Pygmy

Hard to go wrong with Barnes bullets....I load them in all of my hunting rifles now...

You sure do like those short barrels ! What bullets do like in the Whelen ? Do you load for it ? I was in the market for one a few years back, but I ended up getting a 9.3 x 62 instead, which is very similar in performance.

I had a black lab once...SWEET dog, but she was dumb as a box of rocks...Dumbest lab I ever saw... However, she was a mole expert...I never saw her get one and am not sure how she did it, but every time a mole hole or tunnel appeared in the lawn, she'd have him in a day or two...

Great chambering and great scope ! With that stubby barrel it must be LOUD !!

Case in point.... That is what 298 people out of 300 would say....

So what does he do, retrieve coons, or tree ducks ? ...<<grin>>....

The shotgun regs were created many,many years ago, probably around 1938 or 1939 when we had our first deer seasons here in western NY and it was decided that it should be shotgun only..Somebody made the decision then that the small gauges weren't adequate.. Probably the main reason that .410s or 28s aren't legal now is lack of interest.. Poll a few hundred hunters and ask how many would use a .410 for deer if it was legal..Chances are not many people would because there are so many better choices out there. Ever see a .410 set for deer hunting with rifle sights, or perhaps a rifled barrel.?.I don't think any of the gun mfgs make one, even though the .410 with slugs is legal in some states.

Good luck with your turkey dog, Uncle Nicky...I'd love to hunt fall birds with a trained dog.. Years past I used my springers and labs to scatter flocks, and it was a blast..Only problem was, my dogs weren't trained to sit quietly while the birds were called back..After the bust I'd have to take the dogs home and go back and hunt the birds..One time after a good bust, I took the dogs home and by the time I got back to the flush site, less than an hour later, my buddies had already called up and killed 3 turkeys..

Springers and beagles are my two favorite breeds, Paula...I had 3 of each over the years... No pets now...After living in the country nearly all of my life where the critters could enjoy the outdoors, it just doesn't seem right here in town having to keep them confined all of the time...

Dang !... You had to burst my bubble... Well, you're not the FIRST woman ever to break my heart....<<sigh>>...

Thanks for the VISUAL, Growie....<<wink>>....

I do the same thing, Greensider, except I do it after I haven eaten them, digested them, and...well..had my FINAL encounter with them.. Sometimes after a game dinner when I have eaten several different critters the day before, I have to hold a GROUP ceremony...

Congrats on your new baby, Bill... Happy to hear she's a shooter...

LOL, Elmo....If THAT's the case, I have trophies scattered all over New York, plus a dozen other states and 5 provinces of Canada !! You can follow me around the woods by a trail of Charmin....

I handload all of my centerfire stuff, but I've seen 7MM-08 factory loads on the shelves in most of the stores here in SW New York and also just across the border in North central PA. I don't think finding ammo would be an issue.

Nit-Picker.....<<grin>>....

What are you, some kind of commie pinko fag ?? Mods, somebody BAN this guy !!....BURMJOHN..!!... Oh, by the way....Welcome back to NY...<<grin>>..

The excuse that I seem to hear most often is.... " If I hadn't shot him, the AMISH would have.."...

Back when Christ was a carpenter, I killed quite a few deer with shotguns, using a plain bead, a double bead, and open rifle type sights. I have only ever used one muzzleloader, an early TC Hawken, and used the open sights until my eyes would no longer allow it, at which time I switched to a tang peep sight, which still works well for me. I shoot quite well with it, even offhand, although I've never taken a shot beyond about 75 yards with it at game. The only deer I ever shot with an unscoped rifle was taken with my Garand M1 with the issue peep sight. All that said, I started using a scope on my shotguns in the late 1970s and never went back to opens. The scopes I have used on my shotguns are El Paso Weavers in 1.5X and 2.5X... All of my centerfire rifles except the M1 have scopes, in fact none of them have open sights. Day in and day out, a scope is a superior sighting device.

I won't argue with you boys about archery shots since I don't have a dog in that fight. However, as far as the military goes, a wounded enemy is more valuable than a dead one, since it puts the wounded man out of action PLUS takes out 2 or three more men who are required to tend to him..

I'm gonna be a GOOD boy.. I'm not TOUCHING that one, WNY....

I used to feel the same way until got those 2 infections...The first time the Doc wanted to put me in the hospital on IV , but I talked him into oral antibiotics and they did the trick.. The second time I was hundreds of miles back in the wilds of Alaska, and if I had to fly out for treatment it would have been a very expensive proposition, not to mention a total bummer ruining my hunting trip.. My "sissy" latex gloves are cheap insurance..

A few years back I contracted nasty infections twice from gutting animals..One time with a squirrel and the other time with a caribou.. Since then a Ziploc bag full of latex exam gloves is always in my pack and I wear them while gutting and butchering critters.. The time I was infected from a gutting a caribou, my hunt would have been over and I would have had to fly out of camp early, except one of my partners had a bottle of Cipro in his pack..It saved my hunt..

If Momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy..!

What a hog....I mean the DEER, not you, Larry....<<grin>>... My heaviest buck weighed 175 dressed...In over 50 years of deer hunting, the heaviest buck that I have ever actually seen on the scales weighed 185 dressed, and it was killed early bow season, pre-rut and was larded up with fat.. I have talked to reliable local people over the years who have killed or seen weighed bucks that weighed 200 +, but I have never happened to see one that heavy on the scales..Years ago,the deer contest that used to be run at the Killbuck Inn near Canisteo was usually won by a buck in the 200 lb class... I hunted in Maine a couple of times, and weight rather than rack size is the big thing up there..The state even has a "200 Club" that records deer that weigh 200+ pounds each year, as opposed to NY State's Big buck Club that records them by antler size...