airedale

At a young age I was introduced to night Coon hunting with dogs and was bitten by the bug right from the get-go. One of my favorite things was listening to the oldtimers get togethers and them spinning their yarns of Coon hunts in their past. The more interesting subjects they toughed on was the equipment those guys used in the early days and especially the lights they had to find their way through the woods and Coons in trees at night. The real oldtimers used nothing more than a plain old kerosene lantern to traverse the woods, when they got to their treed dogs they had no way of shinning the tree tops to spot the Coon so they brought with them a saw or an axe and toppled the tree to get the Coon. Things improved as they started carrying carbide miner's lamps which use carbide and water to form acetylene gas which burned fairly bright inside a polished reflector. They could project a usable light beam that would shine the tree tops well enough to spot the Coon's eyes so they could be shot out instead of having to take down the tree. The next big improvement was the Coleman lantern that really puts out light and with a reflector attached could also shine the tree. The main drawback of the Coleman was it was a bit bulky and cumbersome. Night hunting really took a turn for the better when Koehler brought out their 4 volt lead acid electric battery powered "Wheat Light" for miner's. The battery was rechargeable hundreds of times, the light would burn for many hours with decent brightness and it was fairly compact and light, it was a mainstay in the mines and crossed over well for night hunting use for many years. Since the late seventies night hunting lights have been constantly improved upon and so much better than they once were. Lead acid batteries have pretty much gone by the wayside giving way to first rechargeable nicads then nickle metal hydrides to lithium. Bulbs have evolved also, Halogen, Xenon and now bright LEDs never blow that last about forever, all in all night lights have never been better than now. I have a plug in spotlight for my Wick light that is as bright as an aircraft landing light. Spending the amount of time in the woods at night as I have following my dogs and doing some varmint hunting one can probably say correctly as my wife does that I have gone off the deep end when it comes to hunting lights. Like I tell her all one has to do is spend the night in the woods in freezing temps and having to stay until daylight to walk out because of light failure and they would know where I am coming from. They also come in handy when the power goes out. Besides I just like and enjoy collecting and messing with those old lanterns and carbide miner's cap lights, it's fun. Anyhow this is the time of year I do maintenance on my equipment and I was working on charging and cleaning up some of my lights old and new, I thought about their history and snapped a photo of the tip of the iceberg, some of the old to new for any folks that may be interested such things. Al

They ain't any more of a song bird than regular barn pigeons, I would not doubt it one bit they were designated as such just to keep them from being hunted. I am for any expansion of hunting opportunity especially when it comes to small game and doves are included. I love hunting barn pigeons, me and my old big Rex had a good day killing this bunch living in a farmer's silo, he did the retrieving and I did the blasting, Rex caught and killed himself a big old stinking rat also.

When I was a young fellow I had a totally different mindset when it came to any kind of hunting. I was so driven to be successful and about as gung-ho as one can get, considered any hunt to be a bust if I came home empty handed. I would endure all kinds of foul weather to make successful hunts happen, the right cold or wet weather gear will make things bearable but things will still be tough. Yes I killed stuff and I have to say when it is cold like it is now I have had pretty good luck but I went through some pretty miserable hunts to get it done. As an old guy today I am a fair weather boy and when I hunt I want to enjoy myself and be halfway comfortable, do not take nowhere near the game I once did, I find myself letting a lot a stuff walk but I still enjoy myself just being out there. Al

https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2018/01/05/gander-outdoors-announces-69-new-store-openings/

I have had so many good dogs through the years it would be hard to pick just one but the photo below is one of my favorites. His name was TJ and he was a good one, we had some pretty good days hitting the timber together.

If I was in an actual survival situation where I have to hunt my food in order to stay alive I would not be too picky. Everything would be on the menu, Squirrels and Chipmunks would be good for starters, just about any bird species with some meat on it's bones would be a target. Rabbits, Hare, Possums, Coons and Porcupines had better head for cover also. A Deer would not be safe either. My little Savage 24 would keep me fed with no problem. Al

I have a FoxPro and a little pocket Phantom electronic job and they surely do work but truthfully it is not that hard to learn use of a basic varmint mouth call, there are plenty of online videos and CDs one can listen to that give a good idea on what kind of sounds you make to bring them in, believe me you do not have to be perfect. I have had just about as good luck bringing them with a hand held mouth call as with an electronic one, the big advantage with the electronic call is they can be operated with almost zero movement, it does not take much to get busted. Electronic calls that have remotes so the actual call or speaker can be placed away from your stand keeps all the attention away from the hunter as long as he has the wind. If you can stand the cold the weather we are having right now it is really good for calling, they come on the run. Below is my favorite mouth call I picked up about 5 years ago, it is hand made by a fellow from Canastota NY, his outfit was called "Black Creek", don't know if he still makes calls or not. A three in one, it can be used as a howler, regular screaming rabbit and it has a squirrel squeaker. I carry this call in my pocket just about every time I go hunting and it almost always has provided me with some sort of action. Al

I like a combination gun myself, a Savage 24 is tough to beat.

There are plenty of valid reasons for using traditional lead based bullets! Al

Wow I have to give that gal credit getting out there in 4 degree weather to fire her new pellet pistol, it looks like a pretty nice gun. Don't know how your home is laid out but bullet-pellet traps are not too expensive and setup properly in a basement can provide more comfortable conditions so you can do some indoor shooting-practice in the winter when it is bitter outside. I have one that that is good for any 17 or 22 rimfire firearm but I use it only for airguns and it works perfectly. I make sure I have it sitting in front of a good backstop just in case of a miss, a big cardboard box full of old newspapers works good. Al

I have always been a voracious reader and over the years collected a pretty substantial library of books. I am not too big on novels, the books I gravitate toward are those that provide me with accurate information about the things I like doing or have keen interest in. I would say 75% of the books I have are "hunting"-"hunting dog"-"firearms-shooting" related with the other 25% a sprinkling of other subjects that have caught my fancy and wanted to learn about. Jack O'Connor is probably my favorite author when it comes to firearms and hunting, I believe I have all of his books. My favorite Hunting Dog book is "When The Dogs Bark Treed" by Elliot Barker. Just got done with an interesting piece of work by Chris Willis, Walter Lingo-Jim Thorpe-and The Oorang Indians. Being a long time Airedale breeder and a big Jim Thorpe fan I am familiar with the Oorang Airedales and this new book went into the whole Oorang story deep.

Happy Birthday!

I am retired and consider myself to be an average middle class Joe, from what I am seeing and understanding this tax reform bill is going to put some money in my pocket doing exactly what it is supposed to do. Al

A few years ago a buddy and myself set out to process a couple of Deer we took that season. He brought over his brand new Gander Mountain heavy duty grinder which hopefully was going to make the whole deal of grinding meat for burger and sausage go down like a breeze. We had just begun grinding and his new machine had a major breakdown where it's drive gears actually sheared and snapped off their teeth. I broke out the wife's Kitchen Aid stand mixer and grinder attachment and got the meat processed with no more problems. While not quite as fast as a big dedicated grinder it still did not take too overly long to get the job done and did a perfect grinding job. The Kitchen Aid stuff is American made and made to last, it has metal gears, it's build quality is superior to the Chinese junk plastic geared Gander Mountain which looked impressive but in reality nothing more than garbage. I made up several pounds of burger just a few weeks ago using the Kitchen Aid and everything went as smooth as silk. Crappyice, sounds like your Kitchen Aid is not set up quite right with the grinder or it may possibly be defective. As for the big bad Gander Mountain grinder they did not stand behind their product. My buddy got it as gift a couple of years earlier and the warrantee had long run out, so even though it was technically brand new and being used for the first time they went strictly by the book and did not stand tall.

I do not have a 17 cal air rifle so I really can not vouch for any particular brand or style pellet in that caliber. I have a couple of 25 cal rifles that have been shot quite a bit with a good variety of pellet brands and styles and they both shoot the best groups with JSB Exact pellets, the JSBs also have performed really well on any small game I have taken. I purchased late last summer a Gamo "Swarm" 10 shot magazine fed rifle for a plinker in 22 cal, it too seems to shoot the JSBs the tightest group wise. The Gamo is not as accurate as my Benjamins but it is entirely adequate for hunting small game and that 10 shot magazine feeds and works great. "Pyramid Air" is where I do my trading when it comes to air guns and supplies, great outfit. Al

Merry Christmas everyone. Al

Always liked Darlene Love's classic "Christmas Baby Please Come Home" done each year on Letterman

I shot in a 14 team winter indoor league back mid seventies to mid eighties. The first season I shot a 6 inch barrel model 17 S&W revolver and decided I liked doing it so I upgraded to a more traditional competition pistol, a High Standard Victor. A few of seasons later I shot a couple of S&W model 41s owned by other shooters, liked it better than the Victor and had to have one so I purchased a 7 inch model, decked it out by putting on target grips, did a trigger job and also had a 2X Leupold scope mounted. For me pistol shooting was the hardest of all firearms to master, it also was my best teacher on how to become a good shot with all firearms. Started out with a Marksman classification and inched my way to Sharpshooter and after 10 years my last year of competition I finally made it to a Expert classification and the team I was on came it first place. I would recommend it to anyone if they have the chance to give it a go, it is fun and you will become a better shot. Al

The trick is associating gunfire with something fun and positive, my dogs just seeing me with a gun get hyper and excited because they know most of the time something is going to get shot and "that" something be it a squirrel, bird, coon, or what have you gets them pumped because they are usually involved and enjoy being involved. I am no bird dog training expert but this is what I would try. Get some barn pigeons and take your dog and the birds some place where you can do some shooting. Start off with some clipped wing pigeons and tossing them and firing up your dog. Have a friend along to do the shooting with something that has a mild report like a 22 or even a blank pistol, take a bird out, and hold your dog by her collar and tease her a little with the live bird. Let it go in good plain sight and have the shooter pop off a round and you encourage her to retrieve, pet her up and give her praise and instill confidence and keep repeating. This is all about getting used to gunfire while having fun and associating that fun with the gunfire. Once you get that in her head you can let the good times roll! Al

Carrying or not Carrying, that is the question? For me it comes down to what I would be using my long range rifle for, namely target shooting or hunting. Target shooting and some varmint hunting where I would not be carrying my rifle too far or not much at all a higher power scope like the ones you listed are fine and preferable in many of those situations. Some of my rimfire rifles have long heavy scopes with 20x to 24x, they are heavier guns shot off the bench, great for target shooting but not something I would much want to carry around in the woods for Squirrel hunting. A hunting rifle that I would be carrying and moving around some distances will be a different proposition when it comes to a scope, I like light weight "everything" when pertaining to those weapons. I have shot woodchucks and crows at well over 400 yards with varmint rifles and straight 12x scopes so I know that under conditions in the field on even fairly small targets 12x is plenty of scope. Big game hunting requires even less power for me, 2x7 is my favorite power range and Leupold is my scope brand when I get serious.

I have a pair of Sorels and my feet have never been cold while wearing them, a good pair of wool socks and that thick wool felt Sorel liner makes an unbeatable combo for keeping your feet warm. They would be a great choice for stand hunting, ice fishing or snowmobiling. Because of the thick insulation they have they are a very heavy bulky boot and for me not well suited for going on long hikes where I would prefer something less bulky and lighter. If I am moving around some and walking my feet stay warm with almost any decent hunting boot that has some moderate insulation and good wool socks without all the weight. Al

As you are getting your daughter started hunting Squirrels which I consider to be a great idea, consider a 22 LR rifle to get her feet wet which has a whole lot of positives. A 22 has a lot going for it when it comes to Squirrel hunting. A good solid rifle will never be outgrown, it can be purchased for a reasonable price with plenty of new and even good used examples available. Newbies take to them well for a whole lot of reasons, they are quiet, zero recoil, ammunition is reasonable allowing for a lot of trigger time that will promote good marksmanship without flinching and most of all confidence. An accurate 22 rifle will add quite a bit more killing range also, I have killed far more Squirrels with 22s than I ever have with a shotgun. If your young lady does take to sport hunting there will be plenty of time to get her a shotgun down the road when she is ready. Al

Try your best to obtain quality hunting equipment and clothing. Learn to have patience Learn how to use your hunting weapons proficiently whatever they may be, as the old master gun writer Jack O'Connor put it. "No man alive can be a good shot unless be practices a lot. No matter whether he is a varmint hunter, a small bore expert, a big bore target shooter or just some guy that likes to burn powder, unless he shoots a lot he is is not a good shot." Take up small game hunting, there is no better way to hone hunting skills. Al

An update on the little Marlin 44 mag, drew a 6K DMP this year and on my second day out got it filled with an average Doe. Everything went pretty much as expected, a 60 yard shot with the 300 grain HP Noslers, one behind the front shoulder, a couple of jumps and down, the Nosler made a complete pass through causing severe internal damage. Spent the rest of the season trying to kill a pretty nice Buck hanging in the same area with another rifle I have not had the chance to take anything with yet, my Dad's old Winchester 88 284. No luck getting a shot at that guy, he is a smart one that lays low during the daylight hours, maybe next year. Al