Pygmy

Glad to hear you found a reputable guide. I agree that tags are rare as hen's teeth.. Good luck on your hunt. What dates are you hunting ? Are you hunting bull, cow, or either sex ?

Antler....Have you had any luck getting a moose guide..?.. Did you consider a DIY hunt..?.. The hard part of moose hunting begins after you shoot the critter. I suspect it might be fairly easy to find someone with a skidder to get your moose out for you, since much of Vermont is logging country.

" A 45-70 would have made all the difference"... Hmmm...Maybe and maybe not. A .308 is certainly adequate with a good hit and if indeed the animal was leaving a good blood trail I can't imagine it going so far it could not be recovered if vital organs were affected. Perhaps the hit was not quite as good as it appeared. I have seen a number of game animals that were hit NEAR the spine ( usually high shots through the back above the spine, or neck shots that do not hit the vertebrae squarely enough to break it)) but not directly enough to break the spine. It is close enough so it SHOCKS the spine and they will usually drop as if poleaxed, but then they get back up and run off. Often there is a lot of blood due to heavy muscle damage. Eventually they quit bleeding and are not recovered. They may even survive such a hit. The way a moose is built, there is quite a lot of room for a non-vital hit above the spine. With that kind of a hit, I doubt that a 45-70 or even a .338 would have a much different effect than a .308. Just a thought. Since the moose was never recovered, you'll never really know how good a hit it was.

Probably two of the hens are gay and the third one is a crappy mother.. I think you should report her to social services..

Nice groups Bubba... I'm glad to see that your TARGETS are flourescent orange.. ...

I have not had an issue with 2F in my hawken with loose pydrodex or black powder. However, when I decided to use 777 to work up a load for a heavy conical to use for elk, I noticed that the ignition of the 2F 777 seemed somewhat sluggish. There was a slight but perceptible hesitation between the detonation of the #11 cap and the detonation of the powder charge. I switched to 3F 777 and ignition seemed faster. I have never had any failures to fire with either 2F or 3F loose powders of any sort while hunting. The only failures to fire that I have experienced resulted from hunting several days in damp weather without reloading.Fortunately they occurred when firing the rifle at the end of a hunt to unload, rather than when I was shooting at game.

A 50 cal roundball weighs about 180 grains. I have had good results with them on deer, so I suspect they would work OK on black bears too...Shucks...The Mountain men used them for GRIZZLIES, not that I would want to try that... ??? .... The 1-48 twist is a COMPROMISE twist that is designed to shoot both conicals or roundballs reasonably well..My Hawken is a 1-48 and it shoots both with good hunting accuracy. However, every rifle is an individual. If I were you and if you are satisfied with the accuracy of the bullets you are using, I would go ahead and use them for your bear hunt. If, for whatever reason, you decide you'd like to try some other projectiles, that is OK too. Roundballs are an option, and a good conical to try is the Great Plains 385. I have had great results with the Noexcuses 460. However, perhaps your short barrel would not do as well with those as my 28" hawken barrel does.

Know any good optometrists..??.. I'd like to get one of MY eyes fixed like that... ...

As long as your bullet is a solid lead conical, it should work fine for black bear or deer. The bullets I would avoid would be the sabotted pistol bullets, such as the 240 grain HP or SP, which are designed to expand at handgun velocities. Sometimes if you push tham at higher velocities in a muzzleloader, they blow up and leave a shallow wound with insuficient penetration for a clean kill. I've seen it happen on deer. I'm a little surprised to hear you are getting excessive drop with conicals with 90 grains of powder. In my .50 cal. Hawken, I shoot a 460 grain Noexcuses conical with 80 grains of loose 777. It shoots very flat out to 100 yards. Sighted at 100 yards POI is only a couple inches high at 50. After 100 yards it drops pretty fast, though.

With the proper license, which involves jumping through a bunch of hoops plus paying the govt. a tax fee of $500 per weapon) you can possess them. However, as WNYBuckhunter said, it's illegal to hunt with fully auto firearms. It is also illegal to hunt big game with SEMI auto firearms that have a mag capacity of more than 5 rounds.

I took some time off my semi-frustrating exercise of trying to work up an accurate load with the 140 Barnes TTSX in my .280 to get some trigger time in with the rifle that I am taking to Newfoundland for moose next month. My big medicine rifle is a CZ-550 American in 9.3 x 62. I settled into the bench, and after several shots for scope adjustment, I fired a 3 shot group that made a neat little .550 inch triangle 3 1/2 inches high at 100 yards. My load is a 250 grain Barnes X bullet at about 2500 FPS MV. It shoots groups of under an inch at 100 yards with boring consistency. The scope is a Leupold M8 fixed 4X, for the benefit of all you folks who seem to think you need a high magnification variable scope to shoot good groups.. ... With that load and zero, I can hold center chest on a moose anywhere from point blank to 300 yards. The recoil is stout, but manageable...It's a lot more comfortable to shoot than any .300 mag or .338 I ever shot.

I got my 2 licenses also, Larry... So did my hunting buddies who hunt with me in 3A.

Let's see.... Fiance's land ~ 100 acres... 5 stands and 4 or 5 hunters max. Usually only 1 or two. Second property..125 acres no stands ( leased timber company land) but plenty of stumps to sit on and trees to lean against. Generally 1 to 4 hunters. often just me. 3rd property... 125 acres...3 ladder stands. 2-3 hunters the first 3-4 days of season, after that, just me. 4th property. About 500 acres. 2 stands. Part of a hunting co-op . Numerous people have passes to hunt, so hunter numbers vary. 5th property 100 acres. No stands. Generally no more than 2 or 3 hunters. Often only me.

Every rifle is an individual as I'm sure you well know, Bubba. A 25-06 with 115-120 grain bullets is nearly identical in performance to a .270 with 130 grain bullets, and there ain't no flies on THAT combo..

On most of my hunts, I was limited for weight, so taking a spare rifle was counterproductive. Also, all of my wilderness hunts have been with at least one partner, so if necessary, two hunters could share one rifle. Typically, we had about 4 hunters in camp . We would take a shotgun for a small game/tent gun/ bear protection gun, so if someone's rifle or scope malfunctioned,there would still be a spare firearm for someone to carry for bear protection. Never had a scope/rifle breakdown, although I know it could happen. On a 1x1 hunt with a guide, if your rifle screwed up, you could use the guide's rifle. In my experience, it would probably be a 30-06 with open sights that looked like it had been dragged behind a pickup for about 100 miles. On most of the hunts I have been on ( fly in DIY hunts) a backup rifle was a luxury I was not willing to afford.. The extra weight was better spent on some other luxury, like a few cans of spam, a couple sixpacks of beer or maybe a 2L jug of Black Velvet.. ...

If I were hunting coastal brownies I would take my CZ-550 in 9.3 x 62 with handloaded 286 grain Nosler Partitions. The scope is an M8 Leupold fixed 4x. I don't have a suitable backup for big bears and have never had the need for one on any of my wilderness hunts, but if I could afford a brown bear hunt ( which I can't) it would make sense to take one in the same chambering, probably in a CZ-550 synthetic compact, with the same glass. Nothing ever goes wrong with fixed power Leupolds . As an aside, the reason that I own a 9.3 x 62 is because of the existence of brown/grizzly bears. After seeing my first few grizzlies in the flesh , suddenly my .280 seemed rather puny, so I bought a .338 Win mag to use as my rifle anywhere where the hairy volkswagons were a factor. After getting pummled by the .338 for a few years I decided to get something that would suffice at grizzly protection, but did not beat me up so bad on the bench...Hence the 9.3 x 62. It kicks similar to a 30-06 with heavy bullets, shoots as flat enough for the odd 300 yard shot, and handles heavy enough bullets to stop large, dangerous game. Most brown bear guides recommend a .300 Mag as a MINIMUM, although some list a 30-06 with heavy bullets as minimum. The ones who know thier salt would rather see a hunter show up with a 30-06 that he can shoot well than a .378 Weatherby or .416 that he's afraid of.

What a nice birthday present. ;D .. While a 100 year old gun may seem old, fluid steel technology was used in it's manufacture and it is safe to shoot with "normal" lead shot loads. It is essentially a MODERN shotgun, except that it was not designed for steel or other "harder than lead" non toxic shotshells, and the use of them would most likely damage your barrel. If I were you I'd treasure my hierloom and enjoy using it.

Geeze, I could have LOTS of fun with that thing, if someone would buy the ammo for me... Any volunteers..?..

hehehehe..Here is the ultimate story of backing up a hunter for dangerous game with a lesser rifle. This was told to me by a friend of mine, who had an aquaintance who went polar bear hunting.. The guy shot his bear with a .375 H&H...There was second bear hanging around that would not leave the carcass of the dead bear. The guy's Inuit guide radioed the authorities to get permission to shoot the second bear. The guide shot the second bear, killing it instantly. The hunter thought the rpeort of the guide's rifle sounded awful LIGHT. It turned out that the guide was "backing up" his hunter with a 22-250. Once again, my story is for conversation only. I am NOT endorsing the 22-250 as an adequate polar bear rifle. However, natives kill polar bears, grizzlies, walrus, muskox, moose and all kinds of big critters on a daily basis with .22Hornets, .222s, .223s, and 22-250s. I remember a quote from one Inuit regarding polar bears...He said they required a BIG rifle...So he used his .243.

You have a nice old vintage shotgun. I don't have a Blue Book, so I don't really know the value. I don't think that the Remington shotguns have a great deal of collector interest at this time ( could change in a few years) but if it is truly in fine shape it should bring a fair price as a shooter. A good source of info on any shotgun is www.shotgunworld.com. Even though it is over 100 years old, your gun is fine to shoot with any 2 3/4" LEAD ammo, high or low brass as long as it is chambered for 2 3/4" shells. Be sure to adjust the friction rings for either high or low brass shells. Just don't shoot steel or other non-toxic shot through it. If it were mine, I probably wouldn't shoot 2 3/4 inch magnum shells either, although they probably wouldn't harm it.

Very impressive garden..You definitely have a green thumb and lots of ambition... ;D ...

I would take the money I currently use to hunt around home ( which is substantial) and use it for a couple hunting trips per year somewhere that it was still legal. I'd do a lot more fishing...I fish quite a bit already. The months of May, September, October and November, when I am usually busy hunting, are excellent fishing months.

Actually, I don't think old Jack was recoil shy. I remember him using the .375 H&H quite a bit in Africa and Asia, and I believe he used heavier ( over .40 ) rifles for really heavy stuff, like elephant and cape buffalo. It's just that he believed that the AVERAGE shooter was much better served by a lesser caliber ( 7x57, .270 and 30-06 were his favorites) because most people can shoot those calibers better than they can one of the big belted magnums, which kick a lot more. He put a premium on shot placement, rather than trying to make up for poor shooting with more powerful cartridges.

Nope, I'm not gonna say a word... ... Not MY business.... Why should I lead a crusade against ignorance....?? I know what you feel like, Growalot, I think they are all out to get ME too... ... Besides, it's time for my nap....

George offered to sell me a copy of the video. I told him I wanted one and left him my name and address, but he never sent it. There were two bears in the video, and they both looked exhausted and at bay, as if they had been run a long way with dogs or snow machines, which they probably had been. What we consider sporting methods aren't important to the Inuit. They are just collecting meat. It's like thier version of going to the supermarket. An example..Why waste expensive centerfire ammo shooting caribou on the open tundra when it is much more cost effective ( and practical in thier minds) to motor up beside swimming animals on a lake and shoot them in the head with a .22 ? It's a whole different mindset.