airedale

You got that right!

For anyone who is a big time shooter of the 22 cal centerfires Natchez has a real good price on Hornady 55 grain SP traditional Varmint bullets at $7.99 per hundred they also are selling the full metal jacket version for the same price. They have even better prices if bought in larger quanities as they buy from Hornady in bulk and package them and pass on the savings. I have used the Traditional Varmint bullets in many of my 22 centerfire cartridges for many years and they are both accurate and explosive on varmints. https://www.natchezss.com/hornady-traditional-varmint-bullets-22-cal-224-55-gr-sp-cann-100-ct-bagged.html

If they actually pull a stunt like that it is a PR move all the way. I would think donating what ARs they want to get rid of to various Law Enforcement agencies around the country that could use them would be a better option. Al

I think Weather and Varmints are two big factors regarding broods hatching and surviving. In places where varmint populations are high they will have a negative effect on nesting. Coyotes, Foxes, Coon, Possums and Skunks will all search out and eat the eggs. Low fur prices have reduced trapping big time, more and more posted land and Hunters quitting and getting out of Coon and Fox hunting in large numbers resulting in a huge dip in participation that there was 25 years ago. Wet springs which seem to have been common in recent years make for low survival rates for young turkey poults. Add in some habitat loss and there are some big problems for Turkeys.

The case size of the 7mm08 would be better suited to a faster burning powder than H4831 or IMR 4831 which are both popular with 270 handloaders and other cases of similar size like the 280. I have never loaded the 7mm08 but I may as my wife's rifle is chambered in 7mm08. I did a little research going through my most up to date manuals and the consensus in both the Lyman and Ken Water's "Pet Loads" is if one is wanting to duplicate factory 140 gr performance Winchester 760 is a favorite, the best accuracy across the board with most bullets seems to favor Hodgdon's H380. So those two powders would be a good starting point. There is a huge choice to be had in powders these days and there are many with burn rates similar to H380 And WW760 that would not be bad choices either, stick with your manuals recommendations for starting loads. I posted a comprehensive powder burn rate chart here in the loading section of this board. A little experimenting should have you producing top notch ammo Grampy, it is fun and part of the process. Al

I guess it comes down to what one's definition of hunting is. To be among the "BEST" at any of the types of hunting you mention and those you did not mention I believe all take a lot of drive, skill and knowledge. Have seen a big change in the way folks hunt today from the way hunting was done when I was starting out as a kid. So criteria for being the best hunter today for many is probably different in many minds from what it was when I first hit the timber. Some time back I watched one of so called TV hunting shows. The setup had pretty young woman sitting in a deluxe heated treehouse with makeup and fingernail polish on along with her pink trim camo outfit. She was sure nice to look at and that in itself made the show watchable. The treehouse overlooked a big planted field with a large a herd of Deer enjoying a smorgasborg of deer attracting tasty delights in broad daylight. The woman drew down on a nice trophy Buck with her modern bolt action muzzleloader firing spitzer bullets held in a sabot, also had a scope mounted on it for sighting. The gun was rested solidly in one of those commercial gun rests mounted on a window sill of the tree house. At the shot the Buck drops like he was poll axed and the smiles, cheering, the back slapping and high fives were dealt out for all involved with the hunt. In today's world I am sure to some of the TV audience watching that show would say that pretty young gal is a good hunter. For me I really can not single out just one because there were quite a few. The best hunters I have the most respect for and had the pleasure of knowing were the hardcore oldtimers I crossed paths with over time, all dead and gone now for the most part. The picture that comes to my mind when I think of those guys and the way they went about hunting is the way I think of native American Indians hunting, out in game country moving, searching with stealth, a vast knowledge of the game they pursued, knowing how to read sign-track and how to use the wind and trickery. And they would not let weather stop them from hitting the timber. Another common denominator I noticed was many of these hunters were real good trappers, as one old geezer said to me, "the thing about trapping "there is nothing that teaches animal habits and travels to an alert observer better." By law in the southern zone they hunted shotguns firing foster slugs that were lucky to be able to hit a pie plate at 60 yards. In the Northern zone most used a lever action rifle with open sights, many hunters back then considered scopes to be not very reliable. As for those participating in the so called primitive seasons by law they had to hunt with actual primitive weapons but they were still very successful doing so. Back then muzzleloaders had to use patched round balls with black powder, archery guys used recurve and long bows with cedar arrows. Hunting out of tree stands was almost unheard of. Having to use the tactics mentioned above and with what many today consider to be obsolete archaic equipment along with having shorter seasons there were and are still are today hunters that year in and year out consistently take game using them and those folks are the ones that get my vote as to being the best "hunters" because they did and do it the hard way and were successful doing so. As for the pretty young TV hunter I ain't got anything against her for the way she took her Buck which was far better than any I have ever taken, it was perfectly legal and seems a commonplace way to hunt in today's world. But I would like to see her make a show where she heads into big woods deer hunting by herself with an open sighted sidelock muzzle loading rifle firing patched round ball. Still hunt to find and take a buck that duplicates the one she shot out of the tree house. Most of all I would have loved to see the reaction of some of those old guys from years ago if they had the chance to watch the TV show mentioned above. Al

Silence Is An Argument Carried On By Other Means

Half way through April and I do not believe I have had any more than three or four days of what I would consider to be nice weather in this new year!

"You can have too many girlfriends, and you can have too many wives, but you can never have too many guns."

Exactly what traditional bow hunters have been arguing all along!

Below

"The best time to hunt and fish was just before you got here and right after you left." "Never test the depth of water with both feet". "You only get so many sunrises." And for Pygmy "Hunting is like sex, when it is good it is awesome and when it is not it is still awesome!"

Ebay has to shoulder some of the blame for this crap for allowing this to go on! They have plenty of complaints from their own customers feedback and I am sure they have heard from manufacturers yet they let these Chinese rip off artists to continue to sell their phoney repro junk with no penalty! Al

Congratulations, Chase looks like a keeper for sure. I am familiar with Rat terriers as I had three of them, they are great little dogs. Mine all had prick ears and were around 12 lbs, below is little Allie, she could run like the wind blows.

I do not understand how this is allowed to legally happen, a Chinese outfit producing counterfeit Leupold Vari 3 scopes right down to the same box design and slogan and blatantly selling them on ebay as a Leupold. The real deal can be purchased for around $450 and the cheap Chinese phoney for $179! And this is not the only model they are counterfeiting and selling, Leupold must be fuming!

The No. 1 rule in Deer hunting is to go where the Deer are. A bad day hunting still beats a good day working

I am always scanning ebay for good deals on scopes and came across this old ad from the sixties for the short lived oddball Bushnell Scopechief that was mounted by using two hardened studs instead of a scope base, mounts attached to the bottom of the scope slipped over the stud and were tightened. It also had a command post reticle that could be flipped up from using plain crosshairs for heavy cover use. Yours truly was the proud owner of said "Turkey" and had it mounted on a brand new Remington 660 243. While I had no problems with that setup I think it may have had a tough time standing up under heavy recoil as it was only on the market for a very short time and sold poorly. I remember the old timer gunsmith that mounted it for me looking at me like I was crosseyed for buying it LOL! I killed quite a few chucks with it and a couple of deer but in the end the whole outfit went down the road in a trade a few years later. I forgot all about that old scope, a blast from the past that brought back a few good memories and at the time being wet behind the ears I thought it was a great idea but no so much today.

A Scare Deer

To tell me that in the year 2018 that an accurate crossbow inclusion poll involving the vast majority of licence buying NY hunters can not be accomplished is utter baloney. It can be done and it can be done easily and every hunter should be for it so all are heard. The first step is knowing how "all" hunters feel about this matter, after that information is made available we can go on from there. That is the object of this thread "A Poll" and we all should demand an accurate one where all NY hunters have a voice and get the true picture!. I absolutely know this and it is up to their advocates to voice any concerns they may have not me, I am advocating for hunters not leave watchers. Al

Well I really don't know how what weapon a hunter uses to hunt Deer with has to do with riding a bike and looking at leaves but if they feel they need to have a voice in this matter let them lobby for it. Personally I am only interested in what the 600,000 licence buying NY hunters think. By the way do you not think that all NY hunters should have some say in this matter

That is exactly right except for the don't give a rat's ass comment as everyone here is conveniently forgetting the more than a few squirrel, rabbit, coon, grouse, woodcock and pheasant hunters who have been getting the short shaft for decades. Why is it do you think that the small game hunting in this state has become almost non existent from what it once was when I was a young man.Their seasons are directly affected and have virtually been destroyed especially on public lands by the greed of Deer hunters extending their seasons through virtually all of the small game seasons. On private land forget it, how many here who own private land would grant permission to a small game hunter? The first thing out of a Deer hunters mouth when they have small game hunters using the same lands is that they are ruining their hunt. Ask a Beagler or Bird hunter or even Squirrel hunters why they are not hunting public land during deer season even though they have every right to be out there? Too bad for the poor small game hunter they can get their shot during January and February when the snow is up to their armpits. I want to see every hunter's opinion on crossbows all 600,000 and not matter what kind of hunting they do because all are affected. That is being Democratic and fair and all should be demanding that no hunting group be left out on the outcome, why would anyone be against every hunter having a voice unless they have something to fear. Just a reminder it was also assumed that Hillary was going to be our next president! Like I said let the chips fall where they may, I for one will abide by the outcome. Al

For me the crossbow question is too important not to be answered and have a voice from all hunting licence purchasers in NY so there can be an accurate tally where "everybody" stands and it should cost no dollar per hunter to get one simple question answered, for crying out loud I could probably figure out a way to get it in there! And Do It For Nothing! Al

ABSOLUTELY!!!

Sorry I do not buy into that theory for one second, sounds like pure laziness to me. With today's technology a good computer programing-software company should easily be able to come up with a way to answer an important question that concerns all 600,000 hunting licence purchasers and participants. Whatever outfit that furnishes the licence software should be told to get it done no excuses.