Pygmy

" Tossed them in the box of forgotten ammo"....<<GRIN>>.. I have one of those, too. As much as I enjoy technical ballistic data, I have never been struck by the urge to seek out a super long range turkey load. I have always felt that as long as I have good sure kill coverage at 40-45 yards, that is all I need, at least for my style of hunting. In my guns I have always been able to achieve that with 3" 12 gauge loads of Federal or Winchester lead, buffered, copper plated loads. I have patterned several different brands and there is ( or CAN be) a difference in different brands. Remington products, for whatever reason, have always given me poorer patterns than the Federals or Winchesters. I never felt the need to try the $5 per shell denser than lead stuff. I just try to make sure that the bird is within the range of the standard loads that I have been killing turkeys with for 40 years or so. Actually, I prefer a load with a somewhat bigger pattern than some of those "super loads" provide. It is a little more forgiving should a bird get in TOO close, and I can avoid trying to hit a moving turkey head at close range with a shot pattern the size of a slug.

That's exactly the case,Joe... I grew up and went through public school with a kid named Jimmy Randall. We hunted, fished and hung around together. He was killed by machinegun fire in an ambush in Vietnam in March, 1971. I was one of his pallbearers. To this day I never fish the local river or hunt squirrels without thinking fondly of him. He was 5 months shy of his 20th birthday when he died. Another older fellow, a friend of my Dad, taught me all I know about tying and fishing my own jigs and flies. He died of a heart attack in his 70s around 1990. I have caught literally thousands of fish on the lures that he taught me to make and never go fishing without remembering old Ivan. Those people live on through my memories and hopefully I'll continue to pass on some of the things they taught me to others.

Doc..I have a photo that I would like to show you.. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to post it here. It is my Dad, at age sixteen, taken on the side of Naples Creek in April of 1937. He is proudly holding a nice rainbow, perhaps 6-7 lb. He placed in a fishing contest that day with that fish. He won a 9' bamboo fly rod and reel, which I still own. I also have a picture of myself at 4 years old, standing on a dock at Keuka lake, fishing with that same bamboo fly rod, which was the only fishing rod that I knew of my Dad owning until he got his first open face spinning rod in about 1957 or 1958. It was a Shakespeare fiberglass rod and reel, a birthday present from my Mom. Probably cost her 10 or twelve bucks, which was quite a lot in 1957. Pretty cool stuff....

I'm the old man of the bunch now...The other 2 guys ( of the original are young pups, around 50...LOL.. Thanks for your kind thoughts..Life goes on.. Gotta do things while you can.. That's why I've never regretted all the hunting and fishing I have done..Both of my friends who passed within the last few months were my age, my high school classmates . We hunted, fished, drank beer, raised hell and chased girls together ( not necessarily in that order) since our teens.. Lots of fond memories there.

Actually the trout season is open in the Cohocton ( main river) year round, but the tribs don't open until April 1st, and there is some choice fishing in the tributaries, especially some of the smaller, unstocked ones that get very little fishing pressure due to the fact that most fishermen prefer to fish the stocked waters. These are my favorite places to fish, and I often fish all day without seeing another fisherman.

About 20 years ago, I became involved with some friends in a friendly, opening day trout contest. The rules were simple. We fished in 2 man teams, $10 per man. The team that brought in the LONGEST TROUT won all the money. The trout had to be taken from the Cohocton River or one of it's tributaries, which ,if you are familiar with the drainage, covers quite a bit of water. We would meet at a given spot at 1:00 PM, measure up our fish, and then play poker the rest of the day.. It was kind of a win/win situation..<grin>... We had a number of different teams over the years, but there were four teams who were there pretty much every year from the beginning. This year we only have enough guys for two teams. Of the original 8, 3 guys are now fishing that great trout stream in the sky, one guy is no longer physically able to fish, and another has moved out of the area. 2 of the 3 guys who are gone passed away in the last 6 months, including a very dear lifelong friend of mine , who was my partner since the beginning. I have another good friend who is my new partner this year, and I am looking forward to getting out on the stream, although it will be bittersweet to say the least. My partner Mike, who passed away last fall, always got as excited as a little kid over opening day, even when he was in his 60s. He'll do doubt be looking over my shoulder next Tuesday as I drift a worm through his favorite pools...

That's very similar to the way I do it, Joe...Very quick and easy . It works a little better with the small to average sized 'heads than with those big 1-2 pound yellowbelly slobs we get from Seneca Lake. A few years ago, a buddy of mine turned me on to filleting the big ones with an electric knife. That's also very quick and the big ones seem to fry up a little better filleted than whole. My parents both loved bullheads, and I grew up thinking they were equivalent to nectar and ambrosia, whether fried whole or filleted. Spring just ain't SPRING without a couple good messes of bullheads. They are GOOOOOD !...Make you wanta slap yo MOMMA !

There is some fine trout water there. Years ago I lived in Whitesville for a couple of years and fished the Genny a lot around Shongo and Stannards. I still try to get out there a couple of times a season, especially when the mayflies are hatching in May and June. Good luck in the contest.

LOL, Deerthug ! A little error in terminology... That reminds me of the time , many years ago, when I sent my wife to Cox's to pick me up a seersucker suit. She went to Sear's.....

Thanks, Joe... I knew that SOMEONE on this forum would appreciate my vast knowledge of computer technology.

I know..I should have included a bibliography. My apologies to Steven Wright. I'm a HUGE fan..Pun intended...<<smile>>..

Hehehehehe....All the little urchins will have to do is follow your tracks in the snow, you silly goose !

I used to smoke fish but my wife made me get rid of my smoker after I burned my house down with it (true story). Brining IS a key to a good product . I'll look around for my old recipes, but I am sure you can find info online. As I remember the brine was salt, water, and possibly some sugar. A couple of tips..AFTER you remove the fish from the brine after soaking for a day or two, wash it well to remove as much salt as you can, and then dry it for a couple of hours in a well ventilated place until a shiny glaze develops on the outside. This glaze helps produce a more attractive and better tasting product after smoking.

Oboy....Wait 'till I a beer and some popcorn... Okay..Tell me again about tha RABBITS, George....

It's easy...First you pop open a beer. Next you log on to DORKZ. When in DORKZ, upload the framscuttle TWICE. After that, click on wackdoodle and crossload the fuzzbumper. Once the fuzzbumper crossloads, sidestep into beenybopper. As soon as beenybopper metabolizes, shut down the porksloop and re-boot the fernbender. After that, pop open another beer and try gain. Nothing to it. Glad to help.

Did you hear about the agnostic,dyslexic, insomniac ? He lay awake all night wondering if there really IS a dog.

If a parsley farmer doesn't pay his taxes, will they garnish his wages ? If a cannibal eats a clown, will he taste funny ? What is the speed of dark ? I guess I'm getting tired of the long winter ( DAMN this global warming). I'm getting even more squirrelly than I USUALLY am...<sigh>...

Hmmmm.. Mine in Steuben County just says NO RESTRICTIONS... I assume that I can carry it open/concealed anywhere except places where firearms are forbidden, such as NYC, schools, public buildings, etc.

Remington 11-87 SP 12 gauge 3", factory treebark camo, 21" barrel with Kick's .665" Gobbling thunder tube. I use either Federal Heavyweight 2 oz. loads OR Win XX 2 oz. loads of buffered, copper plated #6 shot. I have used several differnt sighting systems, but the present one is a Leupold 1x4x 20MM vari-X II scope.

Hmmmmm.. I was looking for my '57 Dodge Coronet... Push button transmission, big tail fins, air conditioning, 360 4 barrel and a back seat as big as a COUCH....

I am pretty ignorant concerning modern 20 gauge autos.. However, my main upland gun for the last 40 years or so has been a 20 gauge, an SKB side by side with 25" barrels choked IC/M. I HAVE however, spent a good deal of time behind several 20 gauge autos, the quickest and handiest being a Rem 1100LT20 and a Browning A5 light 20...Both great guns. I'd like to handle the Benelli..I love light and dynamic upland shotguns.

You are talking apples and oranges here....The swift will vaporize any small game you shoot with it. If you want edible meat , do NOT shoot it with the swift. It's forte' is killing varmints at long range. Even the hornet is more cartridge than you may want for edible game, along with any other centerfire .22. If you want to shoot edible small game, use a .22 LR or at the most, a .22 WRM. Then if you want you shoot varmints or predators at long range, get a .223, 22-250 , .220 swift or whatever..

Thank you all... I spent the last 10 days in the Carolinas, visiting my sister in SC and an old hunting/fishing buddy in NC... Had a great birthday...Drank some skull varnish and ate some good seafood...

Thanks for the tip, Paulie !!....BTW...It was SLATER who turned me on to the Bushnell Holosight.. I FORGIVE him, of course...Hehehehe.. Good to see you posting here. Nice to hear from old friends now and then..

Great video !!...