Pygmy

For the last 15 years or so I have had the pleasure of hunting spring gobblers with a good friend near his home in Ontario. One thing that adds to that pleasure is getting to hear lots of grouse drumming. I hear a few around home in Steuben County, but it's nothing like it used to be. The first season I hunted small game back in the early 60s, I killed 14 grouse with a 16 gauge single shot. Heck, I haven't killed 14 grouse in the last 14 YEARS !

I read the whole thread... I just did not understand the point you were trying to make with the gun hunters/xbow thing. Thanks for clearing that up. I feel better now.

Want to run that one by me one more time, FS ? I'm not trying to be confrontational, but I am just curious as to what that you are trying to say. I read it several times and I honestly can't make any sense of it. I'm even SOBER tonite...Perhaps that's the problem...<inoffensive grin>...

Considering the source, I consider this a compliment ...<< toothless GRIN>>...

Arrow Flinger's comments bring up a few nagging questions. Is Wooly really a tool ? Is he a BIG tool or a little tool? AF suggests that he is a "wee little tool"... Does MRS Wooly realize that her husband is a TOOL ? Now that he has "come out of the closet" does she really CARE how big of a tool he is ? How does AF know how big of a tool Wooly is ? Has he been PEEKING ? I better get out of here before I make a tool of myself...I mean even worse than usual...

A lot of reading there, young feller, but it's all sound advice by hunters who know what they are talking about.

I'm not trying to stir s**t, but desiring to kill deer at 50 yards and farther is the wrong reason for for switching to ANY kind of archery tackle. If you want to shoot critters that far away you should use something that burns powder.

I started bow hunting with a Wing recurve (45 lb) that I bought used for $25. Never got that good with it. Never killed a deer with it. Graduated to compound ( Darton SL-50) and then a Hoyt Superslam. Killed 6 deer ( 5 bucks and a doe ) and a cow elk, then gave up the bow, because I never really got that good with it. I killed deer with several different shotguns..An Eastern Arms 16 gauge single shot, a Win M37 12 gauge single shot, a Win 37 20 gauge single shot, a Rem 11-48 16 gauge auto, a Rem M870 12 gauge skeet gun, a Rem 870 Wingmaster slug gun, an Ithaca Deerslayer 12 gauge slug gun , a Rem 1100 20 gauge skeet gun, and a Rem 1100 12 gauge deer gun with fully rifled cantilever barrel. All of the shotguns had either a bead sight or open sights, except the Rem 1100 20 gauge, which had a Weaver 1X scope and the Rem 1100 12 gauge rifled barrel, which had a Weaver 2.5 x scope. Most of my shotgun deer were taken with the 1100s. I also killed a deer with a TC Contender pistol in .35 Rem, one with a TC Contender pistol in .356 Winchester, and 6 deer with a Rem XP-100 pistol in .260 Rem. I have only ever killed deer with one muzzleloader, a TC Hawken .50 cal that my ex wife bought me for my birthday in 1973. Used the issue open sights until my eyes got bad, and then installed a tang mounted peep sight, which still works for me. I have killed 15-20 deer ( including my best buck) and a 6x6 bull elk with it. I won't try to list all the rifles I have killed deer with, only the chamberings. I have shot deer with the .222 Rem, the 25-06, the .260 Rem, the .270 Win. the 7 x 57, the 7mm08, the .280 Rem, the 7mm Rem Mag, the 30-06 , the .35 rem, the .356 Win and the 9.3 x 62. Most of my rifle shot deer have been taken with the 7mm08 and the .280 Rem. Other than that I haven't had much experience deer hunting.. << grin>>...

Doc...That's some funny STUFF...hehehehe.. Good for the plantation guys.. !!!... Geeze...We thought it was a CROW !!...hehehehe...

Hmmmm...I wonder how difficult it would be to bring one of those things down with a load of shot ?

Awesome !! Mallards, woodies, hoodies and honkers !!

Good luck with your pup, Phade... I hear what you are saying. 20 years ago I was about to go on a caribou hunt near the Arctic Circle when our family pet, a springer spaniel, decided to take a nap under a truck, resulting in his hind leg being shattered. None of the local vets were willing to attempt the surgery. The only hope of saving the dog was surgery at Cornell, which would cost around 2K. My first thought was that a .22 shell only cost around 5 cents ( at that time). HOWEVER, I was about to spend around 4K for a caribou hunt for myself..How could I NOT spend the $$$ to save our family pet, and keep my happy home ? I went hunting and the dog got saved. Unfortunately, about a year later the accident prone SOB got run over by a senile neighbor. Compost occurs...<<sigh>>...

Oh S**t !!... We must have REALLY pissed Him off this time....

Sounds like my dream job. Too bad I'm too old. Besides, I'm nearly out of grenades.

Way cool, Larry... I'll remember that the next time I am making applesauce, or "satchelass" as my Old Fat Father used to call it. That dude in the white smock kinda looked like an alien to me. You don't suppose he was the one who installed the anal probe in Growie, do you...?...

As a "gun nut" I am waiting with bated breath...GOOD LUCK..

Yes Ed, they are actually very easy to filet once you have done a few. There is a bone close behind the gills that protrudes out to the side. Start behind that with your blade and the filet slices off just like any other fish, and bullheads have no pin bones to deal with like many fish do. As I said, fileting works best with the jumbos. Those smaller ones are better just skinned ,headed, gutted and cooked whole..Also, if you try to smoke some as you mentioned in another post, whole ones would be best, because filets would dry out too much while smoking , IMO. Good luck...Now you have me lusting for fresh bullheads again..<<grin>>...

DAMN that DEC...They let 5 MORE loose THIS year ??? I'm gonna cancel my subscription to The Conservationist !!

Don't let it bother you Wooley, perhaps we just have more of them down here along the Pennsyltucky Frontier...<<grin>>.. HOWEVER, as a lifelong wildlife observer, there is a phenomenon I have noticed more than once, with more than one species. You will spot a bird that you have NEVER seen before in all of your time outdoors. You will identify it...And then after you know what you are looking at/for, you will begin to see that species on a regular basis. An example...Until I was perhaps 40 years old, I was unaware of the presence of the red bellied woodpecker. Then I had one land on my suet feeder. What a brilliant, unmistakable bird ! After I had seen my "first" one and learned to recognize it's habits and calls, I began to see and hear them all over the place. Now I see them on nearly a daily basis when I am in the woods.. I think that sometimes until you are aware that a certain species exists in your area, you sometimes tend to mistake them for other species that you are familiar with. By the same token I suspect that I mistook rough legged hawks, who are winter visitors here but spend the spring/summer/fall in the artic, for red tails , and mistook short eared owls ( another winter visitor) for some kind of hawk, until I learned of thier existence and learned the fieldmarks of identifying them. Enjoying nature is a lifetime learning experience.

Eddie nailed it... Sure looks like a light phase northern harrier to me. They can vary from nearly white to a fairly dark grey/brown. We have lots of them here in the southern tier. Probably the most numerous medium/large hawk next to the ubiquitous redtails. In many cases they are very easy to ID. They have a relatively long tail and long pointed wings and are very often seen gliding LOW over hay or weed fields hunting mice. They have a very conspicuous white patch on thier rump, which is often easy to see because they fly so low when they hunt. Other than that I don't know much about them...<wink>...

Happy Birthday !! Hope ya got LUCKY !! Since you are young and single, I expect you DID...

Happy Anniversary ! Midway Usa has EVERYTHING, although some of thier prices are a little high. Wing Supply has good prices, but probably not as large a selection. Great place to get clothing,calls, decoys, etc. Brownells is another good place to try. I see you have a springer in your avatar. I love springers . I had 3 of them over the years, all liver/white males. Wonderful dogs.

Fantastic picture, Sky...I look forward to your creek cam shots every year. You are truly the king of waterfowl photographers.

I did that for a number of years with my Browning Citori...3" Win XX 6s in the full tube and a reload of lead 7 1/2s in the IC tube.. I'll tell you, a big gobbler will absolutely WILT under a load of 7 1/2s at 25 yards, and with the IC tube it was hard to miss. I got tired of having to tape/camo the Browning...Didn't want to reduce the resale value by installing sling swivels, so I used a slip on sling, which was somewhat of a PITA.. I finally gave up on it and went back to a straight full choke 3" mag.. I now reserve the Citori for ducks and pheasants...Using it for a turkey gun was a good idea, but more complicated than necessary. A buddy of mine uses a matte finish Win 101 as his turkey gun...He had camo taped it and it rusted under the tape..So he just had it bead blasted and blued, installed the sling swivels, etc. and hunts turkeys with it..Works great for him. He has rib mounted adjustable fiber optic sights on it...

OMIGAWD..!!..What a masterpiece...It certainly made my day...