For decades we have had a sort of feud with the neighboring land owner about driving rights and property lines and so forth. Well one year it got a little out of hand and the ladder to my grandfathers tree stand was partially sawn through. Not all the way through, as in an attempt to destroy the stand, but half way through as in an attempt to have it break while he was climbing and to injure him. Thankfully my grandfather is the kind of observant person who notices that sort of thing, had he not, it could have been very bad.

I shot my first deer with a bow a few years back. The shot was a little low and a little back, turned out to be a gut shot (didn't know that at the time.) I let the deer go for 3 hours, then came back to trail. Early on I found my arrow, covered in blood and a good blood trail. I found the deer in some Phragmites, it jumped up and looked at me, must have been about 30 feet instead of the 30 yards I thought because when I let another arrow go it sailed right over her back, and she took off. I took off after her into the growing darkness. As night fell I kept on the trail until I realized I needed help, I hung my headlamp in a tree, right on the trail and called my dad, I went back to my truck to wait for him to arrive with a lantern. When he got there we went back to my head lamp and picked up the trail again. following on hands and knees we went through the swamp. After about a hundred yards we came up on her bedded down by a log. We decided it would be a good idea (neither my dad nor I are very smart) to have me stand in plain sight of the deer with the light on it as he snuck up behind it to whack it with a big stick. The idea was that with the deer stunned we could jump on it and subdue it by any means necessary. Looking back, that was about the stupidest thing we could have done, because what happened was as he struck with the big stick the deer, completely un-stunned jumped up, knocking my dad over and disappearing into the darkness. We hung a marker and called it a night. The next morning it rained horribly and any chance of finding a blood trail was gone. By pure luck i went back to the marker and started walking in the direction the deer took off in the last night. Not fifty yards away it had lied down and died over the night. Gut shot as it was it would have lied down at any point had we not pushed it but we did, it was a huge mistake but we got lucky anyway and it all worked out.

Not while hunting but after hunting I have in the past partaken in a few adult beverages before I was of legal age to do so.

I shoot a 12 because that is what I have, but if I were going to buy a "Slug Gun" it would be a 20. It is lighter, handier, lower recoiling and just as effective on the business end. If you want an all around shotgun you can't go wrong with a 12, but for a dedicated slug gun I think a 20 is the way to go.

Get in touch with DU or some other organizations, they will help you with what you need and may even pay to have it done.

I have met Byron Ferguson and Tom Knapp, have to say, I was much more impressed with Byrons shooting than Toms.

It will all depend on conditions, but I like to cover alot of water with in-line spinners ex. mepps aglia, if I am in a weedy area I grab a Johnson silver minnow first.

In, Wisconsin we can't even buy a license till we are 12, so with that in mind, I have been hunting 12 years.

Jitterbugs are great for fishing at night in the middle of summer, and in much shallower water than you would think.

First I would choose to live in a place where I don't need to worry about home protection, if that were not an option my next answer would be a good dead bolt lock, if that isn't good enough I have my two labs, they may be sweethearts but intruders don't know that, after that give me a baseball bat.

Roy was just an odd sort of fellow.

I have had a lot of luck with zoom horney toads and other toad lures.

No such thing exists, as with everything else in life the best costs the most and if you want to pay less you get less. Tell you what, if you were the best guide in Minnesota wouldn't you want to get paid the best?

HUNTING, More specifically, gun deer season, this is a state holiday here in Wisconsin.

I am a big fan of less is more. During summer practice I can crank my limbs down and shoot the full 70 pounds with no trouble at all. But in December, in a tree stand in the cold and under 5 layers of clothes 70 pounds is impossible, not just to do it quietly and discreetly but to draw it at all. I learned that lesson the hard way this past season, This upcoming year I will purchase lighter arrows and shoot 60 pounds, I think this will also help with my ability to draw discreetly.

Gotta say, I use the ultimate big and slow, a one ounce 12 gauge foster style slug at 1600 fps. Maximum range and I mean Maximum is 75 yards. Have shot close to two dozen deer with this load and have never had one "drop" the most common reaction is a sprint of 50 yards or so, then they stop, look around, stumble, fall down, get back up then fall down for good. Big slugs, going slow make big holes, the tend to "punch" right through everything with little expansion or fragmentation. It is remarkable to see the skinned ribcage of a deer, a 12 bore hole in it you can look through, and very little trauma and hemorrhaging around the hole. I guess the point is that big and slow kills very well, not especially fast, nor is it easy to hit with big and slow, but if you do hit you wont lose your deer.

Improved cinch knot, all the time, every time.

My grandpa told me to "never bring a knife to a gun fight" and when I was little and hurt myself "the river is a little low, go cry down there and fill it up" and the always good one "don't say "I Know" when you clearly don't" The final one which I wish I could live by is "If you put it back where you found it you would always know where it is when you need it."

I think I once paid about 8 bucks for a yo-zuri jerk bait. Caught lots of pike on it too.

Ken, thank you so much for clarifying. I hadn't realized that was how the government regulated arms, I didn't know the details behind how it worked. My concern wasn't so much with this particular legislation as it is meant to protect our (those of the people of Montana) 2nd amendment rights. My concern is with the next state that uses this precedent to infringe on peoples rights per my example of Utah and state religion. I am all for personal rights and minimum government, but I also believe that this is a big complex country and society, the most important country in the world and the one with the biggest problems and we are in an economic and social place right now where laze faire ideas will not work. I think we need to stand tall together or fall away individually.

Wait a minute, has Montana seceded from the union, how does a state declare they are no longer subject to the laws of the country? Can I declare I that I no longer am subject to the laws of our government and stop paying taxes? First of all big O I would like to see some proof or evidence that this story is true, second I think it starts us down dangerous a slippery slope. If this first, what next, can we just out of the blue decide what laws we wish to follow and which ones we choose to ignore? What if Utah wants to make Mormonism the state religion? Or Mississippi wants to re-enact slavery? First of all I don't entirely believe the statement and second, if it is true I think it sets a dangerous precedent.

Any dog that can be quiet, sit still, and obey commands, I don't think breed matters one bit. Goldens, labs, even poodles were originally bred to be retrievers. Training matters so much more than breed.

I bought a red label about 10 years ago and if i remember right it cost somewhere around 700 bucks, give or take 50. The red label is a nice gun, I love how it carries and shoots but it is NOT a fine gun. The wood to metal fit is terrible at best, the checkering stinks and the wood is ugly. BUT it shoots great every time I pull the trigger and it fits me like a glove. I hunt rabbits, pheasants, ducks, and geese with it. And I have shot plenty of 25's with it, one 50 and my best out of 100 is a 98. It wont will any contests as a FINE pretty gun, it is more like a plow horse, but it gets the job done. If you are looking for an OU I think you could do alot worse than a red label.

Beeman, I am intrigued by the final part of your question. Are we with our technology going the same way as the neanderthal. I do believe we are. We lean on our technology too much and are too far removed from our natural environment. I can hunt and fish but I do so with the help of modern technology. Give me nothing more than my wits and put me out doors and I wouldn't last long. Stone age people and I mean ALL stone age people knew how to find food, make shelter, make tools and make clothing. I don't know how to do any of these things (at least not reliably), and there is a huge difference between surviving for a week until being rescued and living, thriving, and reproducing without modern technology. And that's what you need to do, you need to thrive to the point that you not only live comfortably but can reproduce and raise children. Who among us could do that without modern technology.

The problem is that there is nothing for scale, we have no idea how big it is. Truth is though that if it is a real thing the right people can figure out what it is.

Agreed, I would love to see all you guys best friends.

Wow, I have never cared enough about the answer to even ask the question but now that it's out there I am intrigued indeed. An angle say you Sir Beekeeper, and since I have no reason to disbelieve you, an angle it is.

O.K. Del, the only way to make sure everybody reads something is to tell nobody to read it.

I taught myself to hunt turkeys seven years ago and after much trial and error shot my first tom last year, which brings my total up to one tom.

Ken, I believe it is a basic right for all living things to have clean water and fresh air. I agree very strongly with the Native American sentiment that the world does not belong to us, we are merely borrowing it from our children. And it isn't just our rights we need to be concerned with but theirs also. I want my children and grandchildren to be able to swim in the rivers and lakes, and eat the fish they catch in those rivers and lakes, and drink the water from those rivers and lakes. It's not just our rights that we need to be concerned with but the rights of all those that come after us.

Whichever one patterns best in your gun. Any answer other than that is just opinion.

Interesting thoughts Mr. Mcloud. I think we, along with every other living thing on this planet has the right to a healthy environment. I think government needs to step in to protect us from the tragedy of the commons. It's unfortunate but that's how it is. We have a prime example here in North East Wisconsin. For decades paper companies along the Fox river dumped PCB's into the river. Why, because it was cheaper than to properly dispose of the waste and these companies made huge profits at our expense. Now we as tax payers are paying to clean it up and as sportsmen we can't eat the fish that come out of this waterway. Not to mention all the fish, ducks, and other wildlife that has been poisoned because some paper companies wanted to make a bigger profit. When you don't have oversight and regulations this is what happens.

Ask the locals who fish there regularly.

I have never tried it but I have heard bubble gum works too and doesn't dissolve. I always used crushed saltines though.

I work on a golf course, an outdoor environment where I have to deal extensively with "pest" species. I feel no remorse for the thousands of cut worms, army worms and BTA grubs I kill with pesticides every year but I sincerely feel remorse when I have to addle goose eggs, shoot muskrats, or kill burrowing ground squirrels. I know I am not killing them just for the sake of killing but I do feel bad killing them none the less. And before people jump on me for addling goose eggs we do have a permit from the DNR. I guess the whole point is that when it comes to killing pests I do it but I get no pleasure out of it.

Buckhunter, nice answer. But since my days of that kind of hunting are over I will say early season duck hunting with the guys, the weather is warm the shooting fast and the ducks plentiful, no other hunting is more fun. Killing a deer with my bow is more satisfying but ducks win the battle for most fun.

WHY, more likely to shoot like a field point and less likely to need tuning. WHY NOT, possibility of blades not opening and or lower penetration, some can also be more fragile.

The best one is the one your bow shoots best. I can't get enough clearance to shoot feathers or regular size dura vanes so I shoot the little NAP Quick spin vanes. It's what works for me, you need to find out what works for you.

Ads are money, they need to pay writers, pay for paper, for ink, pay the editors and pay the guy who sweeps the floors. Either they make the money with ads or they raise the subscription price. This is capitalism, stuff costs money and the more they can make from ads the less they need to make from us. If you are displeased with the ads in the back of the magazine gather your money together and buy the space for yourself, then Bonnier publishing will make the same amount of money Dave and Phil and the guy who sweeps the floors will keep their jobs, my subscription rates wont go up, and you can find something new to whine about.

Whitebass fishing on the Wolf river with my grandparents. They were running hard and we couldn't keep our poles in the water. It was just one of those days.

It depends, If it is my own little duck hole I can visit anytime during the season steel is just fine, I can wait for a close shot at my local ducks and if i don't get them today I go back tomorrow. If I am spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a guided trip to another part of the country (or Canada or Mexico), or trying to get my first pintail or black duck, I would defiantly spend the extra money to get premium shot. I have shot plenty of steel and hevi-shot and I have seen a difference. Is that difference worth it on my local ducks? No. But in a special circumstance I wouldn't skimp on my shot.

If my dog had been hit by a car or was suffering and in mortal pain for some other reason I would shoot it to end it quickly. If it was a sort of terminal illness I would see if I could procure some sort of poison give it to her as a sort of final last meal, I would rather do it that way than have to shoot my best friend.

Position those little green plastic army men toys around and shoot them, make yourself a WWII sniper and make every shot count, 1 shot 1 kill.

Calm nights, Shallow water, 1-5 feet deep, bass cruise the shallows at night and jitter bugs and hula poppers are deadly. When I worked second shift I would fish at 2 or 3 in the morning and just slay the bass, never huge ones but a ton of 1-3 pounders.

I love to fish smallies with line as light as 1 and 2 lb test. Small in-line spinners like rooster tails and panther martins work very well.

My turkeyu gun patterns best with size six and since I hunt in the close quarters woods/swamps I don't need much down range energy since all my turkey shots have been inside 30 yards.

If you are going to use it ALOT, I would go with the Stihl, I have worked for an arborist and with several other tree specialists and they all use Stihl chainsaws. A Stihl would be overkill for most homeowners because they are professional quality machines (at a professional price) but if you are going to use it ALOT go for it and spend the extra money.

I love my Ruger Red Label. I shoot it better than any other shotgun I own.

It's not mine but my grandpas Model 94 in 30-30. Such a light, compact easy handling rifle, it is the perfect deer gun.

Same here, I love to meet and hunt with new people, I love to teach people what I know and learn from others that which they know.

The 17's are great, I love my HMR, The .22 LR is the plain vanilla of shooting, crawl out from under your rock and experience something new.

6 lbs 3 oz on a green and black jig

I go with the shotgun, always have always will.

Wow, what a great problem. When I was your age and wanted a new gun I had to decide if I should get another job in addition to my paper route or dump the paper route all together and get a job bagging groceries after school.

If these are high fence ranches I think it is cheap and shows a lack of integrity. It may not be cheating by the letter of the law but I think it shows something about a persons character.

Fill the freezer, we live on venison in my house, I haven't bought beef in over a year.

The best retrieving dog is a well trained and enthusiastic dog, you also want it to be calm or else you will end up yelling at it during your time in the blind. I don't think breed matters that much, I have seen german shorthairs that love to retrieve and I own a lab that wont retrieve period (he just likes to play, the other lab is my hunter.)

What can I say, spring and summer I golf, it's exercise, I get to be outside, and hey I think it's fun.

Right on steve, they will kill exactly the same, if you like vanilla icecream choose the .270, if you are a tripple fudge swirl dip kind of guy go for the .280.

The red and white daredevil is a classic but I have actually caught more on the blue fox five of diamonds, yellow spoon with red diamonds.

A small baitholder hook and nice wriggly red worm.

I find I get fewer backlashes and when I do get them they are easier to untangle when I use braided line. Give it a try it may just work for you.

There is a big floodplain that floods every year and makes great bowfishing fun, last year I got over 20 in a single day, I stalk them in 2-4 feet of water.

Single, allows for a shorter, more compact firearm.

To get to the other side.

For the most part I agree but there is what is legal and there is what is moral and they don't always mesh. Just this past winter several "hunters" were arrested for chasing down and killing deer on snowmobiles, in this case it was both illegal and immoral. Here in Wisconsin if I am a member of a hunting party I can legally fill all the tags of the other members of the party, but should I?

Mouth call, when a bird is coming in you can't be fiddleing with your hands, putting a call down picking your gun up, you need to stay still.

I would go with swimming, it is easier on the joints and you don't have to worry about your dog overheating. On top of that it's great exersize for you too.

I travel the old fashioned way, on my own two feet.

I will but only if i am going into country i am unfamiliar with, One nice thing about wisconsin is that if you can walk in a straight line for an hour you are bound to hit a farm field, road or at least a dairy cow.

I love fishing rivers but my rivers are small, not big like the mississippi, or wisconsin or even the fox, I like rivers where i can cast from one shore to the other.

Yes...

I love the idea and have found no difference in point of impact. My problem with them has been failure to turn on and off when they are supposed to.

If you practice often you can make a 200 yard shot easily. If you don't practice, hitting at 200 yards will be more luck than anything else.

My O/U handles better than any pump I have ever shot, I just shoot it better than my BPS so I use it for everything, rabbits, ducks, geese, pheasants, everything. The way it shoots is its main advantage.

I shoot 20 out of my 12 gauge and use little skeeters.

Make that three votes for a small rooster tail.

Its a phenomenon called bio accumulation. Small water invertebrates consume the pollutants, small fish eat say a thousand small invertebrates, so each small fish has 1000 parts of pollutant. Then a medium fish eats 1,000 small fish the medium fish now has 1,000x1,000 or 1,000,000 parts of pollutant, now if a large old fish eats 1,000 medium fish over its life time it has 1,000x1,000,000 or 1,000,000,000 parts of pollutant in it. That's why the most toxic fish to eat are the ones highest up in the food chain, the biggest and oldest.

I can't add anything about technique but I love to fish poppers at night, not just at dusk but in the dark dark. When I used to work 2nd shift I would fish after work at 3:00 am and catch lots of nice bass. At night the wind dies down and the surface is calm, making a popper even that much more effective.

I lost a doe i shot with my bow this past fall. It was 23 yards, the shot looked and felt perfect, she took 3 steps and stood and looked at me. I couldn't believe I missed. She then calmly walked away. There was a dusting of fresh snow on the ground as I got down from my stand to check out the shot. There was no hair or blood at the spot of the shot but 20 yards down the trail she left on I found loads of blotchy blood. I stopped, figuring from her reaction that the shot may not have been the best and went back to my stand and waited for 2 hours. I then got down and started to trail with my brother. She only bled for 15 yards and then we followed her trail for another 100 and only found 1 more drop of blood. Again figuring the shot may not have been good we decided to let it go and come back again tomorrow hoping to let the deer bed down and bleed out before we chased it into the next county. The next morning my father uncle and I looked for hours, we found the arrow, bloody and unbroken, it had been a complete pass through. But hours of searching and maybe technically a little trespassing we couldn't find her. I don't know if I should have pushed her more the first night or if I pushed too hard, I don't even know if the hit was fatal, but I do know I have thought about it often and am very disappointed I never found her. Any of you have any ideas about what happened or how I may have messed up?

If you want non sabot bullet in a modern muzzle loader I would have to suggest the powerbelts, O think they will be just what you need.

A 50 cal pellet gun for chipmunks? What? I am so confused, there are about a dozen things I don't understand about that question.

Bow hunting is about hunting, gun hunting is about getting together with friends and family and having a week long reunion.

I will take it a step further and say drugs and alcohol are not bad (not good either), it's what people do when they use these things that is can be bad. The bottle of bourbon in my cabinet is neither good nor evil, it just exists and does nothing until someone drinks it. Same with the gun, sitting in a safe it just sits there, it's what people do with it that can be good or evil.

No, but I have to give you credit for one of the most creatively worded questions I have yet to see on this site.

Nikon makes quality glass for a decent price, it wont compete with the uber expensive German stuff but it is quite good none the less.

Nikon makes quality glass for a decent price, it wont compete with the uber expensive German stuff but it is quite good none the less.

I'm confused, isn't a baiting ban a ban on bait?

Wisconsin and there is nothing that gets my blood going like ducks on opening day.

I want to shoot the BIG one.

I have taken several Mycology courses and the one constant thread running through them is to stay away from LBMs or Little Brown Mushrooms. Good luck but I don't trust myself to harvest any mushrooms other than Giant puffballs you can't mistake these for anything else.

If addiction is a disease and this disease has no cure I need to go on permanent disability.

Lots of laws don't make sense, just look at the tax code.

Sure, I once brought my shotgun to school in the trunk of my car. I had shot trap the previous afternoon and had forgotten to take it out of my trunk. This was post Columbine and had it been found I would have been expelled and most likely faced criminal charges. It truly could have changed my life. There was no malice intended, just forgetting to take a legal, unloaded, cased firearm out of the trunk of my car.

I agree with buckthesystem, hunt or don't hunt, there is no shoot and release. And yes I am an animal lover, I love my two dogs and I am gratefull for the deer, ducks, pheasants, and rabbits I kill and eat. It's the same reason I take every effort to make quick, humane kills and recover every animal I shoot. It's stupid stuff like shooting animals with paintballs that riles up anti hunters and makes the rest of us ethical, moral hunters look like stupid redneck bloodthisty hicks. I hunt and I defend hunting as a traditional way of life and an effective form of wildlife management, but to get pleasure from watching the suffering of an animal as it twirls around in pain is wrong, period.

Anschutz makes a top quality .22

I would rather shoot a small doe with my bow than a trophy buck with a rifle. A bow requires so much more skill and any animal taken with a bow is a trophy in my eyes.

12 ga 870, unless some one buys me a gun as a wedding present but I doubt that.

And Jim, we wear blaze orange out and about regardless of any hunting season and we wear cheese wedges on our heads at football games, we can't stand Illinois people, they charge us to drive on their roads and ski on our lakes when we are trying to fish. We have 15000 lakes but don't like to show up Minnesotas 10000. We are even the home of the freshwater surfing capitol of the world. We are defiantly a strange group of people and we are always looking for new recruits, so come... join the dark side.

Fish boils are a common thing from my part of the world and it is usually a big party, fireman's picnic fund raiser or something. And from your description you did it wrong. It is usually outdoors in a huge kettle on a fire. the potatoes and carrots are right but when you get that foam and are almost finished cooking you toss a quart of gas on the fire, the kettle boils over and all the nasty foam burns away, after that you serve the fish potatoes and carrots with cole slaw, rye bread, and clean melted butter over the fish. I have had bad fish boils and they can be bad but a good one is absolutely fantastic.

A 243 in the vitals will kill faster and cleaner than a 30-378 wby in the guts everyday.

I like the idea and would like too see it.

It would be Davey Crockett, talk about an amazing time to be around.

ENCORE

Clay is right, Always go by your reloading manual, anything else could be dangerous or even deadly. This is not the place to find reloading info, we could tell you anything and you would never know if it were safe, get your info from a published manual.

Clay, left wingers looking to make the population afraid? Don't forget that it was a conservative administration that constantly put us on "terror alerts" and had a color coded scale to let us know how much danger we were in. And that it is the department of homeland security that can tap your phone and read everything about you without a warrant. Believe what you will but don't forget that both sides are probably guilty and it isn't fair to paint one side as evil without seriously looking at the other.

30-35 should do you just fine, and I agree with going for size 6 shot, at that range size 6 has plenty of penetrating ability.

The navy seals in the picture are just like bigfoot, the boogyman, and gnomes. They aren't really there.

for about 10 years now, Outdoor life too.

3 rounds 30 or 300 it doesn't matter, if he fired on police they have the right to fire back PERIOD.

Somehow one of my G5 Montecs ended up on the floor and I stepped on it. Very very stupid, the only good thing is that it was me and not someone else, It's good to be the only victim of your own idiocy.

Have to love the smallies.

Not currently but she does show interest in archery so maybe someday?

Take your mom with you, she will appreciate spending time with you and it wont matter what you are doing, I see no conflict.

Is it a pre-64 model 70 and in what caliber?

can't say an exact distance but it was inside 3 yards, a doe was walking right at me, i thought she was going to climb into the ground blind with me. And by the way I was dressed in Blaze orange head to toe and she never saw me. It was that day I realized deer use their nose to detect danger far more than they use their eyes.

Thou shalt not kill, since we are not plants and can't make our own food out of CO2 and sunlight we need to eat other things to survive. Rocks, dirt, and water have little nutritional value and so to survive we need to kill and eat. Is it not killing to pull a carrot out of the ground and eat it? How is that different from catching a rabbit and eating it? In each case you destroy one thing to help you survive, was it not a sin to kill the carrot? Was the carrot not alive? Was the life of the carrot worth less than that of the rabbit? What about when the rabbit eats the carrot? Is it ok to kill the rabbit if it saves the life of the carrot? If I kill and eat the rabbit I live and the carrot lives, If I eat the carrot the rabbit goes hungry, the carrot dies and I live. Thou shalt not kill, utter BULL S#&T, God created us in such a way that so that we have to kill to live, either we kill other things to live or we starve and kill ourselves, death is not a part of life it is a requirement of life. OK done ranting now but saying hunting violates the fifth commandment is close to the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

10/22 just feels more like a real rifle, plus with a minimum of know how and 200 bucks or so you can make it shoot circles around the Marlin.

Ford, owned a Dodge and it was nothing but trouble.

B-square makes a saddle mount that mounts on the receiver.

It took me two years before I got my first deer and I have yet to get a buck with my bow, but I haven't given up.

Get the basic obedience down first. Make sure she knows you are boss and likes to do what you tell her. Positive reinforcement is key and never give a command you are not ready to enforce. A dog that runs off and flushes birds out of range is far worse than having no dog at all. You will spend your whole hunt yelling, angry, and embarrassed. basic obedience is 95% of the game.

I have been very happy with my CZ 452 and a Swift 4-12, the whole thing cost me less than $500 and true it doesn't shoot any better than the Savage but I just feel it is a little more substantial and better made.

light trap loads at 9 or 10, slugs by 13.

Small mouth bass and then Northern Pike.

Freshwater, I'm in Wisconsin so the closest saltwater is a thousand miles away.

I shoot my OU best but love the feel and look of my buddies side by side, Now if I only had the money to buy my own.

Sure do, the original all terrain vehicle, my size 13 lacrosse boots.

plenty of 25x25 one 50x50 and the best I have ever done on 100 was 97x100, but I haven't shot trap competitively since High school, now id be lucky to knock down 20 of 25.

Late this last fall I went on a pheasant hunting trip to North Dakota with some neighbors of mine. They invited me along, I couldn't afford to go but they offered to pay my way if I would work it off on the farm. I happily agreed and went on the trip, I saw more birds in our first hour hunting than I had ever seen before in my life, it was absolutely incredible.

I subscribe to both and in this house he will be missed.

I have my fathers old wingmaster, it was the first gun he ever owned.

A doe fawn at 30 yards, stalked her from more than 100 yards away, that was the most memorable part of that hunt, not the shot.

Well a red ryder of course, but after that it was a 10/22.

I know the US government rounded up Japanese American citizens during WWII and put them into detention camps, this is not a hoax, I don't think it had anything to do with FEMA or even if FEMA existed back then. It DID happen, whole families were rounded up, allowed to take only what they could carry and put into camps with no legal recourse.

Yes sir, the woods are my cathedral.

We hunt 10 guys on 30 acres, its a bit crowded but everybody knows where everybody else is we have never had an accident or even a close call.

I think most of the newer stuff is overkill. The 30-30 killed deer for decades and it is neither fast nor big. But it kills deer just fine. I think the new "fast and big" stuff kicks too much which leads to not enough practice and poor shooting in the field. An old 32 Win special through the lungs will always kill a deer faster than the latest 300 super dooper pooper magnun that shoots a deer in the guts because the guy behind the scope was too afraid of the recoil.

Look guys I can only speak from personal experience. Being in the industry I am in I work with a lot of Hispanic seasonal workers. They are an integral part of our crew. They work hard, are very talented and I would rather have a crew of Hispanics than the highschool and college jerk offs we would be stuck with otherwise. The local kids we hire come in hungover, smoke pot AT WORK, and rarely come in on time. The Hispanic members of our crew are grateful for their jobs even though they get paid very little and receive no benefits. I just don't see Latin immigrants causing all the problems everybody says they do. They work the crap jobs that nobody else wants and they do it for peanuts.

A top notch pair of binoculars, Some really good glass, Zeiss, Swarovski, etc... I know they are worth it but don't know if I could ever spend the $$$ they cost.

I would consider myself a generalist, I know enough to hunt everything reasonably well, but I am by no means an expert in any type of hunting or game. For example i could shoot a few ducks in the morning, drop a rooster at noon and arrow a doe in the evening, but never limit out or shoot a trophy.

One doe with my bow, fills the freezer and I didn't see a single buck worth shooting.

Simplicity and reliability are big pluses. But I think the biggest is that single shots can be 3-5 inches shorter than other action types even with the same barrel length. This makes them lighter and easier to carry. The big minus is that there is only one shot, but if you are a good shot that is all you need.

I can agree with the diet affecting flavor, I eat mostly farm country deer but a few years ago I took a trip to northern Wisconsin and shot a deer that must have been eating nothing but ceder boughs, the meat tasted terrible. Now as for time of year, I suppose if it is related to diet then yes the meat could have a different flavor.

I am the decedent of immigrants as I am sure many (if not all) of you are. I feel that if we want to be the land of the free and home of opportunity we should welcome those who want to come here to build a better life for themselves. I have no doubt I will now be called a bleeding heart liberal and be told that I am what's wrong with this country, so be it. I will stand up for what I believe even if it makes me horribly unpopular, I know I am in the minority on this one but I see no benefit in preaching to the choir.

I use a pair of biodegradable environmental friendly high mileage size 13 boots. When it comes to hauling deer out its my trusty rope. No power assist here baby.

God Napoleon, I think you bruised my neck meat.

I like a scope on my shotgun for big game, I just feel more comfortable and confident shooting deer through a scope. I would never use a scope or red dot for water fowling or any other small game. I have never used a scope or red dot for turkey and see no reason to, but that is just my opinion on the subject. I use a B-square saddle mount on my 870 because i didn't want to have it drilled and tapped for mounts, I see no reason to use a saddle mount if your gun can handle a different mount.

I like a scope on my shotgun for big game, I just feel more comfortable and confident shooting deer through a scope. I would never use a scope or red dot for water fowling or any other small game. I have never used a scope or red dot for turkey and see no reason to, but that is just my opinion on the subject. I use a B-square saddle mount on my 870 because i didn't want to have it drilled and tapped for mounts, I see no reason to use a saddle mount if your gun can handle a different mount.

Benneli shotguns feel great, shoot awesome and never jam, if i could pick any auto off the shelf for myself it would be a Benneli.

I began my college education on that career path but by my second year I came to the stark realization there are very few jobs out there and lots of competition for those jobs. If you are serious about Wildlife management as a career more power to you but I think you need to focus more on your extra curricular activities and grades. If you want a really good job be prepared to go to graduate school for at least a masters and maybe even a PHD. I lost out on a summer internship with the DNR between my second and third years to a Guy with a Masters in Biology, this was a 3 month summer job and the guy had his masters, it's that tough a field to get into. I think dealing with tree huggers will be the least of your problems, Good luck.

The Mans Mall, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, and maybe one in the U.P. I worked in the sporting goods section when I was in high school. It was one of the coolest jobs ever, I got to play with all the new hunting and fishing stuff. When I left I kept one of my orange work shirts, it hangs in my closet to this day.

MLH, you a yooper? Come on now, you know you want to join Wisconsin, I bet you root for the Packers don't cha.

Eh der, da U.P. is really part of Wisconsin now aint it.

Does it count if I breed, raise, then slaughter a cow in a lab, it will have technically been grown in a lab.

A 1 1/2 year old doe, I was 12 and it was the first year i could legally hunt.

When I could afford gas it was a Dodge Dakota, now it's a VW Jetta with a turbo diesel, 50 MPG baby.

Still haven't met a deer, duck, or turkey that could tell the difference. Heck gun hunting in Wisconsin we have to wear blaze orange and it that doesn't spook them one bit. I don't think a camo pattern matters. It's all about sucking the money out of our wallets.

I would let it walk away because I wouldn't want to go to jail for shooting the moron in the costume because BIGFOOT DOES NOT EXIST!

No, we shouldn't because we prize the white tail as a wild creature and when we breed it to meet our designs it isn't really wild anymore. It becomes like the Holstein, or the Thoroughbred, or the latest round-up ready corn. Living things that are not found anywhere in nature. When we mess with life we make it better for US but if you put it back into nature it is weaker, more susceptible to disease and less able to compete and survive.

Since graduating high school eight years ago I have made my living as a greens keeper. I hunt, fish, camp, hike, trap and do all manner of outdoor sporting activities, ergo Golfing Sportsman.

I would love to see a waterfowl kwiz, good idea deaddiver.

I have a lot of luck on Wisconsin lakes using top water plugs at night. Hula poppers, skitter pops, even zara spooks.

Right on Clay, first and foremost good hunters are honest. We don't cheat lie or steal, those things are for city folk and don't belong in the field.

Sweaty Uncle Teddy, come on, cooler, the man is a freaking rock star. Sure he is a complete nut job but he is still way cooler. WANGO TANGO BABY!!!

Clay, nobody has forgotten anything, we don't have the opportunity, you tell us about it every week. And you tell us about it in the ANSWERS section instead of on the message boards where it belongs. And besides, the anti hunters would just use that against you as an example of over management, they would say that if we hadn't killed all the predators the prey populations would have never exploded. It was a problem that was initiated by man because of the disruption of the natural system, which had worked and worked quite well for millions of years.

I have in the past and my dad currently shoots Brenneke slugs out of an 870 with a smooth bore slug barrel. This scoped gun shoot 2-3 inch groups at 50 yards and i would have no problem hitting a deer in the vitals at 100 yards. As for power, deer arn't that big and tough and a 5/8 ounce 20ga slug will still easily dispatch a deer at 100 yards.

It depends on your goal. If you want a new hobby, something to do in the winter then absolutely it is, if all you want is fishing tackle, just buy them. You can buy a lot of flies for the cost of all the equipment you need to tie flies.

For anything other than deer my go to gun is my Ruger Red Label. It fits me good, I shoot it well and i think a double gun is just classy.

I picked up the regular undertaker last year, the old model that isn't approved for the new heavier than lead shot. It was a closeout for 6 bucks and since I shoot lead anyway it was fine. It shoots great patterns out to 45 yards and I killed my first turkey with it this past spring.

You need to be more specific, are you drifting the Colorado river, trolling lake Michigan, paddling the boundary waters, or bass fishing lake Okeechobee? There is no best boat for everything, let us know more specifics and we will be able to help you.

Easy venison chili. Brown a pound of ground venison, add one can of chili beans, two cans of tomato sauce and two cans of water. Add one package of chili mix and cook for 20 minutes. Super easy and quick. Plus you don't need to make it just like this, this is more like a base, add to it whatever you want, peppers, onions, chillies, or celery. I like mine with extra beans and finely chopped onions. Make a pan of jiffy corn bread to go with it and you have a meal that will warm you up on a cold winter day.

Being outdoors, it's almost like meditation or something, a chance for me to get away and be with my thoughts. And there are few things as exciting as ducks dropping into the blocks or a buck sneaking his way down a trail.

Im too late, all the good smart ass answers are already taken, well try this one, toss your buddy in and ask him, this way you stay dry and can keep fishing.

I'm not sure of the exact reason but i doubt it has to do with roadway counts since all of these deer are to be taken to be registered in the next few hours anyway giving an exact count. I do know that in some places (Wisconsin) the hunter that tags the deer must travel in the same vehicle as the deer until it is registered. Hm... Perhaps that has something to do with the heads visible law, I wonder?

Carbon, always carbon.

Just as good as the 7mm Remington magnum but with out as much recoil. Only trouble is that if you don't reload there is not that much ammo available on sporting goods store shelves.

I let fly, I just think climbing down is more disruptive than letting go from the stand.

Shane, well said, you put it perfectly. What happens to you during your life (with the exception of high doses of radiation) has no bearing on your genetics or the genes you pass on to your progeny.

Scott releases are awesome, mine have performed flawlessly i have no complaints whatsoever.

B&C and P&Y score the same way B&C is for all kills gun and bow, P&Y is for bow kills only.

Bow, the connection to your deer is so much greater and it is so much more of a challenge. Bow without a doubt.

For most hunting i prefer a scope, i like a precise aiming point BUT... During drives a scope is a hindrance and I wish I could take it off.

Bull frogs with my bb gun, my brother and I would go out, shoot and collect a mess of them, clean em up and grandma would fry them in shore lunch. I must have been 7 or 8, we even had our own quality frog management, let em go so they can grow.

My old mans Mossberg bolt action 22.

It's a gimmick designed to catch a single species Gulibis fishermanus, or the common fisherman.

Huntandtrap09 and 16gapheasantphiend, are you guys both from the U.P.? They are the only people I know who call sandwiches sammiches. Funny little story, I have two cousins Zach and Abby that I hunt with, well opening day came and went and it was up to Abby to make sammiches for her father and brother. Well like any good little sister she put a huge glop of horse radish right in the middle of her brothers sammich. You could hear Zach scream in pain throughout the whole marsh when he hit the middle of that sammich and got that mouth full of spicy horse radish, we still make fun of him to today for screaming like a girl.

Wallofsam you are just plain wrong. The genes a deer is born with are the genes it will have the rest of its life and the genes it will pass on to its offspring. No injury that happens to a deer during its lifetime will affect the genes it passes on. This is fact, or as close to fact as science can come. Yes wounded bucks can show mutated racks. My first buck was one of those (while butchering it we found a broadhead buried in its knee) When there is an injury to the right side of the animal its left antler will be deformed, it is a phenomenon known as contralateral deformity. But the point is that this in no way changes what the genes the deer will pass on to its offspring.

Bill Dance

I made some of my own and they worked great for a few shots, and then broke, I will buy the real thing from now on. I think being able to see where your shot hits is a huge advantage.

Walt is right about the dual cam but it does have the advantage of level nock travel which in theory should make it more accurate. In practice however no bow is any more accurate than the guy shooting it.

I would say arrow speed is the most important part of a bow set up when it comes to hitting your target at unknown distances. Fast arrows shoot flat and make distance judging less critical. But I don't think speed is the most important thing period, fast bows are generally (not always) louder and less forgiving than slower bows, they also usually have rougher draw cycles and less of a valley, all things that make shooting it well more difficult.

I too love diaphram calls, the sound good, can get loud or soft and you can use them with very little movement and with both hands on your gun.

That's a good question, you are bound by a moral obligation to recover any animal you kill but at the same time you are bound by trespassing laws. Does anybody know what is the correct legal thing to do? This is an area where I think even the laws are contradictory, you need to make every reasonable effort to retrieve a downed animal but going on someone else land is trespassing, what do we do legally?

You are asking us to predict the future and nobody can do that. Yes there are people in this country and throughout the world who would like to outlaw private firearms ownership. But I believe they are in the minority, far more people would like to see more strict firearm regulations but that is a far cry from compete banning.

Down, and it's not a matter of respect, it's the law in Wisconsin, the head must be visible while in transport until it is registered.

Th TC Icon, he has been going gaga over that thing.

Clay, unless I am mistaken this is a section for questions and answers about the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and camping. Not a place for you to rant about politics and other social issues. You also spend quite a bit of time demonizing liberals, the exact same thing the anti gun and anti hunting people do to us sportsmen, don't sink down to their level, stand above and be the bigger man.

I'm good out to 40 yards, gets iffy at 45 but under perfect circumstances I will do 45.

quiver off, it throws of the balance of my bow and i can't shoot as accurately.

TC Encore, Super short and handy, a delight to carry and shoot.

Shaken or stirred?

A lab is a great hunting dog and an awesome pet, just check the parents is you can because there is alot of variability in labs as far as size and energy level, get one that suits you. Personally I like the smaller 60-75 pound dogs, a 120 pound lab would just be too big for my little apartment.

Golfing, It's a good walk ruined.

Right on Beekeeper, any 12 gauge slug will kill deer, what matters is the slug that will hit the deer.

You guys are all right, begin an honest, intellectual discussion with them. The last thing you want to do is start a fight because all that will happen is that you reinforce their opinions that hunters are just bloodthirsty neanderthals. There are some people who you will never convince and then the best you can do is agree to disagree.

sorry, reason is for doing it.

I have never done it and see no reason to, but that's just me. In fact I don't even know what the

Clint Eastwood, The Duke was a hero, Clint was a badass.

After i dress it i will open the body cavity and place it facing down, i do this to try to let any blood or viscera drain out before i drag. After I get it out i hang it for as long as a week, or until i can get to it.

Brad I couldn't agree more with your sentiment "Those willing to sacrifice Freedom for security will soon have neither freedom or security." That was the exact reason I gave for being against the Homeland Security Act. I think the exact quote is "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." And it is attributed to Mr. Benjamin Franklin. And Beekeeper, Amen. It makes me sick to see so many ballplayers cheating. What happened to virtues like honesty and integrity and fair play?

The problem you will have is water, sandy gravely soil does not hold water well. Anything will grow there but you need to water it regularly and that most likely isn't feasible, you want to plant it and forget it. For example, modern golf course greens are 100% sand and we grow very nice grass on it, but we have to water it on a daily basis. Sandy gravely soil just doesn't hold water.

Our DNR in Wisconsin is under the thumb of farmers and insurance companies. Neither group wants deer around, farmers are concerned about crop damage and insurance companies about deer vehicle crashes. The problem is that they also have biologists on their side too, there are more deer than the natural environment can handle but it is still less than I like to see while I am out hunting. Oh well, i guess i will just have to not fill all those tags they give me.

Steve, do you really believe that, do you think the freedoms and right generations of Americans died to win and continue to fight to defend will just be snatched away in the night when nobody is looking? Do you think president Obama wants to change the rules so he can become dictator Obama? We have a constitution that protects us from becoming a communist country and an amendment to that constitution that protects our right to bear arms. I my friend am not afraid.

I love my 10/22, i pimped it out with a trigger kit houge overmolded stock and green mountian barrel, it shoots better than any other gun i own or have ever shot.

Bow hunting, i use mine when i get in the stand to mark trees so i have known ranges, i don't want to be fiddleing with it when a deer comes by.

A Benelli Nove, 12 gauge with 3 inch winchester hi velocity lead.

JERKEY,i love it.

Yes, 45 Long Colt, not 44 magnum, I would strongly advise against shooting any cartridge out of a gun not marked as safe for that cartridge.

What about our president Barack Obama? He fought adversity, was raised by a single mother, worked his way through collage and law school, and became leader of a country that 200 years ago he wouldn't have even been allowed to be a citizen of. He embodies the American spirit of "if you work hard enough you can accomplish anything." I know many of you disagree with his politics and in some areas I do too, but the man has done what was unimaginable just 50 years ago. America has a hero, a symbol that says nothing is impossible if you work for it.

I love my Labs, they are versatile, have great heart, love to hunt and at the same time are awesome pets and companions.

Hunting has been a tradition in my family for years and years. Some of my earliest memories are of waiting for my dad to come home from bow hunting and always thinking, "I wonder if he got one."

I wont keep a fish just because it's legal but if i am trying to get a shore lunch together or something i will definitely keep fish.

Not so much anymore but back in high school I used to be pretty good, I was twice runner up at the state junior competition held every year in Mayville.

A male wood duck posed to look like it is flaring low over the water.

Stuffed game bird breasts. I remove the breasts from the bird and butterfly them, then i make up a bread onion stuffing, stuff the breasts and then wrap them in bacon using tooth pics to keep them closed and the bacon on. Then bake it all in the oven. Just before it comes out whip up a little white gravy and pour over the breasts. This is a very easy but incredibly good dish. Very rich and delicious.

4 years ago after a volley of gun fire from a drive several hundred yards away a doe fawn with no lower jaw came walking past my stand. There was no question, i shot it on the spot, they would have never found it and it would have died a slow death by starvation otherwise. It was an 80 pound puppy dog but it was the right thing to do.

Find a local archery club and buy a few beers. You will meet a ton of people who will be willing to and capable of helping you get started. Archers are good people. I got started that way, introduced myself around, met the club pro and over the next several months i got thousands of dollars worth of advice, lessons gear and bow work, and i got a good friend and mentor out of it, he got to help a new archer and a new active club member, a win win for everyone.

Speak to them as an intelligent human being, they want to think you are a bloodthirsty hillbilly. Don't give them that impression. Let them know that you respect their point of view but you dis agree with them, don't fight with them, be the bigger person. If they start screaming at you they are irrational buffoons and you should just walk away, getting in a screaming match doesn't accomplish anything. If they are willing to have an intelligent discussion with you ask them if they eat organic food, then tell them that there is no more organic meat than the deer you shot last year. You fed your family for a year with lean, healthy, free range unadulterated venison. It's just one thing i use to try to persuade people.

I do all my own skinning and butchering, the only thing i take to the butcher shop is trimmings to have ground up because i don't have my own grinder.

About 45 yards. But in the nasty swamps i hunt most shots are half that and my closest was at about 4 yards. Its also a shotgun only part of Wisconsin.

3 pins, 15 25 and 35, when i shot 3d i used 5 15 20 25 30 35 but for hunting that just covers too much of the target, and a deer doesn't have a 10 ring.

Jim, this is a great question, I would love to do an Arkansas flooded timber duck hunt. The rest of you, this is what a good question looks like, it makes you think and gets a good conversation going. Thank you Jim.

The KING, Richard Petty, the one and only.

BEER, hey I'm from Wisconsin it's what we do.

I love how fast and intricate it can be, you have to have such skill to rip a mandolin the way some of these guys can. It is simply amazing.

who is telling you these stupid things, they make no sense what so ever.

Have to be more specific. Is it a shotgun for water fowling, a rifle for shooting black bears over bait piles? Or maybe a skeet gun or a kids first 22? There is no BEST gun, it doesn't exist some guns are better for some things and worse for others. You might as well ask what is the best car. Some would say a corvette but if you have a family and 3 kids a corvette is a terrible car.

I like fishing in water, don't find many fish on dry land ;) If you want a serious answer you need to let us know what you are fishing for, in what part of the world, at what time of year and under what weather conditions, all of these things make a difference.

I love my Ruger RedLabel, I use it for small game ducks geese, and upland birds. It just feels better and i shoot it better than any other gun i own. It also took me to a runner up finish at the Wisconsin state high school trap shooting championship about 8 years ago.

I caught one once while walleye fishing on lake Winnebago in Wisconsin, fought it for close to an hour, got it up to the boat but didn't get it in.

I'd go 308, it can be chambered in a short action rifle it is powerful enough and in most guns very accurate and it doesn't kick very hard, everything you need.

As you can see from the answers already posted BEST is way to subjective and there is no definitive answer, its all just opinion.

On a windy day i came close, so close that i said the hell with it, no deer is worth breaking my neck over and i got down and got the heck out of there.

Outdoor life, lots of good stuff at a very good price.

96 inch two year old 8 pointer. The biggest deer I have ever seen while hunting.

100 grain G5 Montecs, they fly straight and are super easy to resharpen.

CZ-452 in 17HMR, have to be careful with shot placement and range though, haven't lost one yet.

Do what my dad did, tell the kid to get a job, save his money and buy his own gun. I got my first paper route when I was 11 and if i wanted something i saved and bought it myself.

Heavey, To be paid to hunt fish and write a page a month on whatever strikes me as interesting, that would be a great gig.

I take my cell phone, always leave the sound turned off though.

For deer hunting i use a muff that straps around my waist. I can put hand warmers in there and i can slip my hands out quickly and quietly when i need to. It gets cold in Wisconsin and this system keeps your hands warm and useable.

When i am ready to leave i always give myself 10 more casts and i count them out, if i get a strike or catch a fish the count goes back up to 10, This has made me late for diner more than once when i was younger.

Look for public land to hunt, and then just go for a walk in the fall, look for the thick areas where birds like to hide. Use pictures to help you identify birds and their habits. I think that should get you started, if you have more specific questions feel free to ask.

small rivers and creeks, woodies blasting through at 60 mph, can't beat it.

This sounds alot like the theory behind the color coded terror alert system, you are always in danger! I choose to not live my life in fear.

Badger State, Wisconsin, Forward

The great lakes are loaded with the little buggers. It gets to the point where you can't swim cuz you stand up and cut your feet up.

308, 25-06, 280 Remington, 338 win mag, wow, i guess i am plain vanilla too.

A single shot Ithica break action 20 gauge, a great gun for a 12 year old kid.

i like the 35 Wheelen, a very good compromise.

I like my coffee how i like my women, Cold and Bitter!

G5 Montecs 100 grain

Well, not game but people have a huge impact on their environment when their populations get too high.

Bill dance outdoors is classic, i love it. But Wisconsin's water and woods is hometown and i can't pass it if i catch it on.

When I meet one i will be sure to ask, but from my experience color doesn't matter as much as action.

Go Bucky, 6 national championships and in 06 the first time ever a mens and womens team held the national championship in any sport at the same time.

can't beat jerkey

search the used gun racks and look for a remington 1100. It is soft shooting and you ought to be able to find a used one for your price range.

Rooster Tail, can catch anything from perch to big pike, I love em.

I am going to say in the 140's gross B&C, he has really nice width and tall tines but from the pic he doesn't appear to have the mass to push him over 150. Great buck though and a hell of a lot bigger than my best, congratulations.

MLH, the exact same does apply to other animals. It is fact that a larger body has a lower surface area to mass ratio and a lower ratio means better heat retention in cold weather. We find this fact all over the place in nature, science, and even inside the human body.

Hate to sound like a broken record but I am with the rest of you on the Lab. Such a versatile dog and a great companion, can't go wrong.

One 5 years ago in Sheboygan County Wisconsin.

Small Mouth Bass, they are aggressive abundant and fight great, my favorite fish.

Jimmy Page is a GOD! Led Zeppelin.

Fishing Bridges is one of my favorite tactics for smallies. The rip rap they throw down there during construction makes great homes for crayfish and they are great food for the bass. And even in very small shallow rivers the ares around bridges are usually deeper and can hold some very nice fish.

Bookin, as in that buck came through after pops shot at him and he was bookin!

I got turned around in the swamp once, it was dark and i had been trailing a wounded deer, I looked up to realize things looked very different, I will confess i began to panic a little bit. I was on land I knew well but in that moment of everything looking different i freaked out a little bit. Best thing i did was to force myself to stop, calm down and figure out where i was, once i knew where i was it was a simple matter to get out, but i will never forget that instant of panic when i looked around and the world looked very different.

Don't know about any ammo shortages but two bricks with your kid in a weekend, sounds like some good fun.

Seeds are usually a good thing to plant. You can try planting chairs or tires or coffee mugs but i find the yield with these things generally isn't too good;)

My pa shoots 20 ga brenneke slugs out of a smooth bore 870, very accurate at 50 yards and plenty of power, i sighted it in for him this fall and i would be very comfortable shooting it at 75 yards.

Buckhunter, i agree with you, my 870 has killed more deer, rabbits and squirrels than all my other guns combined but when i hold it next to my grandpas old model 12 it just doesn't compare as far as quality and craftsmanship are concerned or pointability for that matter. Best overall is such a subjective way of looking at it to, mostly it comes down to opinion and personal preference.

Most versitile, most widley used, best inexpensive shotgun sure, but the best overall, I don't know. I know many will disagree but to me it is a very good gun made at an unbelievably low price and is an awesome value. But to me I would rather shoot a Winchester model 12 if given the option of pump guns to use. If you have never shot one of these you are truly missing out, and you understand why they can't be made at a competitive price nowadays.

I don't think any one wants to take away your rights, they want to take away your guns, and i think it is out of fear and ignorance. But that's just my opinion.

24, Haven Wisconsin a mile and a half from lake Michigan.

Del is on the right track, it really has to do with surface area to body mass ratio. A larger animal actually has a lower surface area to body mass ratio and therefore can retain heat better because there is less area for the heat to escape compared to the total mass of the animal. The smaller deer has a higher ratio and this helps it stay cool because there is more area to release heat.

I need a light, if i don't use one to hit my reflectors i get lost and have to sit down till dawn. I am the WORST navigator in the dark, i have been hunting the same tree stand for 10+ years now and I still get disoriented and turned around on my way in. Getting out in the dark is no problem, the field is big and hard to miss but picking out the right tree in a forest of trees is so hard for me. I know others who could do it in their sleep, i wish i were one of them but sadly i am not and so I use a light or get lost.

I try to be an active part of this online community, I answer questions I can, give my advice where applicable, and use the rest of you as a resource when i have a question of my own.

Rooster tail man, small one in a small stream and with light tackle, i mean 2 lb test OR LIGHTER, you can have so much fun with a setup like that.

I good friend shares his TP when you run out, in the woods there is no more valuable commodity and none that is more needed when you don't have it.

That all depends on what you are fishing for, since you didn't specify but the question is under the heading bass I will have to assume bass. For smallmouth bass in creeks i love rooster tails above all other spinners.

There is a good chunk of private land less than a mile from where i hunt that gets zero hunting pressure. During gun season the deer pile onto that property and stay there during daylight hours until the shooting stops. The place where I hunt goes from deer paradise to a waste land, the deer know where to go to stat safe.

yeah, it is still on pbs sometimes. It isn't about hunting and fishing it is more like a one of those African lion documentaries, but it is all about the wildlife of North America. Marty did a great job, they are entertaining and informative.

Alabama, Johny Cash, John Anderson, and Charlie Daniels. Can't stand Toby Keith.

I bet the third son turns out to be a fisherman.

other virtues of a 30.30, i'm assuming it is a lever like a model 94, is that it is light and compact, which makes it easier for a youngster to carry, handle, and shoot comfortably. The only downfall is that many 30.30s have hard plastic or metal butt plates that can bite the shoulder if he is practicing with only a t-shirt on. Padd it a little bit or add a rubber recoil pad and it should work out great.

Clay I couldn't agree more, this is a teaching opportunity, this is a chance for you to man up and say I was wrong and I accept the consequences for my actions. You will be teaching your son responsibly and integrity, you will not just say "do the right thing" you actually have a chance to do it. This is a life lesson that will live with your son much longer than any venison or trophy mount will. This is a great question because it is about so much more than a deer, it is about honesty and integrity and doing the right thing even if it isn't easy.

check out varmint Als shooting page at http://www.varmintal.com/ashot.htm to see how accurate a TC can be. He also has a ton of other cool info on his pages, shooting related and not.

Accuracy not withstanding carbines are lighter, shorter and quicker handling than their regular length barrel brethren. This makes them better for hunting if you travel a lot on foot or hunt in thick cover.

I use my low power scope to allow for more precise aiming at short range, at even 45 yards my front sight covers up too much of the front shoulder for my taste.

Rabbit police 88, very well put, it's something that is hard to teach and harder to explain but you did a very good job of it.

Just because a gar is of no use to you doesn't mean it has no use. It is a native part of the natural ecosystem and if you are not going to eat it or use it for something else throw it back.

one is too much the other is too little, so to keep from wounding and losing an animal, go with the 30.06

corn on a baitholder hook always worked for carp when i was a kid. Chum with a little loose corn makes it all the better.

6. A Ruger 10/22, a CZ 452 American in 17 hmr, a Winchester model 70 featherweight in 308 win, and a Remington 870, a Browning bps, a Ruger red label all in 12 gauge. One loud and proud gun owner here who isn't afraid to let people know it.

Winchester hi velocity 3 inch #6 lead out of a benelli nova.

TC Encore in .338 win Mag. Light and fast handling and the 338 with proper bullets has enough oomph for what ever you need it for.

In Wisconsin we have a season and bag limit for bobs but i have never seen one on public land.

The key isn't to eliminate nerves it's to learn how to control them. Join an archery league or shoot in 3d competitions, the nerves, stress excitement of winning or losing your match will teach you how to deal with those same feelings in the woods. Like walt smith said if you don't get excited you should give it up, you just need to learn how to deal with the excitement.

Empty 12 gauge hulls, golf balls on tees clay targets, anything that will make a hit obvious, set 3 or 5 up for each shooter and race to see who can get them all first. If the targets are big and close it is a speed challenge, if they are small and far away it is all about accuracy.

TC, Gotta love a single shot.

As for ammo, go with what your gun shoots best. Look for bunnies on south facing slopes mid morning sitting in their forms trying to catch the sun and warm up. If you have snow on the ground all the better.

Got my first one last spring, In Wisconsin we have a lottery for tags and you don't get a tag every year.

I have to say that the biggest thing about pet beagles is that they are very prone to obesity, every beagle i have seen that was a pet first and hunter second was grossly overweight.

I don't have access to the financial records of field and stream or bonnier corporation but if off color adds hidden in the back are what it takes to keep F&S coming to my door I will accept that. I am with the rest of you, i don't like it but i would rather have a wart on my face than no face at all.

del has a good point, for simplicity sake the whisker biscuit is great but it will cost you noise, fletching wear, accuracy, and speed. But not so much that it is a bad product or anything.

The G5 Montec 100 grain, it is a tough head that is easy to keep sharp. Buy a set of practice heads and you can essentially shoot your broad heads in practice all summer long.

I shoot a release, with a short axle to axle bow my fingers would get crushed at full draw.

about six years, my grandmother still gets me a subscription every year, she tells me it's the gift that keeps on giving all year long.

carbon, lighter weight shoots flatter making range estimation less of an issue.

Faster does not equal better, and better is very subjective some bows work well for some people and others do not. My advice would be to go to a proshop and shoot some different bows and find out what you like. Faster bows are faster but they are often times more difficult to shoot and are less forgiving, everything in archery is a trade off. Lighter arrows fly faster but don't hit as hard as heavy arrows, its all about balance.

Yeah del you are right, shedding antlers is an individual thing, there is no hard and fast rule, some drop them as early as December, others as late as March.

check in for 1/2 hour a day, say my peace and move on.

I think 70 pounds is high for most deer hunting, and there is a huge difference between what you can pull in July in your yard wearing a t-shirt and what you can pull in a stand in December with 4 layers on. Also your bow will be more efficient pulling at its maximum possible draw weight.

Wood Ducks on opening day, nothing else like it.

My uncle's 12 gauge o/u doubled on me once, knocked me on my butt.

Clay this is a place for sportsmen to ask questions and seek answers from other sportsmen, it is not a forum for your personal political views. There are places on the internet where this sort of thing is appropriate, FieldandStream.com is not paranoid.anti.government.living.my.life.afraid.of.the.world.com

Why is my government, my government of the people for the people and by the people taking my stuff? Christian Emter, Is this a concern you really have? Now i am all for questionoing auhority and checking facts, but there is a line between being careful and being paranoid. Is this a fear many other people have?

why are you selling?

If you are asking about ice fishing a mousey is a small grub used for bait. It has a long thin tail that moves in the water to entice fish, this long tail makes the whole thing roughly resemble a mini size mouse.

Without a doubt i would rub it in. Unfortunately my badgers haven't done anything worth bragging about this year.

this is a guess but i would say in no particular order, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri. These are agricultural states with plenty of food, but they are also more wooded than say the Dakotas. They Are also big states and big states will just have more deer than small states.

I like to hunt bunnies after a snowfall, makes finding them easier, just look for thick areas with lots of tracks brown pellets and yellow snow.

I would go the 280 route, different from the rest of the pack but you can still buy ammo if you don't reload.

Assuming i'm lost i would give a location, nothing else matters if i can't be found.

sounds like it would work just fine, plenty of power and plenty flat shooting for 300 yards.

In my opinion, a model 94 in 30-30. quick, light, fast handling and so well balanced you can carry it all day and not be fatigued.

again, neither is better, nothing more than preference can distinguish the two.

I like vanes for durability and a peep just cuz I'm more comfortable with it. I wont say one is better than the other, this is just my personal preference.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/32385/ This is why I vote Survivor Man, well this and i like it better. Man vs. Wild is a fraud!

A TC Encore in 7MM-08, short light compact, and if you can shoot, one shot is all you need.

Mice are pretty easy, and those little spring traps work great, bait with a little peanut butter and you are good to go. ;)

I like a mid size baitholder hook baited with corn, a 1/4 to 1/2 ounce bell sinker 1 to 1.5 feet above the hook (weight based on current and fishing depth) then chum the area with more corn. Set several rods out in rod holders and wait. This is a great way for kids to catch big fish.

I want to know the specifics of a situation where girls and guns are mutually exclusive. What is the reason for you to have to make this decision?

I was on a Canadian fishing trip with a bunch of class mates and a friend and i went to a small portage lake. It was like a fishing show, we caught fish on every other cast, it was insane. Northerns and walleyes on everything we threw at them, we didn't catch any trophies but we caught so many good fish i will never forget it.

field and stream of course!

For Elk and elk alone, I would choose a synthetic stock bolt action rifle in .338 Win Mag, with a good fixed 4 power scope. Buy good ammo and this setup will work great. If I wanted a cross over deer and elk rifle I would go with something smaller like a 30.06

Wisconsin. Huge variety in habitat. Big North woods, farm country, swamps and marshes, and the famous Buffalo county. Can't go wrong with the badger state.

You can find used Ruger Red Labels in most gun racks for 500-800 bucks. The metal to wood fit leaves much to be desired but function is very good and that is what matters in a moderately priced field gun.

Nothing good happens if you never ask. Be polite, respectful, use your sirs and maams, and never go out without permission. The number one reason i get when turned down is that they caught someone on their land without permission and now they don't let anyone on. One bad egg will ruin it for everyone, DON'T BE THAT GUY!

I love mine, gets the groundhog on the far end of the garden, makes a dandy squirrel rifle and will take out the fox or coyote that shows up out of the blue. Yes the ammo is more expensive than 22lr but it is WAY LESS expensive than center fire ammo. As for accuracy, mine is less accurate than my souped up 10/22 but far more accurate than my brothers stock factory 10/22. And as for fun factor it rates a 10+.

I have to go with Christmas trees, you can pick up a million of them after the holidays.

Get pigeons, buy them or trap them yourself. Pull out some flight feather or break a wing and let the pup chase the wounded bird around the yard. This lets them associate birds with something fun and enjoyable and will build a strong desire in them for hunting. Once the pup gets the idea that birds are fun you can begin hiding them. Still with a broken wing, dizzy them and tuck them in a bit of cover, (light easy cover so that the dog will find it easily)go back to your dog and let him find, flush and chase the bird (If you want your dog to sit to flush keep them on a lead and don't let them chase after the flush.) If your dog is gun shy it is also a good time to fire a blank after the flush, he will be so focused on the bird the shot wont matter. Soon he will associate shooting with birds and birds with fun and shooting wont be a problem anymore. Finally begin putting healthy birds in thicker cover and making him look for them. This isn't an afternoon thing it takes weeks and months and the more you do it the better your pup will learn. The key is to be positive, make it fun and understand that you are the alpha dog and this pup will do anything to please you. Remember that and training will be something both of you look forward to.

20 grain hornady xtp, stronger bullet construction makes up for light weight, great on groundhogs.

mmmm... Doritos... droooool.

yeah, best way is just to be an active participant, not just a passive reader.

T, I hope you were referring to a .17 REM or some other center fire because the 17 HMR can't be hand loaded. I own a 17 HMR and it is soo much fun, and they all seem to be accurate.

I would shorten the stock, It seems you have trouble pushing the gun out far enough to keep it from getting caught on your thick clothes on the way up and into your shoulder. A shorter stock would keep the butt from catching and you would be able to bring the gun up without having to go out as much. I hope this helps and you have many good hunts in the future.

Knock on farmhouse doors, be polite, ask nicely and you never know what can happen. In August I went to a farm 1/2 mile down from my house. I was new and didn't know anyone in town. Not only did I get permission to hunt his 400 acres but he lets me hunt from his stands and this last December he invited me on a 4 day North Dakota pheasant hunting trip with his brother and nephew. Point is you may get shot down but nothing good happens if you never try.

Find yourself a good release that fits you well, Don't skimp on arrows and broadheads, they are what does the killing. Get yourself a good target and practice practice practice with your broadheads so when the time comes you know you can make the shot, not just think you can.

The best gun to use is the gun you shoot best, are confident in and have with you.

Tips and Tails man, call to the tips and tails. No need to get any more complicated than that.

fixed, just one less thing that can go wrong.

Smitty77, I couldn't agree more, very well said.

Not hunting but hunting related. 4 years age I made dinner for my girlfriend of one month, it was the inside tenderloins from a deer I had shot earlier in the week. She loved it and when I told her it was venison she asked if she could see the deer, I obliged and on May 30 2009 she will be my wife. It was a make or break moment and she did very well.

We have vegans? Where where, aint never seen me a vegan.

No offense but i am sick of this paranoia that is going around about democrats taking away guns. I for one am not the least bit worried about losing my guns, in this day and age I am much more concerned with the possibility of being laid off, the loss of public hunting land, the pollution of my favorite trout streams and the loss of nesting habitat for the ducks i hunt. With no money for a tag, no place to hunt, and no game in the field I have no use for my guns anyway.

Number one most important rule is MAKE SURE THE ICE IS SAFE. If you are not sure don't risk it, no fish is worth dying for.

A rope and sweat and time.

Best way to bring quail to your land? I think in a cage in the back of your pickup truck ;)

jbone377, I would love to help but your question is so broad. Are you bowhunting, waterfowling, big game hunting. Are you in Manitoba, Georgia, New Mexico? Before anyone can give good advice we need good information to work with. The only advice I can give at this point is to find a mentor, someone who can take you out and teach you before you do anything on your own, the other thing i'd take a hunter safety course. This is manditory before you can buy a tag in most places anyway and you will meet people who can help you out. Good luck and be safe.

The 7 inch brace will be a little slower but more forgiving, the 6.5 a shade faster and less forgiving. In real life I don't think you or your target will notice a 1/2 inch difference.

Look for public land or paper company land, this is all open to hunting and there is plenty of it. I find success in the big hardwoods, near windfalls and boulders. I took a trip north this fall and must have put up 25 birds, I never saw 1/3 of them, just heard a flush and said which way did he go? About 1/3 I saw but never got a shot at, and of the final 1/3 I shot at I got ONE bird. If you can find them, rest assured they will humiliate you.

This is all good stuff but I think the best thing to do is to find a mentor, someone who can help you set up and call birds. I did what you did and it took me 7 years to get my first tom. These can be tricky birds and nothing beats experiance.

No load will turn a 20 into a 12, choose a 3 inch load (if your gun is so chambered) and remember that each pellet will have the same killing power as its 12 gauge equivlent, but since you are shooting a 20 and have fewer pellets you need to let the goose get close enough to ensure a dense enough pattern on target.

I own a BPS and for a lefty you couldn't ask for a better gun, fully ambidexterus, bottom load and eject, top tang safety and a solid gun that you will be proud to pull out 10 20 30 years from now. It is more expensive but will fit a lefty and isn't what everybody else has.

Guys, the man said ULTRA light, I use a six foot rod with a fast tip, a browning ice fishing size reel and 1 lb test mono. Favorite lure is a 1/16 or 1/32 oz rooster tail. This setup will catch tons of smallies on shallow summer time rivers and a 3/4 pound fish feels huge, hook into a 2 pounder and you'd swear you have moby dick on the other end of the line.

Yeah don't want to beat the same old drum but I have to agree about a lab. They are so popular you can find that they can be quite inexpensive and papers or not they all love to retrieve. I rescued an adult chocolate and he cost me nothing, I could turn him into a hunter but he is the pet, my female chocolate is the hunter. As for other breeds there are goldens but every one I have met has been dumb as rocks, flat coated retrievers would do but they are too rare and you will likely spend a mint on one. Hope this helps.