Pygmy

Very nice pictures... Yes, they are scavengers... My buddy in Alaska, who worked most of his life as a commercial fisherman, calls them "white headed buzzards".. I figure a bird has a right to make a living however he can....<<grin>>....

Sounds good, Eddie... I always add garlic to my chili anyway...

No, Eddie...You're thinking of Punxatawney Tyrone....

That is one big lake trout. However, at the risk of being a wet blanket, I'd have to say that it is nowhere near a world record. The all tackle record is 72 pounds, taken in 1995. Commercial netters have taken lakers that pushed 100 pounds. The fish in the video might go 40 pounds at best. Helluva fish, but no world record.

Geno...Cooper's in Mansfield, Pa is a place to check. The Mermaid's son went down there around Xmas time and got some components . He said they had a pretty fair stock at that time. You could check Beikirch's new store in Knoxville, also.

Within 150 yards or so, it should work fine. You might have to track a little more than if you use a .223 or a 22-250, but it will do the job. Lots of guys use the .22 mag for coyotes, and the hornet is more powerfull than that.

I'll be coming back through Syracuse Sunday afternoon on my way home from visiting my daughter in the north country. What time can I stop by your place for the K-Bobs and beer ??

Sorry there, Hoss...Sometimes I forget what a great hunter you are. It must be due to a SENIOR lapse of memory.. It's time for my NAP...<<grin>>....

Nothing wrong with that... Those sub 1" groups with a HUNTING rifle are cool, and add to the fun and satisfaction of handloading. Actually, 2 of the three rifles that I use for most of my my big game hunting will do that with selected loads, and one of them does it with 250 grain bullets. However, the third one works hard day in and day out to stay under 2", and despite that, it is a killing machine. I've used it to kill everything from woodchucks to moose, from point blank to 400+ yards.. Just goes to show you don't need benchrest accuracy to have an effective hunting rifle.

I have bought a lot of stuff from Wing Supply over the years at good prices..Camo clothes and accessories, calls, decoys, etc. Good place to do business.

The state does not want to weaken the genetics of wild trout by stocking genetically inferior hatchery trout. That is why they do NOT stock trout in waters that have good natural reproduction of wild trout. Stocked trout are stocked to be CAUGHT, just as game farm pheasants are stocked to be SHOT. I don't recall any stocking of tiger trout...For awhile the state was stocking splake, which are a lake trout/brookie hybrid in selected waters. I don't know if they still stocking splake or not.. The tiger trout that I am referring to came out of waters which are NOT stocked..Mill Creek is a totally wild fishery of brook and brown trout... The tribs of the Cohocton that I fish are not stocked, although there are no doubt holdover trout that were stocked in the main river that ascend and live in the tribs. There is also significant spawning of wild trout, both browns and brookies, in the tribs. The tiger trout here are the result of cross spawning of the two species.

I've never got involved in turning necks, nor many of the intricasies of loading for one hole 100 yard groups.. I load hunting loads, and I'm happy to get consistent 100 yard groups of 1.5" or thereabouts. If I get consistent groups under an inch, I am tickled s***less, but for hunting purposes, a half inch group is no better than a two inch group, at least at the ranges at which I am comfortable shooting game animals. To expect to get 1/2 inch groups with relatively inexpensive out of the box rifles and loading equipment is unrealistic, in my opinion. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It might happen...But you're LUCKY if it does.

The Lindley area has always been excellent deer and turkey hunting. It has also been an area where it's easy to get DMPs, at least the last few years. I've lived about 15 minutes from Lindley all my life.

I have a 7mm 160 grain Nosler Partition that I recovered from an Alaskan bull moose that I shot in 1989 with my .280... It weighs 105 grains, for about a 65% weight rentention, after passing through about two feet of moose. It is the only NP I have ever recovered..I think the others are still going..<<grin>>.. SOOOO, comparatively, I'd say that your bullets perform pretty well.

That's pretty good weight retention for a cup and core.. I think Nosler Partitions average about 60-65% weight retention, and they have a stellar reputation for performance on game.

Does a duck's a** pucker in a powerdive ?

Looks like a tiger trout to me. I have seen a couple that were caught in tribs of the Cohocton River. As kroot posted previously, it is brown/brook trout hybrid. I have read that Mill Creek in NW Steuben County near Wayland has some also, but I have never caught one there.

Looks like one of the girls from the Cameron Hilton...

I'm familiar with BEER FARTS, but this is my first encounter with DEER FARTS...LOL...

So Larry..You are saying that you had PEAS on your POD ??...

Do you brown the bacon or just put it in raw ?

Is there a local bar that you patronize ? If they have a gallon jar of kielbasa or bar sausage, ask the bartender to save it for you when it's empty and then just boil up some cackleberries and put them in the brine. An old friend of mine used to call them Rooster Bullets....<<grin>>... All that aside, I have done them before in a plain brine of 50/50 water and vinegar and mix in some hot pepper flakes for seasoning.

Sounds interesting, Smokey..Thanks ! What do you generally add to your soup ?

Must be a BITCH getting them through that little hole in the end...

Congrats !! You'll be shooting blanks now..