Pygmy

Geeze, Hounds...You don't have to YELL at me.... Now you've hurt my feelings... I may have to turn in a "hurt feelings report"...<<sniff>>...

I skinned a few of them in the 60s and got less than a buck apiece for them.. I wouldn't skin one today for $5, and the trappers I know who catch them incidently in thier fox/coyote and coon sets just kill them and throw them aside.. Same with the "grinners"..

Dom..I have spent some time with Inuits.. While it is true that they salvage and value the oosik, don't think that they WASTE the rest of the walrus..They use or eat EVERYTHING, including the stomach contents....

Good luck, Big Fella ! We'll miss you...

I did a lot of hunting out of hang-ons and climbers back when I was younger. Fortunately I managed to avoid a gravity attack, although I had a couple of close calls. Most of my friends who hunt out of treestands have had at least one fall. I am not nearly as strong, limber, and bulletproof as I once was, and my days of hunting from hang-ons and climbers are over. My favorite treestand was on my Dad's property. I built it with scrap lumber in a maple on a pinch point in a neck between two woodlots. I called it the world's greatest treestand. I killed perhaps 30 deer from that stand, and a couple of my buddies killed a bunch too. After my Dad died in '94, my Mom sold the property. Nowadays I have a couple of ladder stands I hunt from. I also have many spots where I sit or stand on the ground or on a log or a stump. Often I just lean against a tree. I have two pop up blinds that I use on occasion, but I use them much more for turkey hunting than deer hunting.

I have a 160 7mm Nosler partition that entered an Alaskan bull moose at the brisket and came to rest under the hide behind his left shoulder...Still weighs 106 grains.. I also have a Noexcuses 50 cal. 460 grain that I recovered under the far side of my ONE AND ONLY bull elk's ribcage..A perfect mushroom, and close to 100% weight retention.. COOL STUFF for us ballistic whackos...hehehehe... I also have a couple of recovered round balls from deer, a few shotgun slugs, Foster, Brenneke and Win BRI sabots, and a couple of the remains of 140 grain 7mm Nosler BTs from my .280 that I recovered from caribou.. Shucks, today I even recovered a few #4 shot from the squirrels I shot this morning..But I didn't keep 'em...hehehe...

How the heck did you get my picture ?? I haven't been north of Syracuse since July... Must be an imposter...

Lawdwaz... That is SOOOOOOOO cool... That is a great score and momento.. I love to recover spent projectiles... The only Barnes X I have ever recovered was a 250 grain 9.3 MM that I got from an Alaska caribou...It entered through a ham and I recovered it from under the skin on the brisket. I am sure that Barnes would be happy to see your post.. Great publicity for a great product. I have killed a number of whitetails with my 7mm08 and my 9.3 x 62 with Barnes bullets and have yet to recover one..I think they may all still be going...hehehehe..

Years ago, in my missspent youth I had a " coon trigger" as my Dad called the penile bone of a coon.. I remember convincing a college girl that it was a turkey call.. I remember trying to keep a straight face when she tried to "blow" it...hehehehe...

A small caliber bullet hole in the ribs ( or elsewhere), like a .22 or .17 rimfire that leaves no exit might be mighty hard to find unless you skin the buck.. Too bad..He's a real toad.

Doc, you are spot-on with this... That's why the conspiracy theories are so absolutely ridiculous !!

Most roads kills I have had experience with are NOT worth eating..Too much bruised and bloodshot meat.. Once in awhile, a critter that just gets clipped in the head might be an exception. If they are suffering, put'em away... I have finished off several over the years..It is the humane thing to do, whether legal or not...If some day I do that and get ticketed for it, I'll just take my medicine, pay my fine, and then do it again the next time if the situation calls for it..

Congrats to both of you...Nuthin' like it !...

Patience, karpteach..The lad's Aunt emailed me a picture that I intend to send to WNYBuckhunter to post for me..However, for some reason I can't access my email right now..Hopefully soon..

Looks like Biz-R-O did a guided hunt.. DIY hunts can still be done quite a lot cheaper than that, but require more research and preparation, plus the fact that often the draw odds are less favorable and success rates are lower than with a guide or outfitter.

Nice report Biz-R-O... Nice critters and pictures, too... Ain't them mulies the COOLEST critters ?... Speed goats are pretty too, and lots of fun to hunt.

Nice report, Doe... Glad to hear that you and the Missus and the Pup had a good trip.. Had to chuckle at your mention of the locals shooting the birds along the road.. A friend of mine, who is a native Mainer told me the difference bewteen a grouse and a pah-tridge.. If you shoot the bird on the wing, it's a grouse.. If you shoot it off a limb or on the shoulder of the road, it's a pah-tridge...hehehe..

Congrats..never ate a doe I didn't like.

By the time I got there with my camera, the buck was skinned, quartered, and in the cooler, since the temps are warm and the priority with the guys I hunt with is quality meat. However, the young fellow's Aunt took some good digital shots..I'll see if she can send me one or two to share. I will say that there have been at least a couple hundred bucks weighed at my buddy's place over the last 40 years or so, and this one tied # 2 for weight..There has been one other weighed in at 175 and one that was 185. A few weighed in in the 160s, but the vast majority have weighed 150 or less..Most of them were CONSIDERABLY less, generally from 100 to 130..

I got to admire a 14 year old's first buck today.. He's the son of a close friend of mine. 9 point...weighed 175 dressed... The kid is SPOILED..!!..LOL.. He may never kill a bigger one..

That sounds like a scope problem.. If it were an ammo problem, you should still be able to MOVE the location of the group with scope adjustment, but the group would be unacceptably large.

I would try the 150s first, since it is 30 grains lighter, while the 165 is only 15 grains lighter. It is plenty of bullet for deer and your trajectory would be a bit flatter than the 180 also.

The first thing to do is to besure that all mounting screws are tight and you have already done that. Second, be sure you are shooting from a solid rest with sandbags or something similar to remove as much human error as possible. Could you be flinching ? Some rifles just don't likea certain load or bullet weight. I would try some 150 or 165 grain loads and see if there is a noticeable difference. You will notice that the 150s recoil somewhat less than the 180s. Good luck..Keep us posted on your results.

They are shell decoys, just a hollow, open bottomed form with a removable head and neck that is designed to be used in field setup. They are not floaters. While some shell decoys are designed to be set on stakes, many of them just set on the ground, as these are shown in Papabear's pictures. I have used both often in a mix, and while the staked ones are probably a bit more realistic and stick up a little higher, I have never really seen any difference in effectiveness.

The magazine capacity restriction only applies to SEMI-AUTO rifles and shotguns. If your gun is manually operated, whether a pump, lever, or bolt action, there is no restriction on magazine capacity, unless you are hunting migratory gamebirds. Model 97 and Model 12 Winchester shotguns, unplugged, will hold 7 shots, as will several different lever action centerfire rifles. British SMLE bolt action rifles use a 10 shot box magazine.