airedale

It sure is heavy duty and made for something with substantial weight, looks like a giant version of a skinning gambrel. The needle in the middle looks to be there to help making sure the weight is evenly distributed on both sides. Al

Any system that will work for you is worth putting the effort in to keep good records I think. Al

I have got my eye out for a small light weight revolver with adjustable sights chambered for 22, due to the huge variety of ammo available to shoot adjustable sights are imperative for me. It does not have to be anything fancy as I do not view a trail gun like a match gun. One that I really like a lot is the old Charter Arms Pathfinder with a 3 inch barrel, if I could find a nice used one I would snap it up. Al

Many of the best figured gun stocks are made from those dug up stumps, they can be stunning. Al

There are probably many definitions of what a trail gun is to different people. For me it has always been some kind of small compact light weight easy carrying gun to have on me just in case of whatever when I am out and about in the outdoors. I got to thinking about one of my favorites when I made a post in the Catfish thread fishing the Black River outside of Dexter. We used to fish off the bank setting up on large table sized flat rocks, and underneath and between those rocks it was alive with huge water snakes. When the sun warmed things up those Anacondas would crawl out from under those rocks and warm themselves, one minute you are alone the next you have a four and a half foot snake sitting next to you giving you the eye.. Back then I owned a little S&W model 34 with a 2 1/2 inch barrel and would have it on me many times when fishing, half the cylinder was loaded with rat shot which worked real good on those snakes and also on those big eels we would catch fishing. They would come in all balled up on the end of your line and would actually try to bite you when removing them off the hook. A load of rat shot in the head and they would straighten right out. The 34 has long been gone, dealed away on some kind of gun trade, another one of my bonehead moves as I really wish I still had it. I have a few handguns that still work as a trail gun, a Sig 938, a S&W 2213 Sportsman and a Charter Arm Bulldog, all are in the low 20 ounce range and carry nice. The Bulldog is my favorite because being a revolver I can load some chambers with rat shot. Still I would like to get my hands on another small revolver chambered in 22, I am looking! Al

So who is actually giving these online safety courses? Al

Upgrading the electronics and lighting is probably the thing to do with vintage bikes, you are coming along and look to be doing a good job. Al

A Catfish story, Back in the late seventies I was passing the winter doldrums reading an outdoor magazine and came across a fellow's can't miss Catfish doughball bait recipe. Being bored I decided to make up a batch of this wonder bait as I had all the ingredients in the kitchen. I can now only remember two of the ingredients, Bran flakes cereal and honey, there were at least three other things in the recipe. Anyhow once mixed good up it had the consistency of clay, the batch was made up into a softball size ball and wrapped in cellophane and put into the freezer where it was supposed to keep for very long periods of time. Back in those days I hung out with a gang of guys that would make a couple of trips up to Dexter NY just to the west of Watertown, we would put a boat in the Black River and head out toward the marsh. There were several good spots to fish from the bank and we would pull in and tie up the boat and still fish. Probably the best place I ever fished, the variety of species caught was something, Bullheads, Carp, Smallmouth Bass, White Perch, EELs, and Catfish and the bite was non stop. So on one of those trips I brought that ball of bait and had it in my tackle box, I was catching fish like mad on minnows and crayfish so I did not have any on my rods for bait. One of the guys walked by and saw it and asked about it, I told him it was can't miss Catfish bait. he asked if he could give it a try and I said go ahead. Wasn't a couple of minutes and he reeled in a nice Channel Cat about 17 or 18 inches long. He baited his hook again and boom another one about the same size. So that bait now had got attention from the other guys and they started baiting their hooks with it. To make a long story short 19 Channel Catfish were caught on the ball of dough before it ran out, most were small about like over sized Bullheads but one was a whopper. Now I never could duplicate that recipe, the wife tossed the magazine months earlier and I just could not remember the exact ingredients, as hard as I tried nothing I made had the results of the original recipe. Al

I don't know much about western NY waters so I can not give you any advice, I can say I like fishing for Catfish and enjoy eating them. There are all kinds of different baits for Catfish, some are real concoctions. Back in the early sixties my Dad and some of his friends would set out a trot in Oneida lake and catch some whoppers, hotdogs was their bait of choice. Back when I worked in a Rome Sporting goods store we sold bait for fishing, back then Griffis Airforce Base was in full operation and we had many of those guys for customers. We had a couple of boys from down south somewhere that were experts on Catfish. They had us order extra large size golden Shinners which they would drift fish under bobbers. They used a small row boat to head up Oneida lake tributaries like Fish Creek and Oneida Creek and fish over deep holes. Those two would pick up their bait at the 6pm closing time and head out and fish all night, they would pull into the store in the morning to show us their catch and man they caught some real whoppers and plenty of them. Al

I have done quite a bit of fishing in the Erie-Barge canal between Rome and Oneida lake, my main target was mostly Carp but I also caught good numbers of Walleyes, Small Mouth Bass, White Bass and Crappie and I ate them. Were they safe?, I do not know for sure but they tasted good and I am still around. Al

Coursing with Dogs is something I have always wanted to try, if I lived in an area where I had some wide open spaces it would be something I would try. The pack below made up of Stag hounds and Airedales are out for some Coyote action. Al

I see now that most of the bucks at the Brownsville Maine feed station have dropped their antlers, there are only two or three that still have them. With all the snow melting this week it should prime for shed hunters. Al

I love tinkering with vintage motorcycles, can't beat the satisfaction getting an old timer back on the road ship shape and running fine. Good luck with your endeavor and keep posting your progress as you go along. Taking my bikes on the back roads with a pack rod, finding and fishing small streams is one of my favorite things to do. Al

I have never heard of that outfit personally, I stick with the NRA, Gun Owners Of America, The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association. Al

I kept meticulous records when hunting and training my dogs, I came up with and used a graph type scale to score how they performed each time I took them out for both training and actual hunting. Sort of like a report card from the time they were pups right through adulthood. Over that period of time the score on the scale would accurately pretty much tell what kind of hunter they were going to be. Other type of hunting I did make mental notes but did not keep and written records. Al

Came out great, congrats. Al

Happy Birthday

This system I think will help me a lot with my various rimfire firearms, I shoot all types of ammo, Bulk, Subsonic, High velocity, Hyper velocity, Match Target, Standard velocity etc, it all shoots different group wise and trajectory wise. I will be able to keep better track of what type of ammo they were sighted in with and how they were sighted. Al

I have seen posts right on this board by a member basically saying because this is such a heavy Democrat leaning state it was a waste of his time to vote because he felt it would make no difference, the worst of the worst in my opinion, spineless!! Al

Watching the evening local evening news reporting on all of the hoopla about Micron setting up shop here in central NY. I think it is a great thing that all branches of County, State and Federal government get behind the project. They are falling over themselves doing everything possible to make sure it happens from acquiring land, tax breaks, building infrastructure for water and electric, housing and even career courses specializing chip technology to insure a top rate workforce. Now would it not have been great to see the same amount of effort put into one of the icons and one of the biggest firearms manufacturers already here in central NY. Like their model for making Micron "THE" leading chip manufacturer in the world and doing the same for Remington who already has a great head start here. Anyone with a half a brain knows the answer! Al

Hunter Trader Trapper, which is todays "Fur Fish and Game", the best Outdoor magazine going. Al

I am a big believer in keeping records of my firearms pertaining to accuracy, velocity and trajectory of ammunition both factory and handloads. My problem was a half-assed system, notes scribbled on pieces of paper here and there, notations in loading manuals and notebooks and it showed how bad it was when trying to remember how a certain load performed and then trying to find the actual data which seemed to take forever. So I have come up with a more organized system that when information is needed on a handload and how it performed out of a particular firearm it can be looked up and found easily. I picked up a card file system where every firearm will have a card or cards showing exactly how it performed with anything I put through it. It is going to be a fun summer wringing out handloads recording data with my new Garmin Xero Chronograph. Al

What happened was I had a few knapped arrowheads I picked up somewhere and they were so nice I decided I would like to attach some of them to cedar arrows. I purchased a dozen turkey feather fletched cedar arrows and cut them to length and followed a youtube video on how to put primitive arrowheads on, I used modern materials, Spyder Wire fishing line along with Gorilla Glue and they are on good and solid. They were made basically for display although I believe they would actually work well for hunting. The arrowheads I used for actual hunting are the old Bear Razorheads and I have some Savora replaceable blade heads. Al

A while back I built some knapped head cedar arrows, they are strong and sharp, I think with a well placed shot one would be able to take a deer, I am tempted to give it a try with my long bow. Al

Last week on the Brownsville channel I watched a Buck chasing hard on a Doe, his nose up her rear. Al