Bolt action

I usually get to my stands about an hour before graylight, and it's a bout a mile hike to any one of them. I carry a flashlight with my fingers covering most of the light. I want just enough to see any branches or other noise makers, and also have it in case I need to light up an unknown noise.

That's optimistic..

Man that's a lot of cash to play with.. In no particular order: donate some to legitimate causes. large acreage somewhere not in NY that has a big old lake. a private island somewhere tropical a sea plane (this way i can commute between properties) a bunch of ariel atoms or nomads for me and my buddies to tool around in. I'd also find a crack head and offer him $1k to set fire to a paper bag full of poop on Cuomo's front porch. That's all that comes to mind for now but I'm sure I'd find plenty of fun and meaningless things to squander the money on...

Is there anything you can't make?! Nice looking setup!

You've got it right. Honor her by celebrating her life.

This is tempting. I'm just up in Greece and that offer is less then my Costanz'a order!

X2

What I meant to say is that I wouldn't be surprised if that box of 500 goes for $100, so roughly .20 / round. That's right around what @Don_C says he paid. If .22 rounds ever actually hit $1/rd, I might have to find a new hobby..

That's what I get for talking/typing before I've had my coffee...

Just took a look at a NY based auction house's current auctions. They have one ending tomorrow that has some misc. firearms and ammo in the mix. An example of what they have: Western T22 .22 LR, box of 500 - 37.50 with almost 2 days left. I would not be surprised if this closes above $1 / round.

@Belo Agreed. If i take the $1000ish / yr in maintenance (beyond the regular stuff), it adds about 100 / month to the payment i have. so realistically i'm already paying 3-400 / month on a 2WD V6 Trailblazer with 100k on it. I think the goal is pay it off so i don't carry over any negative equity, and keep my eyes open for the right opportunity. I reached out a few days ago on a 2008 Tundra SR5 TRD.. It was listed under $20k with only 40k miles on it. Already sold though. Still older, and lacking some of the comfort and convenience features of newer trucks, but something like that should out last any finance term, has room in the back for the kids, and can haul anything I need it to.

I've been stalking the big 3 websites (autotrader, cars, cargurus) to stay on top of inventory within 150 miles. One actually just came up yesterday that caught my attention. It's a little older, and not as many features, but the make, model, mileage are appealing. Some of the options I can add after market. It stretches the budget a bit, though. I reached out to the dealership for more info.

kbb only has it around $2500. I was talking to a friend of mine last spring about trade in value and the top that they could offer was about $2k. Preference would be just to trade it in. I don't have the time or the patience to try to sell it privately and know that the trade off is that I would likely get less for it by trading it in.

I saw a few back in the spring when Covid was just shutting the country down. I called on 4 or 5 and they literally all sold in a day. Another option (which the wife is refusing) would be lease a truck, but then buy a smaller car outright (think Honda fit) as a daily driver that could absorb miles and wouldn't cost to maintain.

The reference before of putting 5 or 6 or 7 down was meant as a downpayment, not the total price. But yes, that's my thought for now. Work to pay off the current so that I don't roll anything over. I realize that this is a want and not a need, so have the luxury of waiting for the right opportunity to come along. My fear is that something big will come along (tranny, head gasket, etc..) where I have to settle for what's available at the time.

I didn't want to hijack the F-150 thread with this... I currently have a 2008 Traiblazer (V6, 2WD). This suits me, albeit a little older, most of the time. I just broke 100k this year. I've put roughly $1k into it each year for maintenance items above and beyond wear and tear. Outstanding loan is about $4,500. Prior to this I had a Highlander. I thought that would go 200k miles, but the driveshaft had other ideas and broke at 100k. When that happened, I needed a car quick, and the Trailblazer was it. In a normal year I put on about 15k miles, so leasing probably won't work. 95% of my driving is around town: running errands, taking the kid to practice, etc. Even for hunting I just use a hitch mounted basket. The catch is that I have a camper that weighs about 2,800 pounds. The Trailblazer can pull it ok, but not great. The V6 struggles to get up to speed on the Thruway and on long inclines despite having a tow rating around 5,000. Also I'd prefer 4WD for a variety of reasons. So here's my dilemma. An AWD 4 or 6 cyl SUV or even hatchback would suit my driving needs the vast majority of the time. I only really need a truck 4 or 5 times each summer to haul the camper. Do I keep the current car and pick up an older but well maintained truck? Or do I just get a truck even though it's more than I need most of the time? Best case scenario would be that I just have 1 vehicle that can do it all. Less than 10 years old, and reasonable miles for the age. I hate having to finance a car where I'm still paying on it as things start to break. In a perfect world there would be an integrated brake controller, back up cam (game changer with a camper), interactive screen.. (would love heated seats and remote start, but that's pushing my luck).. I don't mind putting down 5 or 6 or 7k, but with the negative equity, my payments are still higher than my desired ceiling of $300/mo. Am I chasing a dream or do these actually exist? What would you guys do?

Still waiting for that to happen!

I took stock of my inventory a few days ago. I have enough in each caliber/gauge to last a few years if I'm conservative with it. Based on that, I'm going to try to ride this out in the hopes that at some point ammo is readily available again and these prices also return to normal. Hopefully that won't take 4 years..

As for the mess with grease, I just use a q-tip. I am applying such a small amount that i just use one of these to put some on the threads and spread it a bit. No mess at all. Come to think of it, I did this a few years ago and have not had to reapply.

Mine locked up on me once. After that I put a little of this on the threading. No issues since.

I learned long ago that seeing a "shooter" on camera will get me excited, but does not mean that I'll see him alive and in range during the season. Like some others on here, i work 50+ hour weeks, have a young family, etc. I'd love to have the time to pursue specific targets, but life doesn't allow me to at this point. For now I'm going to target deer. If they happen to have horns, well that's a bonus.

I reached out to him. He had a litter ready just before Christmas. Sold all 6 pups in one day. Based on that, I'm not sure when the next litter would be.

Looks like a good pick up on that camera, especially for the price. Spot looks good to. If you have a bunch on camera, chances are good that there are more walking around.

If you find another breeder, post the info on this site. There are a few people interested who may appreciate the info.