Pygmy

You may or may not need decoys.They can be very helpful if you are hunting open areas such as field edges, but truckloads of turkeys have been shot by hunters simply sitting against a tree in the woods. If you want a decoy, I'd recommend starting with a single feeding hen, like the BoB N Head Hen, if they still make such a thing. As far as calls go, I think the easiest call to learn to make realistic turkey talk with is a box call..There are many on the market, but the Lynch Foolproof is a classic...Some sound better than others, but I have never heard a Lynch FP that did not sound good enough to call a turkey..Don't worry about learning fancy calls at first...If you can yelp and cluck and sound like a turkey, you can call in birds..The CADENCE is more important than the pitch or tone...Learn to yelp like a hen turkey and you will call in gobblers. I suspect that if you check google or whatever, you can find some basic instructional videos that will help you. I learned 45 years ago from a 45 RPM record made by M L Lynch himself...Still got the record, as a matter of fact, but I don't have a turntable to play it on..<<sigh>>...

I never heard that...I do know that I have shot plenty of soft points over the years that had dented, bent or deformed tips and I never could see where they shot any less accurately than any other bullets with perfectly symmetrical tips..At least within 100-300 yards..Perhaps for benchrest competition or extreme long range shooting ( beyond 300 yards) it might be an issue.. I would not be afraid of shooting any standard soft points in any normal hunting scenario... As per the lead melting at very high velocities...I have heard that theory, but I have also heard it is a myth..I really don't know, but I don't think if that if it does occur, it affects the integrity of the bullet's terminal performance on the critter it makes contact with.

Yeah..Rem coreloct would be a good example of a "typical" cup and core soft point.So would Winchester power point, Speer hotcore,Hornady spire point,Sierra gameking and many others.

Very clearly spoken , Red...<<grin>> Happy New Year to all of you... I sincerely hope to be wishing y'all the same a year from now..

I have had Remington semi-autos most of my life..I've had 11-48s in 28 and 16 gauge, 1100s in 20 gauge and 12 gauge, and an 1187 in 12 gauge. They were all solid, dependable guns. One 1100 and the 11-87 are chambered for 3" shells. I have never felt that the extra shot in a 3.5" shell was worth the extra recoil and expense. I have shot plenty of turkeys and geese alongside guys who shot 3.5" guns and my 3" guns killed them just as far away...At least as far away as I ever needed to shoot them. When I started goose and turkey hunting in the 60s, a 2 3/4" 12 gauge was the norm...3" guns soon became common...Then steel shot became mandatory for waterfowl, and due to the pathetic early steel shot loads, the 3.5" 12 was developed.. Well, turkeys and geese have not become any tougher over the years. 2 3/4 " and 3" lead loads are more than adequate for turkeys at any reasonable range, and modern non toxic shells in 2 3/4" or 3" will kill waterfowl at ranges approaching the old lead shot ranges... Just an old fart's opinion, based on killing over a hundred turkeys and probably a couple hundred geese..

Two inches isn't enough for this old fart..I want at least four inches of good, clear ice. I agree about the snow, G-Man.. It insulates the ice and it doesn't build nearly as fast. Shucks, under all that snow the ground isn't even frozen yet.

hehehehe..I own a powder trickler, but I never use it...I just use a plastic spoon and tap it with my finger to dribble in the last few grains. Joseph..There are many bullet designs these days, but MOST hollow points are either match bullets or varmint bullets. Standard soft point spitzers work fine for deer..Any .270 bullets from 130 grain and heavier and any .30 cal. bullets from 150 grains and heavier are designed for deer sized game or larger, as long as they are an expanding "soft point" type bullet. I like Nosler ballistic tips, but have also had good results with Nosler partitions,Speer hot cores, Sierra Game kings, Hornady spire points and interlocks,and Winchester power points. Currently, I'm loading Barnes TTSX in all of my hunting rifles except my Garand M1 (30-06) ,but they are somewhat more expensive and really not necessary for deer..I load them because they perform really well in my rifles and because I'm somewhat of a "rifle looney"...

Ditto on the H20...My Mom often used milk rather than water.She claimed that the milk made the meatballs more tender, and water made them more firm. My Dad used to complain that Mom's meatballs were TOO tender.. I use the water. I think it also helps dissolve and distribute the seasonings.

Enjoy, Crappyice !!.. As far as browning meatballs goes, I have done it in a skillet with oil, in the oven as Growie suggested, and in the microwave... All three methods worked..I usually do them in the MWave about 6 or 7 minutes, because it is simple and works well for me. However, a friend of mine, whose family owned an Italian restaurant for years, just makes up her meatballs and drops them in the simmering sauce..No browning !! I tried it and it worked well.She told me that the only problem is that if you simmer them TOO long in the sauce, they are more likely to fall apart. Just passing that along in case anyone wants to try it..The one time I did it that way it turned out well... Even us old dogs can learn new tricks..

Geeze, Ants...It sounds like you and I are pretty compatible... You're not FEMALE by any chance, are you ?? Probably not..The good ones are all married, pregnant, or MALE...<< SIGH >>...

Good luck..Sounds like you are on the right track... I always include some chopped onions, minced or pressed garlic and some coarse black pepper, but that's just me..I like 'em a little on the spicey side..

I'm not a big fan of thumbhole stocks, but that is purely personal preference. I prefer a classic stock...I don't care for synthetics, but I do like the brown laminates. My Win M70 lightweight .280 has a classic style brown laminate stock and I always thought it was pretty. Feels like WOOD, too, rather than tupperware.

Hodgdon also makes extruded powders , such as H4831, H4895, H4350 and others. I agree that the "stick" powders don't meter out as well in a powder measure, but that has never been an issue with me since my loading is not high volume and I weigh every charge.

If I had to choose one powder for both the .270 and 30-06 it would be 4350. It's a little slow burning for the .308, but it may very well give you satisfactory hunting loads for that chambering also. Have fun, good luck, and be careful.

Joseph.. This is where some of the experienced handloaders on the site can help you out..I'm not a good enough typist to list all the REASONS why certain powders work better with certain bullet weights in certain calibers, but I can give you some good powders to try.. For .308 with 150 grainers...IMR or Hodgdon 4895, Winchester 760, IMR 4064, Alliant RL-15. 30-06 with 150 grainers...IMR 4064, IMR or Hodgdon 4350, Alliant RL-19. 270 with either 130 or 150 grain bullets..IMR or Hodgdon 4350, IMR or H4831, Alliant RL-19.

The Rem Coreloct is a proven cup/core game bullet. If I shot factory loads, I probably would be using a "heavy for caliber" Rem coreloct for my hunting rifles. You could shoot a 30-06 or a .308 or a .300 Savage with 180 grain corelocts for any game on this continent, from javelinas to grizzly bears, and still have a pretty efficient rig. I'm not recommending it for the big bears, but 75 years ago it was considered more than adequate, and I don't think the bears, or moose, or elk have gotten any tougher since then. DEER..??... No problemo....<<grin>>...

In my experience the Barnes X, TSX, TTSX bullets work great, and also seem to cause less tissue destruction and bloodshot meat, while killing critters just as fast and efficiently as any other bullet, including those that are designed to expand and use all ( or most)of thier energy in the animals. Barnes X type bullets nearly ALWAYS exit, and leave good blood trails, in my experience. They usually retain close to 100% of thier weight. They are also very accurate in my rifles.

I've eaten lots of deer hearts, but I find it difficult to answer that question, Bkln... The FLAVOR is definitely VENISON like..It's the TEXTURE that is unique...It is very dense meat, but still not tough...The fibers are so close together that a heart muscle does not get bloodshot like other parts of the deer. Shoot a deer through the middle of the heart and all you have to do is cut away the hole. The rest of it is fine..

I tried this recipe with venison round steaks, sliced into 1/4" strips.. SUCCULENT !! The Mermaid and I polished off the whole skillet full, and we're just a couple of scrawny old senior citizens ..<<grin>>...

I am a great admirer of the .270, but if you are looking for something NOTICEABLY milder than the 30-06, you are barking up the wrong tree. Muzzle blast, meat damage, and recoil are very similar between the two, if you compare like bullet weights and rifle weights. Same for the .280 Remington, another of my pet chamberings. The .308 is in the same ball park. The .260 Rem performs well and is noticably more mild mannered, as is the 7mm08. The .243 is even more so, although some folks consider it marginal for deer.

No need to put up with a heavy trigger... I have had trigger adjustments done on 4 of my rifles and have done 1 myself ( due to very precise instructions in my owners's manual) and they all were MUCH better than than the "lawyer proof" factory settings..I don't think any of the trigger jobs cost me more than $35... It probably is more now, but it ain't gonna break the bank, and ALL of my hunting rifles have SWEET triggers now.. My triggers are all around 2.5 to 3 pounds...

I shot the first buck I saw opening day of SZ rifle, a 6 point... Saw 5 more bucks after after that all of which I could have shot, plus a few bambis, but never got a chance at a decent doe in NY. Ate my DMPS and MZ tags.. I shot 2 nice adult does in PA.. Only saw one buck there and he was sub-legal..A spike.. My freezer is full...I'm a happy doobie....

Same stuff that has ben going around here, Lawdwaz... Mine started the same way..Within a day I could barely get out of the recliner..Horrible cough, raging sore throat and ribs and diaphraghm so sore it hurt like crazy to cough..I missed the last weekend of rifle season. The Mermaid and I both got it...It's been 3 weeks now and we both still have a lingering cough. NEXT year I'll get the damn flu shots..

If I were hunting deer with a .223, that is the bullet that I would be using... I have never shot deer with a .223, but I did shoot a couple with a .222 Rem years ago...Both DRT. My experience with TSX bullets would lead me to believe that with those bullets, the .223 would kill at least as efficiently as some traditional deer calibers, such as the 30-30 Win...

Excellent post, Doc...You must have your Doctorate in BENCHOLOGY...hehehe.. You offer good, sound advice....