents being basically dismantled searched for whatever, so don't give them any excuses. Al

If I were to use the 30 M1 for hunting I would be buying ammo if available or handloading soft point expanding bullets which would improve it's terminal performance quite a bit. Al

Just some food for thought on this rainy day. I find it interesting how two relatively short range cartridge's ballistic perspectives as man stoppers are judged. The 30 M1 carbine is held in such low esteem and yet on the other hand another cartridge, the 9MM is thought to be adequate as a manstopper. Below are approximate ballistics comparing the two The 30 M1 fires a 110 gr bullet at about 2000 ft per second at the muzzle. Muzzle energy is 977 ft lbs, 50 yds is 733 ft lbs and at 100 yds 541 ft lbs The 9 MM fires a 115 gr bullet at the muzzle at almost 1200 ft per second Muzzle energy is around 400 ft lbs, 50 yds is around 280 ft lbs and 100 yds is around 240 ft lbs So while neither set the house on fire the puny 30 M1 delivers more power at 100 yds than the adequate 9 mm Luger at the muzzle. Al

$350 is a steal, If she was a 16 ga I would have had the pedal to the metal. The current Ithaca pumps made today are close to a grand and no better than the one Lawdwaz has for sale. Al

When hunting with a shotgun for small game I will have a lighter weight compact handgun on me many times. Al

Little doubt a Coyote would kill a Fox if the opportunity arose but those opportunities would be more of a fluke and actual catches will be few and far between. When I was a young fellow I hunted Fox with running Hounds and there is no catching them, they are fast and have a bag of tricks to elude their pursuers., they almost seem to enjoy the race. They can run for hours and when they get tired of the race they will go to ground and the game is over. Unlike a running Hound which runs mostly by scent and use their nose on that scent to stay on the Fox wherever it goes, Coyotes are sight chasers and unless they happen to catch a Fox dosing in a big open field they will be left behind in short order once the Fox hits cover. Al

The Trump derangement of the Democrats is off the charts, the hate is so bad it is not out of the realm of possibility for one of the wackos to fall on their sword to keep this judge from being confirmed. This whole story from thirty something years ago and the way it has been presented and leaked just before the vote smells big time. Al

Actually the real hot weather is in the summer months, during the time period most of the hunting seasons in the southwest states are going on it is not bad. The Nevada weather carry vary quite a bit within the state but an overall snapshot shows an average of over 265 days of sunshine per year, the pleasant, semi-desert climate is hard to beat! During the summer months, high temperatures average around 90 F; during the winter, around 45 F. Average annual rainfall is approximately 11 inches, and average annual snowfall is 22 inches.

Nevada is a big state with widely varied arid terrain, it's game population is scattered throughout the state with species living in habitat they are best suited to. The hunting is decent but you have scout out where to go and do some traveling. In Nevada, upland game bird species include blue and ruffed grouse, sage grouse, chukar and Hungarian partridge, snowcock, ring-necked pheasant, California, Gambel’s and mountain quail, and North American wild turkey. Small game species include cottontail, pygmy and white-tailed jack rabbits. Falconry seasons are in effect for waterfowl (all migratory bird stamp requirements apply), dove, chukar, sage, blue and ruffed grouse, pheasant, Himalayan snowcock, Hungarian partridge, quail and rabbit. Coyotes are an unprotected species in Nevada. They can be hunted by both resident and non-residents in the state without a hunting license Big game offers several species, Deer Tags $30.00 Antelope Tags $60.00 Black Bear Tags $100.00 Bighorn Sheep Tags $120.00 Elk Tags $120.00 Rocky Mountain Goat Tags $120.00 Mountain Lion Tags $29.00 Al

Trapping is legal and a legitimate outdoor activity and as long as that trap was set by the rules that jerk should be prosecuted in my book. Al

The habitat sounds like ideal Woodcock, their wings in flight make a distinct fluttering sound. Al