slickrockpack

today I was way up the hill well before 5am, elk all in the driveway bugling woke me up, may as well get going.... lotsa grizz, jerk sheep, moose, pronghorn, deer, marten, beaver, wolverine, weasel, pika, ravens, goldens, bunnies, chukars, grounse both ruffed and blue, one that would not leave me alone but not a damn elk in my unit close to the road. I could here them back in the jungle, but I'm not shooting one that far off the road, I'd have to go back get help, get the horses, take me all damn day. no thanks. the jungle this time of year is not where I want to be gutless dressing an elk alone...nope. back home early, been playing on this machine, heading to cody where they passed some fascist law saying the driver of a vehicle can't be drinking alcohol while driving the rig in town, lets see if they want to back that up. tomorrow is another day, big floods coming so that might be it for a bit

that's black bear droppings. 100% cherries. I made sure it was a male, the season closes when we kill 12 sows in this unit, then followed him backwards to the cherries he was feeding in the morning of that day. found his bed, right nearby which was typical for a feeding black, I've found them asleep in a "bear nest" in beechnuts back home, sleeping right in the branches, all the nut bearing branches pulled into where they sit. and then I took the freshest tracks and followed him for an hour and a half til I caught sight of him. why? I don't know. I knew he wasn't much over 250 live weight but I have always enjoyed trailing critters since I was a little tyke plus you never know what you'll find or run into on the trailing... like more knives!!

In town at the airport last evening shooting starlings, the pronghorn were getting annoyed

I just discovered that if you click on the photo it opens in a new window, on the bottom left edge of that window is a tab that reads Full Size, clicking on that tab makes the photo HUGE, maybe that will help, but you folks re pretty darn good at this picture ID'ing stuff!...well, most of you.

simple suggestion 33 gallon garbage can, cage trap that fits completely in the garbage can, fill can with water, set trap baited with can of cat food and or some chicken parts. put the cage right next to the garbage can, cover the floor of the cage with dirt or sand, cats don't like the wire on their feet, depending on the make of the trap you'll want to make a longer trigger with a piece of luan but not so long it will trip when the critter is still under the door. now go out after dark, or very early am while still dark, and check the trap, you'll have cats skunks possums coons, etc in there, gently pick the trap up whole and gently place it in the garbage can, when the bubbles stop coming out, quickly remove the trap and dump the animal out into a box and take it far away and dump the box out, this is called "drown proofing" in the navy and the animal will usually recover in 10 to 15 minutes and crawl off. It stops you having to shoot them, you don't get sprayed or bit, and if it is rabid, has distemper, fleas, ticks, etc you've not come into any contact with the animal directly. if you choose to leave it in the water for an hour that is up to you, then dispose of or skin and eat as you see fit. above all keep your mouth shut about it, on here, facebook at work etc etc. learn to keep your own counsel because there is always some idiot it seems back east that can't keep their beliefs to themselves and simply must worry about what you are doing over on your side of the hill...they will NOT fit in the garbage can and trust me disposing of them makes getting rid of a cat carcass look like child's play. and go get a trapping license, it makes things a lot easier should a warden show up. here cats are shot on sight, no license needed no residency needed, kill the damn little murderers, if someone cared about their cat they'd have the beast in the house. I trap animals and domesticate them, sometimes they are shot, what can you say about it? one of my coyotes, ermine, rabbits, marten or fox are loose, it runs the risk of being killed. I understand that. cat owners should assume that too.

what do you think this is? marmot? (like your woodchuck), a moose? maybe a beaver?

Thanks feathers, all elk are good ones! :-) That's what we call a satellite, he's not a raghorn anymore but he isn't a herd bull yet, satellites hang around the herd of cows that the big bulls have rounded up, making revolutions going to duck in there when the bull is distracted or chasing off/fighting with challengers.

weds, trailed a couple bears, caught one of them, wasn't worth shooting, was mature but not big enough to make me take a whack. thurs trailed similar sized black but had flinter and it was just too far. fri sat just poked around cleaning up trap sites, then today went looking for elk in my type 9 tag unit, nothing, some real nice bighorn rams, a moose bull, a few bison, then went into town and watched a dozen and a half pronghorn across the river from the rodeo stands in town. then went home and listened to the elk bugling across the driveway...no tag for home, complete mix up there, usually buy 4 or 5 tags for around the house and same for wife, but we each thought the other bought them...and they were gone...ugh. oh well. typical week really, nothing fun to report on. Oh, killed three rattlers today within a mile , really moving now.

its going to be really bad....vintage champagne will last 20 years properly stored, sparkling wine ( which is everything from NY state labeled as champagne) lasts 3 years in good storage, 4 if perfectly stored, that is upright in the fridge, keep it for whatever reason but don't open it.

important note to self; never let the cowboy make the coffee and never let the New Yorker bring the wine....got it!

Your observation on Vermont prices being higher than where you are made me wonder if there is a comparison somewhere showing home prices state to state this was all I found, and a map showing value for your dollar. anyone know of a comparison chart better than this one? according to this NY avg listed home is $510k Vermont is $290k and WY is about $287k, it obviously varies by county and town widely. http://www.trulia.com/home_prices

wow! really? It's all relative I suppose. we thought how cheap Vermont house prices are compared to here, half or less.

I clicked on this thinking it was about Buffalo Bill Cody, oh, I thought, someone from the forum is out in Cody, we can grab coffee go shoot some bears, feed the pelicans....sheesh...why is a sports team in NY named Buffalo Bill's ??

Boston Herald nailed it! Bennington Vermont, the best place there is to be! Check it out, enjoy! one of the members on here sent me the link to this article, it is spot on but kinda on the tree hugger side of things, tasted that way to me, maybe its just me... there are more things I like about Vermont than dislike, but the things I dislike far outweigh the likes, chiefly it's friggin crowded!! Maybe someone on here will get new ideas for a visit to the Green Mtns ....I was being cheeky with the reply I sent saying "buy our house there! cheap...furnished...I'll throw in boats and canoe, hunting spots fishing spots, private land access!" but I did enjoy the article. Thanks! http://www.bostonherald.com/lifestyle/travel/2016/09/bennington_revels_in_rich_history_modern_charm

I don't recommend going cheap on anything you are going to use more than once then throw it away. with good equipment your interest in muzzleloading may become more than, "oh yeah I've got one, it's an extra season for me".... If I was starting out I would look at something that can stand constant weekly use over a lifetime or two, repairable, common, with a variety of accessories so you can do different things with it. That is the Thompson Center Hawken. The basic rifle will last a couple lifetimes, you can easily switch between calibers and gauges, percussion to flintlock, iron sights to scope, and its quality that will never go down in value. One platform that will let you hunt squirrels, rabbits, furbearers, waterfowl, turkeys, crows, pigeons, starlings, grouse, pheasant, bear, deer, moose, woodchucks, woodcock, snipe, rails, .32 cal to .54, .50 for certain, .45 to 12 ga, that's what a Hawken can do, with a push of a wedge. And its quality. You can buy a brand new yugo or a used Rolls Royce, I'd buy the used RR....or a new one if I could

best wishes!

Looking for Grouse, chickens and badgers today, while on my way to the store. Coyotes and elk and pronghorn was all I saw...

...oops

so where is this place exactly.? thanks

how did the shoot go for you? for future reference can we use arbalests?

hello and welcome Nadine, I hope you enjoy the forum!

Shawn1878 how are you making out?

Ah, see, I'm a man, I can pick a bear or deer up, elk are boned and caped and packed out. I find it offensive that your first posts are hawking goods, so even if it was something useful I wouldn't buy it. I'm happy to ignore your content.