airedale

HSUS is against any kind of sport hunting "PERIOD" and they sure as Hell don't give a crap about what kind of weapon or bullets a hunter uses. Yes they will use "ANY" kind of tactic they can to get their goal accomplished including the false fear mongering narratives about lead based ammo." Al

A long time ago I was big into Coon hunting and competition nite hunts with Coon Hounds, I worked hard on keeping my dogs straight on Coon. I would break them from running any off game like Deer, Rabbits and Fox. Anyhow I purchased a silver phase Red Fox kit from an animal dealer to use for breaking my dogs. Silvers are basically black with some of the guard hair having white tips. Below is my little fox kit whom I named Roxy and one of my best English Coon Hounds Eli. Roxy grew up to be a beautiful fox especially in the winter when her coat was at it's best. So yes there are black Foxes. Al

Dan I have walked up on Owls sitting in trees quite a few times, they just don't seem to have any fear of people for the most part. This guy was sitting in a tree in my back yard just this winter, he paid little if any attention to me.

Good article and nice photos. Al

The question really is at what point is the line drawn against technically advanced hunting implements being used in "special seasons" that were originated and supposed to be for primitive weapons? Al

BWAHAHAHA!!

Some years ago I pulled my drive in one snowy winter evening from a store run and could see something on my parked truck's mirror. I walked over and found that it was a little Saw Whet Owl just perched there with his eyes closed. He did not look in too good of shape so I picked him up and brought him inside to look him over. I could immediately see that several of his toes had frozen off and he was boney and just about dead. I just happened to have a large bird cage so I set him inside on a perch and expected to find him dead in the morning. When morning came he was still sitting there on the perch still looking rough so I decided to see if I could feed him something. Happened to have some raw chicken breast in the fridge so I sliced up some small bite sized pieces and offered it to him. Man he gobbled that chicken up like there was no tomorrow. Well as a few days went by he came along very well and started to look like he was getting back to normal. His problem was he had no toes-talons so he would have a hard time catching anything to eat, turning him loose in the middle of the winter would have just been a death sentence. I kind of liked the little guy and it was not a big deal to take care of him so I did. He ended up living about another year and a half. Chicken was his favorite food but he also like lean red meat. His cage door was left open and he would come out and fly around for exercise for a bit and eventually go back in his cage when he wanted to eat or drink and sleep. I called him Hootie

Doc said, "More and more people are beginning already to ask that question, and perhaps rightly so. Special seasons? ... special rules? is that getting to be an obsolete idea? At one time bow season was a rather benign low impact form of hunting that drew little attention. The idea of some special seasons and rules actually had some necessity and justification. That necessity is being erased a piece at a time ..... one precedent at a time." ============================================= Back in the day special seasons were granted and put into place for bow and muzzleloader hunters because it was supposed to be hard. The thing is people always find ways of getting an edge and getting it approved and legalized for their genre. With the Archery recurves went to compounds with less and less effort needed to draw them back, finger tabs to mechanical release, wood arrows to fiberglass to aluminum to carbon fiber. Arrow speeds have basically doubled. Muzzleloaders were sidelock primitives firing a patched round ball. Went from there to firing conical type, to inline rifles to sabots to modern jacketed bullets to black powder substitutes to smokeless powder. Muzzleloaders today can virtually duplicate the ballistics and range of a cartridge gun. The way it looks to me is it is all about money, some greed and not about being hard anymore, there is some kind of a special season going from September till January and for each one it will cost you. Al

When there are times the exact range needs to be known be it for golf, handgun, bow or rifle a good rangefinder can prove to be invaluable and a difference maker. I have a Bushnell Legend and it has worked well for me with no problems as of yet. Al

I replaced my old worn buzzy tumbler last fall with a Frankford Arsenal and cleaned a bunch of brass over the winter with great results, I am very happy with it so far. Al

Natchez has a pretty good sale going on, I price compared on reloading components and scopes and they have some good savings. https://www.natchezss.com/

Well I decided to go with Midway's Frankford Arsenal brush and mica setup and give it a try and see how I like it. Al

You are probably right about being single as having an advantage sometimes when it comes to buying into this kind of stuff, some women just do not understand why us hunters and shooters need this equipment. That being said my cluttered gun room disaster finally even got to the "Storm And Strife" and she was all for getting that the room into order. Al

Since day one I have always used the same case lube that I do the outside of my brass cases as I do for the inside of the case mouth-neck. I just swish the inside case neck brush across the lube pad and then run the brush into the case mouth. I have yet to have a stuck case or a misfire from lube contamination using this original method I was taught from the very start. Still I have always liked the idea of lubing the inside of the neck with dry lube. I have seen several dry lube deals such as the Redding bead system and the Forster dry lube brush setup. Just wondering if anyone has tried any the dry lube setups and what their opinion of them is especially when it comes to stuck expander buttons. Al

This is my almost 50 year old Bair 150 press made by the old Bair Machine Tool company who also made Pacific reloading equipment. It is a very well made heavy duty compound leverage press that can size large cases with ease. I completely dismantled and cleaned the old boy up along with giving it a new paint job from blue to black. Because the new benches have drawers I used an inline fabrication press mounting stand to raise the press out of the way so the drawers can be opened, I like it at this height. I also changed out the Bair press original handle for a new inline fabrication handle with the side grip. The old press is now as good as new and ready for another 50 years of handloading. Al

And those Syracuse girls are not to shabby either! Al

I like the Ruger 77s a lot Jaeger, A little trigger work and shimming the bolt are two easy upgrades that makes them pretty good shooters. Al

Happy Easter all, I am looking forward to my Reese's Peanut Butter Egg!

Thanks for keeping an eye out for it Dan, the Syracuse gun show is coming up I have made some good scores there on hard to get stuff. I am also on the lookout for some 284 Winchester. Al

Here is a blast from the past the revolutionary Remington Nylon 66, in this case the magazine fed version the Nylon 77. Nothing fancy here, these were one of the first factory firearms to use synthetic materials (NYLON) in large percentage for it's construction. This 77 is my Coon hunting rifle that I carried many nights and I can say this is one tough rifle that has seen some hard going but always came through when the time came. It actually still looks pretty good considering the beating it has taken. I liked the magazine fed model because it was quick to load when needed as I do not like carrying it loaded being dragged by my dogs and stumbling around through the woods at night. Very lightweight, good reliability, hunting accuracy and an abuse taker for sure the ultimate Coon hunter's gun. Al

Now that is what I call a free floated barrel. How does she shoot? Al

Here is the one that afflicted me with the Rimfire disease. The Remington 541S was based on their target model called the 541X. Some of you folks may remember Remington's economy rifle the 788, it had rear locking lugs and an extremely fast lock time that resulted in accuracy that many times surpassed their flagship model 700. The 541S is basically a mini 788 action with the same type of rear locking lugs and a very fast lock time. Al

We have some similar tastes Jaeger. The Winchester 52s are all time classics, I have a B that I just got done mounting an old Redfield 20X 3200 on. I also have an 1885 low wall standard model and just put a better scope on it. When the weather turns nice I will seeing how those two shoot with their new eyes. WOLC 123 your Ruger 10/22 has to be one of the all time great rimfire rifles ever produced, keep after those rabbits and squirrels. Al

Back in the late seventies I worked part time in a good friend's sporting goods store and he decided to stock a couple of higher end 22 rifles. One was a Weatherby autoloader and the other was a Remington 541 S bolt action sporter. Up to that time I had been shooting a Browning BL 22 lever gun and was very happy with it but that Remington caught my eye. It was a full sized adult rifle based on the 541 target rifle action finished off in the same fashion as Remington's BDL bolt action centerfires and priced about the same. I remember when telling customers the price of the rifle the sticker shock that came over them with usually words going along the lines, "That Much For A 22" !! What they were doing was basing price to caliber and not to the quality of the gun. Modestly priced 22 rifles were all over the place so when they saw one twice or three times the price of what they were accustomed to they about keeled over. Back then I was doing quite a bit of Bullseye pistol shooting and going through hundreds of rounds every month. I found out quickly that if I was going to be serious about it that I needed a top quality pistol. So that was the view I took with the Remington 541 S, of the rifles I owned at the time my 22 was the one I shot the most. I took the view that the rifle I actually used and shot the most should be one of my best ones. I love it when I can talk myself into a new gun and that is just what happened with the 541 S LOL. That rifle is one of the best purchases I ever made and the most shot rifle I have ever owned. I still have it today and shoot it frequently and she still drives tacks, a good many Squirrels ended up in the slow cooker because of that one. That Remington started a rimfire trend with me that continues to this day not only with the 22 LR but with several other rimfires like the 17 HMR and the 22 Mag. I am doing a sales pitch right now on myself to acquire one of those Ruger 77/17 WSMs, not sold yet but close. Now if the hoarders will quit hogging ammo so availability and prices get back where they belong! Anyone here been bit by the Rimfire Bug? Al

I have not fished much in recent years but simple bank fishing is one of my favorites ways to go. Bullheads were a target along with Suckers, Carp and Catfish. Al