airedale

I had the Foxfire set and as you said they are full of skill learning that is valuable to outdoor folks and just plain entertaining. Another pretty good read I picked up a short time ago is "I Knew That" from the pages of "Fur Fish and Game" magazine. Fur Fish and Game I think is the best outdoorsman magazine in print at this time.

I don't carry one afield but have several survival books in my library, they are interesting and lots of valuable stuff can be learned, they are well worth reading if one spends time in the outdoors. Al

I am a big believer in being prepared and would definitely carry a kit similar to what you have assembled if I were to be in a remote area especially for an extended period. Even if I just go out for a few hours I always carry a good compass, knife, para cord and a lighter. I like the old fashioned Zippo outdoor lighter because they always work. Al

If you do not like what he posts quit reading them and by the way quit calling members names, and you wonder why your partner with your old name was canned on the facebook site! Al

"The More Things One Can Learn The More Money They Can Earn" One of my Dad's favorite one liners. My Dad took me out of my last two years of High School and enrolled me in the now defunct Boys Trade School that was located in Utica, it was something of a pre runner the Boces schools we have today. I studied the Machinist trade and applied subjects such as math, blueprint reading and drafting as they related to that trade along with regular high school subjects and graduated with a NY Vocational diploma and also got a NY GED diploma. I can say with certainty that the lessons I learned there at that Trade School was the most important thing I have ever done. Served me well throughout my life and I still use the things I learned way back then even today as a retired geezer on a regular basis, especially when working on firearms. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic along with a solid trade you will have it made if you have any ambition! Al

A poll will show Big Game hunting is more popular than hunting for Small Game and the reasons being pretty much shown from the replies in this thread. For me personally the matter is not even close as I much prefer Small Game hunting over Big Game for a multitude of reasons. As the old saying goes "Variety Is The Spice Of Life" and that pretty much sums up why I like Small Game hunting so much. I especially like hunting with dogs, I have bred and trained various hunting breeds for most of my adult life. Kind of like being a sports coach, I provide training methods and opportunity to succeed. A proud feeling of accomplishment when the hard work pays off and that Beagle pup brings around that first Hare or Cottontail to the gun or your young Coonhound trees it's first Coon alone, an Airedale pup flushing a Grouse or Pheasant and making a retrieve. Then there is the Firearms, a favorite hobby of mine, I have acquired a few in my lifetime and I especially like hunting with them, would not be pulling the trigger too often if I hunted just Deer. Rimfires are a favorite and Squirrels are their game for the most part providing plenty of trigger pulls along with a few Rabbits, Coon and Chucks for good measure. Shotguns especially side by side doubles, Crows, Pheasant, Woodcock and Grouse with some waterfowl. Precision and long range rifles for the Varmints and calling, Crows, Chucks Fox and Coyote. Add it all up and it equals "ACTION" and for me personally it beats the Hell out of sitting in a stand waiting for a Buck to come by. Al

17 cal which is .177, 17 Hornet is the smallest I think, the 204 Ruger is .204 Al

The parent case is the 222 Remington Magnum necked down, it is very similar to the 223 case which has a shorter neck. Al

What he said!

That poor Deer must have been living in agony, no question Ticks have become more and more widespread in recent times. When I was a kid I never saw them in my area but over the last 20 years they have started turning up both on me and my hunting dogs. Had to treat several dogs for Lyme. Can't be too careful these days when it comes to moving about in known Tick areas. Deet is the best repellant, Sawyers for your clothes Gamehide has a sale going on for different sets of their "Elimitick" clothing, I just sent off for a set as it is highly rated. What I like is it will repel Ticks for the life of the clothing, we shall see. https://gamehide.com/product-category/elimitick-hunting-clothing/ Al

Same as Pygmy, a 222 Remington, 4 pt Buck, 70 yds, neck shot, fell where it stood. My first Deer. Al

One of Amazon's deals of the day is the WorkSharp sharpening tool, for that price I picked one up.

The Browning Auto 5 is an icon, I have always been an admirer especially those made in the later years of it's run both the Japanese and Belgium versions. The workmanship, fit, finish was outstanding and a thing of beauty but the action is very complicated and requires skill to take apart and especially put back together. There was a time when Remington and Savage both made their own versions of the Browning design and while they worked and shot perfectly fine they did not have the refinement of those later year Brownings. If you can shoot an Auto 5 with confidence it will no doubt make for a good waterfowl gun. Another thing of note was the Auto 5 "Buck Special" slug barrel was right up there in accuracy with Ithaca's Deerslayer when shooting the old Foster slugs. Big time problems arose when owners started mounting scopes on them to take more advantage of that accuracy. Between that recoiling operating barrel slamming back and forth along with the fierce recoil from slugs themselves, they were scope destroyers extraordinaire, some scopes would break with one shot being fired. In our shop we found the Leupold scope to be the only manufacturer back in them days to be able to withstand the punishment, probably the one thing that made me a Lifelong Leupold user on my get serious hunting guns. Al

Down the thruway East a couple of hours is the International Boxing Hall Of Fame, it is located right at the Canastota exit. Make a right on Rt 13 and head North for about 15 minutes to Sylvan Beach a small resort town on the east shore of Oneida Lake, decent restaurants and amusement park for the kids. Or up the road West on Rt 5 a few minutes from Canastota is Chittenango's Wild Animal Park. If you are into History the Fort Stanwix National Monument-Park is Down the thruway a couple of more exits in Rome along with the Oriskany Battle field a few miles away. Al

Hunted waterfowl quite a bit in my younger days which was before lead shot was banned. I never had the opportunity to have action fast and furious enough to worry about recoil so any type of shotgun I could shoot well was used. I think if I lived in one of those flyway states and a big time waterfowl hunter I would have and hunt with an autoloader. I always liked the Ithaca Mag 10 deluxe pictured at the bottom but never had a good enough excuse to get hold of one. My favorite type of shotgun for bird hunting is a side by side double, of the three I own only one that is of recent manufacture and has barrels proofed for steel shot, it being only a 28 ga I would not be using it for a waterfowl gun. What I use today for waterfowl is my plain Jane Remington 870 12 gauge, it also doubles as my Turkey hunting gun. Al

I actually like Wolves myself, being a dog person how could I not, they are so like domestic dogs. Had no problem when they introduced them to Yellowstone so long as they stayed in Yellowstone and that is where I part company with the so called endangered species act that has been weaponized with everything Wolf. These are not animals that do well with humans and their lifestyle and to have them expand in large numbers out of the parks into farm and ranch lands causing big time problems with out control is not good. I have no problem with them being protected in wild places but to reintroduce among people and their animals is a bad idea, they were eradicated for good reason. Before judgement is passed on a subject such as Wolves being a big time problem as the old saying goes "Walk A Mile In My Shoes". It is so easy for someone that lives in a place far away to trivialize the disaster Wolves have caused on livestock, pets and large wildlife animals that are hunted. They are not the ones that hunted areas that for generations provided good Deer, Elk and even Bison populations for sport hunting and outfitting businesses and now have populations that are so low there is no hunting. They are not the Farmers and Ranchers that have to deal with livestock loses. The are not the hunter who uses dogs to hunt birds and fur in areas that have been taken over by Wolves. Even pet owners have felt the impact. I have acquaintances in that live, hunt and farm-ranch in the Wolf zones and to say things are bad is an understatement but you will not see any Wolf negativity on your evening news or on Nat Geo or Animal Planet. Below are few photos of hunting dogs that met the Wolf wrath and this happens a lot. Many folks I have talked to just quit hunting with dogs because of this. Speaking for myself money is no compensation for the time spent training and the bond developed between me a good hunting dog. Seeing those dogs pictured makes me very angry to say the least. Some serious hunting of Wolves needs to be done.

As the old sayings go "It is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog" "When the going gets tough the though get going" There is a lot of truth in those sayings and it showed it's face well in that fight. When things got tough Joshua had neither. Al

One of my favorite events to attend are some of the festivities during the IBOF weekend in Canastota. Will be heading to the card, autograph and memorabilia show at the high school in a bit, you will find no pro sports participants more accommodating and friendly to the fans than prize fighters. The parade is one of the best and that will be held in Canastota also tomorrow, if in the area it is worthwhile to see. Al http://www.ibhof.com/index.html

The scalloped receiver makes it a Royal model, the pre war model 60 pictured below has a straight edged receiver. I have found when it comes to firearms of foreign manufacture the available reference guides have conflicting info. I also checked a "Modern Gun Values" and they also state the Royal was produced in 12 and 20 gauge, obviously wrong as you have proof of a 16 ga Royal in your possession. Regardless JP Sauer firearms are first rate and your 16 Royal is a fine looking double in my book. Al

According to my most current reference guide the "2014 Standard catalog of firearms" The JP Sauer "Royal" model was produced in 20 and 12 ga only, 26, 28 and 30 inch barrels, single selective triggers with automatic ejectors. Production was from 1955 through 1977. Sauer made a model "60" boxlock double in 12, 16 and 20 ga, no dates given, just states produced prior to WW2, it had double triggers and manual extractors. Another source called the Blue Book of Gun values does list a 16 ga Royal with the same manufacture date listed above. Al

2003 Dodge Ram 2500 "ABSOLUTELY" the worst vehicle "PERIOD" I ever owned. My 2017 Honda Ridgeline may end up being the best vehicle I ever owned, I love it! Al

For me Big or Small game the principles are the same, confidence and knowing your limitations. This will come down to the weapon being used and my proficiency with it. When hunting chucks and I am sitting in the middle of a hayfield with dimensions in the hundreds of yards with a 220 Swift and have a good rest I will take shots of several hundred yards. The next day I may hunt the same fields with a handgun or a Rimfire rifle where my weapon's effective range is drastically limited in relation to a Swift. All about the stalk then and I have crawled on my belly many times to get within range to a distance I am comfortable with to take the shot. My personal satisfaction is the same with both methods of hunting. This all applies to Big game as well. Want to add that affordable and very accurate laser rangefinders are one of the most useful and helpful tools when it comes to very long range shooting. Misjudging the range is eliminated for the most part so knowing the exact distance is a major problem that is solved. Al

When it comes to shooting at any range there is no substitute for practice and plenty of it. For long range shooting at game in the in the field there is no better teacher than varmint hunting namely Crows and Woodchucks. Practice making clean killing shots on small targets shooting off make shift rests, off hand or typical competitive target shooting methods like laying on your stomach or resting off your knees in a good sitting position. I have read many times in Jack O Connor's writings that his hunting guides-outfitters said the best shots on game were clients from back east that were chuck hunters. Al

A couple of Browning rifles and one side by side double shotgun have passed through my hands over the years, the rifles were a BL22 lever action and a BAR 270 autoloader. All were of very high quality with build and fit and finish about as good as it gets for an off the shelf factory arm. The 270 was made in Belgium and assembled in Portugal, that fact was actually printed on the barrel I believe. The accuracy and reliability was outstanding, in fact I was surprised that it was so accurate being an autoloader but I found out from other owners that the good accuracy is pretty much the norm with those Belgium BARs. The one thing I did not care for was it's weight which was close to 8lbs with no scope and that is the main reason it and me parted company. All the Browning arms I owned were of late 1970s vintage, I am not personally familiar with today's current manufacturing but I would expect being a Browning that the quality is there. Al

All of my extreme shots whether very long or very short were made on varmints namely Crows and Woodchucks. Most of my best long shots were made with a Ruger 77 200 Swift, quite a few in the 400 to the 500 yard range. These were educated guesses going by the cartridge's ballistics and where my aiming point was when the shot was taken. Always had a cheat sheet taped to my stock similar to the one shown and when put into practice at a range they are pretty much on the money so I could get a good idea on how far a successful shot was. Most of the shorter shots from a few feet to a few yards were made by various handguns that I hunted with quite a lot a one time. The longest shot I ever made with a bow was again on a Woodchuck at slightly over 60 yards, it was memorable as the arc of the arrows flight and time it took to get to the Chuck from release to hit was visually quite a thrill. Al