Bolt action

I've nearly hit the midday numbers twice now, not that that counts for anything...

Nice job cleaning her up and cool story to go with it.

Nope.

I love that little lake and Moffitt's. My family's been going nearly every year for almost 70 years spanning 4 generations. The lake is tough to fish from a boat because there are boulder fields. You'll be in 20 feet of water and then have a boulder the size of a house breaking the surface right in front of you. It's perfect for kayaks and canoes though. Here's my recommendation - There's a channel on the southeastern side of the lake that connects over to Lake Pleasant. The opening isn't obvious, and so it's easy to miss. Once you get back in there though, it's beautiful. My wife and I make it a point to paddle the channel every time we go. There may be some areas where you have to get out to walk the kayaks, but other areas are wide and deep and hold plenty of fish. I do the best with live bait on small hooks. I've caught lots of perch, small mouth and trout back in there. There's a little bait shop / small boat mechanic shop on the right side of Rt 8 before you get to speculator. The guys in there are knowledgeable and friendly. If you're still in the area, it's worth a stop. The corner store at the corner of Paige St and Rt 8 is nice, but the staff don't fish. That store used to be Iggy's camp store that was located inside the park, but someone bought the old building and converted it to a private lakeside residence.

Late pic from Monday's BBQ. Smoked a chuck roast (I can't justify $100 for a brisket when this is nearly as good for $20), a rack of ribs, and 20 or so chicken legs. Then I had strip steaks, hots, hamburgers, italian sausage, and jalapeno cheddar venison sausages on the grill.

Are the fawns just too young to get out of the way? For some reason I thought they were mobile within a few hours of being born...

That's a good option for the pins. My front pin isn't bad, but the rear pin is a little small. This will make it much easier to grab and pull. I just ordered 1.

Cheap and effective. I like it! I'll be back out there in another week or two to clean up shooting lanes and set up cameras. I'll bring along the drill and a few screws to brush in that top level.

It's almost like a challenge that I give myself. I have an idea, and I want to see if I can make it happen without spending more than $X on it. My challenge with this project was to build a safe, elevated blind that was suitable for me + 1 for less than $100. I can't wait to get junior out there with me. I think I'll bring him on scouting missions with me before the season starts. One thing I noticed was that the burlap doesn't really offer any concealment when the light is behind you on that top deck. I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm watching deer in the woods (with the field behind me).

Update: Budget Blind #2 was assembled and erected this weekend. I wanted another option that was large enough for me and my son to sit and enjoy the woods. Since I don't own the land and don't know how long I'll have this access, I don't want to invest much money in permanent structures. Getting the materials out to the location was the hardest part of this one. It's a mile hike from where I can park to where I set it up. I had to haul all of the lumber, tools, and a cooler with me by hand. Once it was there, the assembly was actually easy. I tipped the platform upside down and attached the legs and leg braces. then I dragged it into location and flipped it up. Once it was upright, I used a ladder to climb on top and was able to use a rope to hoist up the sides. The platform is roughly 4'x5'. I used 2'x6'pieces that I had laying around. the deck boards were pulled off of some larger pallets that I found. I framed the sides of the upper level using 2'x4' scrap. The walls are 32" tall. I also used a small piece of the 2'x6' installed horizontally between studs to serve as a shelf to hold binos, coffee, etc. The legs are standard landscape timbers. I attached the legs to the platform using 5" bolts with washers and nuts. The sides of the lower level are pallets. The cross braces are pieces of 5/16 decking. I wrapped the top and bottom with camo burlap that I bought awhile ago on sale. To help protect it from strong winds, I ran a length of chain around nearby (healthy) trees and attached them with winch straps so that I could adjust the tension. All in cost for this build was about $40 and was spent on hardware, the burlap, and the uprights. I think I'll dub this one "The Outpost". It sits in the Southeast corner of the field, about 20' in from the field edge. The other side faces hardwoods with pretty good visibility. There is always lots of sign down in this corner and I hope to be able to intercept deer on their way into or out of the field which is usually soybeans or corn. There is no roof over the top, and thee ceiling for the lower level is more than 7'up, so I'll have plenty of room to draw a bow.

I'm already looking for parts! As I understand it, the lower is generic enough that I should be able to swap out uppers using just the pins. Now I'm starting to look for pieces to build a 5.56 upper.

I just completed my AR-15 build and figured I'd share. I didn't have an AR platform prior to this and was starting to want one more and more. This should be plenty capable of taking deer out to about 200 yards or so. Also a good home defense option. Don't get me wrong, if someone comes at me and threatens me for my car, they can have it. I have insurance. Same thing with items in the house. You want my TV? take it. Those things aren't worth anyone losing a life over. But.. if you threaten me or my family to the point where I NEED to be able to defend, this will be my go to. I don't ever think I'd be in that position, and I certainly don't lose sleep over it. The way things have been going lately though, this is something I'd rather have and not need than need and not have. For calibers, I wanted something that was (typically) accessible, not terribly expensive, and that would be effective on deer and (hopefully some day) pigs. I considered things like the 6.5 CM, Grendel, .350 Legend, and a few others and ultimately settled on the .350. Every article and youtube review I've seen on it says that it's accurate out to 200 or so, and that the recoil is mild enough for just about anyone. They also say that the caliber is plenty effective on deer and hogs. So now that I had the caliber figured out, I just had to find parts. That's easier said than done these days. I like the idea of assembling it myself so I can better understand the mechanics of it, and I like to tinker. I've watched a ton of videos and the process didn't seem overly complicated. I also like saving money on things that I can do myself. I found a stripped lower receiver locally from an FFL ($85). The lower build kit came from Black Rifle Depot ($115). I found the Bear Creek Arsenal complete upper in NC for complete with (2) 20 round mags ($450). I installed a button mag release to fix the mag. Firefield Rapidstrike optic ($150). I still will have to purchase a 10 round mag for it along with a forward grip and sling. For the optic, I wasn't sure what to go with. Red Dot v. Holographic v. LPVO. Everyone has an opinion and uses what works for them in their application. After handling a few, and with what I plan to use it for, I ended up going with the LPVO. I handled a few at the lower end of the price range including Vortex, Firefield, and a few others. At that price point, and with the included features and stellar reviews, I went with the Firefield Rapidstrike. Decent glass, illuminated reticle, exposed turrets, and it included the mount all for under $150. The actual assembly was easy enough. I worked on it little by little over a few weeks. When all was said and done, it probably took about an hour to piece together. I thought that wasn't bad for my first time! I can't wait to get it out and cycle a few rounds through it. Edit: Not long after I wrote this, I went camping and had this in the canoe when we capsized! I searched, but never found it!

That's interesting. I just looked up the Basenji and they do look very similar. Rusty is a Mountain Feist.

Here's Rusty again. He just turned 2 earlier this month.

Stayed on the Lake last summer.. scratch that. It was two summers ago (covid..). We rented out tent sites on the islands. Cool experience, definitely a different way of doing it. Have fun!

Baboon!

Planted yesterday. Cucumbers, Zucchini, Bell Peppers, Beefsteak and Cherry Tomatoes are in the ground. I went with fewer plants this year that are more spaced out to see if that will improve the harvest. In the past the peppers been a little smaller than I expected. Also the Kale from last year is still rocking. Apparently it's "bolting" which means it's about to flower. I need to pick it, then pull these plants and start over for this year.

I have a Cuisinart grinder and a FoodSaver vacuum sealer. The grinder works well. I don't know the specs on it, but it hasn't jammed up yet and has gone through 8-10 deer over the past few years that I've used it. The only gripe is that it's either on, or it's off. Sometimes when I make sausage I'd like more control over the speed, so I'm looking into a standalone sausage stuffer unit. Other than that, it's worked just fine. The FoodSaver works well. No complaints with it and it's also worked through the last 8-10 deer over the past few years. I also have a Cuisinart deli slicer that I use when making jerky. It makes easy work out of getting clean, consistent strips.

I fish from a kayak as often as I have time for, which is not often at all. It can be incredibly relaxing and exciting at the same time. I try to get down to Hemlock / Canadice lakes where the boat traffic is minimal. Nothing is more frustrating than finally getting on the water and having old line give you problems. I've wasted too much time floating and trying to unravel and figure out line problems. I've used mono up to this point, although that's just because it's what I used growing up. I'll follow this thread because I'm curious to see what others suggest.

A buddy over in Walworth was mowing his yard/pasture over the weekend and found this. Any thoughts on what it was? I was thinking maybe a big racoon or a small coyote. The head and teeth look a little big for it to be a 'coon though. I told him I'd run it by you guys for your thoughts.

I have the '11 F150 with the 3.5 turbo V6 ecoboost. Love it so far, but I've only had it for a few months. It's a more comfortable ride than my wife's SUV and can still haul a decent amount.

Did a little shopping on a recent trip to NC. Sold some handgun ammo that I had no use for to a forum member in PA. The proceeds put some cash in my pocket for the "souvenirs" I picked up. The local Wal Mart had the .22 Thunderbolt bricks on clearance for only $15! limit 2 per customer. I went back the next day and of course the rest were gone. I went into a gun shop and grabbed a box of Aguila .308 FMJ's for about $30. I grabbed them just because they were in stock, although in hindsight I probably shouldn't have since they're not a hunting round. Good for target practice though. I also picked up a complete BCA upper in .350 Legend from someone down there who had it on Armslist. Got that with 2 mags for $450. The mags will have to stay in the safe though. They're a little bigger than NY likes. Also while I was away, the lower build kit arrived. I'm picking up the lower receiver today. Now I'll be able to work on the build a bit once the spring yard work is out of the way.

Sold to a forum member.

Sweet Jesus. Another great job on a great deer.

Should this go under the 2021 thread or back under the 2020 thread? Due to the mild fall, I was still picking kale and brussel sprouts into December (I think). Then just never got around to pulling the plants as winter set in. Now, the plants from last year seem to be picking up where they left off. I'm already pulling kale and using it!