airedale

I like the rack on this guy. The big guys like him come out to the feeders late,

I had a real nice Fall hitting the timber almost every day for both Squirrels and Deer, I just enjoy being in the woods. Was semi disappointed that I saw no Bucks but I was seeing Does almost every time out and that is what I ended up taking near the end of the season. One Deer is all the wife and I can utilize so that is all I will take. Hunting is far from over for me, as long as the snow does not get too deep I will be small game hunting with one of my dogs which I actually enjoy more. Al

While viewing some of the live feed from that Brownsville Maine feeding station I noticed the big Bucks showed little to no interest in all the Does milling around among them, no chasing no sniffing. Looks like the rut is pretty much over up there in Maine. Al

It is a Koplin possibles bag I got from one of this board's members that did not use it anymore, I had my wife sew on the TC patch that I had laying around and I put the snap enclosure button on it. Ebay has many different types of "BP possibles bags" for sale both used and new, can probably find a Koplin on there if you are patient. Al

I came across this live around the clock Deer feeding station in Maine a couple of years ago, when the snow gets on the ground up there the Deer hit those feeders hard day and night. Right now they are coming out pretty much at night on bare ground and not a whole lot of action during the daylight. Happened to check it out last night before hitting the sack around 1100 pm and there were some real nice wall hangers visiting those feeders. Al

Congratulations, she looks like a nice fat Doe, as the old saying goes "all is well that ends well". Al

When using sabots and Hornady XTPs I carry the tube type speed loaders in my pocket, when hunting with patched round balls and loose powder I carry everything in a possibles bag. Al

I almost always go for the heart-lung shot, that being said if I had a real whopper of a wall hanger present himself for a shot he would get it in the high shoulder for sure. Al

Walmart's prices on just about anything is pretty good and that goes for ammo too. Unless Maine has some kind of cockeyed law I would think you should be able to buy ammo there with no problem, Hochul probably would not like it though. Al

When it comes to shot placement on Deer I have subscribed to the behind the shoulder classic heart-lung shot. It provides a pretty large target and when hit it gives good killing results with minimal edible meat damage. There are times when even a well placed heart-lung shot will produce a death sprint that can be fairly far and may require some tracking. After viewing many hundreds of shots taking game on those African Safari videos I took note that the recommended shot placement is on the shoulder, I can constantly hear the professional hunters keep emphasizing in the shooters ear as they line up for a shot "on the shoulder" the priority is to drop the animal where it stands. While they utilize every single bit of edible meat they do not worry about any meat loss due to shot damage, they want the animal poleaxed. Seeing is believing and there is zero doubt in my mind that the high shoulder shot is the best one to take if one wants to drop the animal in it's tracks. An exception is those Cape Buffalo I have watched a whole lot of them being taken and very few drop with one shot, they are thick tough and refuse to die with some being hit 4, 5 and even 6 times with big heavy calibers before they go down. Al

The thing is a lot of suburban Deer hunting many times has some sort of weapons restrictions, much of the hunting in those areas are limited to archery only. I would say with limited cover they would be a bit easier to find. Al

I once saw an old photo of a team of Moose rigged with harnesses for logging. Update, Found those photos on the Airedale board. Al

For me some of my most satisfying Deer hunts were with my traditional sidelock rifles, I get a real feeling of accomplishment. All of my Deer hunting these days is in the Northern zone, in fact every muzzleloading Deer I have ever taken has been in the Northern season. These days I am mainly a one and done Deer hunter that is about all the freezer room I have and meat the wife and I can consume. Used to do a lot of Southern zone hunting years ago but things down there where I hunted have changed big time and not for the better. For the folks who are going out after them down South keep your powder dry and good luck to you. Al

Bacon, 1 lb to 5 lb Venison. Al

When it comes to warm socks I have found as long as they are made of mostly wool my feet will stay warm in good boots. About 10 years ago I found a closeout on Browning Wool socks and I bought a pile of them for a song, they are some of the best I have ever worn. Still wearing them today. Al

Interesting. Al

I am wondering if these fires happened because of operator error or a defect with the heater. I have a Little Buddy and as long as there was proper ventilation they were safe but now I am wondering. I use mine in my shooting shed in the winter. Al

I believe I have threads posted on almost all of the items mentioned along with photos, I do not remember ever posting anything about the LEM Mighty Bite but like I said it does work great and has metal gears so it should last. As for the Deer I have never taken a photo of any Does I have killed, I just don't. Al

What this does is just make it ever more harder to get your ammo and especially ammo that is not popular and a big seller. I have protected myself from this crap, it is the up and coming folks that are just getting into hunting that this affects especially hard. Try to find ammo for grandpa's 257 Roberts he left you. Hard to find and when you do the prices are crazy, has to be discouraging. Al

I have several firearms that still sport open sights, be it shotgun, handgun or rifle all have fiber optic fire type sights installed. They just give a better sight picture for my old eyes, that being said I still can sight better with and prefer a scope especially when the light is faded during dusk or dawn. When I have to make a shot I want to have the best sight picture I possibly can have. The Deer I took this year was a perfect example, walking through some pretty heavy cover at a distance of a little over 100 yds I would have not taken the shot with open sights as I could not be positive of making a clean hit. With a scope I was able to see small clear openings and when she hit one I touched her off and that was all she wrote. Al

While the Doe I took this year was nothing to brag about she provided useful input on some new equipment. Got to use my new Howa Superlite Rifle Made a kill with factory ammo "Hornady Precision Hunter 143gr EDL" for the first time in many years and the first for me with the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. The new Deer hoist worked like a charm Used an outdoor Edge replaceable blade knife for the first time on the skinning and it worked great Last but not least is the new LEM Mighty Bite meat grinder, picked it up last year on sale and it works very well replacing the Kitchen Aid that was good but a little slow. Al

I realize money is and can be a factor for a purchase but it is not wise to cheap out on your scope. My philosophy is that all of my serious hunting rifles get serious scopes, it is not just about getting a good image when sighting through the scope, I want total reliability with the sighting adjustments, zero fogging, and ability to take heavy recoil without shaking loose, a good quality scope will give you all that with peace of mind. If you ever get the chance to draw down on the buck of a lifetime having good quality reliable equipment will give you the ability if you do your part to make that shot at the moment of truth. Al

A quick review of this little Super Lite rifle, I have messed around with quite a few firearms in my lifetime, but this Howa has really grabbed me. I knew I was going to like this rifle from the press it was getting, I could tell Ron Spomer was taken by it. When you pick this rifle up and get a feel for it that is when it hits you, 4.7 lbs is unreal. I purchased up a Winchester model 70 "Featherweight" just a short time ago, it only weighs a tad over 7 lbs which is fairly light for a walnut stocked bolt action. Side by side compared to the Super Lite it feels like a heavy barrel varmint rifle, lol! I have just it's scratched the surface and only used it hunting for a couple of weeks but so far I love it. For carrying and hunting the woods this rifle is tough to beat and for me personally it is unbeatable, it is like handling a wand. The accuracy I have been getting had been very good for a pencil barrel and pretty much mirrors what Spomer was getting group wise and that is with factory ammo. I have yet to shoot my handloads but I am confident they will be at least as good as the factory load I used to sight in and hunt with and more than likely even better. The detachable magazine is great, convenient and handy, I like them better than the blind detachable floorplate magazines most bolt action rifles have. The Howa trigger is a two stage and very good, once the first stage is taken up the second is light and crisp, as good as it is I still prefer a single stage because that is what I have used all my life. As for the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge I took a medium size Doe and as expected it performed great. I think the 6.5 caliber is just about perfect for Deer hunting. Now that the season is over I have made a couple of changes to the rifle, first off I removed the one piece bridge base and replaced the scope mounts with two piece Tallys that are a bit lighter and lower. The 1X5 gloss Leupold was borrowed from my 375 H&H, so I picked a matching bronze cerakoted Leupold 1X5 for the Super Lite and put the gloss 1X5 back on the 375 H&H. As mentioned above I have tried to keep this rifle as light as possible, even the sling is the lightest I can come up with. pretty much set up the way I want now. I will give a report on how my handloads shoot down the road. Al

He is a beauty First Light, persistence pays off, congratulations. Al