airedale

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone and be safe. Al

Nice video, keep after them OldBrian, I muzzle load hunt with traditional old fashioned style sidelocks myself but I am a little more modern as I stick with percussion caplocks. Came close on a big Doe in the early muzzleloading season, she winded me and did not provide me with a clear enough shot. Still may give it a go in the late season. Al

You got that right, the libtard democrats and main stream media spent four years wasting time pulling the same on Trump! Al

There you have it, meat damage is largely due to exactly where the bullet impacts the body, most high powered rifles sending a bullet through the shoulder shattering all that bone is going to cause massive damage, no getting around it. A shot through the ribs in the heart-lung area is the best to take for minimizing damage to the best cuts of meat. Most of the big game I have taken has been with the heart-lung shot and for me it is effective causing the least amount of meat damage with the animal usually dropping in it's tracks or going down within a short time. The high shoulder shot is one of the best to drop an animal in it's tracks if one can live with the damage consequences. As for your 117 Sierra bullet and load I think it is a good one. Al

These deals are so frustrating, and unless the Deer is recovered and a post mortem conducted showing exactly where it was hit and the bullet's performance it is hard to come up with a real true answer because everything is conjecture. ================================================== "i spend the next 6 hours searching for more blood and gridding this 20 acre CRP field. I go talk to neighbors who were sitting over the field in the direction he went and they seen nothing." ================================================ I find that interesting that the neighbors did not see that Deer in the field, maybe he turned and circled back. Al

Congratulations, you have a real nice Buck there. I can relate to your story a bit as in well over fifty years of hunting I had my first misfire ever drawing down on a Deer this year, it is a little unsettling. I was lucky that I was far enough away that the Deer did not hear the hammer drop on the single shot rifle I was using and also replacing the misfire with a fresh round was quiet also. Those shell shucker pumps draw attention to your location in a hurry when they are operated, a tough situation and you did real well under pressure. Al

LL Bean still carries Traditional Wool hunting clothes, they have a store somewhere in Syracuse, how much stock they carry I do not know. You can also go to their online site and buy. Traditional Wool is getting hard to find these days, ebay is a good place to find Wool, A few years ago I purchased a like new American made Woolrich PA Tux at a bargain price on ebay I also caught a deal on a new pair of green Wool LL Bean pants. Al

Skinned the Deer morning and found what was left of the GMX bullet on the off side, not much. I was surprised to see it did not hold together , no big bones were hit, penetration was pretty good considering. I am guessing that the velocity the GMX was traveling at had a lot to do with it as these rounds are loaded hot. This particular bullet may be better suited to the somewhat calmer 250 Savage velocities with something a little heavier loaded in the 25-06 when it comes to Deer. I do not like to draw in stone conclusions from just one kill myself so there is the report and it can be taken for what it is worth. I did not make the best shot placement, just a little too far back makes a difference and I still believe a hit a few inches more toward the front shoulder would have flattened that Deer in his tracks. Al

I have mentioned this here before, if you do not reload you should, there is no downside to it and it does not cost a lot to get started if you shop smart. Do not be afraid to buy used equipment, once fired brass etc. so long as it is in decent condition (NO RUST) as it is just about impossible to wear out from actual use. I still have my original press that is over 50 years old and it works as well as the day I bought it. These ammo shortages and price gouging will only keep getting worse as years go by, the next four years will probably be rough. It is never too late! Don't wait! Al

Trying to get some meat for the freezer but it is been a tough year so far for me, have some sign in my hunting grounds, I have seen only one big doe during the muzzle loading week, too much brush in the way for a clear shot so I passed. I figured I would get a crack at her during regular season as I have a DMP but I have not seen anything. I was out again yesterday and saw nothing but noticed with the fresh snow on the ground and with the leaves off now I could see pretty far in some places, been hunting with the Henry 357 single shot and decided today to hunt with something with more range. Sticking with the single shot theme I took out the Thompson Center Encore with a 25-06 barrel. I am a big fan of that particular caliber and back in the 70s and killed a lot of chucks and crows at obscene distances with the custom long barreled Mauser bolt rifle I had made up. That rifle was too heavy to carry around Deer hunting so I never did kill a Deer with it. To make a long story short I still had the loading dies, brass and bullets along with some of the old reloads, so what the Hell I picked up a 28 inch stainless 25-06 Encore barrel to have a little fun with. My old loads were with fragile 75 gr varmint bullets, this time around I figured a dual purpose load would better fit the bill as I could use it for Coyote and Fox. I went with the 90 gr Hornady GMX bullet on top of a full case of MRP, I have not chronoed them but they have to be screaming out of that 28 inch barrel. The GMX is a solid gilding metal bullet similar to a copper Barnes. My thinking is it should be OK for Deer but not blow up on small stuff like a Fox. So this morning I am out overlooking Oak groves as that is what the Deer have been hitting looking for acorns and man it was cold. I was leaning up against a tree to break my outline and it was not long before I make out a crotch horn buck about 75 yards away pawing up the snow and leaves. So I cock the hammer and draw down and fire and get a "Click" Misfire! I break open the rifle and can see a good primer strike but it did not go off, the buck did not notice. Take out that cartridge and put in another draw down again and kapow! and he is off to the races. I can see him sprinting through my binoculars here and there for at least 100 yards never slowing down until he went out of sight. To be honest I was dumfounded, I thought for sure that 25-06 would have poleaxed him. Because of the angle he was at I knew I hit a bit back because that is where the crosshairs were when she went off. I went to the spot where I last saw him, no blood! but with the snow on the ground I could make out his trail. After about 15 minutes searching I found him stone dead about 150 yard from where he started. I did hit him back just a bit and that is the reason I feel he went so far, if it had not been for the snow I would have had to get my Airedale to help find him. Bought me one of those shoulder harness deer drags, "that" along with the snow and a mostly downhill drag made the going for this soon to be 72 year old geezer tolerable, by the time I got him hung up in the garage I was pretty stove up. Going to let him hang if the weather allows and will then skin him and see where that bullet ended up and how it held together. Al

I will be getting the shots as soon as they are available. Al

As I mentioned in another thread below I picked a Ruger GP 100 357 revolver, it is a good solid strong reliable gun but just a tad rough. So I went to my customary improvements needed in my mind. Trigger was heavy, on my gauge single action was averaging around 4.8 lbs but nice and crisp, so I sent off for a set of Wilson combat trigger and hammer springs. The stock sights were not good for my old eyes so I purchased a set of Williams fire type sights which I have become a huge fan of, I have installed on all of my open sight firearms. Last but not least the stock Hogue grips I did not care for at all for either looks and feel, so I went with upgraded Ruger target style grips with the rosewood inserts. All the stuff arrived today so I got at it. First thing was to disassemble and stone and polish any moving parts that mated with each other. I then installed both sets of Wilson springs and put the gun back together. Installed the new grips which I like a lot and then put the new sights on, the front one was a pain in the ass and had to be filed down and hand fitted. Got the trigger gauge out and she is now averaging 3,1 lbs, about a pound and a half improvement and also the polished parts made everything nice and slick, overall I am more than pleased. Now hopefully this gun will shoot all those 38 special target loads I did up over the spring and summer. A couple of pics of before and after. Al

Cold and a little windy but I could not stand it and had to fire a few out of the Christensen Ranger and get it zeroed. Got her on paper half way decent with federal ammo, she looks to be very promising accuracy wise. Fives shots at 25 yds Al

Yes the barrel is a tensioned carbon fiber, it has been hand lapped and has a match chamber. The stock is also carbon fiber. The trigger is a new Remington 700 trigger and the magazines are 10 shot Ruger 10-22s, a real conglomeration that makes for a pretty neat lightweight package. Al

I have been in the market for a 357 revolver since spring, the market can just be described as crazy, between the "sleepy one" getting elected, Cuomo's covid shutdowns and plain old panic buying it is not easy to find what you want. Things are not looking good when it comes to firearms and ammo, when items are found online they are now selling at scalper prices. I was in a "Runnings" and a "Bass Pro" yesterday and the shelves were bare when it came to reloading components (especially primers), ammunition almost none and a poor selection of firearms compared to the past, the Obama era all over again but worse. Clear to me I had to make a move before things become impossible so I purchased a Ruger GP100 357 revolver with a 6 inch barrel. The GP100 is similar to the old smaller framed Security Six which I owned at one time and while not my first choice it will suffice, I have trigger springs, different grips and sights arriving shortly and I believe it will perform to my expectations when I am done messing with it. Also purchased a new 22LR Target-Squirrel rifle, a bolt action Christensen Arm "Ranger", I have a little US made Burris mini 6X target scope laying around that was needing a home badly, the 5lb Ranger matched up and fit the bill for this little scope perfectly and it should be a Squirrel hunters delight. Still have not killed a Deer yet so I will be concentrating on that for the most part but as soon as possible my attention will turn to these two newbies and they will get a good wringing out and provide me some winter fun.

I think he did a tremendous job, don't forget the judges and justices appointed along with less in paid taxes at least for me. Getting that wall going and ending the flood of illegal freeloaders pouring into the country. Remember Iran high jacking and stopping ships, taking photo op picture of our sailors kneeling on deck. Isis cutting people's heads off every other day. It all stopped. The bottom line for me is what a politician in office actually does with policy and agenda, I could give two shits about their personality because the reality is it has zero effect on my life personally! Al

And that is it in a nutshell, the show's theories do not make any sense at all. It would seem that the so called treasure was was buried with the intent of being hidden forever and never being found. Instead of going through such a monumental task with primitive tools it would have been a Hell of a lot easier to just dump and sink everything in a deep part of the ocean, problem solved! Al

You should take a good look at what you just wrote and take your own advice as it is clear you yourself have a crush on several board members, your problem will then be solved.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!!!

You should settle down Left Field, there is more to life than being a hunting forum "TROLL"

You do that, but I would not hold my breath is I were you. Meanwhile the Durham report will be coming out now that the election is over. "Let the games begin"!

"Portraying" yourself as someone decent does not get a free pass, when the phoney facade starts getting peeled away and the questions and charges will be investigated and have to be answered this will be one time Biden will win in a landslide, he and the Democrat party are as crooked as they come.

That guy will go down as one of the most lying, dishonest, gutless, flip flopping, zero conviction politicians ever, plenty more about this career phoney will be coming out in the coming months. Al

Two things come to mind "what goes around comes around" and "payback is a bitch"! Have you conveniently forgot what happened and was started 4 years ago with a constant assault by the democrats and main stream media all four years and all for nothing. They make Trump look like an Angel. I say let them have it with both barrels!! Al