Scooter

I don't think Wal Mart honors that... they "call in" everything on that computer thing. Don't they?

nics is still fully operational

Rated for steel is what I was talking about... Those are usually a little bit "looser" than older guns with fixed-chokes and older full-choke tubes were. There isn't an issue as long as you're using chokes that are designed to shoot steel. The key is- you pattern your guns and know your equipment, some people don't really know if they're factory chokes will hold up or not. I personally use a Carlson's IC Hevi Shot extended choke with Steel #2's (Win Drylock Supreme 3") and it patterns out to 40 yards+ way better than my factory invector plus MOD! Kills ducks deader than dead... Just be sure you know your equipment! It's probably not going to blow a barrel up, but you might score a tube/barrel or see blown patterns and wounded ducks. Both issues are minor as far as safety- but avoidable. akaspecials- the #3's and #4's have some room to constrict in your choke , but if you ever bump up to BB's or bigger for geese/sandhills you might see some blown patterns- maybe, I don't know because it's really a toss-up as far as experience goes.

You describe pass shooting. Not necessarily sky busting. Sky busting is shooting at ducks way up there and out of range. Mostly just scaring or wounding birds that won't/can't be retrieved. Mr. Smith is right on. For waterfowl you have to use steel shot, which is a lot less dense than lead and therefore you can't shoot nearly as far. In most guns with a full choke 50 yards is about the max distance, and that's pushing it. Skybusting lends to more wounded animals. It also scares them out of the area real fast. A lot of times when a flock of ducks is working someone's decoys they will circle around the body of water too. Sky busters will shoot at these high circling birds that they have no chance of hitting. It scares the birds off the water, ruins it for the guys calling them into decoys, and no one gets the birds. Please do not regularly shoot steel shot through a full choke unless you know what you're doing. And even if you do know what you're doing... Why would you? When steel shot hits that full choke constriction the result is almost always a blown pattern to some degree. It may even mess up your choke tube a little. If you want a better pattern with some extra distance go with a wad-stripping tube or use hevi-shot.

So I'm unpacking the truck at around 8:30pm after an afternoon dove hunt and getting my table set for cleaning a limit of doves. I usually keep them whole and put 5 birds per ziplock gallon freezer bag in an iced cooler until I'm home and ready to start plucking. I grab the first full bag and it happens to be the last 5 birds I had shot for the day. I breast all of them out no problem. I slide the zipper thingy open on the second Ziplock bag and grab onto a bird. It starts flapping around like crazy and now I'm chasing it around my garage! It was in the bag with the first 5 birds of the afternoon, and all of those were dead when they hit the ground (or so I had been led to believe). All through the process of stuffing it into the bag with the other 4, not a single sign of life in any of the birds. I sit on my cooler during the hunt and never heard or felt a thing. I bet I shot that bird sometime between 4:00-4:30 and it spent at least 4 hours completely sealed off in a ziplock bag that got ice cold in that cooler, not to mention it was originally shot. My only explanation is that it was a Zombie Dove. Scared the living daylights out of me and there are feathers everywhere in the garage now. From now on, I'm checking for a pulse.

didn't chrono this time, but sighted in my new scope Sunday at 100 and shot 1.5" groups off of a sandbag forend rest. pretty good results for the first try- I didn't notice any velocity difference between the IMR White Hots and the Triple 7 pellets I had before.

Just wondering if anybody has experiences with IMR White Hots. I bought some a while back and I haven't shot them yet. Looking for technical data as far as velocity goes... Let me know!

I thought with everything going on we oughta have a post for access to Federal or State lands restrictions due to the shutdown... Deer seasons are coming up soon and I'm sure some folks are out scouting! Just talked to some folks that live near the gate on the Coronado National Memorial/Monument road and they are not letting anybody through to get to Montezuma Pass from the memorial/monument side. If you're planning on accessing the back side of the Huachucas (FS road 61 and others), it looks like you'll have to go through Ft. Huachuca/Canelo pass rd-OR- in from Sonoita/Elgin (HWY 82/83) until the shutdown is lifted. Can anyone officially verify this for me???

oh, gotcha My bad- thought that I read into some sarcasm or cynicism in that post. On edge today, too much coffee!

More to the story- there were officers injured in the incident- they did not just go all crazy and start shooting. I think the eyewitness video shows it pretty darn well that she was a clear danger to the lives of the officers AND the innocent baby in the car. I don't like the fact she was killed- but when you step into the boots of the officers involved, you only have time to react the best way your training has prepared you to.

I'd love to- but I don't have time to get up in the Mountain Zone...

Congratulations!!!

I'm with the crowd that says "don't mess with Grandad's gun". Also, it's a Remington 721- a classic in its own right and should probably be kept just how it is. I say get yourself a nice Savage or a Remington 700 and be done with it. I bet you won't spend as much buying a new rifle than you will getting Grandad's rifle rechambered and getting yourself all re-tooled on the reloading bench. If you are determined to do it... 25-06 is a beast. I've shot that caliber in a friend's rifle and it's awesome. Haven't shot 6.5 Creedmore or 6.5x284 yet- but I bet they're just as cool.

Thanks Snapshot!!!

No hunting on the base until after the shutdown... Will update as I hear more.

Anybody hear anything from USFS regarding access to NF land?

Hey guys, the official word is that all hunting and other non-hunting activities conducted on Fort Huachuca training range areas is closed until after the shutdown ends. Bummer with Quail opening up this weekend... Once again, No hunting on Ft Huachuca (legally that is) until after the government shut down is over. Have fun guys! Anybody near here have a spot for me for quail this weekend? Hahaha.

Oh brother... that was pretty brutal and a complete waste of my late-lunch.

Used to do that all the time in Western New York. I've spent my fair share of time siiting in a treestand, but I've killed several deer glassing huge cut corn fields and stalking around the edges to get on the deer mostly with a shotgun (slug), and one big ol' doe with my Oneida Black Eagle back in the late 90's... It happens, but in the snow it's just easier to get on a well-used deer trail and sit up in a tree 25ft or so. I have yet to put a Coues on the ground... 2 years and 4 shots so far, and all arrows went over the back because the deer jumped the string or in the dirt because I hit a branch.

I missed something... where was the drama?

man, the Government even regulates roadkill... where does it stop?!

My Brother-in-law in NY literally fills his gas tank for 6-8 months on the Raccoons he picks up and skins out every October-April... I went out to the store with him one winter when I was visiting when he suddenly slammed on the brakes and I was like "What happened"? He threw it in reverse and said "I just saw a $20 bill laying on the shoulder"... Needless to say once I saw the dead Raccoon- I became aware that roadkill can be very valuable when fur is prime!

This year I was forced into getting a new release and on the recommendation of some fellow hunters, I went with the Tru Ball Bone Collector Beast. It's based on the design of the Tru-Ball Short-n-Sweet I think. It works, but I was so attached to my old release that it feels wrong- even after hundreds of arrows so far. I miss my old school Tru-Ball Stinger from the 90's though. I wore out the velcro strap and the jaws don't come together close enough for my loop anymore. I wish I could just get it fixed.

If he gets those grades improved and ends up going to a University (a.k.a. indoctrination camp) he'll become a democrat faster than you can say "stright A's"...

That describes how I was in high school to a "T". I absolutely hated homework but would ace every test and pop quiz they could possibly throw at me. I never failed anything, but if I didn't like the subject I would intentionally pass it by the skin of my teeth. It drove my teachers, and my parents, absolutely crazy!