Pygmy

That's spot on...I killed my heaviest buck (175 dressed) chasing a doe the day before Thanksgiving. It was on state land, but in an area that gets little pressure, because you have to walk several miles to get there. It about killed me dragging the big SOB out. I predict that MANY bucks will stop chasing permanantly Saturday...hehehe...

Damn, weasle, I'm glad you cleared that up for me...Now I can quit wearing my disguise and this bulky kevlar vest...hehehehe...

I think they ought to start shooting at jaywalkers..Just warning shots, of course... And how about those criminals who rip the warning labels off thier mattresses ? That's what this country needs..A little more frontier justice...

Going to a semi-auto is one way of getting less recoil. Gas operation lightens felt recoil and many semis are on the heavy side, which also tends to lessen recoil. My 10 pound Garand M1 in 30-06 is a pussycat to shoot, even from the bench and with a steel buttplate..It's heavy to carry, though. Semis tend to be a bit more expensive, more prone to malfunction and are sometimes more finicky about handloads. It's a pain in the butt to chase your brass. They are not everybody's cup of tea.

Good luck...Helluva buck.... Does your hunting land border Charlie Alshiemer's , by any chance ..??.. Just kidding..!!

Yeah, those woodstocked Ruger M77s have a reputation as hard kickers. I had one in .338 Win mag and it kicked the snot out of me on the bench. A buddy of mine had one in 7Mm Rem mag and he always complained about the recoil. Then he peddled the M77 and got a TC Encore in 7mm Mag and claims that it is MUCH more comfortable to shoot than the Ruger.

I'm a bolt action kinda guy, but I must admit that the BLR is a very neat and nice handling rifle.. My buddy in Ontario has two, a 22-250 that he uses for coyotes, and a .308 for deer and moose. I passed a good deal a few years back on a BLR in .308 and I've regretted it ever since.

Reloading is a hobby in itself. I don't claim that my handloads are any "better" than factory loads, but they are tailored to my individual rifles and I have a lot more combinations of components to try to get the best performance, both accuracy and velocity, out of any individual rifle. I get a lot of satisfaction from working up a good load and taking game with it. Of the 3 rifles I hunt with most, 2 have never had a factory load fired in them, and the third had 1 box fired just for barrel break in and to get the brass. It has been many years since I have taken a game animal with a factory load in my centerfire rifles.

Yeah, you caught me..Actually, there is a story behind that. When I bought the Mountain Rifle the gunshop was doing a promotion on Burris scopes. IF I bought a Burris, I got free rings, bases , mounting and boresighting. I wanted a fixed 4X, but Burris did not offer one in blue matte finish, so I compromised and bought the 2-7..I am not sorry, because it's been a good scope, but I still may put a Leupold fixed 4X on it someday, just on principle... I happen to have an extra one in my gun cabinet.

Not much difference, but the .280 has a slight advantage, at least with the loads I am using...It's splitting hairs to compare them, but velocity is the same . Both graph a little over 3000 fps. In the 7mm08 I am using a 120 grain boattail, and in the .280 I am using a 140 grain boattail of the same brand and design. The .280 with the heavier bullet at the same velocity has a SLIGHT advantage in both retained velocity at long range and energy.

Take Dinsdale's advice on the scope.. The .223 is underrated for deer..Very capable with proper bullets... No flies on the .243...It has lots of deer to it's credit.. My advice would be the 7MM08...Similar ballistics to the .270 or .280 or 7 x 57 with noticeably less recoil, since recoil might be an issue in your decision..

Back in the days when I used a smoothbore for deer ( probably a 25 year period) I used several different guns and tried most of the slugs that were available..One gun preferred Winchester, one preferred Federal, and the gun I used the very most, a Rem 1100 20 gauge skeet gun mounted with an old Weaver K 2.5 scope, preferred Brennekes. I got acceptable accuracy from Remington slugs from most of them, but they never were the most accurate in any of the guns I used them in.. Probably just luck of the draw.Every gun is an individual. Once rifled shotgun barrels became common, I said goodbye to smoothbores with slugs, and went to sabots in a rifled bore..Since then, rifles have become legal in my area and I haven't used a shotgun for deer since.

I'd have told him to stick HIS treestands where the sun don't shine..

Probably THOUSANDS of deer have been killed with single shot smoothbores and foster type slugs. A couple were killed by me in the 60s with a M 37 Winchester 12 gauge and an Eastern Arms Co. 16 gauge. My uncle killed quite a few with a Win M 37 20 gauge and an Ithaca M 66 12 gauge. Maximun range depended on the gun... With a simple bead front sight, it was tough hitting a deer's vital zone beyond 60 yards or so. With rifle type sights such as the ones that came on the Ithaca 66 guns, 100 yards was not a bad shot..

Rem 700 Mountain Rifle in 7MM08 with my handloads of Barnes 120 TSX at a little over 3000 FPS muzzle velocity, according to my chrony...The scope is a Burris 2x-7x. Nice days when I am stand hunting, M1 Garand, 1943 vintage, issue sights. 150 grain Winchester powerpoint over 47.0 grains H4895, supposed to duplicate the military load that the M1 was designed for. If I am hunting somehwere that I expect a LOOOOOOONG shot, Win M70 lightweight in .280 Rem..140 Barnes TTSX behind a max load of RL-19.. Scope is a Leupold fixed power 6X x 36MM..

I still unload, dry out and reload daily if it is wet weather. If it is dry, I often go several days with the same charge in the barrel.I have been lucky and have never had a failure to fire when shooting at game. I HAVE had a couple misfires in wet weather when I was emptying my gun at the end of the day. I use an old sidelock TC Hawken with loose powder.

A scope for a plinking/small game rifle does not have to survive extreme recoil or probably not even a lot of nasty weather, unlike a scope that you might put on a rifle and use for two weeks in Alaska under harsh conditions. I suspect the BSA would serve you just fine, as would many other low priced scopes...I had a BSA Sweet 17 on a 17 HMR and I had no complaints with it.

Buy yourself a pair of quality binoculars... I'm not talking Nikon or Pentax, here ,I'm talking top end stuff such as Zeiss, Leica, or Swarovski. Get a good all around power such as an 8 x 40 or 8 x 42...Don't go over 10 power, too hard to hold steady offhand.. Oh yeah, and learn how to use them..Good glass can be as usefull in the woods at close range as it is in the wide open spaces.. Your wallet will SMART a little at the time of purchase, but you will never regret it.. Also ,you will never have to buy another pair of binoculars.

I have done this with both muzzleloaders and centerfire rifles. The expanding gasses blow the balloon off the muzzle and it never even contacts the projectile, and does not affect the accuracy. I have used used balloons , duct tape, electrical tape, and condoms..All work the same. Duct tape is perhaps the most rugged. Put a strip over the muzzle and then wrap another strip around the muzzle to hold it more secure.

I know from experience that a deer can hear the click of a Remington 1100 safety being punched off at about 50 yards..<<grin>>...

That's not a bad call ,Paula, considering the size and the salt/pepper coloring on the tail.. However, due to the shape of the head and the light coloring on the belly, I think it is a big red (pine) squirrel.. Any fox squirrels that I have seen have a rusty color on the belly.

I hope all you folks downstate avoided any serious damage..

Is the CZ really a sidelock, or a boxlock with sideplates..? Not that it makes any difference..I would like to handle a CZ double...My experience with thier rifles is very positive.. The choke tubes are a real advantage..Really increases the versatility.. I did enjoy my cheap Spanish 28 gauge double, until it started breaking cocking springs..Handled nice, and I killed a lot of birds with it, up to and including pheasants. It was Mod/full and was little tight choked for grouse and woodcock, but still performed OK.. I was into crow hunting at the time, and I killed a BUNCH of crows with it with #9 skeet loads.. BTW... The retail price on my RENO 28 gauge double was $100 in 1968.. My parents paid for HALF the price for my High School graduation present. I paid the other $50, at $5 per week, from my local gun shop, The Central Cigar Store ( and poolroom) in Addison, NY...

A friend of mine shot a bull elk with his bow in New Mexico a few years back. The bull acted normal, appeared healthy, and came in to a cow call. While he was caping his elk, he found a broken arrow shaft in the snout... The arrow had hit the elk right in the nostril, head on. The broadhead was imbedded in a sinus cavity,with a few inches of shaft still attached. It was not a fresh wound..It had healed over, and the bull seemed no worse for the wear. He must have had a SORE NOSE for awhile, though.

Good advice from Airdale.. I have an SKB 20 gauge s/s that I bought in used but like new condition for $200 in 1975...It has been my primary bird/small game gun for nearly 40 years and has never missed a beat. other than a few honorable scars, it is just as good today as when I bought it. In that same time I have gone through 3 cheap Spanish doubles, a .410, a 28, and a 20.. All three of them were useless after less than 1000 rounds apiece.. Buy quality, and you'll never have to replace it.. SKBs are fairly common and will not break the bank. I have not shot the CZ doubles, but I am impressed with the quality of thier rifles..Excellent quality and performance for the price.