airedale

They are what most call a gut hook and that is what they are literally. They are used to remove entrails of birds and can also be used on Squirrels especially useful if one is out hunting all day on a warm day, helps cooling them down until you get them home and dress them out properly without having a bloody mess in your game bag. Just cut around the butt and ram the hook up and in, give it a twist and pull the mess out. There are many bird hunters that like to hang their birds with feathers on and age them the same way beef and deer are aged. before hanging them they will use the gut hook to remove the entrails. Al

That one is an LLBean bird hunters knife that they imported and no longer sell, it is a good quality knife but not a pocket knife as it is a little on the large side. It has the choke tube wrench and a bird hook along with a big game type gutting hook. A leather belt holster came with it for ease of carry. Al

50 BMG vs 22 Short LOL!

I use to think my old 458 was big which it actually is but a pip squeak compared to this 50 BMG shell I picked up at the Syracuse gun show for my bullet board last week. Al

Congratulations Robhuntandfish your BLR is a fine looking rifle, hopefully everyone sometime in their life finds the way to be able to treat themselves to their dream rifle. Al

I have been using a "Pact" for close to twenty years and it has served me well with no problems so I give it a thumbs up for reliability. The advances in electronics over time have probably made the one I own archaic compared to the new stuff available today. Pact is American made, is still in business and now makes three different models with corresponding prices points as to their features. The Pact is the only one I have experience with so I can not comment on other brands. Al http://pact.com/products/chronographs/?v=47e5dceea252

Hello Kuvats welcome to the board. yes I know there are quite a few more examples of bird knives including a lot of nice fixed blades which I have tried to abstain from. Many are basically duplicates from the same company with different scales designs and colors. I have tried to get a least one good example from all the makers and some I have doubles or even triples on because their handle material and look that just appealed to me. Sorry to hear your collection got ripped off, had a couple of dirtbags break into my barn a few years ago and steal my motorcycle along with a bunch of tools so I know how you feel. Al

Here you go, I hate to say it but this is one of the reasons American knife companies have gone under, for 11.00 it is a nice knife. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NAHC-Hunters-Classic-Bird-Hook-Folder-Knife-Jigged-Bone-Handle-/302098577560?hash=item46567a7898:g:0ekAAOSwuOxZwrPW

You have a nice collection started yourself, those Camillus wildlife models are a favorite of mine. Camillus in fact manufactured many bird knives labeled and sold by others like Remington, Western and I believe even the Buck bird knife was actually made by Camillus. Case also has made bird knives labeled for others like Orvis. I stick mostly with the American made knives but I have a few decent quality foreign Bird knives, The Boker from Germany, a nice Marbles Damascus made in Japan and a Beretta made in Italy. The German Puma from Germany is one I have not got my hands on yet because they are so high priced and rare. I do have a Puma that is made up of German parts and assembled in China even though it is supposed to be and does look the same as the German model I would still like to get one of the real deals. Case is about the only game in town when it comes to American bird knives made today, Camillus, Schrade, Kershaw, Western have ceased American production, their names have been purchased to label and sell imported stuff. Besides Case Utica Cutlery still makes some American made pocket knives, I just purchased one for my collection just to have one, it is real nice quality and I would sure like to see them come out with a bird hunter's model. There is one small outfit in PA called "Great Eastern Cutlery" that makes a high quality bird knife called the Woodcock, I picked one of those up and I like it a lot and am impressed with it's build. Because of the collector value many of these knives are obtaining the knife I now actually use the most is a import made for the now defunct North American Hunting Club, it is made in China but it is of pretty good quality and are being sold on ebay for a song, I picked up four of them for $10 a pop with free shipping some time ago and I see they are still selling the remaining stock on ebay pretty cheap. Below is a photo of an American made Great Eastern Cutlery bird knife. Happy Collecting to you ATSKUV Al

I have a few more, some not shown here, it took me awhile but I think I have an example from about all the significant makers. Sadly many of the American manufacturers are no longer in business. Al

I am a fan of old B Horror movies, I believe I have seen most of them but here is one I have missed, crazy scenario and some name actors. Al

I have nine apple trees of different varieties, some have some pretty good crops of apples and some hardly any, but all of them looked a bit ratty leaf wise this summer compared to an average summer. I had a very hard frost here in the late spring when the leaves and buds were on and believe it did pretty some severe damage. Al

Back when I first got my permit I went handgun hunting nuts and for a period used only a handgun for everything I hunted except for birds.I bought and tried a bunch of handguns, settled for the most part using a 6 1/2 inch S&W model 29 44 mag and a 6 inch Colt Python for Deer hunting, for small game I used the Python some but mostly a Colt Woodsman 22 autoloader and a S&W model 17 22. I took several deer with the big revolvers and a ton of small game with the 22s mostly Rabbits Chucks and Coons. As I got older and my eyes started going down hill I went back to long guns for most hunting but still play around with a couple of handguns now and then. What I am using these days is a Desert Eagle in 44 mag with a hard chrome finish and I still have my old S&W 17 22 which is my favorite, I used it one year for bullseye target shooting, it has been the handgun I have used most and it has taken a lot of small game. Al

Woodchucks are probably the easiest meal for Coyotes to obtain, just lay in wait at an active den for one to come out. I know of dogs that have learned that skill and killed Woodchucks in large numbers. At a NY Houndsman banquet I attended some years ago we had a speaker who was a biologist that studied the Eastern Coyote. They looked at the stomach contents to see what was on their menu and during the warm months of the year almost all had some Woodchuck in them. His exact words were if you chuck hunters wonder why you are not seeing the woodchuck numbers that you once did in years past, this rise in Coyote numbers has a lot to do with it. As a young fellow I did a lot of chuck hunting and there was no problem finding them in large numbers living in farmer's hay fields in my neck of the woods. These days it is rare to see a Woodchuck standing up in the middle of a hay field, The only place I do see them which is still pretty infrequent is next to roads and building where they are fairly safe from predators. Al

I sure do, they are beauties!

Eddie I do not have any experience or know of anyone owning one of those rifles but I did a little research and from what I am seeing the Parker Ballard 22 semi auto was imported and made by an outfit in Austria named Voere. My Dad owned a 300 Winchester mag bolt action rifle made by Voere, it was the Shikar model and in the mold of a Weatherby Mark rifle in looks, it was of high quality and a pretty good shooter and nice looking. I would think the Parker Ballard would also be a well made rifle at the very least and a high dollar 22 rifle in their day. I found prices on the Voere version and they start at $250 grading at 60% up to $585 at 100% and everywhere in between depending on the condition. Prices from 2013 Blue Book Al

The Ruger American rifle has received really good reviews and the 7mm-08 is a proven Deer cartridge as are Core-Lokt bullets. If they group to your satisfaction the Remington Core-lokts will kill any Deer as long as you do your part. Good luck with your new rifle. Al

I have gone on four trips to Newfoundland the last time I went was in the early eighties. The first was a fly in and the other three we went inland by all terrain vehicles. On those trips I took two bulls and two cows, three with a 280 Remington using handloaded 150 gr Nosler partitions, one with a 7 mm Remington mag using a 160 gr Nosler partition. Physically "lots" of miles walking on boggy ground also up and down some pretty high hills, back then a piece of cake and no problem for me, today it would be pretty tough. The outfitter's Bombardier J-5 tracked ATVs made recovery of the meat not bad as they could always get pretty close to downed animals. The first trip everything was carried on our backs to the shore of a lake where we could utilize a boat to get back to camp. I never took a whopper, my best one is the guy on the ground in front. Al

It would be my Remington 541S 22, we go back a long way, it was my first introduction to a high end very accurate rimfire firearm, I have taken a lot squirrels along with a bunch of other small game with it, won a couple of shooting matches with it also.

The banker saw his old friend Pygmy, an eighty-year old farmer, in town. Pygmy had lost his wife a year or so before and rumor had it that he was marrying a 'mail order' bride. Being a good friend, the banker asked Pygmy if the rumor was true. Pygmy assured him that it was. The banker then asked Pygmy the age of his new bride to be. Pygmy proudly said, 'She'll be twenty-one in November.' Now the banker, being the wise man that he was, could see that the sexual appetite of a young woman could not be satisfied by an eighty-year- old man. Wanting his old friend's remaining years to be happy the banker tactfully suggested that Pygmy should consider getting a hired hand to help him out on the farm, knowing nature would take its own course. Pygmy thought this was a good idea and said he would look for one that afternoon. About four months later, the banker ran into Pygmy in town again. 'How's the new wife?', asked the banker. Pygmy proudly said, 'Good - she's pregnant. How is that new hired hand working out? asked the banker. Pygmy replied great and she is pregnant too!

For me Deer hunting has always been anti climatic and the reason why I have always prefered small game hunting FUN, FUN, ACTION, ACTION! Let it happen quick because you can keep right on hunting. The small game seasons and limits are "liberal" (about the only good thing I can say about that word) you can go out the very next day and do it all over again. "Variety", Shotguns, Rifles, Handguns, and Archery all can be used and best of all you do not just pull the trigger on that expensive firearm once. Variety of game, Rabbits-Hare, Squirrels, Coons, Woodchucks, Fox, Coyote, Bobcat, Grouse, Ducks-Geese, Woodcock, Pheasant, Crows! Holy Smokes I am getting fired up and excited just thinking about it! Al

In my lifetime I have at least dabbled in just about everything when it comes to the outdoor sports many times just to get some insight, perspective and to experience everything I could. I enjoyed doing just about everything I tried but there is not enough time in the seasons and days to do everything there is all the time. The activities that I found especially interesting and fun for me, and some are even to the point of obsession, they are the ones I make time for and pretty much stick with on a continuous basis down through the years. That being said I still revisit some of the other fun stuff time to time for old times sake and a little change of pace. Al

I was in Tennessee some years ago and had a fellow show me some ginseng, if I remember right the plant has five leaves, three across the top and two smaller ones just below. The berries are in a bunch very similar to the ones in your photo. If I were to guess I think those are ginseng berries. Al

She is a beauty! When I was a kid I remember the mostly Winchester model 70 snobs looking down their nose at the Remington 722, cheap looking, no checkering, tiny extractor, stamped trigger guard, bla bla bla! Today it is highly regarded as a sought after all time classic and deservedly so. It goes on to become the 700 one of the best and most accurate rifle actions designed period and is still so today. "257 Roberts" another all time great! Al

Most times I just put my squirrels in my game bag and dress them out when I get home. I think on a real hot day and if you are out for a long period of time one of those cheap foam coolers and a cold pack would not be a bad idea. Cleaning a squirrel is easy when you know the tricks even when cold. A couple of tips, have a razor sharp knife, I use a folding bird hunter pocket knife. I also use a small cheap pair of pruning loppers to cut off the feet and head along with a pair of pliers when I need to pull on the hide, they work much better than your fingers. Here is a you tube video that shows the way I was pretty much taught to do it, as they say pictures are worth a thousand words and it is easy when you know how. Al