Pygmy

Sorry to hear the bad news Culver...Hope the Little Woman gets gainfully employed again soon... As for Xmas presents I want to thank Burmjohn and EVERYONE for the generous offer.. Send me MONEY....Cash is preferred ( don't worry about that old wive's tale that it is not prudent to send cash through the mail). I will also accept certified checks and money orders. PM me and I will send you my mailing address.. Thank you SO much in advance...<<<grateful SMILE>>>...

I don't think there is presently much collector interest in bolt action shotguns. But who knows, perhaps in 20 years there might be. When I was a kid, you could buy surplus military rifles for as little as ten bucks apiece. Many of those are worth hundreds of dollars apiece now. Back in the early 70s I bought an 1895 Chilean Mauser in excellent condition for $35. I sporterized it and it became my first deer rifle. If I had that same rifle now in unaltered condition, it would be worth several hundred dollars.

Hmmmm.. I guess I'm not a deep enough thinker to involve thoughts of mortality ( human or animal) in such a conversation... I would never cut the throat of a deer that was still mobile, because the damn thing could easily INJURE me. Thrashing antlers and hooves ain't no JOKE and they can KILL you. I don't want an animal to suffer , but I am not about to risk serious injury to prevent it. The one I did was comatose.. I wasn't woried about my safety...Seemed to make sense to cut the jugular and let the critter bleed out well and expire peacefully, which it did. Living in the country with all kinds of pets, farm animals, and wildlife around, I have killed critters with clubs, guns ,rocks, my boots and my bare hands when it was necessary. I never put a real emotional value on it, but always dispatched any critter that needed dispatching with the most efficient and humane method available to me at the time, as long as I was not putting myself in jeaopardy.

To address the OPs question....The Rem 700 is adjustable, but after monkeying with a couple of them (considering I am not real mechanical) I decided to have a gunsmith adjust the HORRID trigger pull on my 700 Mountain rifle, which he did for about 35 bucks...It is SWEET now..Light and crisp, with no creep. My CZ 550 came with very easy to understand, precise directions on how to adjust the trigger. I did it myself, and it is also SWEET... Considering the discussion of the Ruger Scout.. No offense to anyone who likes it. I realize that tastes differ..Some guys like freaky looking chicks with metal hanging all over thier faces, heads, and other places. I prefer the "girl next door" type. ..I can't imagine the utility of that awkward detachable mag sticking out the bottom. It is as ugly as a side order of s***t....

Most bolt action shotguns were manufactured either by Savage/Stevens or Mossburg. Marlin made a couple models, as did Winchester and others. Sears, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto and others had the guns made by Mossberg , Stevens, Marlin , High Standard and perhaps others and had thier own trademarks put on them..That explains the similarities in many "hardware" brands. Mossberg made most of the bolt actions. The levers were Marlins...The break open single shots were made by dozens of manufacturers. The pumps and autos were mostly High Standard. Doubles were made by many manufacturers back in the 1800s and early 1900s, but the more recent doubles were Savage/Stevens.

I did it once about 40 years ago. I was using a Rem 1100 skeet gun with the double bead...It was still common practice for many hunters at that time to use a simple bead sight with slugs... I killed a fair number of deer with that setup, until I discovered the superiority of telescopic sights. I had about a 70 yard downhill shot at a buck. Holding on the chest area, I fired, and in a stellar display of marksmanship, I hit the deer in the head..The slug entered the right eye and exited on the left jaw. The deer, of course, dropped like a rock. When I got to him, I could see that he was still alive..Unconscious, but breathing normally. He was probably in a coma. Rather than shoot him in the head AGAIN, it just seemed logical to cut his throat and let him bleed out well, since his heart was still pumping. So I did. He made no reaction, since he was in La La Land. I sat back on the bank and watched.. After about 2 or 3 minutes, he kicked a few times and it was all over. I am confident to this day that he never felt a thing after that 20 gauge slug hit his head.

In typical forested areas like NY, there are two effective ways to hunt bears. One is baiting..The other is to run them with hounds. Unfortuantely, both methods are illegal in NY. Most bears are shot here as targets of opportunity by deer hunters. If you really want a bear, research some outfitters in places like Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, or Maine, where baiting or hounding is allowed. Successful bear hunting in NY requires more than a good dose of LUCK...

Who is heading down to Pa Monday ? I'll be hunting in GMU 3A , near Nelson, PA. Bear season will be open also for the first 6 days of deer season in some units(including 3A) but I did not buy a bear tag, because I don't know what I'd do with the dam thing if I shot one. Last year I could have shot 2 BIG bruins the second day of deer season... I'm just hoping to fill a doe permit or two.

Probably we are, Bkln.... However, a friend of mine told me that his Dad got a ticket one time for having the mag for a bolt action shotgun loaded on the dashboard while driving around. Seems like maybe it's one of those GREY areas... It would be nice to know for sure.. As por MOI, I'll continue to have the mag loaded in the vehicle...If I were to get busted for it, I would just pony up and take my medicine. Having to strip the rounds out of a detachable mag every time I get in the truck seems kinda silly to me.

I'm 61.... Until I was 50, I really did not see much difference ... In the years between 50 and 60...BIG difference.. I don't hunt as much or as hard as I used to...For years I hunted spring turkeys EVERY morning ( including mornings before work) as long as I had a tag left..I also hunted deer every hour that I could during the gun season and hunted with the bow nearly every day after work during the bow season. Besides that, I hunted squirrels, rabbits, crows, foxes ,coon, ducks ,geese, woodcock, grouse , pheasants and fall turkeys. I haven't shot crows or foxes in years...I gave up my bow a few years back..I always preferred to hunt from a tree, and I am not as agile and sure footed as I once was. I'm getting kinda nervous about climbing trees. I still hunt the gobblers pretty hard, but don't cover the ground I used to. I can still get to the top of the mountain, but it TAKES me longer than it used to. During gun season for deer, I take a day off now and then, just because my body tells me to..I no longer care about big racks. I'm happy just to get a deer or two for the freezer. I still hunt waterfowl a few days a year as well as squirrels and rabbits.. I don't hunt upland birds because I no longer have dogs.. Over a period of about 20 years, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to hunt in a number of wild and wonderful places on this continent. I've hunted Alaska, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Northwest Territories, Northern Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundaland, and several other states and provinces. I think most of those hunts are behind me now, both for financial limitations and phyisical limitations..

I haven't smoked for years, but until I was 30 or so, I smoked 2 packs a day, including when I was hunting. I think that the MOVEMENT required to smoke a cigarette is more apt to give you away than the smell.. If the deer is DOWNWIND, he's going to smell you regardless of what you do. If the deer is upwind, he's not going to smell a smoker any quicker than a non smoker.

It's in the regs pamphlet in the "firearms in vehicles" section. It simply states that in order to be considered unloaded, a firearm must be unloaded both in chamber and magazine. I find no aside for detachable mags. The PA booklet is more precise. It states that a firearm must be unloaded both in chamber and magazine if the magazine is attached. That infers that as long as the mag is not in the gun, the gun is unloaded.

I have seen it happen a number of times with neck shots, shots close to the spine ( but not severing it) and even antler hits. The shock wave from the projectile will stun the deer and it will drop like a rock, but after a period of time, it will get up and take off as if it is not even injured. Usually that period of time is a matter of seconds or perhaps a few minutes, but it might be longer, as in the case of your buddy. As long as no vital organs are injured, I suspect a fair number of deer hit like that will recover.

I'm in my 60s, and I've dragged my last deer uphill.. Several places where I hunt, I can get the quad to the deer...A couple of spots are fairly short drags, and all downhill.. I'm the oldest guy in my hunting party , and the younger guys help me out. I used to do that for the old guys..Gut thier deer and drag them. Now I ARE the older guys...<<grin>>...

Acoording to the regs as I read them, a firearm in or on a vehicle, must be unloaded in both chamber and magazine. With an integral magazine such as a tube or staggered box magazine, this is pretty plain. However, read literally, even a detachable magazine would have to be emptied if it is in the vehicle with the firearm. I never do that .I just detach the mag and put it in my pocket or lay it on the console, loaded. I hunted with a friend yesterday who was using a Rem 740 and he had a spare mag. When he got into the truck, he stripped the rounds out of both mags. What do you do with your detachable mags ? Have you ever heard of anyone being ticketed for having a loaded deatchable mag in a vehicle if it was not in the firearm ?

It is somewhat difficult to tell from the picts, Karp because the action is open. Is the R 77 a tang safety model ?

I'm not one to kiss and tell...<<giggle>>....

Sure thing, Girlfriend...<<grin>>... Must be my charm just got the best of you...<<wink>>.. Reminds me of what I used to tell my ex-wife... " GEEZE, Honey, you knew I was an AH when you MARRIED me.."

Growalot... You've done it now... You hurt my feelings.... I'm compelled to turn in a HURT FEELINGS REPORT... HURT FEELINGS REPORT HURTEE...Pygmy HURTER...Growalot SPECIFIC FEELINGS HURT....All of them METHOD OF HURTING...She called me an AH. She suggested that I was a POACHER. She also insinuated that my breath smells and I don't love Jesus. She did not actually say that, but I KNOW she was THINKING it. Just sayin'... RESULT OF HURT FEELINGS...She made me cry... She also made me so upset that I forgot to check my colostomy bag and I had an overflow...In church. HOW LONG WILL FEELINGS REMAIN HURT....Probably forever, because I am a helpless, feeble old man and I probably don't have much longer to live. This hurt feelings report has been submitted to the administraters.

I thought that the amount of shooting was about average, considering that rifles have been made legal here. Certainly a LOT less than when everyone was using shotguns... A friend of mine had his nephew in a tower stand with him, and the boy counted the shots they heard from dusk till dawn..He heard 177 shots...

Hehehehehe..Coming from YOU, Sweetheart, I consider being called an AH a compliment. MY, but we're a little SENSITIVE today, aren't we..? We didn't forget to take our ANXIETY meds, did we..?..

.....???????.... What..??.. From most of your posts I got the idea that you had nothing BUT poachers in your area... Other than the people in your camp, of course.. So what's new..??..

Good luck, Tim... Hope you have an opportunity to use both.. As por MOI, I just hope I can get my old, half crippled, fat butt into the stand with one rifle and maybe shoot a deer.. THEN, I hope I can get out of the stand without killing myself and dress the critter..

You can tell that it is the opener of deer season. The highways here in Steuben County are busy today, and it seems every other vehicle is a 4WD truck with an ATV in the back or towing a trailer with an ATV or two. The local restaurants, gin mills and motels will be busy this weekend, not to mention the strip clubs....<<grin>>...

Most commercial guns would have some kind of marking, especially a bolt action since most bolt action shotguns were relatively recent, at least compared to break open single barrels and double guns. One possibility... After WWI and WWII, there were quite a few military mausers that were brought home as souveniers. Proper ammo was hard to come by at that time, so a significant number of them were rebarreled as shotguns. The ones I have seen were 12 gauge, but I see no reason why some of them could not have been rebarreled to 20 gauge..Such a gun might be relatively void of markings...