Pygmy

That is an old wives' tale, Doc... While it is true that black snakes are constrictors and will often dine on other snakes, including rattlesnakes, they do not specifically target rattlesnakes, or any other species..I have seen several blacksnakes in areas where timber rattlers are common. I remember reading an account written by Archibald Rutledge involving his witnessing a large blacksnake killing and eating a large canebrake rattler...Possibly stories like that helped add to the folklore that blacksnakes selectively prey on rattlesnakes.

Happy anniversary Growie and Mr B.....<<SMILE>>...

Please accept my most sincere condolences....I feel your pain..at age 67 I have lost several good hunting/fishing buddies in the last 4 years.. I have a few others who are battling serious health issues as I type this..

Welcome to the forum, young feller ! I agree that squirrel hunting would be a good intro....All you really have to do is find a food source like acorns or hickory nuts and sit and wait for the little critters to start stirring around..Lots of info on youtube telling you how to skin and dress them and lots ofrecipes on how to cook them... Good luck !!

That's a pretty big critter to straighten out with a little bitty cell phone, Larry....<<grin>>...

Thanks, Moog....I would have no qualms hunting any African game, as long as it was conservationally viable and the meat was used... I have made a couple of Alaskan hunts where we did not bring home all of the meat, but the local people that we donated it to were very grateful....They were tickled pink to get it..In fact the outfitter told us not to bone out the front quarters because the people that we donated it to wanted the bones for soup/broth... We got compliments for the folks that we donated meat to because we cared for it as if we were going to use it ourselves....That is a detail that I am proud of...

Good job Dinsdale....Nice critters....That buff is a BEAUTY !!....He would have tore you a new a**hole if you did not hit him right !! I envy you.....I'll never do an African hunt now, but I kind of wish I had done one back when I could afford one.... However, I don't regret the hunts that I have done on this continent...Alaska, northern Canada, Rocky Mountains... A guy can only do so much..

I have probably seen more crossing the road in my headlights than any other time...However I have several in broad daylight... One ran across Rte 15 near Erwin Junction at 1:00 PM in the afternoon on a bright sunny day..I had to climb on the brakes to keep from hitting him.. I have seen them while I was deer hunting in mid morning and mid afternoon...I saw one try to catch a blue heron in the Canisteo River at dawn..The bird got away and the cat got soaked..He looked VERY disgusted as he slunk away down the river bank..Hehehe...

That's Mabel's House of PLEASURE, Biz..... And the answer is no....She's married to my nephew,...He's the one who is taking the pictures...

She drinks Genny by choice...Classy Lady....SMILE.....

That's what I spent opening day of bow season doing..<<grin>>.... Thanks for posting the pictures, Larry !

Hard for me to believe that the kind of sustained fully auto fire that I heard on the news as from was from an altered semi auto weapon...The POS had obtained something like a M249 SAW from some illegal source... Whatever he had, I am betting he broke some laws to obtain it..

I don't recall any shortage of .35 Rem ammo down here along the Pensyltucky border...Seems like even the little backwoods sports stores have a box or two on the shelves...

I'm heading for the lake in about ten minutes...I'm taking my nephew's pretty young wife out to catch a few smallmouths, and maybe some perch, if they have the urge to bite following this cold front.. We're planning to get on the water about 10:00/10:30 ish, after the morning sun warms things up a bit.. It's been years since I bowhunted..I used to hunt both NY and PA, but I never was very good at it...Hehehe... Nowadays I'm happy just to fish, hunt small game and birds and wait until rifle season to hunt deer...Personally, I find rifles much more interesting than archery tackle..

The tendency of .35 Rem Contenders to misfire was particular to that firearm, not the cartridge.. It was never an issue with other rifles firing the .35 Rem... For some reason, American hunters have never been enamoured with .35 cal. cartridges... The .35 Whelen and the .358 Win are other examples of excellent cartridges that never caught on big in the US...

Shoot straight, ya Big Chooch..!!....<<<<<GRIN>>>>>........

May your bloodtrails be short and wide, and have a DEER at the end of them...

Yeah...I get 3000 FPS with a 140 grain Nosler BT and RL-19 with no problem and a 22" bbl.....Not sure what the pressure is, but the load is slightly below max in the manuals.

Nice score, Eagle !! We'll be eager to hear how she shoots... I have one M70 ( in .280 Rem) and have worked up loads for several that belong to friends...While none of them have been tackdrivers,all have provided good hunting accuracy...

Lucky deer...There hasn't been much demand for MY semen lately...<<sigh>>....

Have fun, all..I'm going fishing with a beautiful girl....I'll probably wait until it warms up a little around noon....hehehehe..

Great informative post, WNY.....I have done a bunch,whitetails, mulies, pronghorns, elk caribou.. Most of the caribou were DIY wilderness hunts where we had to completely cape the heads, turning the ears, doing tear ducts, splittings lips, etc...I have spent a lot of time sitting around camp sipping on a little cup of bourbon while caping and fleshing caribou....<<smile>>...Fortunatey none of the guys who shot moose wanted a sholder mount..I can't imagine the amount of work to fully cape and flesh a moose...

I considered a couch, but decided there was not enough room there next to the hot tub...

Mine is 4' x 8" inside, Larry....I figure a $15 CO detector wouldn't hurt... Probably not necessary, but WTH... Besides that, if I happen to get Miranda Lambert in there with me, we'll be breathing pretty hard...At least I will be breathing pretty hard..DAMN !! I'm breathing pretty hard just THINKING about that !!

Growie....Do you have a CO detector ??? My buddy has recommended one, even tho my Buddy heater has a low o2 switch... Probably not a bad idea if you are going to be sleeping in the blind...