Jaeger

Thanks guys, I'll make a few calls to gun shops, but I think my best bet would be to put the more expensive and rare guns on Gunbroker or Guns International and try to sell all the really worn or more common ones in a bulk lot. I've got to pull some scopes first as most are worth 3-4 times the price of the guns they are on. thanks for the good wishes. Jaeger P.s., yes I did get your pm's yesterday and thank you. Overloaded with business matters so I couldn't respond to all of them individually, but I did read them and thank you.

Now that Midway has the 45 gr. soft points in .204 back in stock, does anyone have any load data? The great thing about the 45 gr. sp's is that they are actually shorter than most of the 39/40gr. ballistic tips so they shoot pretty well in most 1-12 twist barrels. But finding reliable data is almost impossible and extrapolating from 40 and 50/55 gr. data does not seem prudent. So, do any of you have any load data or new manuals you can pull some from? Thanks, coyote season is rapidly running out!!!

Great little rig there airedale! I have a similar set up with a Puma/Rossi '92 lever in 454 Casull in the 16" bbl. with a peep fitted into the bolt. Very fast, accurate, handy and light. I do have a factory fire-sight on the front so that helps a little in the dim/dusk but not as much as one would think. The fire sights are brilliant and glowing in direct light but dull down to plain black in the dim light. I may have to follow your lead, but my '92 would require a "scout" scope type mount and I've tried that on other guns and don't like it, ugly to boot. So for the heavy woods and dark I'll use the tikka compact lite with the 20" at abt. 7lbs scoped. Big advantage to Marlins and later '94's, the ability to add a scope when needed. Hope you get (to see!!) a big one with the modified rig!!

I am in a position that I need to sell many of my guns and would like to sell a bulk lot to an FFL dealer rather than have to try to sell them individually and pay all the associated listing, commission and transfer fees separately. Do any of you know of dealers in the central NY area that purchase estate sale type lots? about 10-15 firearms. And NO i am not a dealer, just a little down on my luck. Yes, I know I could make more selling them individually, but I do not have the ability to do so without losing a comparable amount of money. thank for any leads you guy/gals can provide.

Congrats on sending your deer to the taxidermist! The anticipation of the first one mounted is pure agony. But to your question, it's mainly the backlog. That is the case with my taxidermist. My first mount, a turkey, was quoted at a year to get done, he was that far behind. I got it in about 9 months. I've had everything from Schatz's first ground hog to my first buck mounted (pending) and the turn around time is about 9 months to a year regardless of the size or mount. It's the backlog. (Hey kids who love the outdoors... are any of you smart enough to pick up on this, or perhaps us retirees? A business that has a years worth of work backed up at any given time?) Believe me, your taxidermist would love to get it back to you faster because then you are still excited over it and will pick it up and pay for it. The taxidermists wind up losing a lot of money because of the backlog, people no longer excited over their mounts, got a bigger one and go to some other taxidermist and stiff the first one. My guy has a whole room of mounts people never picked up or no longer wanted. That's the downside of being a taxidermist I guess. So he charges a substantial deposit so he doesn't loose his shirt. That's been my experience anyway.

Blackhorn 209 is used at the same volume as your Pyrodex. The site has sample loads, the velocities will be higher for a given volume of Blackhorn but I believe the pressures will be the same. So, if you load 90 grains of BH by volume (same volume as your Pyrodex) you will get a higher velocity and a flatter trajectory. You should recheck your sight in, it will probably be different. Just my experience.

One thing you should be aware of if you do drive deer/bear or do any other hunting for that matter, is that it is illegal to use walkie talkies, cell phones, etc. to coordinate drives and advise of deer heading your way or locations. 2 years ago, several guys at a nearby camp all got citations (18 total) for telling each other about deer movements and locations while hunting up in the Adirondacks. The dec officer actual showed us his Garmin Rhino and the exact locations of the other hunters cited using them.

Wildcat Junkie, I use the 200 grain heads as that was what my carbon express 90's were matched with during bare shaft testing at the Black Widow Bow Clinic. Why they didn't suggest the ce 75's and a lighter head I don't know, may be a total arrow weigh thing. But as said above, the heavier head really quiets the bow down, those guy were calling my Bighorn Bow company ram hunter the "stealth Bow", Asbell really liked that since he himself built it! Going to use their "test drive" program to see what handle style I prefer and then order a PSR (longbow handled recurve) or their PL longbow.

My friend is having a fit. This up and down extreme temp changes are playing havoc with her maple sap production/season. I hope for her (and ours, it's delish!) sake the weather stabilizes and the sunny days stay warm and the nights cold.

Perhaps you're right, I'm in the north west Delaware county right on the edge of the extent of the AR's boundry, just across the street isn't. Western Delaware county has a huge amount of brow tineless deer. Hence, we have a lot of older fork horns. I spoke to several local taxidermists and they really see it. We have to let alot of older bucks pass (or put some youth onto them). If the remainder of the eastern catskills has fewer deer (big bucks) and most of the influence is from city or big horn hunters then I guess they are getting what they want with the AR's and it works for them. Still, it makes it a little difficult (and frustrating) to hunt our property.

Well most of the action on this site has gone into 2-3 pages of replies to old posts, so I thought this would be a good time to start a new topic. I am looking at getting a newer traditional bow this spring/summer and wanted to get your ideas of what is a practical/realistic bow draw weight for the deer we actually shoot around here. Not big bear, someday elk or musk ok, just our plain ole' whitetail deer. I'm thinking something on the order of about 47lbs? I shoot a 42 lb, at my draw length, bighorn longbow with 200 gr Elites and carbon express 90's 3 fletched. Got plenty of does with this set up but haven't had the opportunity to take a buck with it (almost last year, but AR's got in the way). What do you guys think is a reasonable weight for a new longbow or recurve for our deer? I'd like to go up in draw weight a little so the choices of arrows and broad head options are a little better.

I haven't seen the "News" but read the same on line email from the DEC. My beef is if they decided no further expansion of the AR's is necessary, why not remove them entirely? We're still stuck having to pass up 5 year old fork horns. In my area, over half the buck do not have brow tines. Still, no action by them seems to be better than changing it every year.

With so much discussion on this and other boards and forums about glasses, bi/tri focals, contacts and surgery, I was wondering if any of you know of any Ophthalmologists (sp?) here in NY who shoot or are sympathetic to shooter issues? Several of the ones I've seen over the years don't understand our issues, seeing front and rear sights, long distance as opposed to the 20' eye charts in their offices, focusing scope recticles, etc. It gets frustrating having a Dr. fit me for contacts that are 20-20 at the office chart but fall short when I get out hunting and can't focus well enough to tell a coyote from a cat at 50 yds! I just wondered if any of you found that Dr. who actually understands the demands shooting makes on our eyes and the need for sharp resolution at ranges exceeding the charts on the walls of their offices. Any help would be appreciated, for this I'd be willing to travel. Jaeger

When I lived on LI out east, I found the exact same thing. Polite, helpful and understanding. That is an area of the state where people call in just to disturb your hunt and the Officers know it and try not to ruin it for you. Duck hunting is a major example, people will try to turn you in even though you're fully legal. When I lived on LI I got to know all the local ECO's personally just through field contact and sportsman shows. Very helpful to get to know your local ECO. I tried that up here in the Catskills, but the local ECO's here seem to assume everyone is a poacher and they are very suspicious of everyone. Can't say I blame them based on what I've seen and heard. But tough for someone who always worked with them and enjoyed their advice and direction. Jaeger

I put this here in reloading because we reloaders are usually the only ones that have or use them. I just put in an order for the new Lab radar chronograph, it's backordered. Has anyone had any experience with them? The site says it also works for arrows and pellet guns.

7 here and going down to -18 tonight. That'll be 50 degrees below freezing before the wind chill. Jeeze!!

Hey, that's where I come in. I'm single and don't have the wife/sneak in problem. So, I'd be more than happy to save your marriages by storing your new guns for you and you can come and visit them anytime (by prior appointment of course, they may be "out" exercising). Just an offer to help you guys out, 'cause that's the kind of friend I am!

Definitely worth it if you use an odd caliber and/or have a specific bullet preference not available in factory form. For example, I have a 38-72 Winchester that's easier to load for than pay $80/20. I also like Woodleigh bullets and they are rarely available in factory form. It is also a great way to shoot a lot of my big guns with reduced loads not available from the factory stuff. 375 H&H bunny load anyone? It's FUN. That being said, yes the cost per round MAY go down but after you factor in the cost of equipment (press, dies, powder dispenser, powder scale, loading manuals (get more than one), trimmers, bullet pullers, and a myriad of little things) it's a lot of $$ to recoup before you start to see savings. Also, I shoot a lot more so the total $$ spent is about the same or higher than if I didn't reload. I shoot a lot of rounds trying to perfect a specific load/gun/bullet combination. It's GREAT FUN. But I'm spending more money now than I ever did before. In the past and still in the present, I can find wonderfully accurate ammo by simply buying different brands/loads/bullet/grades of off the shelf ammo. It's what your individual gun likes. And factory ammo has become very accurate and hard to improve on. BUT IT'S FUN. And very satisfying when I develop a load with a favorite bullet that is wicked accurate. So I guess what I'm saying is that if one picks up reloading, you will probably be shooting more, spending more money and having more fun. Just my experience. Jaeger

I did have a buddy show me the ropes. I wanted to get into it for a long time, but was concerned about the little things you don't get from the guides/books. He really helped me with setting up and what to watch out for. Even helped me build a loading bench that is a comfortable work height for me.

Johnson Wollen Mills in Vermont offers many items in pure wool blaze orange. One of my favorite hunting jackets for public land is their blaze orange wool shirt jacket from them. Hat too in wool blaze orange. FYI.

I wear wool all the time. But not for the looks, although it does look cool, like a real hunter not something out of a desert storm commercial. Wool is heavy and fleece may be better in that regard, but wool has one attribute the rest lack. It gets warmer when wet. I wish I could find the link to post here, but there was a study that showed a chemical reaction that wool when wet causes the water to release heat. You can just sit down on a snow covered log, get up and still be warm, a little wet, but warm. And a good tight weave wool blocks wind pretty well but not as well as other materials. It does breathe. Wool is also the quietest material to wear in the woods bar none. And it absorbs light in the same manner as other animal fur making it hard to see, no sharp harsh images or color separations. It is a natural camouflage. I have Johnson woolen mills (vt) pants and jackets, backpacks and hats, as well as a lot of King of the Mountain pants/jackets/gaiters/hats, etc. I never had a problem with itch, but many people do. I am just partial to wool. And it does look great too!! FYI, Now is a great time to get some of the expensive wool hunting garments at great prices on ebay and such.

My neighbors boy built their dad one after he fell out of his tree stand and broke his hip. It was about 10'x6'x6' and 3 feet off the ground. It had a regular door and sliding windows and overlooked his food plot. He had a big stuffed chair, a heater and hot plate, both propane. Oh, by the way, he is 87. Usually we came back to find him sleeping in his big stuffed chair, don't get that shooting shed too warm!!

The game was unimpressive and the half time show for those who understand what that was. The commercials were a disappointment, esp. for a 50th anniversary game. The ketchup little dachshunds hot dogs were about the best, kinda cute. The bud commercial was complete ignorance. I lost all respect for Helen Mirren, an otherwise good actress. For a major alcohol manufacturer to put on such an ignorant commercial was irresponsible and Mirrens part in it deplorable. For such a manufacturer to have a complete lack of understanding of a major health issue and berating those afflicted was completely irresponsible. I guess after seeing what is going on in the primary's, anything goes.

Now that pellet rifles are considered for big game, I began to think about using the newer type for coyotes. It will not blast the neighbors out of bed at 3 am when they start howling and hunting right outside my bedroom window. Anyone have the newer, larger caliber pre-charged pnuematics? Has anyone used one on close range coyotes, 25-40yds?

Skydiving Bungee Jumping Learning to Surf Learning to play the Guitar Getting married and having children (I know it's the most dangerous, but I'm too old to try to warn me off it, so don't even try!)