airedale

I saw a couple listed in the "One Gun Thread" so instead of hijacking I thought I would start a separate thread on double barrels. Like Pygmy I purchased an Ithaca SKB 280 20 ga with the English straight stock back around 1969. For many years it has been my go to small game gun especially for the snowshoe Hare and it will be will me until I croak. In later years I purchased an LC Smith sidelock 12 ga featherweight, made by Marlin who owns the LC Smith name in the late 60s for only a couple of years. It is pretty much an exact copy of the original Fulton Elsies as most parts will interchange. Marlin in the end could not keep the costs down and it was discontinued which was a shame.I do not understand why an American company can not come up with the ingenuity and manufacture a competitive priced double. The LC Smith fits me perfect and I can shoot really well with it. A few years ago I picked up an CZ 28 ga and it is a sweet light little double with beautiful lines and balance and fun to shoot, I finally got myself a used MEC loader for 28 ga and can now bypass the expensive factory ammo which can be hard to come by. I know a lot of folks look at side by side double as a gun of the past but I find a certain charm in using them for hunting. Some day I might try a small ga field model over and under double, I once owned a Winchester 101 Trap model and that was all it was good for "Trap shooting" and I never got hooked on that so the 101 went down the road. CZ Ringneck 28 ga LC Smith Featherweight 12 ga Ithaca SKB 280 English 20 ga

For me it has to be plural "The Guns", I have several of my Dad's firearms that I will not part with and they will be handed down to my two son's. The past several hunting seasons I have made it a point to hunt with my Dad's guns and try to take some game with them. His Marlin 95 45-70 was the last gun he took a Deer with and I have used that one several times with success. This year I broke out his old Winchester 88 284 and never had a shot at a buck, hopefully next year that will change. The next one in line to be used is his old Savage 99 30-30 that was manufactured in Utica in the late 30s when my Dad worked there before he signed up for the Navy. Just bought some 30-30 dies to load some ammo and will be playing around with that rifle this summer. This year I used his like new Franchi 48 AL 20 ga for the first time small game game hunting, Dad purchased it for Deer hunting and it had a Buck barrel for firing slugs. I found a 24 inch vent rib barrel with screw in chokes, put that on and man that thing is sweet. I shot a few clay targets with it to become familiar and took it out and bagged my young Airedale's first grouse flush with it. Have so many good memories of hunting with my Dad and of course I miss him a lot, so for me there is a lot personal satisfaction using my Dad's hunting guns and being successful with them. Al

Because it is only a dream hunt might just as well go whole hog and be transported back in time to the Jurassic period and go on a big time dinosaur safari. My hunting vehicles would be several military HumVees rigged for hunting to haul my hunting party, paleontologist guide, gun bearers, supplies, hunting weapon battery and a shipping container full of ammo. My long range heavy rifle would be a Barrett light fifty autoloader, up close a 460 Weatherby mag for my medium rifle, and three 7mm light rifles, one chambered in 7 mm Remington Ultra Mag, one in 280 Remington and one in 7mm08. For wingshooting those flying reptiles a Ithaca Mag 10 3 1/2 with a crate of various sized buck shot loads. Ahhhh! now that is real dreaming, bring on the T-Rex and get that Barrett light 50 hot! Al

Another good reason why we have elected President Trump who is an NRA member, pro gun and pro hunting, he will have our backs when it comes to this kind of bullshit, I expect this ban will be reversed and repealed. Al

A little article about decoy dogs from expert Gary Strader Decoy Dogs Lure Coyotes To Hunters Gary Strader says his coyote-hunting dog, Toby, had the right balance between aggressive and passive behavior, which made him the perfect coyote hunting decoy dog. Toby, now deceased, was a Dorn, developed by Vern Dorn, from three breeds for specific traits: Australian Shepherd for intelligence and herding instinct, Plott hound for its good nose, and Airedale Terrier for stamina and grit. Strader, a lifelong hunter and trapper, first hunted with Dorn dogs with a friend in Montana and was impressed with the breed. After Vern Dorn died, Craig O’Gorman continued to breed Dorns, and Strader purchased Toby in 1998. They became best friends and hunted together for 11 years. The idea is for the dog to get close to the coyote, engage the coyote, then tuck his tail and lure the coyote to the hunter. “You don’t want a dog that is too aggressive or too docile,” Strader says, noting other breeds will work for coyote calling. “If a dog is smart enough, he will learn.” He suggests using dogs that aren’t too big, about 25 to 30 lbs, so they don’t intimidate coyotes. “When picking a name for a dog, try to pick a name with a long vowel in it,” Strader says. “They can hear longer vowels at a greater distance.” Toby was the “friendliest dog in the world,” and a natural decoy dog. He rode in Strader’s pickup passenger seat and watched for coyotes. Strader learned to read Toby’s body language. Toby was good at reading the level of coyotes’ aggression and responding accordingly. “It’s in a dog’s DNA to chase, but we want a coyote calling dog to get coyotes to chase it, so this is total role reversal for the dog,” Strader says. Strader notes that a dog learns that through experience or from hunting with another dog. The dog’s intelligence and training determine if it’s a good coyote decoy. Good ones are rare. Strader starts training by letting the pup chew on coyote legs and hides as soon as it has teeth. As it grows older he lets it interact with a coyote in a trap. Strader teaches the basics: sit, come, lie down and to watch and go where he points. When he sees a coyote, he growls so the dog learns there will be action, which always gets their attention. He trains the dog to go to a coyote howl by using a caller with a treat in front of the speaker. For more information about decoy dogs and coyote hunting and trapping, Strader has written a book, Master Wolfer, for $25. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Strader, BG Ranch, HC 32, Box 532, Quemado, New Mexico 87829 (ph 505 286-6472; [email protected]). Link below has a few photos, the top photo with the red barn covered in hides was when Gary lived in NY. He was using an Airedale back then. http://www.wildlifetech.com/pages/gary.htm

If you watched the inauguration live you would know the right hand photo is completely bogus. I don't have a clue on the actual numbers but the reverse view from the inauguration stage looking down the mall looked pretty much the same as the left hand photo, Wall to wall people for as far as the eye could see.

There are very few hunting dog breeds with the grit and toughness on any rough game than an Airedale Terrier, that grit and fight in their makeup makes them especially hard to train as a decoy dog but it can be done as shown above. You need a dog with some grit and gameness to withstand the harassment they can be subjected to at times to be a good decoy dog as the pictures of ReRun show. He has one Coyote down while the companion tries to drive him off. To be a good decoy dog they must stand their ground and play the decoying game by not chasing the Coyote out of the country, when the tone button is pushed for recall they must return toward the handler with the Coyote in tow. That is where the hardest part of the training comes in, the dog must not be so aggressive during decoy mode that they drive the Coyote off and out of gun range. Once the trigger is pulled that is when the dog will release from the decoy mode and go into full attack mode. There a fellow named Gary Strader who lived here in NY up to about 20 years ago was very successful Coyote hunter using decoy dogs killing many with that method so yes decoy dogs can be used in NY with good results. The biggest Coyote I have ever seen was a photo Gary showed me he took using the decoy method. Gary became so infatuated with hunting Coyotes that he moved out west and and took an animal control job. Gary uses an Airedale cross for his decoy dogs. Al

Rob I have had the same thing happen to me many times when small game hunting especially when I am targeting squirrels I almost always use a scoped rimfire rifle and sure as heck I will flush a Rabbit or a grouse and be screwed with no shot taken because of the wrong firearm in hand. It bugged me so much that after thing about it long and hard I decided to try a combo gun, a gun actually developed for the situations mentioned above. I ended up with a little Savage 24 22 LR / 410 ga o/u early side button barrel selector model and it has worked out well for me, the only shortcoming is the pretty crude open sights making any long shots on squirrels pretty tough for my old eyes. I would like to get my hands on an early model 24 22 mag or 22LR / 20 ga for even more versatility. Savage still makes a version of the 24 with a synthetic stock but for me it lacks the charm of the old models but it is still just as functional in the field. My old 24, I had the barrels duracoated and refinished the stock with True Oil, the old girl never looked better. Al I almost always carry a varmint call with me when small game hunting this little "phantom" caller is light and can be carried in my pocket While not very loud it still sounds good and called this Coyote in to 30 yards, the little Savage 24 and a Brenneke 410 slug did the rest.

Big difference between "obscure you tube videos" that one has to search for and the main stream news media broadcasting and flaunting that kind of garbage into people's homes on the morning and evening news every chance they get. Al

I did the out west pack in deal with horses and mules for Elk, went to Newfoundland several times for Moose and Caribou all when I was a young guy and got it out of my bucket list. The only big game animal I have a yen for is any of the wild sheep but that is just a dream and at 68 years old even though I am in pretty good shape would probably be pretty tough and out of my price range. Being a big time varmint hunter the one thing that has always held my interest but never got around to doing is a big time Prairie Dog shoot. I have a friend in Wyoming that tells me in a big dog town that can stretch from horizon to horizon there is so much action that you can actually wash out a hot caliber varmint rifle barrel in a couple of days of shooting. That kind of shooting action gets my attention and hopefully one day I can haul out my Varmint arsenal to one of those towns and erode those barrels! Al

Decoying with dogs is based on Coyotes being territorial and during denning when they have their cubs being very protective. They will try and drive any canines domestic or wild from their home range. Because of that behavior a decoy dog can be used to lure a Coyote to shooting range and keep the Coyote's attention on the dog allowing the handler more freedom for movement without being busted for an easier shot. The dogs are trained to the tone sound of an electronic training collar. The tone is used to recall the dog after it goes out and basically challenges the Coyotes. The hardest part is training the dog not to to chase the Coyote. Once they make contact they are to walk back toward the hunter hopefully with the Coyote in pursuit. When the tone button is pushed they return. It takes time to get this procedure down pat depending on the dog and that is where electric stimulus comes into play. All decoy dogs hate Coyotes and they want to pursue and fight, once they learn that they can not do this because they will get a zap they eventually figure out the game that is being played and will be satisfied with their pent up drive to fight after the kill is made. This type of hunting is done mostly out in the western states in open country but can be used here in NY in the right situations. I have a dog with me most times when I do any calling but I make my dog stay with me. MY hunting is done mostly in woods where ranges are short, because of their keen senses the dog knows way before me when something is coming in to the call and I am prepared ready to go with little movement. Below are a few pictures from the Airedale board of members that do decoying with their Airedales. Al Jack's Cur "Pearl" and Airedale "Ellie' Mike's "ReRun" standing his ground with two aggressive Coyotes Devon and his Airedale "Otis" , Devon is an animal control guy in Colorado

There was one left in the state reported by CNN to have been taken illegally outside of Trump Tower, President Trump tweeted it was "fake news"

Most here are probably too young to remember the "Potato Hill Murders" by the sicko Bernard Hatch back in the early seventies. My brother, myself and another friend were snowshoe hare hunting early in the season before there was deep snow and found what ended up being what is believed to be two more of the sick bastard's victims.

Here is another dilly and again it happened on a Coon hunt. I had my youngest son along that night and he was around 16 years old then. My dogs struck a track on the edge of a large section of forest and took it in deep, I would say we went back close to a mile before they made tree. When we got to them they had two big boar coons in clear view treed in two side by side in little white pine trees. So I got the loaded magazine of my old Remington Nylon 77 auto 22 LR coon gun out of my pocket and loaded it up in the rifle and handed it to my son, I held the spotlight and let him pop both coons out. One at a time they both hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and the dogs were on them immediately to finish them. So after all the excitement was over I put those two big boys in the large game bag of my old Carhart coon hunter's coat and we headed back to the truck. I will tell you carrying two big 20 plus pound coons on your back trudging through a swamp in the middle of night with a dog on a leash yanking you around is tiring. Well about half way back I start to feel something stirring and moving around in my game bag and all of a sudden all Hell breaks loose. One of those big coons comes back to life and is in full battle mode fighting his dead companion in my coat. Thinking about it now and standing back taking the perspective of a spectator who by chance would happen to come upon that scene would have been crazy to say the least. My big fear when it comes to live coons is rabies, my dogs all have protective shots but I do not and the last thing I want to have happen is getting bit by a coon and have to go through a rabies protocol. Here I am running around jumping up and down yelling and screaming, first I have to get my rifle which is slinged crossway across my chest off so I can get my coat off. The two hounds hear that coon squalling and they are chasing me around barking up a storm. I get the rifle off and hand it to my son and get that coat off and throw it on the ground. Of course the hounds on now piled on to my coat trying to get at the coon dragging and mashing it in the mud. I almost took the rifle and shot the coat LOL but thought the better of that and find a good stout club. My son pulls the dogs off my coat and I then proceed stomp and beat my coat until I am sure that coon is dead. What a freaking deal!! When the escapade was over we had a heck of a laugh but it was a long cold wet walk back to the truck. The trials and tribulations of coon hunting. Al

The 1X4 Leupold is a great little compromise scope for someone looking to stay light and compact but yet have a magnification up to 4 power. Your assumption of the 20 mm objective from lens in low light is correct, it will not be as bright as a scope with a larger diameter objective. That being said NY law for big game states there is no shooting before sunrise or after sunset, a 20 mm objective lens on a good quality scope still lets in plenty enough light to get a good sight picture prior to the sun actually setting. I checked sighting ability of my little 2.5X compact several times this past season with actual sunset and time by my watch and would have had no problem seeing well enough to take a shot during legal shooting times had one been available. Al

It is fun for sure Uncle Nicky, Squirrel hunting with dogs adds a whole new dimension to Squirrel hunting especially when the leaves are off the trees.Having done a lot of hunting dog training myself I can tell you it takes a special dog to be a top Squirrel hunter, the good ones have to use all their senses, eyes, ears and nose. Curs and Feists are the two best Squirrel breeds as they have been bred especially for that kind of hunting. Good luck in your pursuit. Al

A coon hunt years ago me and my hunting partner go in to my treeing dogs and find them barking treed at the base of a huge 60 foot spruce tree. All the other trees around it were hardwoods with no leaves where any treed Coon could be easily spotted but those old Coons are smart and this Coon climbed up into the big spruce thick with branches and needles where he could not be seen. I shined the tree with my spotlight for about a half hour and finally saw one of the Coon's eye shine at the very top of the tree for a split second so I knew for sure he was up there but no part of him could be seen to take a shot. Now back in those days a good big prime Coon hide was bringing $50.00 so there was no way I was going to give this Coon a pass. When I was a young guy I could climb trees like a monkey so that was my plan, climb up to a place where I could see the coon for a good shot and take him out. Took my coat off and with my S&W K22 revolver in a shoulder holster and a 4 cell mag lite flashlight up the tree I went. The three was so thick with branches that it was pretty easy climbing but those thick branches also concealed the Coon from my view. I had to go right to the very top and when I was about 6 feet below the Coon I could see him well enough for a shot. Now this was a pretty tricky situation, I was sitting on a branch with my legs wrapped around the tree trunk, the mag light in my left hand and the S&W in my right hand. It was hard to be steady and I drew down on the Coon and squeezed off a shot. The instant the gun fired the Coon bailed and where does he land? right on my shoulders!! So here I am screaming like a woman with my legs wrapped around that tree beating the Hell out of the Coon with my Mag Lite. My hunting partner said it was a sight to behold, from the ground it looked like Darth Vader battling an unseen opponent with a light saber. Well I finally knocked that guy off of me and he fell to the ground where the dogs finished him off but that was pretty hairy deal for a while with that growling Coon breathing down my neck. The dumb chances one takes when they are young and foolish, potentially getting yourself killed for a lousy coon! Al

Back in my serious coon hunting days there was nothing more creepy than sitting alone in the middle of the night in the woods and having a pack of Coyotes let loose with their howling, makes the hair on your neck stand up. Many times they would hear my Hounds running a track and that would get them fired up and sometimes they would come in to the Hounds and try to make trouble. I would always have a good gritty Airedale running with the hounds so any trouble making Coyotes got more than they bargained for if they tried starting any crap and messing around with the dogs. Al

I did not live on a farm when I was a kid but I lived in farm country and just about every job and dime I earned was doing some sort of farm work for the local farmers. Carrying full buckets of milk to the milkhouse and pouring them into the milk cans and putting them in the cooler I earned a big 50 cents a night for a couple of hours work. Picked green and yellow wax beans along side black migrant workers, got 50 cents a bushel. Planted brussel's sprouts one year, they were first planted from seed then dug up by hand when they were about 10 inches tall where they were then put on a 4 row planter with 4 seats and 4 people feeding the planter's planting 4 arms. and replanted with wider spacing. Set up irrigation systems when growing several hundred acres of brussel's sprouts. They were harvested in the fall and first each stalk was de-leafed by hand and then a mechanized harvester would go down the rows and cut off the stalks and convey them up a chute and into large wooden crates. In later years the beans were were harvested mechanically , stood on back of the harvester and filled burlap bags, at the end of the rows were trucks that we would off load the bags on to. For the above jobs I got paid a flat $7 a day and was glad to get it. For hay it was always bails, a hot dusty job putting it up in the mow and stacking it. The farms tractors of the day and equipment in general was much smaller than what is seen in the field now, 50 or 60 hp tractors were what most farmers used back then. Al

Watched it live and personally I loved every second of it, nothing new here, Trump puts those jerks in their place and they have it coming to them. Al

Whatever breed you decide on make sure the lines are from hunting and not show, you want to look for a breeder that is actually hunting their dogs and breeds them based on their performance . The Brittany is a pointing breed and can be a great little bird dogs and also a wonderful pet. Springers and Labs are flushers for the most part but some Lab lines point. Wirehairs and Shorthairs from the right lines can be a more versatile breed in that they will also hunt fur like rabbits and coon. For straight upland bird hunting I like an English Setter from field lines, they are medium size and do not have the long flowing fur like an AKC show type. My favorite hunting breed is the Airedale Terrier, a versatile breed, I have had these Airedale dogs since I was a kid and when you get a good one they will hunt everything that walks crawls or flies. Al My old Tee Jay after a pretty fair day afield.

The New York Sportsman Expo coming up in Syracuse at the fairgrounds may be worth checking out. There are always plenty of outfitters from all around the country offering-booking hunts for all kinds of game and you can speak to them directly. Al http://www.newyorksportsmansexpo.com/

LOL, that sounds about right and while those prices were real good and are cheap by today's prices back then it was a whole lot of money for me. Al

I still have an old Parker catalog from back in that time period, I mail order purchased all my original Bair reloading equipment from Parker's and am still using that stuff today. Around 1969 a buddy and myself decided to do a day trip and go down to that store in person, we drove down to New Rochelle to the Parker Distributor retail store from the Rome area where I lived at the time. I was going on an Elk hunt in Colorado with my Dad and needed a rifle. I purchased a Sako Finnbear in 338 Winchester mag along with Sako rings, a Leupold 2X7 scope with a three inch dot reticle and ammo and a few other accessories. My friend bought a pile of reloading equipment and a scope, their prices could not be beat and it was well worth the trip and experience. Good memory! Al

In my younger days I was on snowshoes most of the winter hunting Snowshoe Hare with Beagles. I like the modified bearpaw style best for getting around in the woods, I found the trailer type to be too long in the thick stuff and the bearpaw type too wide with the modified being the best compromise for hunting. For the longest time I used wood frame rawhide laced snowshoes with neoprene bindings, they still make them today and they work perfectly fine. They do require being maintained with a waterproof coating time to time of poly or shellac to keep them in good condition. Those shoes were given to me by my father who had used them for years and they lasted me another 20 or so years before the lacing finally crapped out. So there is nothing wrong with a good set of the old fashioned wood and leather type as long as they are kept up. When I replaced the old shoes I went with the Atlas brand from Cabelas, they are the new type with an aluminum frame, neoprene center support and ratchet bindings. I have not used them nearly as much as the old wood-rawhide shoes but so far they have worked out fine. They are no better for actual use but the zero maintenance is a plus. Al