airedale

If these calling techniques actually work with some consistency it would be a useful tool for hunting Hare and Rabbits. It would be helpful for Snowshoe Hare especially on bare ground. This time of year they have changed to their white coats and one would think hunting them on bare ground they would stick out like a sore thumb and be easy pickings. If they were out in the open they would stick out like a sore thumb, the problem is when the ground is bare they seem to know that fact they are vulnerable and hold up out of sight under tight cover. Laying up like that they give off little to no scent making it hard for the dogs to get a strike and a race started. I have seen dogs literally run over a laid up Hare without a clue it was there but as soon as they raise up off the ground the dogs smell scent immediately and it is off to the races. If calling just works good enough for them to expose themselves for a second so they can be flushed for the dogs it would be great in itself. Give it a try Gunner and see if you have any success, good luck. Al

Love it when I learn something new, I once heard that it is possible at times to call a Hare or Rabbit out of cover and expose itself well enough to get a shot. Well good old youtube has provided some evidence this may be true as there are a couple of videos showing it being done. I at one time had a few SnowShoe Hare out in the woods in back of my place and I think I have a couple of mouth calls in my arsenal that can duplicate what I hear in the videos and may give it a try, if nothing else there will be a good chance a Fox or Coyote may respond. Al

Because so much time has passed Teddy Roosevelt these days does not come to mind when it comes Hunting literature, but after reading several of his books written about hunting I came away impressed with his overall knowledge and writing styles that kept my interest. All his stuff is now available in new paperback or on Amazon kindle and well worth reading if you are a book worm. He had a bunch of books published, below are a couple I liked. Al

I found it is all in the time the coffee was actually perked, after being conditioned to today's coffee makers that automatically time everything in the brew process has to be tossed. The perk experts say once the pot is brought up to a steady perk to let things continue at a medium heat and for about 7 minutes gets the brew about right. My favorite coffee these days is McDonalds McCafe Al

When searching for the best accuracy out of my muzzleloaders it for me has always been the type of projectile and it's weight and matching it to the barrel twist that made my biggest gains for accuracy followed by powder charge. Al

Reloading is one of those things that is a never ending, learning process and I am always looking to further educated myself and I am still learning new stuff every day. One of my favorite sites to glean solid information is the youtube channel of fortune cookie 45 lc. I thought I was nut for handloading but this guy makes me look like an amateur. This fellow demonstrates the latest and greatest handloading techniques, components and equipment with good understandable instruction and video and he will personally answer questions. I can say I have learned a lot from him and picked up some very valuable tips and thought I would pass this guy's knowledge along to anyone that is interested, it is good stuff. He also does talks and demos on different firearms at the range along with other odds and ends. The link to his channel is below. Al https://www.youtube.com/@FortuneCookie45LC

When I decided to mess around with a crossbow I read up on everything I could find, I found a lot of horror stories depicting what Gobbler Chaser posted above. It is the number one reason I decided to go with a modest priced Excalibur whose claim to fame of eliminating the high failure rate read about on some of the high end stuff seems to be having, it is a major selling point for me. With some of those crossbows I would be flinching every time I pulled the trigger expecting the inevitable disaster. Al

Of all the components needed for firing ammunition out of firearms I have come to feel that the brand of primers, percussion and musket caps are the least significant in the big picture, the manufacturers seem to have these particular component's production down pat and their reliability for me is flawless. I have probably used everything out there at one time or another and cannot begin to count how many shots I have fired out of handguns, rifles, shotguns and muzzleloaders, what stands out is I have had a primer fail only one time ever and I believe the cause was a light hammer strike. For shotguns and muzzleloaders I have used all the shotshell primer brands you have shown and have had satisfactory and reliable results with all, recently been mostly using the regular Winchesters in my sidelock converted to shotshell primers firing 777, but the CCIs and the 777 Winchesters worked as well but no better. Like suburbanfarmer mentioned above, hit the range and try them all. Al

Friend of mine Greg Hertel in Wyoming sent a couple of photos of a treed Mt Lion by his Airedale "Stitch". Greg loves hunting those Lions. Al

Soay Sheep are small, the Ram may weigh 65lbs but he is a strong little guy and I had all I could handle holding him still enough to clip his horn. Watched videos on line showing how to do it, I happened to have a brand new survival wire type saw that made the cut fairly easy. The wife is a country gal and will jump in and help when I need her, she has no qualms about this kind of stuff. You are right about the Italian Horn necklaces, that is what gave me the idea. Al

I have a small flock of Soay Sheep, my adult breeding Ram has a full curl set of horns. His right side horn tip was growing inward towards the side of his face so it had to be cut back some as they grow continuously and would eventually go right into his cheek. So I hold the Ram by the horns and the Wife using a wire saw cuts the end off with no problem. I thought horn tip looked kind of neat and would make a good necklace, had a stainless steel chain laying around, drilled a hole through the horn for the chain, done deal and came out OK. Don't know exactly what I am going to do with it as the only thing I wear is my watch. Al

In these days of ammo and loading component shortages along with nutty prices anyone that does a lot of handgun shooting or that shoots rifles that are chambered for so-called handgun cartridges can save some serious money loading coated cast or copper coated swaged bullets. One of my newest favorites is Missouri Bullet Company's line of cast lead bullets coated with their very effective Hi-Tek. These bullets out of handguns can be driven as velocities and accuracy that rival jacketed bullets and with the Keith type profile proven to do a nice job for hunting. I also am a fan of the copper coated swaged types from Berry. These bullets have been relatively easy to come by and prices far lower than their jacketed counterparts with similar advantages to Missouri's Hi-Tek coating listed below. Also if you cast your own bullets the Hi-Tek coating can be purchased by itself so one can coat their home mades. No lead is exposed to the environment Leading of the bore is dramatically reduced, as is lube smoke Higher velocities can be attained with coated bullets Health benefits for the reloader, as there is no touching of bare lead Reduced force required to seat and crimp because the bullets are slippery This is the newest coating from the manufacturer and has superb lubricity. The bullets actually look "wet" and are very slippery. This lubricity reduces friction-related heat as the bullet traverses the bore. In summary, Hi-Tek coated bullets offer the advantages associated with plated bullets without the expense.

The gospel at my place is "Thee has to shoot all firearms and shoot them often, practice makes perfect." Once you get your equipment and learn a routine not a whole lot of time is consumed. The benefits and satisfaction you will get outweigh and negatives in my opinion, shooting small groups and taking game with ammo you put together yourself is tough to beat. It is a relaxing way to spend time on a crappy winter day, I am looking forward to pulling the handle on my press in the near future. Al

I am a coffee drinker, I am not talking cups, I am talking pots. For years I brewed coffee with Bunn coffee makers, they have always worked great for me and I have worn a couple of them out. A few years ago after my last Bunn died I decided to get fancy and purchased one of those Ninja Coffee Bars that will do just about anything one can do with coffee. No complaints with the Ninja other than it's price, the coffee was good and brewed fast. Well the other day the Ninja craps out, sooo on top of my Heartland cookstove for decoration purposes sat a vintage Revere Ware 8 cup percolator coffee pot and I decide I am going to make a pot of coffee with it. I am not a stranger to the old style percolator, I grew up watching one made by Revere on the stovetop at home make coffee for my parents. My Dad worked at and retired from Rome Manufacturing home of Revere Cook ware, I worked there myself for a short time after getting out of school and I have down through the years collected a complete set of Revere Ware copper bottom cookware made in Rome NY including that 8 cup percolator. So back to the coffee, I make a pot with the old copper bottom and have to say that it is some of the best coffee I have ever tasted, I have been using it every day since. The only downside it is a little slower to brew a pot. Some old school vintage stuff like walnut and steel firearms, Woolrich hunting clothes Bean Maine hunting boots and Revere Ware cookware just can not be beat. Al

Have seen the Roosevelt Luckey buck several times on display at the DEC conservation exhibit on the NY State fairgrounds, an impressive rack for sure. Al

One of the pitfalls of owning a non mainstream chambering and especially so these days as the sellers are asking and getting wicked high prices for hard to get ammo and components. I have three that have caused me grief, 284 Winchester, 222 Rem Mag and the recently acquired 256 Win Mag. Being a handloader is a savior when owning these type cartridges as they all can be made from other existing cartridges based on the same case. I would say the best source for hard to find Brass these days is Gunbroker.com, a lot of the stuff is overpriced but patience is a virtue and sometimes you can get a decent buy especially on good once fired cases. Al

Deer sure can be nosey at times, I have had them come in to me when Varmint calling on multiple occasions. Al

Midway has got in some powder for reloading, I have been looking for Varget for a couple of years now and they finally got some, there are others in stock also and it still can be shipped, but not cheap. Al

The Winchester model 88 284 was my late father's rifle that he left to me. He was a fan of the 284 and purchased his first one in the early 60s in Winchester's autoloading version the model 100 but ended preferring and switching to the lever action model 88. Dad took a lot of deer with the 284 and brought it on an outfitted hunt out west and killed Antelope, Mule deer and a Shiras Moose. The rifle itself is very well made piece, I have put up some handloads that shoot respectable groups but I have not done a lot of load development to wring out it's best performance. There are a couple of things about this rifle that prevent me from falling in love with it. First of all the trigger pull is heavier than I like and from everything I have read because of it's design there is not a thing I can do to safely make it lighter. It is magazine fed which is OK but feeding cartridges is not smooth, I have three different magazines and they all feed and feel the same. Again reading up on it everyone who owns an 88 says you have to operate the lever like you are angry. All and all stuff that can be lived with but certainly could be better for such a nice rifle. As for the 284 cartridge itself I have yet to kill any game with it personally, that being said my favorite big game hunting rifle is a bolt action 280 Remington which for all intents is virtually a ballistic twin to the 284 Win. Lots of deer and 4 Moose have fell to the 280 so I have zero doubt had I been using a 284 with the same bullets my success would have been the same. I do hope to take at least one deer with Dad's 88 before I croak. My Brother has a Browning BLR in 243 and has killed a pile of Deer with it, I agree it is one finely made rifle and I think if I was in the market for a new good all around rifle with a lever action the BLR would be near the top of my list. Al

I can still shoot fairly well with open sights in the right conditions, I had Williams receiver sights mounted on both of those Marlin 94s. Off the bench in good light both of those rifles print cloverleaf groups at 50 yards with handloads. I can hit reactive targets easily with them. Hunting conditions do not always offer ideal shots where one can take as much time as needed. A few years ago I had the little 44 Marlin on a hunt and had a Deer appear about fifty yards away just before dark, it was a doe and nothing I wanted to kill but I still took aim at her just for the heck of it. In the dim lighting conditions I could not see the sights well enough for a shot, had it been a buck I would have been screwed. There have also been times when I have spotted a Deer meandering through cover, a scope makes it easy to thread the needle through an opening, a shot I have taken and made several times with scoped rifles but with open sights I would have probably passed. Al

I have some experience with the 25-06 cartridge but not a whole lot killing Deer. Had a custom rifle made up back when Remington legitimized what was once a popular wildcat and started producing factory rifles and ammo. I used that rifle more for long range Woodchuck and Crow hunting than anything else, made some unbelievable long shots with that gun. I killed one Deer with that rifle. Recently I purchased a 28 inch Pro Hunter barrel for my Thompson Center Encore and have killed one Deer with it. The 25-06 will kill deer with no problem, with a good bullet you can really reach out with a 25-06, recoil is negligible with plenty of power. Al