airedale

These folks have some nice Targets that can be downloaded and printed for free (a small donation is appreciated), they are great for rimfire and pellet firearms. The hostage target is catching fire with a lot of precision shooters. Targets for Download and Printing within AccurateShooter.com Al

As the old saying goes "practice makes perfect", there is zero doubt in my mind practice will make one a better shot and bring you to you full potential as a shooter which will pay off taking shots at various game. The best thing I ever did that taught me how to be the best shot I could be was shooting in a bullseye pistol league. It taught me two basic but important shooting skills, trigger control and the ability to call my shot. Trigger control is obvious we all want to touch off our shots precisely at the moment we are on target and this will come with practice. Calling your shot will coincide with trigger control and with practice you will know very accurately where your shot will hit from the last mental picture you had when the firearm went off. A good example was the Deer I took this year, he was standing eating acorns at about 75 yards and I was hunting for the first time with a highly accurate single shot Thompson Center Encore firing 25-06. I drew down on him and had a perfect sight picture with the crosshair just behind the front shoulder, I pressed the trigger and "click" I get a misfire, the first misfire with a centerfire rifle that I have ever had, I can say I was just a tad rattled. I broke open the rifle and could see the firing pin strike was hard, had to be a bad primer. Anyhow I chambered a new cartridge and now I was a bit worried the Deer would bust me so I drew down and shot again but admittedly a little quicker than I should have. The Deer took off like a scalded cat and with my binoculars could see him sprinting through the trees for at least 100 yards and still going. So I wait a few minutes and start checking for blood and tracks, there was a light coating of snow so I found tracks pretty quick but there was zero hair and zero blood anywhere and it stayed that way as I unraveled the Deer's trail for over 100 yards and it was getting tough to stay on tract as the trail went through a pretty tracked up area. So let me get to the point, with no blood no hair for over a 100 yards and when last seen the Deer showed no signs of a hit sprinting a breakneck speed a young hunter may very well come to the conclusion that there was a clean miss and quit the track. Here is where calling your shot comes into play, my last mental note of the sight picture when the rifle fired had the crosshairs more mid body than right behind the front should where it should have been. To me that means a liver and semi gut shot and I know a Deer will sometimes cover a lot of ground before they go down, that being said remembering the sight picture there was no doubt in my mind that the Deer was laying dead and not far and I was going to recover him. So with a bit more searching I found the buck and he was hit exactly where I remember the crosshair to have been at the shot. Al

Your Winchester should be drilled and tapped on the side for old standbys like Williams or Lyman receiver sights, the choices Rachunter gave you are also very good options. Al

Would have been all over but the gutting Al

Browning still chambers it in their BAR. A used Remington in 742 or 7400 is another option. Al

Gone but not forgotten by me at least as I own items from both of those old Utica NY companies whose products are pictured. Like the guy in the old ad I have a Utica Savage 99 and some of the last hunting clothing Utica Duxbak manufactured, I wore my Duxbak insulated camo pants the last day of Rifle season. Al

Things are getting real bad quick, the price gouging is getting started and the prices are spiraling. Went over on the gun auction site to see if by chance there were any buys on 22 LR ammo, prices are nuts. A few months ago one could buy bricks of decent ammo comparable to what is below in the $25 range give or take a couple of buck. Only $210 more and still climbing and don't forget to add on the $20 shipping! Al

They are not gone, they are there somewhere, that is the type of cover they look for to lay up in until dark, they will let you walk right by them. I would bet a good chunk of change if someone cast a couple of Deer running Beagles in that stuff you would see Deer running all over the place. Problem is that would not be legal Al

Picked this one up used on Amazon and it arrived today, O'Connor is my favorite outdoor writer, I think I have just about everything he wrote book wise. This one has some of his old magazine articles which I have read many of but not all especially his early ones. Al

The one man drive can be a highly effective tactic for deer hunting and a method I and the group of hunters I hunted with used quite a bit successfully. There have been many posts here over the past few days from hunters stating they are not seeing any deer from their stands but their trail cameras in the summer and early fall showed plenty of deer. The deer have not left, they are still there holed up and hiding in what they feel is their best concealing cover. With the hunters sitting and the deer sitting until after dark there will not be much action unless someone gets them moving. A single person sneaking around rooting the deer out of their cover will provide shots to watchers stationed on known escape routes. It is a tactic that really does work for both driver and watchers so long as you have knowledge and experience with the lay of the land you are hunting and using the winds to your advantage. Al

I had a year where I only had a Buck tag, I hunted my ass off through the season seeing only a couple of does. The last day comes and I decide to do an afternoon sit until dark. Things shaped up the same as every other day, a big fat zero! But my spirits were high because when I got home after hunting the wife and myself were going out with another couple to a new restaurant that was serving one of my all time favorites, Alaskan King Crab and the best part it was all you can eat! I was sitting on that stump the last hour of daylight drooling just thinking of the feast that was to come. Well don't you know with about 15 minutes to go before sunset out steps a 6 point, crap! I had to shoot him and did but I was not as happy as I should have been. It was a quick field dressing and drag out and I was off to the races to get ready to eat. In the end it only cost me an hour from the original dining time. Talk about just under the wire!! Don't give up! Al

My 50 plus year old Hoppes front rifle rest had seen plenty of action over the years and was in need of a spruce up. I damaged the shot filled bag years ago by resting and shooting revolvers over it. The splatter from the cylinder gaps ate away at the leather eventually causing a hole, I taped it up so the lead shot would not leak out and while it was usable it had seen it's better days so I decided to replace it. The cast aluminum body parts had quite a few places where the paint had peeled off and many of the adjusting screw's threads were corroded. Picked up a new "Protector" front bag that was a tad too big and had to make a block to make it work right. Cleaned and lubed everything up and gave the body a rattle can paint job and she looks as good as new and should be good for another 50 years of blasting away at the range. Equipment like this can be found online for a song, with a little work it can be made as good as new and you can save substantial money. Al

Once they get a whiff of unusual human activity they perceive as danger they will go into survival mode and all their so called normal activity we see most of the year is deserted. They are still living in their home range laying low in the best habitat that conceals them and moving mostly under the cover of darkness to feed. Your best friend now is snow and getting out of those tree stands and ground blinds putting the "hunt" back into hunting. Still hunting and tracking is the way to go now and these methods will show you exactly where they are and how they are moving. I am not a huge fan of drives but it is a productive way to get them out of their hiding spots and expose themselves. Al

Personally that is exactly how I like to see them, Al

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