Daveboone

Good for you getting out. I took monday off so I could go up to my camp sunday through monday, for some outdoor work and snowshoeing. We sure had snow! The problem was the powder was about 30 inches deep, and even with my snow shoes on I sank in up to my knees. If I had my four foot long pickerels I may have been ok, but it was a no go for getting off trail at all or getting the work done I wanted. I still was able to get out on the roads (snowmobile trail now) and relax with a good book inside.

Fort Drum itself has thousands of acres open to hunting. From what I understand it is minimally hunted and has a great deer and turkey population. Have you explored that at all? Sure is close to you. Within 30 miles of Watertown there are probably a couple hundred thousand (not an exaggeration) acres of public land...some very productive. Drum itself offers a nice website on hunting/recreational opportunities to the public ( I have no idea what enrolled service members may have on top). Also south of you is the Mad River River Club? They have a website, and have listed 17000 acres of owned and leased land in northern NY.

Myself I have no idea of what one would be going for. I am looking for a mid 1950s-1960s production. I know where a few are that if I am patient with the right amount of haggling/horse trading, I should be able to get one for around 400. I sure as heck am not paying the current inflated market price for what is out there (not referring to yours, if you are selling...no idea what your are thinking).

I think to this day Marlin owns lever actions as far as smoothness of action. I love my 94s....(I have owned four, and still own two)...nothing seems so right as carrying one in the woods, and I love shooting them, I used to look down at the Marlin 336 as being overbuilt...but the action can tolerate much hotter rounds, and by gosh...you can mount a scope easily...and the actions are no where as clunky. I thought I had my dream gun when I picked up a (turns out very heavily used) Savage 99, pretty much considered the King of levers. Smoothest action ever, wonderful workmanship, but the one I had was very heavily used and had headspace problems...sent down the road. I have been in the market for a 336, but I want to pay 1980s prices.....

Winchester 94s (which this looks to be an unabashed copy of) have always had a lever safety...the small button the lever compresses...which ensures the lever is fully closed before firing. It really isnt noticeable in practice and doesnt take any extra effort in use. The rifle otherwise looks like a good potential deal for a lever gun. Remember the Marlin 30-30s and Model 94s for well under 200.oo Kmart and Sears would sell, well into the eighties?

I love my wood snowshoes...they are 48" long and I float on the snow like a butterfly. I havent found a binding I am happy with on them yet though. The only problem with wood shoes are 1) be careful about where you store them...mice eat the leather. Mine were like new when I bought them used for 25.00, but I had to redo a bunch of leather. and 2) you need to keep up on the varnish on them. What ever you go with, dont compromise and get too small a shoe. Too long is very seldom a problem...the short stumpy ones are geared for snow shoe race or trail walking where the snow is all compacted. If you go off trail go max on the size. I am 235 lbs plus clothes and a day pack...the biggest aint too big.

Think terry cloth/ T shirts/ towels. Good for absorbing moisture, but it holds it and matts down, losing its cushioning/insulating properties.. Same as wearing cotton T shirts in the winter for outdoor activities: they will chill you, as well as the socks potentially leading to blisters. Wool blend can hold the moisture and continue to insulate without matting down (Merino wool is a long fiber sock and particularly great...I wear them year round). Google cotton use in cold/damp conditions. It can easily lead to hypothermia when used as a base layer.

All together I have six pairs of snowshoes....okay, gotta admit several are just wall hangers. For the occaisional user, the modern ones from Tubbs, LL Bean and quite a few other manufacturers are just fine. Probably the best of the design are the quick and easy ratchet type bindings they come with. They ARE size oriented. It is almost impossible to buy too large a snowshoe. In the light fluffy stuff we have down right now I want the biggest shoe I can get. I have to admit that though I have a good pair of Tubbs, my favorite current pair of snowshoes are army surplus magnesium framed wire threaded ones. I have GI issue bindings on them. They are bombproof, stay on well and float well. Next, snow shoes are not designed for use with bulky insulated boots. They will be too big for most bindings and will have too much slop in them, resulting in stumbles, blisters, etc. Wear a good supporting hiking type boot and gaitor with them. Your physical activity will keep you plenty warm. and god forbid, NO COTTON SOCKS.

Drag, hell. Lead by the collar to the road!

I have an old army footlocker which holds my excess/seldom used ammo (mainly shotgun shells, reloads). I have a metal filing cabinet which holds most of my reloading equipment, and my more current loads/frequently shot ammo is in that. Any dry area away from excess heat and humidity is fine.

And the book wasnt even published until 1985....six years after The Dukes death...

Lonesome Dove probably gave Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall their most defining characters. Of course, they had over eight hours to develop them as opposed to two hours. LD is one of the very few books I read more than once, and will very likely read again. Too bad they couldnt have stayed with the original cast with the sequels (of course Gus dies, and has to die for the story to complete), James Garner was very good as Call in the 3rd movie. None of the books or the movie ever really do tag a year for it though...I think McMurtry was just trying to capture an era, not a specific time. McMurtry was very clear in his stating that both Gus and Call were not and were not based, on real people, but as so much of our history is, an accumulation. I for one like to believe that we had such men ...and via the silver screen, we do.

Gravity dont fail me now! I wonder if the skier was aware of it.

.54 is much more common in sidelocks than in inlines. When inlines first came out both .50 and .54s were common, but overtime .50 inlines have become more prevalent. You still should not have any problem finding sabots/ etc. for a .54

Alot of road kill bucks out there, but certainly there are hunter shot deer that get away.

Welcome! and you are probably the first folks EVER to actually start looking for a club before the last week before the season! (that is a compliment....this is the time to start looking , but few do). As well as what area you guys are looking for it would also be useful for folks to know which seasons, if just for deer season or for year round access too.

Some of the larger drug stores carry the foam cleansers under a number of different brands. The foam pads they call bag baths.

We have a Zodi system too...It looks like an old fashioned fire extinguisher....fill it, put it on the stove to heat up (it has a stick on thermometer on the side). When it is hot enough, take it in, insert the pump handle seal, pressurize it and you have a shower. Dont think you are going to be in there soaking for half an hour though. WEt down, quick lather and a rinse, but you are clean. In warmer weather, I have an outside tank up on a rack. I have a faucet with a shower hose on it. Same principle but not as warm. I use a medical head to toe spray soap....good for your hair and everything elese. It is actually no rinse for like hospital bed baths, but it works great and you feel clean. Once it has been below freezing for more than a few days though, the shower is off limits. due to frozen pipe risk. Then I just boil some water and adjust it in a plastic pan, and use the same spray soap scrubbing up from head to toe. Plenty clean for my neck of the woods.

When possible I pick a branch with plenty of branches to the side, and also am careful not to trim branches on nearby trees too excessively. Be sure the sun isnt highlighting you. I dont worry about the ladder stands...mine are up year round. The stands mean nothing to the deer by themselves, it is the movement in them that gets attention. Other than that...dont goof around with cell phones, etc. be still and watch as far out as you can. I prefer a stand with a rail that holds my rifle up in a semi ready position, so I have to move as little as possible.

I dont understand the reference.... This is typical. Talk to any one who owns a camp or has property .

With triple 7 powder I found more consistent ignition and groups than standard primers. Black powder no diff.

We are an hour away from our camp, but I have observed that it makes no difference how close or far or inaccessible your camp is. My uncles place is on a busy road, heavily traveled with alot of neighbors who know who should be there. Broken into several times in the winter when he was away. My inlaws had a camp on the far back side of a large lake, accessible only by water. Broken into . My camp is an hour away and I am up relatively frequently....spring through summer almost every week, winter every chance I get. I have left and come back a day later to find I have had visitors ( I sometimes leave a couple of cans of beer inside my back porch...a couple times they have disapeared but no other problems found). My neighbors have had their cabins literally stripped to the walls inside. Plan your camp to leave NOTHING outside that isnt secured. Easily seen from the road or hidden from the road, makes no difference. Be sure the windows are elevated where they cant be climbed into from the ground, and put ups cages...this can actually be done so that it doesnt look out of place. Solid steel doors with dead bolts. I use a steel shipping container for storage/shed use. I have seen where they have tried to get into my camp, but fourteen years now, they cant (without cutting through a wall, which hasnt happended). Insure appropriatly. My neighbors keep an eye open, but that really doesnt count for much. Put up game cameras in discrete locations. Try to keep as much of a presence of being used as you can, and I encourage friends and family to use it too. Drive by checks by local police mean nothing....likely the locals have a good idea of the quietest times to hit.

59 years old here. I was raised on The Duke, and have met a few folks who actually new him first hand...neighbors out west, and one guy who was a stand in in a few movies...(I forget which one). The two started their careers in very different eras. Wayne was expected to be the standard up right stalwart hero of American Ideals. I can happily watch any of his movies, but invariably he played...John Wayne. Clint was certainly more varied...from "Play Misty For Me"...a great taught thriller, I believe his first directorial undertaking, to "Unforgiven"....great range of movies, and he also wrote the theme music to many of his films. I would say the Duke was my parents generations hero, with my generation appreciating him like a favorite uncle, but Clint was my generations man.

For a bunch of years I have used a standard Nikon prostaff 2-7 on a couple different inlines. I cant believe there is any practical difference esp. at typical northwoods ranges (i sight for fifty yards but good for same point of aim at 75 or so).

Depends on the size of the Lotto....I rarely buy scratch offs even, so chances are even slimmer for me. That said, My family has lived in NY for over 200 years, we have some ....arguably the best...fishing to be found in one state anywhere, and a very long hunting season. I am not going anywhere permanently. I would probably try to move to less of a snow belt, but would love a place on or near the St. Lawrence River. I could see myself living part time in the Canadian Maritimes...Newfoundland likely. Wonderful folks, layed back, Moose and bear aplenty, great ocean fishing....