airedale

The Daisy Avanti is a good starter rifle to learn to shoot with especially in the house. It is a single shot with a receiver sight and it fires BBs very accurately at short range. Al

For serious deer or varmint hunting I like using a good pair of quality binoculars. But when I am small game-bird hunting or even sometimes when fishing I have and use a couple of good quality small monoculars. I carry one in a pocket to have just in case there is something far enough away or up high in a tree that I can not identify with the naked eye. While they do not get used often they have come in handy and did their job several times when needed without having to carry a set of regular binoculars. Al

I have an old Russian SKS military rifle that I have been playing around with and with the cheap ammo that is available for this thing I have been getting to do a lot of shooting and must say this is one fun rifle, totally reliable and reasonably accurate. The thing I could not stand is the garbage standard stock that comes on them, "CHEESY" is the one word that describes it best and it is way too short for me. My SKS what is called a refurb rifle meaning after being in service it was sent back to a Russian armory and any worn parts were replaced and the gun returned to new condition. Bottom line these refurbs no longer have matching serial numbers on all their parts so their collector value is limited and makes them good for personal customization. For me the el cheeso stock had to go, I decided on a Tapco laminated sporter stock based on reviews that it received from folks that tried them. Basically a drop in but there was a bit of minor fitting that had to be done. With the bayonet removed and the new stock on the old SKS looks modern and the stock feels and fits me great. Other than being overly heavy these SKS rifles are a panic. Al

I bought my first bow back in the late 60s, a Bear Super Kodiak recurve which I still have and shoot today. Back then any mechanical release was illegal to hunt with so I learned to shoot with a glove and have continued to do so. I have aso had through the years three different compound bows used a glove with those also. The three compounds have long since been sent down the road. Never really caught the Deer hunting bug with a bow, most of my bow hunting was and is for small game and I especially like bow fishing and shooting carp. Al Here is the old Bear Super Kodiak, just about 50 years old now but it can still lay them in there.

One only has to look at the primitive human cultures that still exist in this world today in wild places to know that hunting is in our genes and we descend from and are natural born predators. Hunting fills a primal urge and need that is still present to varying degrees in humans today. Humans are a lot like the hunting dog breeds they once bred to help them be successful hunters. Remove those breeds from the hunt for a few generations and their desire and ability begins to wane. Some hunting breeds taken over by the pet trade have lost almost all hunting ability and drive. Humans for the most part have suffered the same fate as they became removed from rural lifestyles and more urbanized they do not have to get their hands dirty for their sanitized food sources available at their nearest market. In a nutshell if a person is brought up in a hunting culture they are more apt to be involved, removed from such a culture over time most will quit participating. For me the natural born predator instinct and drive for the hunt still exists strong, a lot of it because of the way I was brought up which provided me opportunity. Al

I am not a big time Coyote hunter so no expert here, I have shot them starting with a 22LR and moving on up to various centerfire varmint calibers on to a 12 Ga with large shot for short range in the woods. Like any other type of hunting it boils down to having a good clear shot and having the firearm, confidence in it and shooting ability to match your hunt situation so you can make a clean kill. I know guys out west that are into the Coyote hunting big time and are serious about their work, they want as little damage to the hides as possible. The firearm of choice with them is something chambered in the 17 Remington. It has plenty of range, you get a small entry hole, massive internal damage with no exit hole = zero pelt damage. Al

I have been around long enough to have had the opportunity to watch the old ABC "American Sportsman" shows hosted by Curt Gowdy. Plain old fashioned hunting using woodsmanship skills, no baited fields, food plots or tree houses-stands or compound bows-crossbows or other fancy equipment. Produced professionally with great guest hunter-fishermen every week, they were well worth watching and and entertaining. In later years the now defunct weekend hunting-fishing show lineups on ESPN Outdoors and TNN were also done right. Also the now gone Outdoor Life network had some pretty good shows, "Hunting With Hank" upland bird hunting show in my opinion was the best hunting show ever produced. The hunting shows they broadcast today are for me not worth watching, all about selling stuff. Al

Al

I had the same problem with my little Marlin 94 44 mag carbine, when the lighting was dim I could not get a good enough sight picture with a receiver sight for a confident shot. I picked up one of those little Leupolds and mounted it. Love the scope, light and compact, big eye relief and wide field of view, about as perfect as I could want for that particular rifle. Go back a few months in this section of the board and there will be a little writeup called early season woods rifle about that scope. Like the scope so much I bought another and am going to mount it on a Marlin 94 357 mag. Al

One of the biggest bonehead wheel and dealing moves I made was getting rid of a pre war S&W 38-44 heavy duty Outdoorsman revolver. It fired 38 special loads similar to the Plus-P loads we have today. It was built on their 44 large frame and the workmanship-fit-finish was as good as I have ever seen on any firearm at any cost. My reasoning back then was why would I want to carry a revolver the same size as my model 29 44 mag that was firing the puny 38spl. "DOPE!!" Al file photo

Republican common sense decency law was not repealed.

After dark will definitely will have the most action, a good powerful varmint light with a red lens cover will hold them there long enough to get a shot, some can be scope mounted which makes sighting nice. Just before dark and at daybreak will also be productive. A setup in the woods where the range is shorter a blind of some sort would work well. Playing the wind is real important for where you setup as the Foxes and Coyotes will circle and come in from down wind so it is easy to be busted. An open field setup at long range works real well as far as the wind goes, you will need good binoculars, camo, a good rest and an accurate rifle to make clean kills. Coyotes like to hang at the treeline edges until almost dark and many times can be spotted for a good shot. As far as calling I wear camo and break my outline usually sitting at the base of a tree. I have had good luck with both mouth calls and electronic types, middle of the winter when the snow is deep and it is cold brings the best results. They are hungry and come in on the run. In the woods because of the ranges I will use a shotgun with shotshells matched for varmints, out in the open I will use a scoped accurate varmint rifle. Back when I did a lot of varmint hunting I would most times have one of my Airedales along, they will many times alert me early to a varmint coming in and sometimes using a shotgun I would get a runner and if needed they will track them down and finish the job. Al

Once the weather turns and stays cold a predator popsicle makes a good draw for most predators. Making one is fairly easy, all you need is a large cheap plastic tub and then fill it with whatever various food scraps you can get your hands on, cheap bag of dog food, road kills, table scraps, whole corn, Deer guts, etc etc. Once the tub is close to being full fill it the rest of the way with water, mix everything well and then leave it out in the cold to freeze into a solid block. Once frozen solid haul it to your stand-blind area and dump it out of the tub, it will come out like a giant ice cube. As long as the weather stays cold it will last for a long time as any predators drawn to it will have their work cut out for them eating it down and it will be too heavy to carry off. Al

Right you are Dan and you can add the other N Frame models 25 model 57 and model 29 to that Cadillac listing, those big revolvers are just beautiful to look at and hold and accurate as any. I once owned a model 29 with the 6 1/2 inch barrel, back then they came with the velvet lined wood presentation case and cleaning kit. I killed a couple of Deer with it and a nice big boar hog in Tennessee. I made a huge mistake trading it toward a Desert Eagle autoloading 44 mag which is a great gun also but in retrospect I should have kept the S&W model 29 and just bought the Desert Eagle outright. Al My old Model 29 and Tenn Hog about 40 yrs ago I think.

HUNTING OVER?? Heck the fun has just begun!! Al Grouse open till Feb 28 Pheasant open till Feb 28 Squirrel open till Feb 28 Raccoon, Fox, Opossum open till Feb 15 CottonTail Rabbit open till March 19 Hare open till Jan 31 Crow open till March 31 Coyote open till March 26

Matty is growing like a weed and is coming along nicely, below is a photo of her staunch on point. On A Squirrel

For me binoculars are a lot like rifle scopes and fall into two categories. If for the woods and it's shorter ranges I like light weight with lower power and a large field of view. A quality pair of wide angle 6 or 7 power and up to 35 mm objectives will work great. For open spaces and glassing long distances a higher power will be an advantage, a friend of mine has a farm with big open fields with places that can be glassed several hundred yards. He has a pair of Nikon 10X50s that are beautiful for that situation sitting in a stand but they are huge and weight a ton. I would not want to be carrying them around my neck all day. There are models with a power and weight that fall in between those two types above like 8X42 to 10X42 that are a compromise in weight power and field of view for a one pair all arounder. As for brands I would buy from a manufacturer with a good track record that has been around and there are several. Personally I have used high end Bushnell binos for many years and they have worked out well for me. Al

I do not believe there is any dog breed that is completely hypoallergenic, it is a dog's skin dander for the most part that causes any allergies. There are some breeds that seem to have less dander than others and some believe the Airedale breed is one of them but I have never seen any real scientific evidence proving it. As for shedding it is the same, all dogs will shed except for one of those hairless breeds and some breeds shed more than others. A good brushing a couple of times a moth is the best solution for shedding dogs. Al

A couple of more nice Bucks.

Gene Simmons of the rock band "Kiss" meets his match

There are several that are formally trained as blood trailers, some were just brought to the last known position of the deer and they tracked them up and found them ether by foot scent or blood. I have used my own Airedales on occasion several times just putting them on the track for Fox and Coyote that kept going after being hit by a shot gun and have them track them up and find. Al

Same with me Dan and I have not been without one since that time A lot of hunters use these Airedales for varmints below is a photo I pulled from a video of an Airedale named "Earl" going under a windfall and pulling out a wounded Coyote, a pretty tough job to say the least. Al

A few photos of folks around the US and Canada that use their Airedales for recovering game. Al

I buy the Turduchens already prepared, deboned and stuffed with either a cornbread stuffing or a Cajun rice stuffing. The wife likes doing them in one of those Nesco ovens and they come out great. I have been getting mine at the local Walmart. Al

My clan gathers at my place on Christmas Eve, I was doing deep fried Turkey as the main course for many years but I switched over to having roast Turduchens for the past 5 or 6 years. I am addicted to the things. Will also do a Kentucky ham along with all the traditional holiday fixings. Al