Pygmy

It is best to get at altitude a couple days early to adjust and try to take it fairly easy the first couple of days. As others have said, everyone reacts differently when they get up where the AIR is RARE. I barely notice 8K, but one of my partners is drastically affected at that altitude. In the Gila Wilderness at 7-8K I barely noticed a difference...On a Colorado bowhunt camping at 10K and hunting up to 12K I was short of breath the first couple of days until I acclimated to it Good luck !

I have lived all my life in a rural area with a large deer population, and I have done a LOT of driving around at dusk, dawn, and at night.. I had plenty of close calls but never hit my first deer until I was in my late 30s..Then I hit two more within a year...Go figure..I am ALWAYS watching for deer and I slow down when I see an eye or whatever..All three deer I hit just came out of nowhere.. I am paranoid now, driving around in low light periods, even though it has been years since I hit one..

I had a buck on my property who was VERY neat and tidy.. He always hung out where there pretty wildflowers, and instead of sparring with the other bucks, he had tea parties with the does... He snorted with a lisp... I named him "Bruce"....

I won't argue against thier game judging capabilities. Some of my guides have had amazing abilities to judge trophies, even with cheap optics. That comes from experience, and is especially valuable hunting pronghorns..Those critters are tough to judge...It's hard to tell an average buck from a trophy, especially if you have not looked at a whole lot of them.

Biz-R-O... Don't assume that your guide will have good optics...Most guides I have hunted with had some cheap POS binocs and kept wanting to use MY glasses all the time. I never have encountered a guide with a spotting scope. They were perfectly happy to use mine, though. The only guide that I ever hunted with who had decent optics was on a Newfie moose hunt last fall. The guy had a pair of Leupold Wind Rivers that one of his clients had given him as a tip. Most hunting guides don't have expensive equipment because they don't make a lot of money. They're not in the business for the money. It's either a labor of love or they are there because in some remote areas it's just another way they have to make a living.

Geeeze, Biz-R-O, I thought you only went with the BEST... In binoculars, that means Leica, Swarovski, or Zeiss... Flip a coin, check 'em all out and see which one appeals to you most..They are all top quality and after you get over the STICKERSHOCK you'll never regret buying them and never need to buy another pair. Mine are Leica Trinivoid 8X 42... Wonderful glass ( although no better than Swaro or Zeiss) but they ARE on the heavy side. One thing that made me select Leica is the lifetime guarantee. They will replace them for ANY reason other than theft or loss, as in losing them in the woods... You can run over them with your truck, drop them off a 1000 foot cliff, or if some idiot shoots at you and hits your binocs, saving your life but smashing the binocs, Leica will send you a new pair.

Been there many times..The dog obviously tried to shake and kill the porky.. Some breeds ignore pain and press the attack as this one did..Always a losing effort with a porky..The smart ones get a few quills in thier snout and back off..The stubborn breeds, like the bulldogs end up looking like that pup..The tough quills are not the ones you see on the outside of the dog's muzzle..They are the ones inside the mouth, through the tongue, between the teeth, in the throat, etc. My Dad always had coon hounds and we have always had house "dawgs" around..I have spent many, many hours pulling porcupine quills, usually in the middle of the night..Not fun.. However, one of the worst ones I ever did was a friend's beagle. The little bastard bit me four times before I got smart enough to muzzle him by putting a stick in his mouth and taping it behind his head so he could not close his jaws. After wrestling with many large, strong dogs many times, I finally just started taking them to the vet. He would give the dog a shot to knock it out, hand me a pair of forceps, and we would both pull quills.. Cost some $$$, but it was much easier on both me and the poor dog.. For this reason, I always shot any porcupines that I encountered close to my home or hunting areas.. I no longer have canines, so the porkies get a break from me now.

Those Remington pumps have a reputation of being dependable and accurate. They are very popular in Pennsylvania.. Only one problem with the short barrel..It is LOUD !! Muzzle blast is distictly louder than a 22" or 24" barrel, especially in the '06 or .270.

If you smudge my lip gloss, I'll scratch your EYES out !! I'm not that EASY, you know !

Why are they called GAY ?? I thought gay meant HAPPY... Doesn't everyone think that Chick-Fil-A is a stupid name ?? I think it's time for my NAP.... Now you have me worried that Steve 863 or Doewhacker or Doc or Bubba might sneak up and try to KISS me...

I've never applied, Skillet.. Odds are too long for me...Better chance to win the lottery, especially for a non-resident. Of course, you can't win if you don't play... I have driven down a couple of times to Benezet ( sp ?) in September to listen to them bugle and see them standing around in people's back yards.

Those are some fine smallmouths, especially for river bass. Cool to see that the girls in your life are sharing the fun. Fishing bait or artificials ? Nothing against bait fishing, but I usually don't bother with bait on the river.. My main lure is a 1/16 or sometimes a 1/8 oz. hair jig (black or brown)on light spinning tackle. I tie my own jigs and they work well for both bass and walleyes.

You name your deer...?... Roscoe.? Renee..? I suppose you name your beavers also... Do you have a Wally and an Eddie Haskill..?? Exactly what are smoking while you are down there seeing fawns with antlers, naming your deer and watching your beavers swim around and "widdle'...?? << WINK >>...

Geeze, Growie and Doc... I think the two of you should do a rain dance together... I think you would make a CUTE couple..<<grin>>...

I never played around with many powders...The 25-06 is a classic overbore cartridge and typically does well with slow burners...My first loads were with 117 and 120 grain boattails and H4831 and shot sub MOA. I think I was burning 52 grains. Later I went to 100 grainers with the same powder, and they also shot sub MOA a couple hundred FPS faster and also seemed to have a more dramatic effect on the game....I'll look up the charge and get back to you. I sold the rifle before I got into Barnes bullets, but I'll bet a 90-100 grain Barnes TTSX at around 3300 FPS would be a winner.. l

Larry...The 25-06 is an azz kickin' round for deer...The only thing I have against it is you need a 24" BBL to realize it's potential...I had one in a Ruger M77 Tang safety and it was a shootin' SOB. 115 or 120 grain bullets work fine, but with bullets that heavy it is basically just a .270.. Not that there is anything WRONG with a .270, but if you want to ELECTROCUTE deer, go with tough, light for caliber bullets, like the 90 or 100 grain Barnes or Nosler BT... They shoot straight, kick little, and drop deer like lightning as far as you might want to shoot them. P.s. I'll check my loading log and let you know what worked for me when I had my .25 ought...

Thanks, Growie... I see that 8T is LOW for one permit..That's different..... I live near the boundary of 8T and 8X and have properties to hunt in both units... For years I had landowner pref in 8T, but that went away....<<sigh>>.... I guess 8X is the no brainer..I have a non hunting friend who usually gets one in 8T and signs it over to me..Maybe his luck will continue this year..

Culver..Your uncle wasn't nicknamed " The Duke" was he ? <<s**t eating grin>>.... You say your cousin spent the money on BEER ? Well....At least he didn't WASTE it...<sigh>....

An old aquaintence of mine, now deceased, had a Win. M94 in 32 Win special. It was rifle,not a carbine, with a fairly long barrel ( probably 24") and a half magazine. I've often wondered what happened to that rifle after he passed on..I'd sure like to HAVE it... One of the coolest M94s I have encountered.

Good idea, Dom...I wish I had done it when it was first available I was about your age at the time.. Seemed like a lot of money, but if I had bought it then, I'd be money ahead now. Too late for me now..I'll never live long enough to make it worthwhile..

Sounds like fun, Bill.. In past years when I used to do field decoy setups for crows, we used to get pigeons in quite often.. One nice thing..You don't need as elaborate blind as you need for waterfowl or crows. As long as you stay motionless, they decoy in pretty well..

It's not a rilfe hole unless it is a .45 to .50 cal.. Even then...Much more likely from a shotgun slug.. A rifle bullet is not going to expand by hitting as thin a tissue as a deer's ear cartilage... Most commonly used rifles ( from .35 cal. on down) would leave a much smaller hole than that..

Geeze, Growie, as dry as the weather was during prime hatching time this year there SHOULD be a good crop...Perhaps, as you suggest, other factors had an adverse effect on the hatch in your area.

Those older birds make the best stewing chickens. They have a rich, full , buttery flavor, much more than the fryers you buy in the store...They are certainly NOT for frying or grilling though.. Stewed chicken and bisquits with GRAVY of course...Homemade chicken soup. They are the best. They are also very good canned. back in my former life when I had chickens ( for 35 years) my ex-wife and I usually canned up a few quarts every year..Very good, very tender, very convenient. Just open a quart jar and heat it up..The gravy or soup stock is right there in the jar.. Damn, I miss having chickens..I always loved having them around...<<sigh>>....

Either way, it's legal, Rev... Goldfish, koi or whatever carp cousins are unprotected in NY... Shoot away..