Pygmy

I haven't hunted crows much in years, but back in the day my buddies and I killed hundreds of them. In the winter, I always preferred evergreen cover if I could find it.. Crows are EXTREMELY sharp eyed and it is tough to hide from them. You need to set up where they cannot see you until they are over your head, at which time it should be too late for the crow. I usually used an electronic caller for this kind of hunting. Another extremely effect way to hunt them is to build a blind and hunt them like ducks, using decoys..For this you need to locate a feeding area, such as a field where they are feeding on freshly spread manure. I used a hand call for this type of hunting, but if you have a few decoys out in the right place, many crows simply see them and come in to join the feast, and no calling ( or very little) is necessary. Use light loads of small shot. Crows are a small target and the denser patterns of 7 1/2, 8 or 9 shot are very effective on them. I have killed a bunch of them with #9 skeet loads.

Stick your head underwater and make a noise like a worm...

Nice score !! I don't have a Whelen,but I do have a 9.3 x 62, which is similar in ballistics...My favorite load sends a 250 grain Barnes X downrange at about 2500 FPS MV. The medium calibers got their reputation as great killers of medium and big game( the Whelen is fully capable of taking the largest game on the continent, INCLUDING the big bears) by launching heavy for caliber bullets at moderate velocities. If you load 180 or 200 grain bullets, you have no real advantage over a 30-06... Develop a load for 225 or even better, 250 grain bullets and you have a whole different critter..The heavy bullets expand and penetrate , even at less than ideal angles, and it still shoots flat enough for a 300 yard shot.

Whatever you say, Big Fella....<<wink>>....Merry Christmas back at you and yours !!

The BIG CHOOCH in the middle....Could that be my buddy MOOGIE ?

I am a huge fan of fixed power scopes...I have two Leupold M8 fixed 4 power scopes that I have used on several rifles I have also used a Burris compact 4x and and weaver K 1.5 and K2.5 scopes on several different firearms. Long heavy scopes with big objectives ruin the handling qualities of hunting weight rifles and cause more problems than they solve.. My long range scope is a Leupold fixed 6x with a 36mm objective.. There are very few hunting situations within the ranges that most of us shoot ( I am talking 400 yards and closer) that cannot be handled very efficiently with a quality fixed 4X scope.

Working fine now, Larry...BEAUTY !!

For sure they can smell old guys...That's probably why I've never seen one.... We could probably find several thousand other smelly old guys in the state that could confirm this.

Back to the subject.... Gunpowder and alcohol don't mix......It tastes like shit and doesn't burn worth a damn.

DANG , Al....!! You're tearing my heart out here....I won't be able to sleep tonite after reading this.... I'll be lying there having nightmares about the half dozen or so firearms that I sold or traded off and wish now I still had....

A hunting buddy of mine has a minty Smith .32 hand ejector that he inherited from his uncle a couple of years ago.. I tried to talk him out of it, but NO DICE....<<sigh>>....The old gent did a lot of trout fishing in north central PA and he used the little revolver to shoot rattlesnakes....

In fact in Colorado you are required to carry your card on your person while hunting...

Hmmmmmmm...I could be called a card carrying MEMBER...

My upland guns and my Browning O/U don't have slings. I have a loop on sling that I sometimes put on the O/U when carrying decoys, etc., but it comes off while I am hunting. All of my turkey and deer guns have slings, and I leave them on while hunting.

Climbing into an enclosed tree blind and coming face to face with a porcupine sitting in my chair..Wished I had a camera for that one...

A hunting buddy of mine had one that he used for turkeys and geese.. It seemed to be a solid, reliable shotgun. I don't ever remember him having any problems with it.

Longer..???.....Oh Lord....Damn near kills me as it is, and I don't even bowhunt anymore..!!

For a non reloader, I would say 25-06 for sure, mostly for the availability of ammo... Inside of 400 yards there is not enough difference in performance to quibble about...Beyond that the the Weatherby has the edge ( at the cost of burning considerably more powder), but you have said that most of your shots will be from 200-300 yards or less..

I lost one of my insulated goretex gloves (left), but then I found it next time I hunted the property... Much of the time I wear surplus wool glove liners. They are cheap and they are ambidextrous. I buy them by the dozen at Sportsman's Guide. They don't cut the mustard when it gets REALLY cold, however..

Dirty Harry, eat your heart out !..<<grin>>... Some wicked tusks on that porker, Al !

One of my oldest, bestus friends has 3 beagles....I plan to be listening to them run a lot the next couple of months.. Also, weather permitting, December/January can be a great time for vertical jigging lakers in Keuka.. Along with that, another of my buddies has a 5 acre pond that yields JUMBO bluegills through the ice, when we have good ice.

The Mermaid's son stopped by today...His dad is getting along in years and has decided to get rid of some of his guns.. He showed me a beautiful S&W model 27 that his dad had given him...The M 27 was Smith's " Cadillac" of .357 revolvers faultless in fit and finish It is in pristine condition, with beautiful deep blued finish and a 5" barrel , just a slight cylinder line and virtually no holster wear. I DROOLED......

I don't know all of the details of the safe act, but that seems strange to me....30 carbines were were still being made in the 1950s for the military. The AK 47 was developed in 1947...Not sure when they were first issued to troops...

I think the property he came from might be adjacent to a nuclear plant.

Red fox