Benbrown

Here's my favorite: One evening about 35 years ago when I was heading up a project for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in deep East Texas, the local biologist, Billie Borden, showed up at my house. He said, "Come out to the pickup and see what I found today." I didn't know what to expect, but went to look out of curiosity. In the bed of the pickup was an old weathered cedar fence post about 5"-6" in diameter--really old. I looked at him quizzically and he said, "This will make some really good turkey calls, but I don't have the kind of a saw that will cut the blanks." He knew that my uncle, who lived out near Toledo Bend Reservoir, had all kinds of really good power tools. I told him to tell me how he wanted it cut and then took the post out to my uncle's place and returned with almost a dozen blanks that met his specifications. About two months later, he showed up at the house with two box calls that he had fashioned from two of the blanks--one for my uncle and one for me. To this day, I still haven't found a box call that sounds this good!

With cup and core bullets, I generally start at .010" off of the lands or the longest OAL that will feed reliably--whichever is shorter. With banded monometal bullets like Barnes TSX and TTSX and Nosler E-Tips, I start at about .030" off the lands. With the old style Barnes, I start at .050". Freebore is not necessarily a bad thing if everything else about the chamber is correct. As you probably know, Weatherby chambers have a lot of freebore as this permits you to use heavier charges of powder without a concomitant increase in pressure. Theoretically, a lot of freebore will burn up the throat of your barrel quicker, but most hunters don't shoot enough for this to be a problem.

There are Coues whitetails in Unit 21, but they are few and far between. I have several friends that hunt that unit pretty hard in ML and rifle seasons and they have never encountered a Coues deer during an open season. If you can draw 16, you would have a better chance. If you're willing to concentrate on Coues only, 27 (if you can draw it) would be the best. Unit 26 also has good populations of both whitetails and mule deer and the bag is one FAD. Access in 26 can be tricky, but if you can use a map and/or GPS and don't mind hiking, you can get into areas that have both species and you won't have much company. The downside is all of the illegal traffic in both 26 and 27. I would be reluctant to leave a camp unattended.

A little WD-40 will kill them, too.

Nice one! Wish mine looked that good... Bump for a nice OHV at a good price.

I have reloaded for a few post-64 classics, but have never encountered the problem you have described. Did you buy the rifle used? It might be worth doing a chamber cast to see what the dimensions really are. In Weatherbys, which have a lot of free-bore, I usually load for the longest OAL that will feed reliably from the magazine. That may be all that you can do here without setting the barrel back a thread or two and rechambering it. You probably should make the acquaintance of a good gunsmith who can help you sort this out...

With good dies, there is no accuracy advantage to neck sizing vs. full length resizing. As RR noted, you can neck size using a full length die--just stop when the die contacts the shoulder. Some folks will back off a half-turn or so from this point. The advantage of neck sizing is that the brass lasts longer, as all you are working is the neck. If you shoot a lot, neck sizing will make a difference in case life and how much brass you go through. I have .30-06 cases that are almost 40 years old that have been loaded 20-25 times. You do need to anneal the cases necks every 8-10 loadings, as they will get brittle and crack without it. With the WSM cases, you get much the same advantage one gets with the Ackley Improved cases--there is not a lot of case stretching and you need to full length resize only occasionally. When loading for a hunt, you should run every loaded round through your rifle to make sure that each one will feed and chamber properly. Over the years, I have come to neck size when working up loads and shooting for practice, but I full length resize brass that will be loaded for hunting. Nothing is more aggravating that finding that the round on top of the stack in the magazine will not chamber fully, especially when you you have a big buck or a big bull in sight.

I saw your PM and thought that I had replied. My G-22 is not the third generation model. I bought it new 8-10 years ago and have put less than 50 rounds through it. My gunsmith installed an after market trigger that is significantly better than the factory item. I have a right hand Galco FL228 holster for it--the gun has been in it maybe twice. I like the .40 S&W for my needs better than the 10mm. I have a Browning Hi-Power in .40 S&W, but would like a handy double action for concealed carry. Sorry for the miscommunication. Ben

Any interest in a Glock 22? Less than one box of shells through it, carried maybe once or twice...

Matte or gloss finish? Thanks!

Any idea how much it weighs? I have one in .300 Wby and it weighs almost 9 lbs. scoped, and that's with an aftermarket Rimrock stock.

Looks like you had plenty of help to get everything carried out! Well done. Congratulations to your bride!

It was likely a viral fibropappliloma-- a technical term for a fibrous skin growth caused by a viral infection. They are harmless and will come off with the skin when the animal is cleaned. They also occur in deer. They enlarge and eventually drop off. Other animals become infected by consuming these growths. As far as I know, there is no evidence that the virus is harmful to humans or that it can be passed by either handling or eating the meat from affected animals. They are fairly common in whitetails in more humid climates. I have never seen one on a deer or rabbit out here, but have heard of animals that had similar growths (rabbits, hares (jackrabbits) and deer).

A lot of whitetail research has shown that deer equate darkness with cover and move farther into open areas during the dark of the moon. Conversely, on moonlit nights they do not move far (if at all) from bedding and escape cover. This is why a lot of old-timers will tell you that you won't see deer out feeding in the morning after a full moon because they have been out feeding all night. Actually, they have been hanging back in cover and doing whatever feeding they have done there. On dark nights, they range farther out in the open and frequently can be seen moving back to daytime bedding areas well after first light. That said, deer usually go to water (when it's available) after ruminating. They will water in the early evening after leaving afternoon bedding areas. After feeding in the evening and early part of the night, they will lay down and ruminate some more (we used to refer this as the "coffee break", as almost every deer with a radio collar would become inactive and remain that way until the middle of the night). They get up and become active again for a few hours and then bed or loaf again. Some will go to water again at this time if it is close by. Shortly before daylight, they will get up and feed intensively before going to their morning bedding sites. They will typically water again at mid-day as they move from their morning bedding areas to their afternoon bedding areas. Although I have never radio tracked Coues whitetails, my observations of undisturbed Coues deer suggest that this general routine is pretty much the same for our little deer that inhabit the sky island mountain ranges out here. Over the years, I have put a few game cameras at isolated water sources and the times that deer have watered at these places are pretty much in line with the timeline outlined above. Obviously, human activity, especially a lot of hunting pressure, will cause deer to alter this routine. YMMV

Good job! Congratulations! A lot of us are doomed to learn things the hard way. But you persevered and ultimately succeeded--that's what's important.

I hunt across the state line in New Mexico and the situation is much the same. I was out by myself three days last weekend and yesterday. Lots of sign in an area where the BP finally apprehended three guys just before the bow season who had been camped up there several months. They were armed with AR-15s and were living off the land (they had poached 4 deer, 2 bears and a desert bighorn sheep). They were robbing the drug mules and selling their contraband. I am getting up in years and don't much care about those guys, but it's rough country and my wife worries about me--both from the standpoint of encounters with illegals and just plain accidents. I should probably get a SPOT or something like that, but my legs will probably give out before that happens--it was really tough this year. I like hunting with my kids, but they were all too busy with family and work to make it this year, and I like to move at my own pace. I glass a lot, look at birds and take photos, and am looking for something so big that I just can't pass it up, regardless of how far it has to be packed out. There are just too few areas where a hunter can be by him or her self every day and not have to dodge other parties. I'll probably put in for another tag next year, because by April all I can think about is getting back out there with a rifle and a daypack. Good hunting to all of you and remember, "Illegitimus non carborundum"!

Deer (both whitetails and mule deer) will drink every day if water is available, and will travel relatively long distances outside their normal home range to water. We had one radio-collared Coues doe that lived in an area with three dirt tanks. She would water every day in the middle of the day and usually one more time when just becoming active an hour or so before daylight. When the tanks went dry, she made a daily trip of a little over three miles one-way to water at a windmill located well outside her normal home range. I have done a lot of pre-season scouting in preparation for the arrival of guest hunters over the last 15 years, and the one constant is that deer (both whitetails and mule deer) will almost always go to water as they leave their morning bedding sites around mid-day and look for a shady place to spend the afternoon. Mule deer tend to water again as they become active just before dark, but whitetails are not as regular about this evening watering routine. Both species need water daily once most of the vegetation has matured and gone dormant. They do get some moisture from whatever succulents may be available, as well as dew when it occurs, but they have to have some free water to keep the yeasty beasties in their rumens happy. What most folks don't realize is that there are sources of water and moisture almost year round in seeps, small hidden springs and subirrigated sites that provide metabolic water, as well as some free water that will do to tide the critters over for a day or so if they can't get to a tank, a well or a windmill. This is the problem with sitting on a dirt tank or a windmill--if they know you are there (or even suspect it), they almost always have other options that will keep them hydrated for a day or two.

PM me and let me know where you intend to hunt (I don't have a muzzle loader permit and won't share your location) and I will give you an honest assessment and perhaps some ideas about how to get it done with a minimum of interference. Problems in this unit are concentrated in a few areas, for the most part, but those areas are places that you don't want to camp.

Pictures?

I try to keep mine at 20 lbs. or less. I carry survival stuff (fire starter, fire sticks, space blanket, first aid kit, etc.), headlight, spotting scope w/tripod, knives and a full bladder of water. I also carry a water filter, just in case. I don't carry meals, but rely on high energy stuff like candy bars, granola bars and trail mix. I keep a couple of knives (OK, three) on my person along with a compass, GPS, binocular, small flashlight and range finder. It's been a while, but twice I have been forced to stay out two days in the mountains of Colorado and the only thing I lost was some sleep, tending the fire. That was before I had a GPS and got caught out at dark quite a ways from camp. The maps didn't show a reasonable way to get back in the dark, so I siwashed, as the Canadians say.

Good for you! I know he appreciates the effort.

It's a response to a rise in hormones that is triggered by decreasing day length (photoperiod). All of the events in the annual cycle of ovulation and estrus in females and antler growth, hardening, male to male aggression and courtship and breeding in the males is governed by changes in photoperiod.

I was in a Cabelas a couple of weeks ago and they had a good selection of bullets .30 caliber and below, a fair selection of primers and a wide variety of powders. All of the powder on display consisted of a single 1 lb. can of each type. I assume that they had more somewhere in the back... I was at Sportsmans Warehouse in Tucson last Sunday and they had lots of ammo, but the reloading components were sparse. What bullets they had were mostly .30 and smaller, and the seklection of premium bullets was spotty. They had a fair variety of powder, but the most-used numbers were not in evidence (with a couple of exceptions). I didn't see any primers, but was not really looking for them. They could be keeping them behind the counter to deter hoarding... You could go together with a few folks here and make a larger order from one of the mail order suppliers and split the haz mat fees among several people.

The priming compound is spun into the cartridge rim during the manufacturing process and cannot be replaced once the round has been fired. I have experimented with spent shells to see if there was any priming compound remaining that could be ignited with a firing pin hit on the opposite side and never had one go off. There are lots of ways to kill time with rimfire ammunition without actually shooting it. Target shooters often mic rim thickness and sort by that measurement, as thicker rims presumably have more priming compound than thinner ones and combining the two extremes in one string of fire might result in larger dispersion. Once you have sorted by rim thickness, you can also weigh them and sort by weight, as there is some variation in the weight of powder charges between individual rounds. Pulling bullets and adding powder from another round will eventually raise heck with some of the semiautomatics, especially small pistols. Likewise, firing a round with only the priming compound as propellant can result in bullets stuck in the barrel, especially if the barrel is long and dirty, or just rough. Don't ask me how I know all this... Back when I was using .22 rimfire blanks to propel darts with immobilizing drugs in wildlife research projects, we weighed the individual cartridges and found that there was quite a bit of variation, virtually all of it due to varying weights of powder between individual rounds. If you shot a dart at a deer at say 20 yards and were using one of the cartridges with the heavy charges, there was a good chance that the body of the dart would actually penetrate the animal's skin and end up buried in the muscle, making a nasty wound, instead of just popping the needle in and injecting the drug. Conversely, if you shot at a deer at say 40 yards with a cartridge with a light charge (about as far as we could reliably hit them and have the dart work), the dart would often drop so much that you would shoot under the animal. If you were lucky with your holdover and the dart hit, it often didn't have enough inertia to inject the drug. I have seen darts (fired by others) hit fully grown whitetails in the abdomen and penetrate just like a 20 gauge slug, necessitating that the animal be put down. Even with all of the above, the dart guns using blanks were so much more reliable from shot to shot compared with the versions that used CO2 cartridges that we were glad to have them...

I shoot 180 grain Scirocco IIs over 83.5 grains of IMR 7828 in R-P cases with Winchester large rifle primers. These chronograph right at 3,250 fps ten feet from the muzzle and consistently shoot into about an inch and a half at 200 yards. Seat them as far out as they will go and still feed reliably through the magazine. This is a maximum load (and is safe in my rifle), but you should start lower and work your way up.