airedale

You got that right, nothing more enjoyable from my perspective making for wonderful hunts and memories, my Dogs have saved the day many times down through the years. Great photos, I enjoyed seeing them. One of the videos I watched had a big Cape Buffalo Bull wounded and holed up in a big clump of very thick thorn bushes, all you could see were the bushes moving with no shot available. The PH turned loose his Fox Terrier who went in there like an angry Hornet taking the Bull's attention away from the hunters and driving the Bull into exposing himself for a killing shot. Al

Corn is one of the best things to attract and draw deer, having it standing would be a positive in my opinion. Al

I would guess the folks that came up with that chart put in a lot of data to get those numbers, more than likely giving a good ballpark estimate. The edible meat in relation to live weight calculations are pretty much on the mark. Al

Here is my blind, wadded up it fits in my game bag making it highly portable allowing me to run and gun. I was sitting on a log a couple of days ago and had a squirrel get on my foot with a pine cone in it's mouth and proceed to remove the pine nuts and eat them. As long as I am not winded it works well for Varmints and Deer and Turkey. I use it mostly early in the seasons when the leaves are still on. Al

Find something made of wool to your liking that will be comfortable under the bibs and ditch the jeans, they are made of cotton. Al

An innovative and nifty idea for those that use blinds, I would like to actually see one in the flesh. Al

It is hard to stay warm when sitting in cold weather for long periods of time no matter what you wear. Rule number one is to stay away from cotton garments. I do not have any experience with the electric warmed clothing but from what I hear it is probably your best bet. The chemical hand-toe warmers work great also for sitting. Top quality down filled clothing is the warmest I think but it's bulky loft makes it cumbersome for the movement I want when hunting. Good quality wool hunting clothing-socks-underwear in different weights has served me well, also like a layer of thin poly against my skin to wick sweat. I am not much for sitting long periods of time so I stay warm. Al

Been seeing quite a few black colored gray Squirrels this fall, I would see one every now and then in the past as they are pretty rare around here but this year I have seen at least three different ones. I have never killed one because they are so rare but if they keep coming up in numbers I may just knock one off and get it mounted. Speaking of Squirrels I have just purchased one of those Squirrel skinning helpers, the guys I know that have one say they work great. I have always used the stand on the tail and pull up method that works ok but many times will ruin the tail. Anyhow after Deer season I will give this gizmo a workout, it looks to be very well made out of aluminum. Al

Man that runs chills up my spine, the poor SOB. Al

This dog appears to be a Pointer type but does a good job blood tracking regardless. I think many hunting breeds with drive and that handle well can make good blood trackers.

That guy is a heavyweight. Al

I have long ago stopped watching any American Deer hunting shows, these African Safari shows are something for the most part completely different from US hunting. I am always looking to learn new things and to be honest I picked up on quite a bit of interesting techniques from those Safari shows. As far as brush busting rifles I have subscribed to past Outdoor Life magazine's gun editor "Jim Carmichael's" take on the matter. Instead of trying to plow through the brush with a big heavy bullet out of something like a 45-70 he preferred a flat shooting highly accurate rifle that he could thread the needle through an opening big enough to hit the vitals of whatever games he was after. If that shot is not there, do not pull the trigger. To me it makes the most sense. Al

There has been volumes written about so called brush guns and their ability to plow a bullet through thick cover, hit and kill their target. Years ago there was plenty of factory ammo produced mainly with some type of round nose bullet for the purpose of hunting in heavy cover. Then the gun writers came up with experiment after experiment testing ammo to see how it performed shooting through man made brush duplicating shields at targets. Time and time again it was pretty much proven that no matter what kind of caliber or bullet type shot through brush chances were it would be deflected off target almost 100% or the bullet would be knocked off it's flight axis and tumble. I actually had exactly that experience moose hunting in Newfoundland. I had a nice Bull coming down a hill quartering at about 100 yards, he was plowing through some high brush and I took a at shot at just behind the shoulder. At the shot he immediately turned back and started running back up the hill, this time I put the crosshairs on his lower neck and he went down like a ton of bricks. The rifle was a 7MM Remington mag firing 175 gr Nosler Partitions. When the hide was removed we found the first shot's bullet must have hit some of that brush and started tumbling and hit just behind the front shoulder going sideways, it was only under the hide an inch or so. So after all the experiments and actual performance in the field it was pretty much settled in the gun rags, do not take a shot through thick brush and I personally went along with that assumption. So as I have mentioned a few days ago I have been watching youtube African Safari hunts and have seen literally hundreds of different game animals large and small taken with various rifles and the one thing that surprised me is many times the hunter would not hesitate shooting through thick cover at an animal and that most of the time a kill was made. Kind of turned the brush shooting theories upside down. I am still a big proponent of taking a good clear shot but I have to admit I am scratching my head after watching those African hunts. Al

Make sure to saturate and I mean a good permethrin soaking the cuffs of your pants, the waist-belt area of your pants, the ends of your shirt sleeves and the collar along with your hat, those are the entry points. That is my first line of defense, I still readily use good old bug repellent with a high percentage of Deet on my hands-wrist, ankles, and neck for the final touch. I don't care how much it smells, after going through a bad bout of Lyme disease there is no Deer worth not taking extra precaution from my perspective. Al

Some of the Pro Hunter's Africa Blood Tracking dogs, they do a nice job from what I have seen. Al

Making me drool, nothing finer eating than good moose meat as far as I am concerned. I was lucky enough to go on several Moose hunts when I was a young feller and have eaten a lot of it. ENJOY!! Al

One of my favorite firearms was a Remington 1100 20 ga bought new back in the late sixties for $146.00, I killed a pile of small game with that shotgun along with several Deer. Traded it for a new model 51 Ithaca Deerslayer autoloader in 12 ga. One of the best firearms ever made I think and I would say the selling price these days for a used 1100 20 ga would be in the one thousand dollar range give or take a few bucks depending on condition. A 12 ga would bring in substantially less. Special editions can bring in a few more bucks. Al

About 15 years ago I had my little Savage model 24 22/410 OU Barrels done with a black Duracoat finish by Gander Mountain. The Savage is one of my favorite small game guns and I take it for a stroll frequently. I have become very appreciative of that Duracoat finish it now wears, no chipping, peeling or fading so far, it still looks brand new. These new Cerakote-Duracoat Hi-Tech type finishes have it all over the traditional blue finish. They actually protect the metal making it pretty much weather and corrosion resistant unlike a blue finish that can and will rust. They can come in just about any color and look one can want from the traditional black which looks like high polish or matt blue to camo and some pretty crazy colors if that is what one prefers. I have since purchased some other firearms with that type of finish and am totally sold on it, very good stuff. Al

Have a good one Bugs

Hunting with that double side by side he was more than likely using Buckshot. I remember old timers speaking of using Buckshot and shooting the Deer at fairly close range like you would a rabbit, I bet a lot of deer were wounded back then. Al

I still hunt for the most part and yesterday the leaves were like walking on potato chips, wearing the GS Extreme hearing aids amplified the sound of my steps to a whole different level probably what a Deer would actually hear, still hunting was out of the question. A drizzling rain this morning should make the going a lot better this afternoon. Al

Insurance companies will be using the books above or anything similar if they have to cover a loss. Selling privately to individuals or dealers is a whole different ball game. What they are actually worth and what you can get somebody to pay is the name of the game. Al

Love the temperature but the leaves seemed to be extra crunchy and noisy, no still hunting, had a couple of sits and saw two Squirrels and a Chipmunk, that was it. Al

There are several books published that will give a good idea of a Gun's value. Blue Book Of Gun Value Modern Gun Values Gun Traders Guide. You can find these books on Amazon and can save money buying one a year or two old, the values do not change much year to year. When I worked in the business buying and selling used guns I used all the above but like Modern Gun Values best. Al