Pygmy

Glad to hear that you LOVE your job....<<grin>>...

The odds for hitting the lottery are better... I just missed out on that auction...My last bid was 84.5K.... All for shooting an elk in somebody's back yard.

I'd rather do the same than fish elbow to elbow...Combat fishing is not my thing, although I DO tolerate it for the PA opener, mostly because it's a tradition with a couple of my buddies.. However, tomorrow I'll be fishing in soltitude, for some big beautiful brown trout....

Very cool, Paula... I have seen black-phase foxes in Alaska and northern Quebec, but have never seen one here in NY.

Hmmmmmm...I haven't slept with a 28 year old since I was........28.....

Happy birthday to the world's greatest Weatherby fan ! I want to be just like YOU when I grow up ! I hope you have a great day.. No, really......I mean that....Honest....No kiddin'....<<GRIN>>....

Cool story, Al... I was driving on a secondary road a few years ago after dark, and came upon a screech owl sitting right in the middle of the road. I stopped thinking that perhaps he was injured and walked right up to him and took a picture of him sitting there in the road in the headlights of my truck. He never moved until I nudged him on the butt with the toe of my shoe, at which time he took off flying, apparently unharmed.

That is quite a perch that Hootie is sitting on. I was surprised to see that you have a bust of my mother-in-law.

I am planning to fish a couple of tributaries of the Cohocton River near Avoca. The main river is open to fishing year round, but the tribs open April 1st. These small streams are not stocked, and the trout are either wild fish or holdovers that were stocked in the main river and ascended the creeks.. Stream conditions right now are low and clear, making fishing challenging on these small creeks, but I'm hoping we get enough enough rain to raise the levels and color the water a bit. I have taken numerous 16 " to 22" browns from these obscure small waters, and often I don't even see another fisherman or a boot track. Most fishermen prefer to fish the main river, which is heavily stocked. I seldom keep a trout, unless it is hooked deeply enough so that I feel it won't survive. My best trout last year was a gorgeous 21" brown .

I can remember just a few short years ago when rifles were permitted in many southern zone counties.. The WAILING !!...The rending of HAIR !!... The gnashing of TEETH !!... Those terrible rifles were much more dangerous than shotguns, because they shoot so much FARTHER !! For some reason, that terrible phenomenon has not yet developed...I guess we have just been lucky so far.

Happy Birthday, John !! Hope ya get lucky...<<grin>>...

Yeah, I see her now not too far ahead of the drake.. Those spoonbill drakes and hen toward the rear caught my eye..I see now that most of the birds are teal (greenwings).... I'm not used to seeing so many teal in a flock..Most of the ones I see in this area are in small bunches of perhaps 6 to a dozen birds.

Hmmmm...Sounds like the crossbow may be an instrument of Divine Intervention.. Maybe so... However I'd like to get the opinion of hunters in the many states and provinces where the crossbow has been legal for years.. I don't recall too many hunters in these places saying that the crossbow was all THAT much more effective than conventional archery tackle. I don't have a dog in this fight, since I have no interest in hunting with anything that doesn't burn powder.

Welcome to our forum, Frank !

Looks like a pintail drake flying in that flock of spoonies in the first picture... Amazing how many of those smilin' mallards there are in Montezuma...I have NEVER shot or seen one here in the southern tier.. Awesome photography, my friend...

I have nothing against crossbows...I could give a rat's patoot either way on that subject.. But if you think legalizing crossbows across the board is going to solve( or even affect) deer population issues, you are dreaming..

Wrong option...Cramming antlerless-only down the throat of buck hunters is not going to work.. It may backfire on them..The earn a buck option is a much better plan IMHO, because it gives the buck hunters ( of which there are many) a viable option.. It wouldn't matter to me, personally, because as long as I can shoot a doe or two a year for the freezer, I could care less if I EVER shoot another buck, but to MANY hunters, shooting a buck is a very important goal. To a significant number of those hunters, shooting a BIG buck is very important, and doe-only regulations are not going to change that. I suspect a backlash involving hunters refusing to shoot does is more likely.

There is a lot of discussion online regarding the practice of altering the tips of FMJ ammo and also using it as is.. I'll let you check it out and make your own decisions. If you have a friend who reloads, have him load any standard 150 grain .308" soft point with 46-48 grains of H4895 or IMR4895 and you will have a very close approximation of the original load that the M1 was designed for. Also, I suspect that if you do some online searches you may be able to find some custom loaded M1 friendly loads with expanding bullets. Good luck. I really enjoy hunting with my Garand.. Feel free to PM me if you want more details regarding my handloads.

Something in my deep, dark memory tells me that I have read that it can be dangerous to do that.. I load my own, so I can load expanding bullets to the same ballistics that the M1 was designed for.. Do some research on the filing off the tip thing..If I can find any info, I'll let you know.

Donna is a very talented lady !

I bought some last spring and in my old fixed choke 1100 they patterned as well, but not significantly better than the Win XX and Fed Premiums I have used for years. I killed a Canadian gobbler with them. This spring I intend to run a few through my 11-87 with the Kick's .665 " choke and see how they pattern in that.

Your grandma's house smells like fish ?...I may KNOW her..

Reminds me of a 3 legged dog I used to have. I named him " Tripod". He was missing one hind leg. Poor dog used to walk up to a fire hydrant, lift his leg and fall down. After awhile he became so afraid to pee that his kidneys backed up and he died of overhydration.

Neal has a sister that's the same way..Her name is " Eileen" and also a Japanese cousin whose name is " Irene"...

That guy is one of my neighbors..They call him " Stumpy".....