Honker Your contention that Canadian health care is wonderful to all the people is making you look bad. I live right near Maine's second largest hospital and on any given day fully half of the parking lot is Canadian cars. This is not a one time occurrence nor is a new phenomenon, it has been a public conversation for many years. If these fine people are all getting what they need from the overly expensive system you subscribe too, why are they all streaming across the border at their own expense? They come here for professional health care that is the envy of the entire world and they are willing to part for it with the pittance left in their wallet from the fleecing they get from the Canadian system. Americans don't want or need this type of crap imposed on us.

All around this nation people are crying foul with the antics of the federal government. There is simply too much interference in our daily lives and too much demand on individuals money. What you see happening with Idaho is a statement of serious discontent and it is not confined to just a few states. Brace yourselves because the events of the past few weeks are the head of a firestorm.

I seriously doubt that this bill would have been enacted with out you. Congratulations on your outstanding success! It happened in your state but is a victory for us all. It's OK to be proud, you've earned the right!

I've been very interested in this legislation since I first heard about it. I see a few problems that probably won't go away. I look forward to seeing how this plays out. I personally see the gun issue as the scape goat only, there are many more underlying issues for the states and this is only the head of the pin.

Assuming your bow is properly tuned and the arrows are flying well I would guess that you have a very high anchor point. If you lower your anchor point to the base of your jaw line your troubles will go away and you should have plenty of space for 4-6 pins.

Del- I once chronographed some Winchester 170 gr 30-30 loads. Three rounds through a 20" Win. 94 barrel and the average was(as I recall)1900 fps. I was stunned! The published velocity was 2200fps. My handloads seem to run pretty close to the velocity listed in good manuals.Your 350 load should anchor anything that you come across.

I've shot quite a few fox. A lot with my bow and many more with the rifle. There are quite easy to call in and typically not very cautious as to wind direction. There is no time better than another with fox. I've shot just as many at noon as I have at 6AM or6PM. I consider fox easy to hunt and to that end have pretty much given up on them and concentrate my effort on coyote. After all these years and considerable effort, I still have never shot a coyote with my bow and to be honest, I have never even had the chance for a shot. They are indeed a trophy with bow and arrow. Good hunting to you.

I have never seen this type of scum pretending to be leading this fine land. I want him gone so bad that I don't have the words to describe the feeling. Obama truly hates this country. He hates our military and he loathes us as Americans. How has it ever come to this? We should be proudly flying the colors wherever we are. WE SHOULD BE PROUD OF WHO WE ARE!

I have variables and fixed on all of my rifles now and I personally don't have a problem with either. I leave all of my variables on 4x just about all the time. If you not a long range shooter or a varmint hunter a 4x will certainly get the job done.

I've got just a few paper shells. (2) 3" #2 Rem. with a crimp top. (1) 2 3/4" Win. with a roll top. You want them they are on the way. Also a few Win. brass 12 ga. fired

Cooner Are you still looking for paper shotshells?

My 7 year old son would not be handling a firearm at Gander Mountain. The father needs to be disciplined. My son and many of his friend learned the proper way to handle and respect firearms. They learned safety and the devastating effect of lack of the same. How can you expect a child to know anything of importance regarding firearms if they have no adult guidance? If his "dad" thought that the kid was cute with his antics than "dad" should have a boot in his hind end.

Freak I don't know if you can fool a deers nose. I don't think that you can. I will admit openly that I'm not familiar with a lot of the scent control products that are out there. I can give you a good example of the nose of wildlife. I love to hunt coyote and sometime when I'm hunting alone I'll mix up a spray bomb. Fox and skunk urine, doe pee etc. I'll spray this stuff around if there is a good chance for a coyote. Occasionally they will come in and hesitate while scenting the air. That's all you get, a momentary hesitation, and they will scent you through all of the confusion and are quickly gone. I believe that a deer nose is better!

Dakota Excellent eye. I think that you've solved this mystery.

Del Did you get any reasoning behind the removal of your posting? I don't get it.

What is the Model?

What is the Model?

I've shot a lot of game. Mostly deer with a few black bear and moose thrown in. Recently most of my effort has been toward coyote. Regardless, I feel that control of your scent is best accomplished by knowing the wind direction and hunting into the prevailing breeze. I don't mean to say that you should neglect all effort regarding your scent, I always keep my hunting clothes in a heavy plastic bag with pine and fir boughs thrown in. I never hunt in leather work boots that hold every scent that you come in contact with and always wear clean rubber boots. I don't wash or bath in perfumed soaps. Common sense will get you more game than you might think.

To choose the proper arrow for your bow you will have to know the following things: draw weight arrow length release method(fingers of trigger) point weight(broadhead or field point) type of cam( single or double) As soon as you have this information you can look at an Easton chart and it will lead you to the proper shaft size whether carbon or aluminum. http://www.eastonarchery.com/products/selection

Both Scott and Tru-ball make excellent releases that will be usable for many many years. Both of these releases should be used with a buckle style strap. I've never cared for the Velcro and I have heard some others comment on the same thing. If you prefer a hand held release the best on the market is the Carter. Be prepared for the cost!

This is a common problem if you shoot with a floating anchor or without a peep sight. Actually the peep will help you to keep your anchor consistent. I don't know your level of skill but you must keep your trigger hand in exactly the same position for each shot. Even a tiny variation and you will shoot differently with each arrow. Do you hit at a different spot on the target from day to day or is the variation with each arrow?

Non of my business but I never see 16 ga. shells on sale anymore. You can always find 12 and 20 at bargain prices. Might be a consideration if you plan on shooting very much.

BEE has the right answer as far I'm concerned. The cooperative extension service got me on to the perfect product for my area and I've been using the same stuff now for over twenty years on a rotating basis.

Most of the guys here who shoot cowboy action shoot 38 special through the 357 mag rifles. With the volume they shoot it is much cheaper. As far as a deer hunting rifle the 44 mag. is far superior. Neither is a long range rifle. I agree with ED and CLAY that the 30-30 is vastly better for deer than these two rounds.

I've never hunted elk but I've been around for plenty of moose kills. I've heard that elk are very tough to bring down. I think that if longer shots might present themselves I'd go with the .338-06. I know from range work that this caliber with the 250 gr spitzer holds up very well over distance. I don't believe that you could go wrong with either. I had(store merchandise) a Rem. with laminated stock and short barrel in .350 mag. that was pretty punishing to shoot.

I've never hunted elk but I've been around for plenty of moose kills. I've heard that elk are very tough to bring down. I think that if longer shots might present themselves I'd go with the .338-06. I know from range work that this caliber with the 250 gr spitzer holds up very well over distance. I don't believe that you could go wrong with either. I had(store merchandise) a Rem. with laminated stock and short barrel in .350 mag. that was pretty punishing to shoot.

My property was 120 acres+-. This property is wooded with planted crops and water ponds.

I grew pheasants for three years. Very few of them stayed anywhere near my property. All of my neighbors loved me! I could hear shotgun blast everywhere except where I was!

I have always used a red lens and it has worked very well for me. It's the only lens color that I've used that will allow a shot at a coyote at night.

You will get the best results from your dollars with the NRA. They have a clear agenda and have stood the test of time and long term scrutiny.

If your son can handle recoil the classic .270 is an excellent choice. I also agree with Dakota that the 25-06 is probably the closest thing that there is to a all around rifle. Maybe look at both before you make the decision.

I shot a .358 Norma Magnum with a mercury recoil device and I thought that the rifle was very manageable even from the bench. I've never shot the same caliber without the device so I don't have a great comparison.

Cooner says it the right way!

In my part of Maine we have a very large population of coyote and a very large contingent of hound hunters for them. They all seem to prefer buckshot to hunt with and I would guess that about 80% of them carry the Mossberg 835. I always see different shotguns: Rem., Win., etc. but the one that dominates is the 835. It may well be the price, the Mossberg is a reasonably priced gun but I can't believe that cost would be the only consideration to these dedicated hunters. The performance must be there or they would abandon the gun altogether.

Cowboy Good catch. I have loaded my 30-30 shells on a simple Lee tool since my youth. On the original box it says $3.95. I probably bought it used. With reloading you can get as simple or as sophisticated as you wish.

Absolutely! 8 pt 203 weighed pounds. It even made the papers because the guy tried to enter the doe in the big buck contest at one of the local taging stations. This one, because of the size was uncommon, but does with antlers are shot here every couple of years.

You will save many dollars shooting handloads vrs. factory and typically your custom ammo will shoot more accurately although in recent years the emergence of prem. ammo has closed the gap in performance. You can load any caliber you wish with one press. My single stage press is an RCBS Rockchucker and has been in constant use for over 40 years. You will need a different set of dies for every caliber that you choose to load. You will also need a good quality scale to weigh your powder. There are many excellent reloading books and I suggest that you purchase as many as you can afford. When ever I start to load for a new cartridge I will gather all of my books and start cross referencing them, making notes as I go. Always start your load on the lighter side and work your way up slowly and carefully. If I'm trying to develop a good powerful hunting load I'll typically load 5 rounds and head to the bench. I'll keep a careful eye on the primer condition and the easy of working the bolt. I also measure with a micrometer at the web of the cartridge just after firing. I personally don't like to see very much expansion at all when compared to a freshly sized case. You will find on line all the information that you could possibly need to now about the proper sequence for loading. I suggest that you study the subject carefully before you start to load cartridges. Reloading is not at all dangerous if you keep your head screwed on. It is not a practice to be taken lightly or casually or with a lot of constant disruptions. I load in a small room that is for this purpose only where I can devote all of my attention to what I'm doing. After A life time of handloading I have not had a single problem and would trust my handloads under any and all circumstances.

The only thing that I can add to what CRM3006 has said is that there are different locations for the friction rings on the magazine tube for very heavy shells and very light shells. My memory is not helping me right now so I'll try to get the proper sequence for you later on when I have a chance to access my drawings. I have one of these fine old shotguns in a twenty gauge and it was passed on to me by my old and dear friend before he died. There is no blue and the wood has been redone quite a few times. My friend was a everyday hunter and this old piece saw a lot of action. It never failed him and it has never failed to work for me. I can tell you that there are virtually no parts left for these model shotguns.

I can't give you a lot of information but I can tell you that your friend has an excellent rifle built by one of the more famous and well respected custom rifle makers of my time. It's worth a good piece of pocket change but personally, if I were lucky enough to receive this fine piece of rifle history, I would have it for the rest of my life.

Bobcats are constantly on the move. There will range long distances searching for food. You may see a track one day and not again for a month or more. If you see one in the daytime you are indeed fortunate. They are one of natures truly stunning creatures as well as being a very powerful predator for its size. We have found many deer/bobcat confrontation sites and the cat is usually the winner. The largest one that I've ever seen was shot by a hound man and weighed at about the 54-55lb mark. I believe the Maine record weight is 63lb and was a trapped animal.

I have never cared for tattoos. I see them on a large segment of our society today especially younger people where they are more accepted. I was with a group of my sons young friends this last week, both male and female, and I believe that each of them had at least one tattoo. These are all good youth and all are on their way to successful careers. One young guy must have had 20 or more and to my eye they are grotesque. I wonder what his thoughts on what he has done to his body will be in twenty years or more? If I had my way I would not in any way promote this practice but I think that it will , like many fads, be less prevalent in the near future.

I spent a few minutes seeing what I could find out about these bills. This is going to be very interesting to watch play out with the feds. Go states!

Buckhunter- you told my story! 8 pt buck 15-18 yards away. 270 Winchester with scope. Jerked the trigger and never touched the deer. I was so confident of a solid hit that I never bolted in another round as he ran about 50 yards in clear view. This happened 35 years ago and my brother still tells the story at ever gathering of hunters.

I would have no problems with a good shooting 20 ga. with rifled slugs on deer but I simply wouldn't use buckshot. I have seen way to many wounded and suffering deer that have been hunting with this stuff to ever recommend it.

Give this a try-cdrexler2@gmail.com. I think I can help out.

Controlled expansion is what I look for. I'm not a fan of overly explosive bullets in any gun. I love the Nosler partition bullet even though I know many today have switched to other equally fine bullets that provide classic expansion along with deep penetration.

Excellent shooting with a fine rifle!

Don't be selfish with your time. Send as much of it with your kids as you can and make sure that the walk in the woods is as common as the walk up the driveway. Introduce your children to guns in the proper way and make sure the safety element is built into them at the earliest of ages. Teach them about nature, real nature, not the hollywood crap. Make sure that they know the role that animals play in our lives. Teach them love and respect for what we have as outdoors men and it will come back to you over and over throughout your life. Congratulations on being a father.

You can't go wrong with a .223 or .22-250 for the species you mention.

Thunderhead 100. Excellent flight, super sharp blades out of the box, easy to sharpen, excellent penetration, tough and good value. What more is there to say.

Mixed results with the Rossi's that I have owned. I had a 92 copy that shot reasonably well but terrible luck with the "stagecoach" shotguns that I sold in my store. I guess that I'm not in the big fan category. My experience is quite a few years old and things could certainly have changed over the years. Good luck with your rifle.

What you're experiencing is a very common problem throughout the northeast. My land recently has more problems than ever with unwanted guests. Most of the problems that I have are related to atv traffic. They tear up my planted trees, steal beechnut and apples by buckets full, use any tree stand that they can find and leave trash everywhere. I don't know what the solution is. I've literally tried everything that I can thing of with the exception of armed patrols and nothing works. Don't even consider calling the authorities because they simply won't get involved. I've even had the chain gate on the main access point pulled over and that had to be by multiple fwd trucks or a bunch of atv because this was a rugged setup. Very discouraging! You come up with a solution and I'm all ears!

If you bowhunt coyote, you are undertaking one of the toughest jobs in all of hunting. To shoot a called coyote with a bow is going to be very difficult. They will always come in downwind from you and your chance of fooling their nose at archery range is very small. I have had my best success hunting with a friend. One guy will do the shooting and the other will man the call. A piece of fur or feather tied to a low branch and controlled by a piece of monofiliment line is very helpful in keeping their attention away from you. I wish you all the luck in the world.

Most of the turkey hunters that I know use #4 shot in very heavy doses. One of the most successful hunters that I know uses his own handloads in Winchester high brass 2 3/4" cases(Compression formed) with 1 3/8 oz. of #6 harden lead shot. He shoot this load out of an older Fox Sterlingworth double. I can't tell you if he has ever used the second barrel but I'll wager that he hasn't!

I have both calibers in fine rifles and really love shooting both but if I were forced to give up one I would keep the .223. I never seem to get long shots while hunting and the .223 will hit non-animals targets easily at 300 yard. It very easy to assemble relatively inexpensive loads for the .223 and my rifle will shoot just about anything I put through it. Terrific varmint and predator rifle and fun and cheap to shoot. What more is there to say!

I only shoot at paper out to two hundred yards so I don't know what 300 yard groups would average with my rifle. At 200 yards, from a solid bench and good ammo and no wind, my Rem.223 will average 1 1/4" five shot groups. This is with carefully assembled handloads.

Is the pattern thin or is the majority of the shot missing the target. Shot at a huge piece of cardboard to see if the bulk of the shot is centered or off to the side or maybe high or low. A lot of times it's simply a matter of getting the barrel to hit where you're aiming. If the shot isn't centered you can easily have the barrel bent slightly to correct the problem. Any gunsmith with a jig can handle this job.

Great news and you're a good part of the reason why. Keep up the fight and keep us posted.

Where is the best place in the east to hunt hogs at any time of the year?

The Ruger Super Redhawk is the most manageable and comfortable 44 Mag. that I've ever shot and with the right hand load deadly accurate.

I really like the 25-06 with the 100 gr. Nosler partition for deer. I load IMR 4350 for a chronograph velocity of 3280 fps and a chamber pressure of app.52,000 psi. This is a load that really performs at long range on targets. I can't tell you the results on living animals because I don't shoot them that far away but I can tell you that my son and I can hit balloons and clay targets pretty well at very long range with this round. The recoil from a prone position is very mild. The rifle is on a military mauser action that I built back around 1984-87.

I don't really know exactly what you're asking but I can tell you that deer will past up all other food stuffs if there is a supply of beechnuts available. I protect and fertilize the beechnut trees on my property with a vengeance and they have been very faithful producers of mast over many years. For a planted crop, I have been the most successful with white clover and beets.

Typically we get quite a lot of snow but this year has been an exception. We had about 20" in my area of Maine early and because of the very cold weather it stayed for a lot time. But beyond that early snow we have had almost nothing. It's 52 degrees outside today! Maine's weather has always been very unpredictable.

You nailed it again Moishe!

Pure unadulterated BS!

I can't say specifically New York but the Northeast overall is having a boom in coyote populations.

I have had excellent luck with Remington primers and have been using them for over 40 years.

Stanleyda is right on. All chokes perform differently with different size shot. One close friend and ardent turkey hunter used # 4 shot our of a modified choke in his Browning. His 30 yard turkey head targets are very impressive and so is his success rate.

Still 67-32%. How do we get more people to vote? This has to break PBS heart.

Some of you may remember the test I did a year ago using buckshot from various chokes and both 28" and 24' barrel lengths. In all instances the 28" barrels gave the superior patterns.

I don't know about open carry. Elderly people especially could be frighten but honestly I don't know. I've carried concealed all of my life whenever I go and no one has had any cause to be alarmed. I wonder if wearing a side arm openly will hurt more than help our cause. I vote for absolutely legal concealed.

The wall in my workshop is lined with alters on wall plates and the ones that always attract attention when some customer or even an old friend comes by is the heavy beam sets. I think mass is what attracts most hunters.

The 100 yard zero seems to be excellent for this tiny round. I agree that the 17hmr is a very accurate cartridge, the most accurate rimfire that I've ever shot.

One of the adverse effects of feeding, aside from the CWD, is the easy of severe damage by predators. When all of the local deer gather daily in the same spot, the predator find easy pickings.

I use a scoped 22 rifle sighted in with sub-sonic 40 gr. ammo. The rifle is deadly accurate and very quiet compared to the high velocity stuff and anchors squirrels very well. If the grays are really active you can shoot and remain motionless and you will typically get more action. 99explorer is right about the danger involved in shooting up into trees. I won't take the shot unless the bullet has a stop directly behind the animal in the form of a large branch or the tree trunk. Pass up some shots but I sleep well.

I think that the potential for wolves to over populate the carrying range is tremendous. I keep coming back to Maine and the coyote populations, but we have a real problem here. We simply can't get the coyote in control with the available resources and the deer, in the winter time, is their main target. I have no problem with the wolves being allowed to survive, but strict population control has to be implemented before the problem becomes as large as the coyote issue is here in my home state.

Lots of water in Maine. Everything settling down nicely now. I live on a lake and the water is much higher than normal.

Most of the coyote hunters here in Maine use Walkers and they will stay on the track until you pull them off. Depending on the conditions, they could be practically in sight of the animal or further than a mile behind. On heavy crust with a light snow cover you would be shocked at how well a good dag can stay close.

I do my clover plots in the first of May and it has worked very well for me.

I never owned one for myself but I few used ones came through my gunshop. I thought that this would be a real winner and but apparently no one else agreed with me. I haven't seen one for a bunch of years.

200 yard coyote with a 17hmr? I sincerely hope that no one actually attempted a shot like this.

Cowboy, we want more like you!

My dad swore by 110 grain bullets and shot almost all his deer with them. My brother and I use 130 gr.Hornady. Both my father and brother have used this caliber more than me. None of us have ever had problem anchoring deer.

I've been there. You have my sincere sympathy. Better days are head.

The Rem. trigger, if it hasn,t been changed out, is adjustable. A gunsmith can make a safe and light weight adjustment for you. I don't know how handy you are and this is not a tough job but there are certainly a list of things that you can do wrong if you are not careful. I suggest a good gunsmith.

In my experience, after you call a coyote and fail to get him, you are very likely done calling that animal back forever. The one thing that you have to be extremely careful of when calling is the direction of the wind. A coyote will away come to you with the wind in his face. I have never called any that didn't come in downwind from me.

My most productive plots have been white clover. I don't know if it's available everywhere and if deer where you live prefer something else but here in Maine it's a great calling card. The stuff I use will grow for about four years before I till it under and plant again. Easy to plant too, just throw it on the ground and lightly hit the area with a rake. I bush hog each plot twice a year to keep the height down and have been very pleased.

WA-You crack me up! My worst fall was both broken wrists and a separated shoulder. Very painful as I recall.

I experimented considerably with the whisker biscuit when they fist came out and I can tell you with confidence that you should shoot the size that is larger than your arrow diameter. No vane loss and much quieter and deadly accurate. I have also taken to waxing(paste wax) my carbon arrow shafts and the noise is totally gone. Cost is always a consideration for me and the whisker biscuit is inexpensive and easy to maintain. If I were a target shooter I would choose another rest but for hunting I'll stay with the biscuit.

I've posted about the 22 Mag. on many occasions here. I've used this little round all of my life and most of the shooting from the same rifle a Winchester Model 61 pump. I've also stuck with basically the same round through out most of this time, Winchester's 40 gr. JHP at a velocity of app. 1900 fps. I have no real idea of the paper power that this round has and I don't care to know. I carry this rifle with the mentioned ammo with me everyday. I'm not suggesting that this round is perfect for anything but I will relate that I've shot multiple deer and multiple coyote with this cartridge. I've never loss a game animal hit with the 40 gr bullet and I have never had to chase them. I never take long shots, the longest on a coyote was about 80 yards and the longest on a deer as I remember it was about 42-43 yards. I'M NOT PROMOTING THIS ROUND AS A DEER RIFLE. I'm only telling you of my experiences. The 17 HMR is the most accurate rimfire round that I have ever shot. It is truly accurate and deadly on starlings out to 125-150 yards with a solid rest. You would be hard pressed to shoot as well with a 22 Mag. at these ranges. The problem as I see it is this. The 17 HMR has tremendous success on some shots and dismal failure on others. My shooting group has quite a contingent of 17 HMR users, but they have all gone away from this round on anything larger than a fox. Very easy to hit with but way too many unexplained failures. Most of the failures seem to be from the bullets exploding on impact and not penetrating far enough to reach vitals. If you are looking for a rifle that is fun and inexpensive to shoot and still has enough power should you see a coyote I believe that the wise choice is the Magnum.

In light of all of the recent information about the misinformation that has been spread around as the Gospel I'd say it was time to dump this truck and get on with some real non-political research.

I hope this hunt goes really well for you. Congratulations!

I have never seen deer with their antlers in March up here in Maine but I've heard others say that whitetail will sometimes keep them late into March.

I have never used Break Free in a rifle bore. I have always used Hoppes with excellent results.

Kolbster-I appreciate your effort for people who have difficulties in life. Thanks for the link. Do what I can.

Really depends on the rifle and the loads. I have one 30-06 and I can shoot 20 or so loads and not even feel the recoil. On the other hand I have shot some rifles that will knock you foolish with the same loads.

Congratulations! You've fought a good battle. Good to see the good guys win one. I hope I speak for everyone here when I say we're proud of you for your efforts.

The recall is on the 17hmr version not on the 22 mag.

I don't have one in the 22 rimfire but I do have one in 22 Winchester Mag. Mine has been a bit of a problem but with very good help from Rem. the rifle now functions perfectly. This is a very good shooting rifle and mine doesn't hang up or fail to feed. The magazines are the weak part of the rifle though and can't be mistreated. The bluing on my rifle is horrible and you have to be careful or it will rust easily.

I use Blazers with Thunderheads 100.

Walking and pushing yourself away from the table.

You can't say it better than Edward has. As always with his postings well thought and well written.

Top notch barrel and chamber Devcon pillar bed Lapped bolt to receiver Dakota You need to ask for more things!

Keep us informed. Very interesting and I'd like to hear more.

I once had a 22 rimfire come through the gunshop that keyholed everything. The issue turned out to be severe leading of the barrel. I cleaned the lead with a Lewis tool and a solvent, I can't remember the name of the solvent, and the rifle shot terrific after that. The owner had been shooting a very fast (1600 fps claim)light weight straight lead bullet. I don't know what else could have caused his issues and suspect it was this particular ammo.

The 22lr shoots, typically, a 40 lead bullet at approximately 1250fps. The 22 Magnum shoots a 40 gr jacketed bullet at 1850-1900. The difference, in my opinion, on larger small game is a lot. I've shot the 22 Mag. all of my life and I can tell you that in the right hands it is a very effective small round.

Tightliner I really like your postings and I appreciate your service. I think we may have a future after all with young men like you around.

It's not the most unusual thing to see a buck in Maine with antlers as late as mid February. I have never seen a buck with antler in March but my uncle, long dead, told me that he had seen them with antlers that late. As is usually the case Bee hits it. I agree that condition plays a huge role in loss or retention.

The Mauser 98 will handle the 308 with no modifications to the bolt face, extractor or the feed system. I have used many 98 for all sorts of rifles but I would suggest to you, if cost is a consideration, that you look at the Brazilian 1908 or the Argentinian 1909. The German vz 24 is excellent if you can find one. Of course, you can also find at very reasonable cost some of the commercial mauser actions that will require less work. On the military model you will have to have the bolt altered by bending and shaping or weld on a new bolt handle. Both methods have worked equally well for me in the past. Brownell's offers a very nice side thumb safety for the military guns as well and it requires very little machining. Depending on your desires you will also need to have a new trigger on the military actions. The commercial model usually have very passable triggers. I wish you a lot of success with your project. Keep posting with your progress or with any questions.

Just the opposite up here in Maine. We hardly have any snow at all. We're supposed to get 3" tonight. We can hunt coyote year round and there is no bag limit. They are everyplace! Simply driving to work in the morning or heading home at night I will often see coyote crossing the road in front of the truck. I've shot most of my coyote by chance or over bait, but most of the guys up here have hounds. The new snow will be great for the hound guys. I've tried, in the past, to pick up a fresh track in the morning and stay on the trail until you jump the coyote but it has never worked for me. Try the same trick on a deer and you have a great chance to get him!

I have never heard a bad word about the Rage but have never used them. I have used 100 gr. Thunderheads the most and I have never had a bad experience. They fly true, if you do your part, and have excellent resharpenable blades. This many not be an issue for some but for me the cost is and the Thunderhead is a reasonably priced head.

I don't have a big plot of land. According to the tax people I own 121 acres. I harvest firewood yearly and burn small 2-3 acre sites every two years. I have a pretty good sized swamp just about in the center of the property and the beavers there are managed to keep the dams up to date. Ducks and geese love this spot when the hunting gets heavy on the large lake just south of me and the much smaller lake north of me. I don't hunt waterfowl but the farmer beside me loves to shoot a goose every so often. I plant white clover in five different plots and have three dug ponds on this property. I never cut healthy oak or beech nut trees and deer and turkeys love the mast. Closer to the main buildings and rifle range I have many fruit trees in various stages of growth, most were planted by my father and my grandfather. I have permanent tree stands(tri-pod style). Approximately 80-85% of the property is fully forested at any one time. I feel blessed that I have this little piece of heaven. This type of thing is not for everyone, I'm sure, but to me it's one of the true pleasures of my life. I hope to be able to pass this land along to my son and him to his.

This screw, as I remember it, has a beveled head and many be on the order of 4-40 size. I'm going to my shop this evening and I'll check out the size for you.

The older rifles with the brass rotary cartridge feed bring quite a lot more cash than the later models.

I've always liked the 45 auto rim. Virtually the same round as the 45 acp for use in a revolver. Wonderful with cast bullets at about 850fps.

WAMtnhunter I hate eating crow. I just took a Remington out of the safe and tried my hardest to make it look bad and I failed. It hurts so bad- I can't ever remember being wrong before! Seriously it shows that you don't always know as much as you think you do. I have always had it in my head that the Rem. action would not feed well in an awkward position simply because the round wouldn't be controlled by the extractor. I stand corrected and humbled.

Sorry about your friends mother. Terrible ugly part of our society. I absolutely believe in the death penalty.

Shoot them all you want.

Back when the arrows were very heavy the string tracker worked quite well at short yardage. I have a hard time believing that they would work as well today with the lightening fast arrows we shoot. I haven't shot a string tracker for over 30 years.

I just re-read your posting and notice that you said the gun was recoil operated. The 900 that I spoke of is gas operated. Was the gun called a 51?

Fixed. Match it with a good solid sheath and you have a real tool.

Honker I didn't know about your son. In all sincerity, my heart bleeds for you.

I'm very sorry for your loss. A good friend,sadly gone, will remain with you for the rest of your life. My closest friend and mentor has been gone for many years now and I think of him almost every day. I'm no one to be giving this type of advice but try to remember the good times of your life together and I believe you can get through.

I know that this doesn't answer your question but I've rebarelled more model-98 mausers than any other with the short action Rem. 700 in second place. I have never put together a 98 that wouldn't shoot a handload that it liked into 1/2' groups. I don't know what your planning for a hunting rifle but I believe that a good 98 mauser action is a good jumping off point. In a hunting rifle the absolutely positive feed is very important. Try to feed your Rem. bolt from a side ways hold and see what happens. Good luck on your rifle!

Hunting deer in Maine's evergreen forests I prefer the Winchester 94 in both the 30-30 caliber and a wildcat 25-35 Ackley. Both hit hard and are very quick to put into play. They're short and very handy to move around through the brush. I use the 30-30 more simply because in belonged to my father.

I much prefer blind magazines on my hunting rifles and detachable magazines would be my second choice if they fit well into the bottom of the receiver. I don't care for hinged floor plates at all.

I don't know the model of your shotgun but quite a few m-900 came through my store that wouldn't feed or extract properly and there was no easy fix. The company was no help. I believe that this particular shotgun was made in Japan.

If you can get $30.00 I think that you're doing well. I got $18.00 each for three. Mine were shoot, not trapped and that does lower the price. I haven't heard of anyone paying much for furs of any type.

No. The traditional firearms will hold their position as true hunting rifles for many years to come. The way that they carry and the available calibers is a big part of their appeal. I love to shoot my bushmaster but I've never once hunted with it. Bolts and levers will be around for a long time.

Sorry for all the posting here. It amazes me the amount of coyote Maine has now. It was only 15 years or so ago that if you saw a coyote it was an event that you told everyone about. Now they are every where even though the hunting pressure here is great. Friday at lunch time my crew went to the local store for coffee. There was two trucks with dog boxes in the parking lot and five hunters in the store having dinner. We all spoke and they related that they had shot two in the morning. We got our lunch and coffee and started back to work. Before we had cleared the store driveway a deer jumped into the road almost making it across in one leap and right on her tale, maybe 10-12 yards was a good sized coyote. In my area they truly are a problem. Trappers can't control them and hunters don't make a dent. I wonder what the future holds.

In maine you can carry a handgun with you when you bowhunt and the law was passed because of the story I related above. There have been so many stories of treed hunters by very large roaming coyote packs.

Honker The story as related to me is that he shot two with the bow and the rest would not leave. One of the coyote was destroyed by the others and the remaining one was recovered and shown around to his neighbors. He's a registered Maine guide(Northern Maine float trips) and a highly respected fellow around here. There is no reason to doubt his word. I do believe his story but can't offer any proof.

I don't know how you say it better than Honker. I do spend time at the range,my own, because I love to shoot. But trust me when I say that I would never pass up a range session for the chance to get into the woods hunting. The secret to hitting game animals is not a secret at all it's simply having done it long enough to know how to accomplish the job. Anatomy of the animal in question, through understanding of the firearm, confidence in the ammo all allow you to be cool under stress situations and to make the shot that you know you should make. Long range hunting is a tremendous acquired skill and can't be taken for granted. I think that range time will help you with some of the factors involved in making the shot.

Hornady, Nosler,Lyman.

Sourdough Dave is right about the space blanket. Best insurance that you can carry .

The coyote in Maine is a larger animal generally than it's western counterpart. The ones that I've shot in the last few years have quite large heads and the weights are 30-40 lbs. I have personally never been around a coyote that showed any sign of aggression, they simply wanted away from me. One of my bowhunter friends won't go bowhunting anymore with out a handgun because he couldn't get out of his tree one evening because of coyote at the base of the tree that simply would not go away. I trust the man that told me this story. I have read all the information about our coyote being part wolf and personally doubt it but I'm certainly not a scientist and would like to see a lot more information on the subject.I agree with Honker that the inter breeding seems unlikely.

The law is any water body, man made or otherwise, over 10 acres has to have a walking path access only. This path doesn't allow access for motorized travel unless the owner grants the right. You could hand carry a canoe or kayak.

Thanks for the advice Clay. I'll try it as soon as I get home.

The correct answer is Moishe. The stock bolt holds the wood to the receiver. The over sized hole is for the washer. All stock bolt have a much oversized washer simply so the head of the bolt won't work into the wood. As a side note I have seen many washers that have been tighten so much that they have left a reasonably large indentation in the wood where they rest. The over sized hole also serves the function of allowing the screwdriver to be bushed so that the edge of the driver doesn't slip off to the side and through the buttstoct, a condition I have had to repair many many times.

There is a plate on the bottom of the bolt where the firing pin rides. This plate is held in place by the tiniest of screws. One of the only things I have ever seen break in a 1200 is this tiny screw and without it in place you would have the problem you describe.

You have inherited two excellent guns. Both were very well made and well received at the time of their introduction. I have a caution for you about the Model 12 20 ga. A good number of the early guns were cut with a 2 5/8" chambers. I have seen some that will extract fired 2 3/4" cartridges and more that will not. I don't recommend that you open the chamber up, if you have the short chamber, but that you purchase or load your ammo to the original length. When you re-chamber, the receiver has to be cut slightly and it leaves an area at the rear of the bolt opening that is easy for debris to accumulate in and, in my opinion, ruins the look of this fine little gun. Congratulations !

You probably have a 98 mauser. There were, for the most part, excellent rifles. If your shooting 30-06 and the rifle fires and the cases extract easily with no cracking of the neck or web swelling of the area just over the base, you probably have a rifle chambered for the 30-06. Any gunsmith worth his salt can make a cerrosafe chamber cast and confirm the caliber. A no and no-go gauge in the same caliber will tell you if your selection of the 06 cartridge is the right one as well.

I find tang sights to be excellent looking items but for me anyways horrible hunting tools. I much prefer a good receiver sight. The one on my Winchester 94 is made by redfield and has been on this particular rifle since 1947 if my fathers information is correct. It has never failed and is as solid as the year that it was installed. I shoot it with a very large white front bead and no target aperture. I shoot with both eyes open and only look at the target. Very fast and very accurate.

Happy I'm 8-9 years younger than you but I already feel the effect of the aging process. I'm a carpenter(house builder) and get plenty of lifting, bending and such during the work day. I walk every chance that I get, virtually everyday. I've been able to maintain my weight over the years even though I have a very healthy appetite. I know very little about exercise machines but one of my hunting friends( a totally worthless magnum rifle freak) insists that his Total gym is a God send. Probably careful choice of foods and smaller portions and walking are the most effective with the smallest outlay of energy. I hope that I make it to your current age. As a side, I truly enjoy your participation on this site.

My favorite Brittany when every where that I went. When I headed for the door Pete was at my side. He would sit in the passenger seat as if he owned the truck. He was never a problem and he was the best grouse dog that I ever had he chance to hunt with. He's been gone awhile now but his collar still hangs on a hook by my front door.

I seriously can't believe I read about lighting a skunk on fire. Cruelty to living creatures is never to be tolerated. True hunters pride themselves on being compassionate to the animals that they pursue and providing the most humane death possible. This type of posting makes me ill.

It truly unfortunate that you can find nothing of value on this site. I'm an old man with many game animals, both with rifle and bow, under my belt and I have learned many valuable things here; and better yet I have made some friends that enjoy the the out of doors as much as I do. Learning demands that you listen as well as speak. You life and huntings experiences, compared to the vast majority of the regular posters on this site, I dare say are comparably small. You should reevaluate leaving, not for our benefit but for yours.

It truly unfortunate that you can find nothing of value on this site. I'm an old man with many game animals, both with rifle and bow, under my belt and I have learned many valuable things here; and better yet I have made some friends that enjoy the the out of doors as much as I do. Learning demands that you listen as well as speak. You life and huntings experiences, compared to the vast majority of the regular posters on this site, I dare say are comparably small. You should reevaluate leaving, not for our benefit but for yours.

MLH Well written and absolutely on target. You just put five in the same hole!

Happy Birthday Del! You're one of the good guys here and as much as you can know someone on a site like this it's been my pleasure.

I'm in the close range group. I personally love the thrill of in your face hunting. There is a absolutely nothing wrong with the challenge of long range shooting. Preparing your rifle for a particular tack driving load and selecting the bullet that will do the job at extended distance all add to the task. I appreciate the skills required for long range hunting. Hunting well, no matter the yardage, is one of life's great pleasures.

I have always carried strips of cloth saturated with Vaseline locked in an airtight plastic bag. Along with waterproof matches, carried in a brass watertight container, they provide a never fail method of easy and successful fire starting.

I believe that the posters mentioned are all the same person. I would assume that the poster is a lonely person with no appreciable skills,probably young and with no education. Ignore him and he will go away eventually.

Your maximum effective range is not limited by your rifle but by your ability to properly place the bullet. How far away can you hit, under adverse conditions, a 6-7" kill area? Many years ago, when we had a pretty good running deer target we found out that shooting off hand at 80 yards is very tough. Most guys couldn't hit a 10" circle consistently shooting from the offhand position. You have a fine rifle and bullet combination for coyote: now you just have to ask how good you are and access your abilities intelligently.

I would guess that your shotgun as not been stripped and thoroughly cleaned in many years. I'd start there. This shotgun is very easy to field strip and I suggest that you learn the technique.

I have my home to get to and that's 5/8 of a mile and my workshop that's 1500' with a big turn around. Takes me a while! I've had enough snow this year!

According to the International Whaling Commission that monitor, as closely as possible, a species than spends much of their time under the surface, the populations are holding or in some cases have risen slightly. The Blue Whales have decreased by a small amount. The Whale that the Japanese harvest the most is the Minke and their numbers are estimated at app.1,400,000 whales. The harvest numbers I could not find, but I could find out that they are reasonably well regulated. As long as the Japanese abide by a reasonable harvest from a healthy population I see no issue. If someones tries to stop me from harvesting legal game in season I know what my reaction would be.

I have no experience with muzzle loaders but on rifles the sight dovetails are all tapered meaning that the sights can only be installed in one direction. Looking from the rear of the rifle you would install the front sight from right to left. Maybe the muzzle loader are cut the same way. This is also the proper way to install a magazine sleeve on Marlin and Winchester lever action rifles.

The Winchester 1200 is an excellent shotgun. This gun is one of the strongest pump gun ever made even though the receiver is made from a alloy. The steel bolt rotates as it moves forward and locks solidly into the steel of the barrel. This particular model has never been a fan favorite, in spite of being very well made, and I've always thought that the muzzle heavy feel was responsible. I really like this gun especially the earlier model without the screw in choke system.

The 7.62x39 is a round that is slightly less powerful than our 30-30 Winchester. It is the round of ak47 fame. I have never shot a rifle in this caliber that is a tack driver but lay that off on the rifles that shoot it.

I believe that Filson is as good as it gets. Every piece of clothing a have from them has stood the test of time. The durability and quality is top notch. You can't go wrong purchasing well made wool hunting gear.

The next time a make a comment about the 30-06 I'll post a picture of the fired cartridge. Then my comment will carry water.

Kenton Your effort is certainly appreciated by all. This is the best hunting/gun site that I know of and to keep it legit is going to be difficult. Looks like you've taken a great first step.

I used to hunt a lot with my brother and father and loved my time with them and we did occasionally take pictures. I treasure those pictures today. In later years I have come to appreciate the one on one thing with a deer that I want to harvest. I've shot many but I actually think that I have only a dozen pictures or so. I have each hunt in the film reel in my head and I don't have the need to share it with anyone. Just me. I would be very careful about commenting about someone simply because they don't have tons of pictures. My brother has shot some truly monster bucks (probably 30 +) and he doesn't have any pictures and only one set of antlers in his home.

Racism is an ugly thing but beyond ugly it is the stronghold of the very ignorant in our society. Every mans blood runs the same. You can abhor the politic of any individual and dislike his attitude and demeanor but you can not, as a human being, despise a man for his skin color.

Yes there is such a spot. I've also heard that this area does not exist but from personal experience I can tell you that it does. I shot a very large doe one time that had a perfectly formed three blade arrow hole just under the spine and over the lung area. She was well healed and showed absolutely no ill effects from her experience.

Once again Bee- superlative.

It's sad that this is the condition that we see ourselves in today. Things were certainly different when I went to high school. My brother and I would get on the bus with our rifles in cases and leave them by the front with Bud the driver. As soon as we got to school we would take them to the principals office and lay them down on the pile with the other cased rifles. Then some kids parent would pick us up to go where we would hunt that afternoon. No fears, no threats, no expulsions and simply no cause for alarm. It wasn't long after I left high school that this policy was changed, not because of an issue but because a single mother from the city was mortified that this policy was in place.

I agree with BEE that the Rugers are very nice rifles. I have always liked the light weight stock model called, if memory serves, the RL. I no longer have this rifle but it was a tack driver.

Just as soon as you see equal amounts of brown ground and snow.

Lets get away from the points thing. Learn and enjoy what time you have here. I've not been here a long time but I can say with certainty that there are some very experienced and knowledgeable people here who are willing to share what they know with others. What more can you ask for?

One careful very well placed shot from a good hunter who knows where to hit a bear from all angles and uses enough gun or a bunch from the guy who hasn't done the groundwork.

Your battle is for all of us regardless of state. Keep up the good work and good luck.

I don't know the answer to your question but I do believe that if posted photos are not yours you should give credit to the owner. MLH says it best.

The IRS should be concerned with crunching numbers and not engage in roughhouse. But if they feel that they have to play rough the first place they should look is in the White House at Timothy Geithner and I don't believe that he could stand the scrutiny.

The caliber ,270 Winchester ,is a good one that has stood the test of time. Many people believe that this is one of the very best of the medium game rounds. Your research on this rifle should not be over. You should know the brand and model and you really should be looking to see that is a commercial rifle and not a hap hazard throw together that someone is trying to unload. I'm certainly not saying that good gunsmith conversations are not perfectly acceptable rifles, many are excellent, but the price of $200.00 in today's market makes be a bit caution prone. Your best bet is to have a very knowledge gun guy with you to look at and discuss this firearm. If you know and trust the seller all the better. Good luck!

Over 100 yards for me is long range. I don't shoot at living animals over this range. I know my limitations and try no to exceed them. I love to shoot out to 600 yards on targets.

I've been on here for maybe a year and the edit button has never worked for me. Good advice.

I hunt or at least spend time in the woods about 60 to 80 days a year. I'm fortunate that I live where I can get out all the time.

I believe that you are referring to the 410, the smallest of the available shotguns.

Maine Hunting $25.00 Archery $25.00

I've had three Mini-14. One would shoot reasonable well, about 21/2" at one yards with ammo that it liked. The other two were about 4-41/2" performers. All were extremely dependable. I loved the rifles and the way that they carried but I couldn't live with the accuracy and the triggers were not an easy fix.

My first deer was with a Rem. 270 that I was not supposed to touch! My father was not pleased. The rifle I use most of the time now is an old 94 Winchester.

I have only seen one gray fox in my life and that wasn't here in Maine. I can tell you, for a fact, that coyote prey on red fox, a species that is abundance in Maine.

Happy I've never heard of this particular knife but based on the information you just stated I'll find one of them. What price range am I looking at?

The quality of the internal parts is a big factor. I've seen a bunch of the less expensive releases fail but very rarely have I ever had problem with a Scott,Cater,or Truball just to name a few. My Carter Target4 has simply shots hundreds of thousands of arrows and it has never failed to hold until I want to let it go.. I would not trust a big expensive hunt to a lesser release if I had the wherewithal to have a better one.

I shot a 460 Weatherby once that had a recoil reducing stock(also Weatherby)and the recoil was brutal even for someone that was very used to shooting. I had just finished, close to this same time, a 416Rem. on a Ruger #1 action and the recoil was manageable and you could hit the target with confidence. I've never hunted game that has the potential to hunt you back but I don't know if anyone could consistently handle the recoil and not think about it, maybe at the wrong time.

Pre 64 Model 94 30-30.

I don't know about smoking and hunting deer. My father shot tons of deer and he always smoked while sitting in the evening or morning. My brother is the same, heavy smoker, lots of deer. I've never had a cigarette in my life and I shoot lots of deer. The one common thread with my family is that we all pay very careful attention to the direction of the wind. We know the normal wind direction for the locations that we hunt and will simply stay away if the conditions are not in our favor. Many years ago I saw a doe with her fawns cross the path my brother and I walked in on. As usual, he had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Both of us, as is our regular practice, had on clean mid thigh rubber boots. As soon as the doe hit our trail-instantly-she spin around with her twins in toe for a different address. Cigarette smoke or human scent; I don't know.

I've been hunting for 50 years now and 48 of those years on my own. I have fished very very little in my life.

I've shot many more deer at 40-50 yards than I have at the 20-30 yard range. This is certainly not difficult for a good archer with modern equipment and a well tuned bow.

Join the club. My order for two cases was made last April! Was your order for Win. 40 jhp? Luckily I've been able to find the odd box here or there to keep my Winchester model 61 shooting.

O degrees tonight with blowing snow until morning.50-60 mph wind. Can't wait to put plywood on a 12 pitch roof tomorrow!

I run a small constructor company but I'm out there every day with the crew and still love building. I spent many years of my life as a gunsmith and enjoyed every minute of it.

I think that the 7mm-08 will handle hogs very well. It does a terrific job of deer and black bear.

I personally prefer twin triggers.

I would rather you have a very good used bow than some of the entry level new stuff that's out there. I see top end bows that are a few years old advertised for sale all the time. That being said, you have to find a knowledgeable archer to truly get started the right way. If there is a credible archery shop near where you live I suggest that you start looking there, but don't rush into a purchase. Look at the different brands and be intelligent about what you want from a bow. You will see so much emphasis put on speed but that is not the most important thing for a new archer. Proper draw length, brace height(often overlooked in a hunting bow) and easy of let down are very important. Be very aware of cables and strings. Some of the less expensive models still use fast flight and although this stuff is very tough, it will constantly stretch and make it difficult to keep your bow in good tune. The more advanced bcy fibers are what top archer prefer today. I also suggest that you limit your shopping to single cam models. There has been tremendous advancement in twin cams models but the single cam is still the easiest bow to keep shooting tight groups long term. Good luck to you.

Thank you for posting. Excellent video!

marchar Very well said. Even though we may never meet the members of this site, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. In my opinion, threats should not be tolerated. I consider this a serious outdoor site and typically the responses are appropriate to the question being asked even though we sometimes venture into politics. The normal give and take is to be expected, and in my case, enjoyed. Bella is a great example. Outnumber usually but rarely outwitted, her responses make you think. I have never seen her respond with threats of violence, only intellect. Writing " look me up old man-keep sleeping with your gun" has no place here. Trying to bite with no teeth is extremely difficult.

The simple answer is yes. The 22 rimfire round should never be taken for granted or mistaken for a harmless toy. A 40 gr.22 slug will kill man or deer or anything else it comes in contact with. Way to often we treat this round with nothing more than casual attentiveness and in my opinion this is a horrible mistake. A young man in my neck of the woods shot his friend in the back with a Stinger shot from a 6" revolver and the recipient of the bullet died instantly. My father during the end of the depression keep his family feed with a single shot 22 rimfire and his quarry was typically deer. Don't ever underestimate what this tiny little round will do and treat it respectfully.

Bee I agree 100%. You can't say it better.

There are two that I personally enjoy hunting, the Whitetail deer and the Eastern coyote. The coyote especially presents a significant challenge.

Dee Please remember this simple statement for the rest of your life: POACHING IS NOT HUNTING. Never confuse the two and never let other refer to hunting as poaching without correcting them. Hunting is the legal and lawful pursuit of game animals in their appropriate season. Poaching is the shooting of animals without regard for the species or the laws that protect them.

I've not fished in my adult life but I do live on a very large lake. This lake is known for it's salmon and is fished quite a bit. I love to swim(even at my age) and you can't imagine the amount of fishing lures that I've found out swimming with mask and snorkel. I've given them to the local kids. I'm willing to bet that I'm over the 200 lure mark! Most are small lures and spinners but one was about 4' long and the silver spoon on the end was about 8" long with just one huge hook on the tail end of it. I never figured out what that guy was fishing for.

Arcamedies From 1994-2002 Obama was the Joyce foundation. This is a publicly recognized anti-gun organization that funneled millions of dollars to the VPC, one of the sleaziest anti-second amendment groups in the U.S. From the throne of The Joyce foundation he also gave considerable amounts of cash to the Anti-second amendment group "John Hopkins Ctr." The Joyce Foundation themselves attacked the second amendment and their assault had direct bearing on the famous Heller Supreme court appeal. His history goes on and on with every severe anti-hunting and anti-gun group you can possibly imagine. I respect you opinion and your willingness to express it.

Arcamedies If you think, even for a second, that this president would not remove firearms from society if he has the chance you are very wrong. Through out his life he has sided with those who would totally eliminate our constitutional rights to keep arms. If you are a democrat that appreciates firearms and hunting you are probably hovering around the 2-3% mark of members of that party.

Del's right about being involved politically. This is probably the most important vote coming this fall that many will ever see in their life time. This socialist regimen in power in Washington has to be defeated! We find ourselves in a serious situation in this country and those who can't see it have their heads in the sand.

I did a few simple tests when I still had my archery range and found that most shooters with a 29" draw or less could learn to shoot a compound that had a axle to axle of at least 38". A longer draw would pinch the fingers more and proved to be more difficult to shoot accurately. The problem now is that even a 38" bow is getting harder to find. Mathews had a bow called the Conquest that was 40" axle to axle and was one of the finest bows ever produced. I do not know if is still available but I see them all the time for sale used.

My shooting is all at very short range and the Remington core-lokt has proven to be an excellent choice for my particular use on deer and black bear.The rifle is a Model 94 Winchester 30-30.

It would be very hard to find a better long range rifle for deer size game than the 25-06.

When our enlightened government dropped the enemy combatant term and decided to give citizen rights to those from foreign lands who want to kill us, we took an enormous step backward in protection for our legitimate citizenry. I've said this for many years but it bears repeating here; politicians have no business deciding policy in war time. This man has to be forced to tell us what he knows, where he was trained and how we can get there. When you have the mind set to destroy 200-300 innocent people for no reason except to make a point, you give up all human rights and need to treated as the animal that you are.

My advice on this issue has always been the same;unless you are familiar with the scope mounting -sighting in process, you will be better off with a full service gun shop. Whenever we sold a package deal(rifle scope ammo sling) to a new customer we would take the time to mount the scope and sling and sight the rifle in with the the ammo that he planned to use. He could pick the gun up on the afternoon of the following day. Believe me when I tell you that we had to take turns with the shooting process simply because of the volume that was involved in the fall. We always made the purchaser(if he was to be the end user)take a few shots to make sure that he was confident with his purchase. Our repeat sales were off the chart and so many people learned to love shooting simply because they got off on the right track.

I've never used a Zippo but I have heard that they are extremely dependable and durable. I have always had a concern about the smell of the lighter fluid while deer of coyote hunting. Does anyone know if the smell of the fluid is an issue?

I have seen this particular problem with probably 20 or more 788. This used to be a common rifle up here and you would see many every week at the turkey shoots, they were excellent shooters for the most part. On some guns the bevel at the mouth of the chamber was virtually non-existent and would cause the bullet to hit the square edge of the chamber mouth. I used a hand tool to correct this issue. Any competent gunsmith can handle this with no issues. I definitely do not recommend that you slam the bolt reward as you might tend to do with many hunting rifles. The rod that extend up through the receiver to stop the bolt travel rearward is prone to break with repeated hard slams. I still have one of these rifles with a 24x target scope and a pillar bedded action. I haven't shot it for many years but it was a one hole shooting rifle from the bench when I managed to do my part.

I'm at the point in my life where I no longer tolerate ignorance. I would ask them to leave post haste and they would.

Absolutely shoot that deer. There is no reason to pass up this shot.

In Maine they are everyplace. You can see scat and tracks in virtually every walk you take. There is a group of hound men here that are out hunting just about everyday and their take is impressive and there seems to be no end in sight. I've shot six in just a bit over a year and this is by simple baiting and spending time in the woods. I saw a huge one a few days ago while hauling road sand in my dump truck. Average weight is around 30-40 lbs. from the ones I've had a look at.

Excellent! I enjoyed them all! Keep them coming!

The few who feel that the Mossberg is an inferior gun are wrong. Both are very well made and for all purposes virtually trouble free. I prefer the feel of the Remington. When I first open my gun shop I stocked up on Mossberg 500 parts because there are so many of them in my area. That was over 30 years ago and I still have all of the parts with the exception of the long ago corrected top sliding plastic safety. You can't go wrong with either of these fine shotguns.

I've never shot a boar but my nephew has shot many and he used a vintage Savage model 99 in 30-30 with Remington 150 gr. core-lokt ammo. His shooting is at close range and he has had no issues with performance.

You can have the "lead" removed. Sorry.

Never shoot anything through a threaded bbl. with the choke removed. The lead will get into the threads and make the insertion of a tube virtually impossible. You can have the thread removed by a competent gunsmith.

Of course you can. Many hunters don't care for the ridiculous recoil of some of the heavy turkey loads and use 2 3/4" loads with excellent results.

This procedure is not exact but is close enough to tell you what you have for a twist. Put a close fitting patch on the end of a cleaning rod and carefully start the rod into the muzzle end of the rifle. As soon as the patch is firmly into the bore use a lead pencil and make a circular line around the rod at the end of the muzzle. Now made a long line directly on the top of the rod with the pencil moving closer to the handle. Slowly push the rod further into the muzzle and the long pencil line will rotate as the patch takes the rifling. As soon as the line rotates up to the top of the rod again( same location as when you started) make another circular mark around the rod at the muzzle. Withdraw the rod from the bore and measure between the two circular lines and that is the rate of twist.

Keep them coming! Great joke!

Keep them coming! Great joke!

120 acres. We average 7 deer per year on this piece. Records have been kept since 1971 on the annual take. Food plots and water holes have been a big part of our success on such a small site. Good hunting.

Good one! Keep em coming!

Beekeeper I really do feel for the farmers that have had their entire crops destroyed. Has to be tough to deal with.

The 243 is an excellent performer with bbl lengths as short as 18". I once saw a test where they cut the bbl of a 24" bbl off in one inch increments down to 18"and the velocity loss was not substantial. I can't remember the exact figure. I would consider the 22" bbl as optimum.

Big O never thought of that . How much cold can those big snakes take?

Good luck to you all! Please send pictures of all the crows you get with arrows.

I have seen more rubs on cedar trees than all of the other trees combined. Where I hunt in Maine, you can count on deer working the cedar over!

I have one Kahles scope. It's a straight 4x with a very heavy post. The light gathering ability is very good and the adjust ability works very well but the clicks are not easily felt making precise adjustment more difficult than with some scopes. When adjusted, it stays exactly where you leave it. The scope have never had any type of leakage or water issues. I'm very vague on this one but I'll guess that I got this scope used in a trade around 74-76. I'm not familiar with the current product but this older one has been topnotch.

I too really like the Remington 1100.

I'm not a long range hunter but I am a long range shooter at targets. I believe that the 25-06 with 100 gr. spitzers at 3450fps (mauser 98 Shilen bbl@ 25")is simply the finest long range rifle I've ever shot. I can make shots easily with the 22-250 and the Swift, but not as well when the wind is blowing. I can connect quite well with my 308 but the hold over become difficult to master on small targets. I do well with the 270 but the recoil with multiple shots can be a deterrent to precise work at 600 hundred yards. The 25-06 is the answer. Low recoil, exceptional accuracy, high velocity and very good retained energy makes this a tremendous long range cartridge. I don't have any practical experience with this round on long range animal targets but within my self imposed range limitations the 100 gr load that I mentioned is pure dynamite on whitetail, black bear and coyote. I also find this a easy cartridge to load for. When I built my mauser rifle, my notes show that the first four loads shot into 1" or less. I settled on a healthy charge of 4350. Interesting question about brush shooting. I've used this rifle while woods hunting and have never seen the situation where I felt handicapped by the weight of the bullet or the velocity. I simply take the same shots that I would take with my 308 or 30-30. No problems that I can attest to.

Country Thanks for the welcome. I've been working hard for political candidates that uphold some of the ideals that I believe are faithful to the constitution. It's much tougher than I thought it would be and money is a huge driving issue. It's good to be back among friends!

I really enjoy shooting my Remington 597 and after a simple bed job this rifle shoots very well. In honesty this rifle had some problems that all travel back to the magazine but currently(last three years) I have not had a single malfunction. The trigger in this autoloader is awful and not a simple gunsmith alteration. I solved the problem with a Volquartson drop in trigger for a very crisp 3 lb pull and I'm very satisfied with the results. I'm fortunate that I have a lot of rifles in this particular caliber. The one that I've used the most(by a wide margin) is a vintage Winchester model 61m. This is a pump rifle and is 100% dependable and very accurate. You can find these rifles in shooter condition on line in the $500-600 range. I do not like this round in a bolt action simply because the bolt handle on most of the available rifles is very small and difficult for me to use in the winter weather here in Maine.

People toss around the ethics word as though it were a football! Hunting takes many forms and when we decide that a particular form of hunting is not for us we roundly scream "unethical". Be very careful where you go with this one. For many years I hunted with dog men who used strike cages for their hounds when hunting both raccoons and bobcats. It was an excepted form of hunting where I live and is still practiced today with good success. There will always be forms of hunting that you as an individual can't wrap your arms around with a full embrace, but to denounce it outright as an unethical practice opens the doors even wider than is necessary for the groups in our society that would love to see all hunting and shooting sports banned entirely. You owe it to your self and others to pick and choose your battles very carefully when you discuss hunting ethics.

I have a very early 760 in 308 caliber with a 4x Weaver scope attached. I haven't shot this firearm in a while but my notes show that this rifle off a bench will shoot 150 gr Sierra's with a dose of h4895 into 1 1/4" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. I consider that excellent performance. In all of my years as a gunsmith I never heard a bad word about this particular rifle. I did replace a few extractors in 760 but this is neither an expensive or difficult task. The older model had to be staked in place, the newer ones are simply compressed slightly and then expand into a milled circular slot. Very good choice for a hunting rifle in any of the common calibers.

I've written extensively about the merits of the 22 mag. on these pages before. I'm a life long user of this round and can fine no fault with it's performance on game both reasonably large and small within it's effective range. This cartridge is certainly not designed for long range shooting. Don't think that you will be effective with this cartridge beyond the 100 yd. mark as accuracy and kinetic energy fall off rapidly. The 17 hmr is a more accurate round and much flatter shooting than the 22 mag. but from practical experience is not as good and reliable on game larger than rabbits or crows. The documented failures of the 17 hmr on 15-30 lb animals is well known with my shooting companions and it's use is being limited in favor of the 22 mag. The 40 gr. 22 mag. seems to be the bullet weight favored by most of the serious users of this round and I agree that it is the best over all choice. The Winchester 34 gr. jhp is a tremendous shooter and very accurate and I actually see quite a few of these cartridges at the informal shoots that I attend. I've not heard much about the effectiveness on game. I do know that this bullet holds together quite well in marine clay and the wound channel is substantial. The Winchester 40 jhp. is the round that I've used for most of my shooting and I recommend it wholeheartedly. I don't suggest hunting deer with this cartridge but I have killed a few at very close range and the results were excellent. I've also used the 22 mag. with the Win.40 gr. on 6 coyote and none required the second shot and were instantly dispatched. None were shot over 85 yards. I believe that you will be very pleased with the 22 mag. Good hunting!

There is no commercially loaded 30-06 ammo with a 55 gr. bullet except the accelerator and this is, in my experience, a very poor cartridge. I've never found this round to shoot with acceptable accuracy. I doubt that in most rifles you could consistently hold 3" groups at 75 yards.

Maine has no native pheasant population. I've always thought that they are a magnificent game bird and regret that they are not able to survive here.

I believe that half-mast is appropriate and that is where mine was flying. I doubt that our current administration knows that we have a flag.

I'd like to get in on this one. Over the years I've tried very hard to please everyone. I would always try to respect everyone's stand on hunter rights and our place in society. It doesn't work! You will lose when you give in-He will only demand more and more from you. This guy is not your friend as much as I am, trust me! You have to stand for something, you have to make what you stand for important in your own life. He can have his life and what he stands for on his own property! Never back down and never apologize to anyone for the way you want to live your life. Good luck hunting the lease!

MLH Glad that you posted. I have never personally seen what you just described and it's good to hear different positions from a source you trust. Was your shot at a severe raking angle?

Thank you Jim. My flag will be flying!

No less an authority than P.O.Ackley has stated that the 220 Swift and the 22-250 are excellent deer rifles in the hands of experienced hunters. Knowing what bullet to shoot and proper anatomy is certainly part of this equation. A 60 gr. Nosler partition bullet loaded to 3600fps + will penetrate very well and has shown in tests to out penetrate many larger and more excepted deer calibers. On the down side, the wound channel is typically not as large. I shot my buck this year(181 lb) with the 223 and the 60 gr. Nosler bullet at 3200 fps. The bullet did massive damage and a pass through would have left a good blood trail if necessary, but it this case it was not. The deer was 79 paces away from my stand. I believe that standards set arbitrarily have become Gospel to many and are passed around as if there is no other alternatives. The 22 caliber centerfires are for careful and experienced hunters but will do the job.

What in the world are you smoking? Dumb.

The question has been asked but not answered. Did you recover the deer? I have only my experience to go on, but I doubt the validity of this story. Please tell us if you recovered the deer.

Congratulations hjohn! What a great buck. Looks like you're definitely heading in the right direction!

There are no sound reasons not to keep the wolves under reasonable control. All species that have controlled hunting seasons do well and live comfortably along side humans and their activities. To let this particular animals population grow beyond it's ability to comfortably co-exist would be wrong and ultimately harmful to the wolves simply because drastic measures would then have to be taken. The controlled hunts are an excellent example of proper game management techniques and will be successful.

This question has been asked and answered many times before here but I think that it should be discussed every so often because it's an important issue. It really is about you and your expectations and abilities with a rifle. If you know that you can kill a running deer than obviously taking a running shot is acceptable for you. If you start to fling lead and hope and pray while you're doing it than you should reconsider,honestly, your ability to executing a humane shot. I don't shoot at running deer simply because I know that I have a very good chance of wounding one and not being able to recover. That to me is unacceptable. My brother, slightly younger and not as handsome as me, can hit and kill deer with easy while they are on the move so for him taking the running shot makes good sense. Know your own honest limitations and you be o.k. Killing one out of every four running animals that you fire at and thinking that your doing well is not evaluating your ability with any degree of intellect. Being fair with yourself and respectful of the animals that you hunt will lead you to the proper decision. Good hunting to you.

All the time!

I would pass on the doe with fawns. In my experience the fawns will become easy prey for virtually any type of predator including man. I will tell you this from experience as well, if you do kill a doe that has a young buck fawn, that young buck will not leave the area for a considerable amount of time. Right now I have a young buck that is as close to being tame as you can get that hangs around my work shop. His mother was hit by a tractor/trailer this spring and he has adopted the area where she was killed. He will not survive the opening day of gun season which is Nov. 1. I've tried to scare him away but he simply doesn't want to go. The larger the crowd of people the more interest he seems to show.

Beautiful big buck! Congratulations to your nephew and thank him for all of us for his service!

sgaredneck has got it right. It's the land that surrounds you that is always interesting. If you have good sign on your hunting spot you probably will see deer and get opportunities to bring home an animal. I once shot 6 deer in 2 days in a culling operation, with my bow, sitting in a tree stand in a 90 ft x 90 ft back yard. Look for trails or food source and you have as good of a chance as anyone else.

I have not used the Rage but everything that I read leads me to think that this has the potential to be one of the great hunting designs. I normally shoot 100 gr Thunderheads with perfect flight and hair cutting accuracy. I have never lost a deer hit with a Thunderhead.

BioGuy gives good and sound advice. A professional forester is invaluable in your effort. I struggled for a long time with my land and really never had a good plan. Like you my area was small (120 acres) and I never thought that this property could be a dependable producer of quality whitetails. The forester looked over my land and made what was to me stupid and childlike comments. He suggested that I clear cut a big section and burn off another section and dig in water features. Careful consideration was given to fruit and berry trees as well as Oak and Beech trees. I did as he desired and the results have been nothing short of tremendous. All wildlife species have thrived here and every year we take very nice bucks from this small piece of land. I hope that my son will be a good steward of this property and enjoy it as much as I have. Good luck with your project.

I agree with mcdlacross9 that L.L.Bean has the best warranty and return policy. I don't care what the issue is, L.L.Bean will take care of it quickly.

I'd take the jeep and never doubt my decision. My old neighbor has a jeep that has to be as old as he is and all that he has ever used this poor machine for is to pull logs for firewood out from his wood lot. This is one tough machine!

Congratulations on your buck! Take good care of the meat. Lots of good eating!

BioGuy and hunt3r are correct in saying to practice with the heads that you are going to use. Use a broadhead specific target and get a diamond hone to sharpen your heads like new or better after practice. Make sure not to try to use the heads that you've been shooting on targets without sharpening. They will not kill game and you will lose the animal with even a good shot. It's easy to learn to sharpen the blades. Pull the blade edge into the hone like you were trying to cut a slice of the hone off. Flip the blade and do the same on the other side. After you sharpen slowly drag the blade edge across your finger nail. If the blade doesn't bite into the nail it's simply not sharp enough to use on game and you will have to repeat the process. Good hunting to you.

From what I have read the game department shut down one particular area temporarily because the hunters had already taken 9 of the allotted 12 permits and wanted to make sure there was interest in this area later on in the season.

I don't believe that sport hunting is based on the premise that animals can see,hear,smell etc. before you see them. It simply pits your stalking and planning skill against their collective survival instincts. You win one round and fill your freezer if you plan to be unseen and can successfully execute a perfect long range shot. The shot would not be happenstance and would require long and costly time at the bench to prepare for the moment in question and you would still have to carefully evaluate the terrain and choose the best place to make the shot happen to your advantage. Causal and unprepared hunters will rarely make this scenario play out to their advantage. I don't hunt this way preferring the in your face situations but have absolutely no issues with the professional grade hunters who can set up to make long range hunting a successful and humane activity.

Good luck finding him. Don't give up, he's just around the next tree.

If you are a novice at this, you will much better of at a pro shop. Regardless of brand I strongly suggest that you choose a single cam model. A single cam is much easier to deal with and just as fast. Good hunting to you.

I don't use any of modern technology in my hunting efforts. Maybe because I'm old and don't want to change what I know or maybe because I think it detracts from the adventure of it all or just maybe a mixture of both.

There is no shortage here in Maine. I've been seeing and shooting a lot. The hound hunters say that they hit them everytime out. I agree with ranger2, too bad there isn't a fur market anymore.

My nephew lives in Alaska and loves it enough to spend his life there. I miss him but I know that the hunting opportunities are great. He hunts a lot with a bunch of natives and they all use the .223 Rem. He uses a .270 with 130 gr. at 3100 fps and all of his friends consider him crazy over-gunned. Another female friend works at a remote fly in only hunting camp and she says that the .300 Win. Mag. is the rifle shes hears about the most. She will be home in another month and I'll ask her a few more questions about calibers.

I prefer simple and the whisker biscuit is just that. As to accuracy, I installed a whisker biscuit on my indoor target bow and shot the 8 week league and averaged 300-57x exactly the same as my average with my very expensive indoor custom metal launcher rest. The only issue that I have ever had with the whisker biscuit is a noise and that was corrected by using a liquid wax lubricant on my arrows. I haven't used the drop a way's enough to say that they are either better or worse than a biscuit. I've heard very good reports.

If you are an experienced tracker on land that is not much disturbed you will be able to find this deer with patient tracking. Definitely use surveyor tape and carefully scan each inch of the soil around the tape until you pick up the trail again. If your not confident you can find the deer get a tracking dog, don't let the animal go to waste. Good luck in your task.

Very versatile cartridge. Good for any of the game in the lower 48. Black Bear will be no problem if you can shoot well. Good hunting.

Very versatile cartridge. Good for any of the game in the lower 48. Black Bear will be no problem if you can shoot well. Good hunting.

When you are around these losers always keep your head screwed down tight. They have the media on their side and a wrong word will be blown up, expanded and made to seem like you are scum from hell! Talk facts and be straight forward and truth full. I like the idea of bringing financial pressure on advertisers that support these radical and absurd ideas about wildlife management.

I'm gonna go over to the house of one of my neighbors. He's a screaming liberal and maybe he will be able to negotiate with these armed invaders. He's been itching for the chance to show me what a little good faith, face to face will accomplish.

My research shows that Mr. Cass Sunstein to be thoroughly anti-hunting. Rest assured that he will not support or promote any form of favorable advancement for hunters. Call, e-mail or write your senators today!

I can't hunt yet but I did see a doe with three fawns and they were fun to watch.

I do keep a journal but it definitely is not a very scientific type of thing. I write the date and the obvious weather conditions and the prevailing wind. The rest is all my observations of the day. I sometimes note the squirrel that's so darn busy or the size or lack of in the apple crop. I often squawk on the pages about the wandering overwhelming flocks of turkeys and how much food they devour. It's always interesting to go back a few years and relive a few days that you've spent in the forest, the journal helps to bring the details to the light of day once again.

turk gives good advice. I would add that two of the most important aspects of archery are to always shoot your number. This means that when you have a distance to the target animal in your mind don't vary the shot at the last second. Hold the pin as steady as possible and shoot for the exact yardage you believe is correct. The second is the control of the release. Do not get in the habit of punching the trigger! Pull back to the stops( up against the cam stops) and hold there as you aim. Don't let the string creep forward. Keep aiming and squeezing the trigger slowly as you pull back on the stops. You won't even be aware of the arrow release if you do this correctly and you will be amazed at the accuracy potential. Good hunting to you!

I'm going to assume that the difference in accuracy has to do with either the spline or the diameter of the arrows. If both the aluminum and the carbon had the same spline, the aluminum would be weaker because of the longer shaft and the aluminum would sit higher on your rest(because of the diameter) making a different point of impact. Not many bows will mix arrows and shoot both perfectly. Go with accuracy this year and next year tune for the particular arrow that you prefer.

mopedfredd_ I thought that the picture was of you! Time to get new reading glasses I guess!

I can't hunt with my bow this year because of an injury to my shoulder so I have to wait for gun season which doesn't start until the 1st of November. I can't shoulder my rifle and work the bolt and I'm having trouble with my lever actions as well so I'm going to use an old auto loader Rem. 740 in 30-06. I've got my eye on a nice buck. I've seen him for the last few weeks in the same area and I know the land here pretty well. I can't wait.

Yes! Lincolnville is a good area for bucks but it's getting hard to find open land. I know that they are a lot of deer on the islands but I don't really care to hunt there.

The Maine record for body weight is 355 lbs. and was shot quite a few years ago, I think in 1959. The Maine record rack was shot just a few miles from my home and truly is an impressive thing.

tourneyking734 I'm in Waldo county on the coast.

I really can't answer your question because I rarely hunt outside of my home state of Maine but I can tell you that some very heavy bodied bucks come out of Maine. Every year there are a lot of deer 300+lbs tagged here and quite a few in the 320-330 range. We seldom have deer hit the 350lb mark. It's interesting that many of these huge bodied deer have antlers that 150-170lb deer in Texas have. Got to be minerals of some sort.

Lot better pursuit than pot, booze and long term video gaming.

I have been a archer for more than 45 years and I hunt small game as much or more than large game. I believe realistically that I've probably lost more than 100 shot arrows in my life time. I don't believe that I've lost more than 3-5 equipped with broadheads. Most have been lost with judo heads or blunts used for squirrel.

I have used Ivory soap for along time and I don't believe that it is a deterrent to shooting deer. It is the most scent free non-specialized soap that I know of. The bottom line is that your body odor is much more alarming than Ivory soap is to any deer.

Typically the Model 12 was designed around the 2 3/4" shotshell but there were a few made for the 3" shell. I personally have never seen a model 12 12 Ga. that was designed for a shorter cartridge and don't believe that they exist. The same is not true for the 20 ga Model 12 that came with the shorter chamber. You have an excellent shotgun.

I'm with jlfreeborn. Good work editors!

I have had to pull the same Colt Detective Special twice in my life and one time the situation was very serious indeed. I was facing a young man with a Rossi double bbl that was fully loaded. While I held the Colt steady on the man with the shotgun my partner got behind him and wrestled the gun out of his hands and defused the situation. As my partner walked back by me he asked if I was o.k. I said yes and as I lowered the hammer on the Colt I started to shake violently. I've never experienced that shaking before or since. In my opinion it is always better to have a gun and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I truly love hunting in the cold. I don't care what the species is I like the cold. I was always taught that animals will move more in the cold and I believe that is true. I've shot my best bucks at +20 to -5 degrees. Throw in a fresh tracking snow and it doesn't get any better.

I have had the best luck with beagles and the walker is a close second. The English is not a rabbit dog.

Lots of moose have been shot with the 150 gr Remington core-lokt bullets. Pretty inexpensive and highly effective.

I don't know much about muzzle loaders but It sure seems like you've got a bunch of deer around where you hunt!I hear a lot of talk about the Optima, must be a pretty good rifle. Good hunting this fall!

Perfectly honest? My hunting friends don't break any laws. We all decided long ago that we have a very enjoyable activity why mess it up. We're all very careful with firearms and all are dedicated to wildlife and all obey the game laws that apply. It's the only way to go.

Ignore- Maybe I should go back to school!

Igore them. Their condemnation of us is the only life that they have.

I don't think that you can buy a better auto than the rem. 1100. I know that there are newer designs but this is one shotgun that has stood the test of time.

I certainly believe that the 22 lr will kill a coyote but the range had better be very short for consistent kills. I have personally never shot or shot at a coyote with the 22 rimfire although I believe that some of the newer rounds like the Velocitor, 40 gr. bullet at 1400 fps, make this a better game getter.

Buy a 22 mag. and you will never be sorry. This is a rifle round that I have used all of my life and I have one of these rifles in my truck everyday. I've shoot deer, coyote, bobcat, fox and tons of other critters with this round and have always been pleased with the results. The 22 mag is not a long range round. You can use it successfully at 100 yards but beyond that I really don't believe that it will get the job done with regularity and consistency. I mentioned that I've shot deer with this round but I certainly don't consider it a deer rifle, stick to a larger round for good results. I believe that the slower 40 gr hp is the bullet for this round. The lighter bullets are faster and one in particular(Win 34 gr hp) is the most accurate round I've ever shot in a 22 Mag. but they don't seem to have the same penetration. The last 5 coyote I've shot with the 22 Mag. have been taken with the Win. 40 gr hp and all have been completely pass through shots. All have been within 80 yards. Good luck to you!

Either they are extremely difficult to hunt or hunters are not interested in harvesting these animals. I hope that it's the former.

I would because I have a good working relationship with all but one of my neighbors, but if the property were posted or you had been told to stay off I'd let the buck walk. In Maine shooting that deer would be perfectly legal if you wanted to do it. All you would have to do is call the local warden to go and get your deer.

Good work F&S. Glad to see them gone!

In my opinion deer do not like moving in the heavy wind. I've never had any success hunting in the hard wind and it's especially difficult to make a good archery shoot in the wind. I'd stay home.

Clay is right. The tracker is probably not allowed to kill the deer. The hunter has to be with the tracker in most states and I can't imagine why not in all states. The tracking dog is a good decision for many situations.The deer would belong to the hunter.

Every small store in Maine seems to have a buck contest going on. I've never entered one but the pots get pretty big. Most achieve the $1000.-2000. mark. There was one a few years ago that had newspaper headlines because he left the nuts on the bucks and he won the contest by less than 1 lb.

Peep sight do not easily fall out. In most case where a sight falls out the bow limbs have been backed out to the point where tension is no longer able to hold the sight in place. You should also have quite a few twists in your string make it round to the touch, this helps with holding the peep in place as well. If you have a peep with a tube, the tube could be to short and stretching out to much at full draw. Either way you have a person doing the work that doesn't know enough to help you. I'd look for a competent technician to help you and then learn to do the work yourself.

I was gonna complain about the new $5.00 fee but it looks like we've been getting away pretty cheap!

The inside will never be as clean as the outside of the case.

What is there to say Del? You've impacted a young man life for the good. How many of us can say that? Great job!

What is there to say Del? You made a difference in a life. How many of us can say that we've done that. You're a credit to the hunting fraternity. Great job!

Easy one. Get into the woods and hunt! You'll never get the big one sitting on the sofa!

The soldiers are treated or diagnosed by a military hospital doctor, how could you expect anything different that the outcome that they now have? Our soldiers deserve the very best and they receive the very worst. Military hospitals are the epitome of what is wrong with anything run by the government. It seems apparent that there is a problem with the water supply at Camp Lejeune. A private investigation here is the answer, the government will never come clean without a push from the outside.

If I came across a young cat Bobcat, lynx, Cougar etc. I'd enjoy the look and then go about my business. When I was a very young man I shot a Fox kitten, maybe a month old, and I've never forgotten what I did. I can tell you the details of this event more than any of the 20 odd nice bucks that I've shot. I shot a completely defenseless animal that had not developed any of the survival skill necessary to make him fair play. Probably not the way that everyone will feel but to me it wasn't right.

I'm with hunterkid94. I'm interested as well. Please,some of you computer people help.

The choice of available bullets is the deciding factor if you handload in favor of the 280. If you don't handload the 270 is the better choice. Less expensive ammo and availability in every backwater shop in the world.

How have you determined that the profile name is Caroline TC. Help me out here I'm basically computer illiterate.

In my opinion just another misguided loser with absolutely no concern for wildlife.

Isn't there something that we can do about this lowlife. Posting by "Visitor" are becoming common and have nothing to do with our site and could be dangerous. I'm simply trying to get to the report button.

There are certainly different styles of hunting and we all use our preferred or locally accepted method. Hunting with dogs, driven deer, fruit trees, tree stands or food plots. It really makes no difference as long as it's legal and we conduct ourselves in a professional manner.

Good solid decision! Good luck hunting this fall!

The Savage actions have always been very capable to build on. I once had a Savage 112 that would shoot 1/2" easily straight from the box.

Many times when I was a young boy. My father was a meat hunter and laws meant nothing to him at all. He was raised to provide food for his large family and he did that the most efficient way possible. My brother and I knew nothing different and did as we were told. He would always have us sit by a berry tree or a fruit tree very quietly with a single bbl 12 ga. As grouse would come to the tree to feed we were no allowed to shoot until at least two were sure to be taken. Many times three would be the take. We would be in for a serious lesson if we came home with only one and could not convince our father that one is all that was present that evening. That was 50+ years ago and my philosophy about hunting and game laws are considerably different now but to be honest I do not regret those times. I saw a lot and learned a lot, both about game animals and myself.

I agree totally with country road, your efforts on behalf of Wes has been inspiring. God bless you for what you've done! It's gotten to the point where if I don't see mention of your on going adventure with Wes I'm disappointed! I also thing that Cabelas is a class outfit.

Good luck to you. I respect your service. Do the very best that you can, I know that you will. I'll look forward to hearing from you.

At fifty yards, if you can shoot well, I think that it is enough gun. Beyond this yardage I wouldn't try it. Many years ago I did some testing with the 357 Mag to determine penetration and I was very disappointed with the results.

Pretty impressive set of chompers! Hate to have that baby clamp on to my arm!

I have the best luck with this project using a liquid spray called "blaster". Spray with the blaster and let set for 20 minutes or so and then use the proper wrench. If the wrench slip, go with another shot of blaster and wait again and then use an American made vise grip. If this fail you should see a gunsmith and have him drill the nipple out careful and then resharpen the threads with the proper tap. Make sure that there is not a charge in the breech if the smith has to use a drill. Good luck to you.

My portable blind is only netting and I always take it with me.

I gut my deer as soon as he's shot and get the hide off as soon as I get him hung up. I usually cut the meat the following day. When I was a kid my dad would let the deer hang with the hide off all winter and we would cut the meat off as we needed it.

Bioguy- Maine is starting to get Lynx now. The first that I have record of is about seven years ago(verified sighting)and then again about 2 years ago one was run over in my county and the warden service determined that is was in deed a lynx. Good to have them here but they are certainly not cougars.

There has never been a sighting that has been varified or proven in my life time in my state of Maine. There are hundreds that claim to see a lion every year but none can produce tracks or any other evidence. Maine has a huge Bobcat population and every year hunters with very good hounds come to my state to hunt Bobcats. None of these hunters have ever treed a cougar or even cut a Cougar track let alone see such an animal. This is over the last 60 years that I've been interested in this animal. I believe that it's safe to say that there are none here.

I've always thought that if the wildlife service has the data to support the longer season than who are we to disagree. Most of the season length data is hard evidence and not simply conjecture on the part of some bureaucrat. The people who disagree with wildlife scientists and their suggestions about season time tables and bag limits are usually anti-hunting zealots with no concern for wildlife.

I just read her drivel again. What a dimwit! I bet that this womans hairy knuckles drag on the ground! Dumbass lucy sets herself up as some sort of moral authority on a subject that she knows absolutely nothing about, wildlife and it's management. I'm sure that "dimwit" know bunches more than the entire fish and wildlife service. God, her parents must be proud!

These are weak brain dead people who have no life and have serious envy issues. Low lives!

I sure agree about still hunting in a light rain. The noise is way down and your scent is easier to deal with. I've shot my 8 of my best bucks in a light rain.

I too believe that this is anti-hunter crap. Low lifes!

I'm not crazy about rapidly expanding bullets. I've always prefered a controlled expansion. I know that this sound off base for a game bullet but that is my preference from long years of use. The Sierra's, Noslers, and most of the Speer's have all had controlled expansion and exhibit tremendous result on game animals with very rapid kills and solid blood trails. I used to shoot some Berger's at the bench with good results but never at game.

A bow 's poundage is always listed at the max. A 70# bow will drop to 60#.

I suggest a 30-30 Winchester. There are so many people that write this cartridge off and for no good reason. Many of them have never shot the 30-30 on game and only repeat what they have heard. If you keep your shots to reasonable yardages you will have tremendous success with this round. I've shot many deer with the 30-30 and a few black bear and they have all collapsed on the shot. I have also seen one moose shot at 60 yards with the 170 gr 30-30 round and he took one step and tumbled over. Ammo is cheap and the rifles that shoot this round are light weight and a real joy to carry. Also the rapid rate of fire from a experienced lever action used has to be seen to be believed. I don't believe that a better walking and carrying rifle exists than the 94 Win. in 30-30.

I feel that the 410 is an expert tool and not typically the best shotgun to start a young person with but there are certainly exceptions like the kids that MLH mentioned.

I'm with the posters above me. Never heard of the tool your talking about but would certainly give it the once over if I could find one. As a side note I truly love my Supertool and it's got to be 10-11 years old.

Sorry-risk.

If the blood supply to the tumor is stopped or reduced doesn't it also bear the rise of stopping blood flow to other non-cancer organs or tissue?

On both my Rem. 22-250 and my Custom Mauser 25-06 I have 3-9 Leupold scopes. I have fixed power scopes on the other rifles. I think you can get great use out of either one if you simply get used to what is on a particular rifle.

I've always hunted with receiver sights and believe to this day that they are the best short range sight in the woods. Sadly I can not longer see this type of sight so I have to use a scope.

Nationwide the lead shot bans on waterfowl began in 90-91. There were a few states that came in earlier. I fear that the waterfowl lead ban may be soon expanded to include all bullets even though there has never been a study that can prove the supposed harmful effect from ingestion. I've shot a ton of game and have never bitten into a bullet except for the rare pellet in a rabbit or grouse.

I'd go for "D".

Lucy is a very disturbed and truly an ignorant woman. She will drift through life with no direction and she will fall for every deceitful lie and deception that she hears. Some people in this world are destined to be incapable sheep, never seeing or comprehending reality. Lucy is one of those very sad stories. The very best that you can do is feel sorry for her. She has nothing inside of her, she will never participate in life.

Truly one of the very best med. bore rifles around. It has fallen out of favor for some foolish reason but no fault to the cartridge. I believe that this is an excellent deer/black bear rifle.

Ke=MxV2/450,240. Take the arrow weight time times velocity of the arrow(squared)and divide that amount by 450,240.

Ke=MxV2/450,240. Take the arrow weight time times velocity of the arrow(squared)and divide that amount by 450,240.

The Accelerator is a very bad idea for a rifle round. None that I shot when I still had my gun shop would shoot accurately and that includes a lot of ammo.

Country road-you're cracking me up!

There are no benefits to buy or using this ammo. I have never seen any that shoot well. Stick with the proper sized bullet for the bore you choose.

I'm with you Hunt_Hard. I sure hope that he found his elk.

Make sure the bow fits you well and use a cut on contact broadhead. Shoot a lot and make each shot in your practice sessions count. Tuning is very important. If you don't know how to set up and manage a bow seek out a professional shop. You'll do fine with this bow.

We hunted one fall day with the the girl friend of one of the guys we knew very well. She was supposed to be a good hunter and careful according to her boyfriend. She discharged the lever action she was using while she was loading it, pointed the barrel in the direction of a man to her left and was so consistently careless with her carry and pointing that my brother and I left. I do not believe in taking any chances with firearms.

And the 270.

22 rimfire,22 mag. 223,22-250,243,25-06,7-08,7mm Mag,30-30, 308, 30-06, 300 WM, 338, 375 h&h, 458. These rifle cartridges will be around as long as there are hunting rifles.

I'm with the other guys. I don't mind hunting in the rain unless it's a downpour.

I replace my string every year and the cables every other year if I'm shooting alot. You certainly can go longer intervals of change if you shoot heavier arrows. For instance, a 7 gr. per lb. arrow will not tax the string nearly as much as will a 5 gr. per lb. arrow. A heavier combination of arrow and hunting head is typically much easier on the entire bow. I have always preferred the lighter weight arrow combination's and have shot app. 5.5 gr. per lb. for many years.

In my neck of the woods it's to late to plant anything but in the spring I always plant clover. The deer here will dig through 1 1/2 ft of snow to get at the clover.

A driving rain will make it very difficult to track but damp for me has never been any kind of an issue. I have recovered lots of deer in a light rain. I think that your hunting partner is nuts. Good luck this fall!

I agree with the 22-250 crowd. I believe that if any rifle was designed for one critter it would have to be the 22-250 and the coyote. I can easily hit water filled balloons at 400 yards with my rifle on a calm day. The 22-250 is the ultimate in an accurate long range rifle and I don't think any coyote would walk away from a solid hit from near or far.

Your effort in finding this animal, in my opinion, is what separates a man from a boy. Don't give up and exhaust every avenue to recover this magnificent elk. Get into the woods and get help if you need it but don't give up! Good luck.

Ask him how that "dialing it" has been working for him lately. That one of the better ones I've heard in a while. Get the stuffed crust from Pizza hut!

Excellent interview. You handled this just the way that you should have. You're a credit to the hunting community.

Keep your chin up and keep quiet, they'll show up eventually. I've gone weeks at a time and not seen deer and then will see 35 in three or four days. Deer don't always operate on your schedule.

I hope that you're a young man! Oak trees don't start to produce acorns until they are 20+ years old and many won't produce that early. We have primarily Red Oak here in Maine and the deer prefer the White Oak so if you do decide to plant go with the white. If you find a tree that really produces the acorns you should cherish it. All types of wildlife love acorns!

This is good news for hunters and just the way that it should be. There is nothing wrong with game management. This tool is used successfully in all civilized societies and has maintained our wildlife at healthy levels for sustainable populations.

Mr Wilson told the truth, he did lie! It is difficult for anyone to have to listen to one lie on top of another lie and not comment. You would probably be chastised for lying on this site by the rest of the crowd, shouldn't we hold our president to at least as tough a standard?

It depends on your comfort level around firearms. Do you know how to properly mount your own scope and to sight the rifle in? Do you know all the pertinent features of the rifle? Do you understand the options with ammo? If your are fully experienced with guns you with be happy with the Wal-Mart purchase. If you need assistance with a lot of these things you will be far better off with the pro shop.

Absolutely full camo for coyote. These are alert and cautious animals and I consider them a trophy. I think for the use you will get that buckshot is the better choice than a slug. Your best bet in the Northeast would be calling although I've had luck lately by simply walking slowly and pausing and paying carefully attention to the winds. We seem to have more coyote here in Maine than I have ever seen. They will always circle and come in toward your call with the wind in their face. I have never seen even one come to a call without adjusting their track for the wind.You can play this to your advantage if you're carefull with your setup when calling. You will never be able to disguise your human scent but you can sometime confuse a coyote by using a mixture of skunk and fox urine in a spray bottle and misting all around your stand site. Good luck to you.

Whitetail deer are pretty much the same where ever they are found. Their habits in Maine will probably be the same as the habits they have in Michigan of Mississippi. The only differences will be the terrain that they frequent. Knowing the area that you plan on hunting, from intense scouting, is the most important aspect to putting deer meat on the table.

The average price for 20 rounds of Remington Core-lokt, either 270 or 308, at Wal-Mart last year was $12.95. I don't know what they will be this year because there is no ammo up here in Maine. This Remington ammo is very good(some will say it is not good ammo and they are wrong)and I have seen more deer, bear and moose shot with Remington "Green Box" than any other.

If you trying to catch a deer going from a feeding to a bedding area you will have to be in place very early in my opinion. If you don't know the direction of deer travel you could have a problem with your scent drifting in the wrong direction. I would advise you to get in early and make sure your scent is going away from the way you think the deer will come.

In my opinion there is no practical difference between these two fine calibers. You will be well served by either one.

If you hunt with a rimfire or a bow the rangefinder is a very good idea. With a high power flat shooting rifle the need for a rangefinder is certainly not as great. With a flat shooting rifle you can sight in to be in the kill zone easily from 50 yards to 300 yards. How can the range finder help with that? Buy more ammo and practice at the various yardages you plan to shoot.

I'm a Rem. man and have nothing bad to say about the 1100. Excellent service and light recoil.

I would load a 150 Nosler at about 2900 fps and never look back. I normally use H4895 in my 308 and can get more than that velocity with no signs of pressure and excellent accuracy. For some reason people seem to write off the 308 Winchester. Bad mistake.

Nice shot! Your my hero! I could try that shot for a week and never make it.

For noisy bows I've always thought that string puffs are the best. They will slow a bow down slightly but not enough to make an impact on the terminal performance.

Keep your nose in the books. Be focused. Your education is more important than you think. Good luck to you at school and hunting this fall!

I once watched a big deer tearing a cedar tree all to shreds and all the while he was grunting like a pig. I actually thought that the grunts were exertion sounds like the sounds some tennis players make when they hit the ball. I've also heard a different sound made by a good sized buck when he was interested in a doe. This was a deeper and shorter grunt and he made the sound with his nose close to the ground as he walked along. When he stopped walking he didn't make the grunt sound, only when he was on the move.

Doughnuts with molasses poured over the top. Pastries are the best bait that we have ever used. Highly successful once you get them to show up the first time.

When the chisel was screwed together it was about 6' tall. Sorry for the second posting.

My dad always used a ice chisel. His was two pieces that screw together. The bottom was much heavier than the top. The edge of the chisel was razor sharp and he could open up a hole of any size in a few heavy blows. I still have that old chisel and the leather sheath that he made for the edge. You have to have a metal ring welded to the top of the chisel to hold a rope strap that goes around your wrist in case the chisel gets away as you first break through the ice.

I typically use my rifles as is from the factory.

i would keep the gun that travels with me everyday and sets by my bed post every night. Its a Winchester Model 61 22 Mag. I rarely have need for a bigger rifle. I may actually retire this rifle soon, after 40 + years and use my Rem. 597 more. I don't mine taking the Rem. out in the bad weather as much.

I had the opportunity to shoot a Guardian last year and thought that this was an extremely fine shooting bow and very fast. There was no noticeable hand shock and the bow shooting at 5.5 gr per lb was whisper quiet. The accuracy was excellent and I shot a very nice 20 yard target, if memory serves me, 300-58x. I would not hesitate to recommend this bow to you.

Keep up the good work Del. Got a lot of respect for you.

I've always put the trash where a dog doesn't have access but Beekeepers idea sound as if it would work. I've never heard of doing this mouse trap thing before.

I've never seen the need for a 10 yard pin. I'll go with the 20-50. Even if you don't care to shoot deer at 50 yards it's still good to shoot on targets and you'll learn to hold better by practice at this yardage.

I agree with cooner. Use your fingers as long as you can. I shot fingers all of my life and regret having to change but it will happen to everyone as they get old.

Wolves will be everyplace within 20-30 years. I hate to be a kill joy but I believe that we are better off without them.

Carter Target 4. This release was suggested to me by a very serious shooter when my fingers became way to overused. Reluctantly I made the switch and the transition was immediate. This is a thumb release that you grasp with your entire hand. I've build a wrist sling onto mine for when I'm walking or stump shooting and simply lock it and leave in locked onto my string loop when I'm in the tree or ground blind. This is a high end release and a life time purchase. Do not be afraid of the sound of locking the device onto your string. I have never lost any animal because of this sound.

I have never considered weather when I'm going hunting. The only day that I typically don't hunt is high winds or extremely hard rain.

In the late fall and winter I skin and sell the fur. It's certainly not the market that it used to be but better than simply tossing them away. The very light colored hair bring more money than the darker ones or at least I've done better with those. Skinning, if you have done it, is a difficult and time consuming job.

I too prefer the fixed blade heads. I've used Thunderheads most of the time and find no fault with them.

Best tool would be a curved adz if you can find one. This tool is like a curved ax and the blade sits horizontal not vertical. They work great for the type of work your talking about. Probably very hard to find in good shape. Cooner as always has good advise, the proper chainsaw will do very good work if you have the skill and desire to undertake this job.

The only Johnny Stewart tape that has worked on coyote for me is the dying woodpecker. We hang a feather or piece of fur on a branch and use monofilament to make it jump around a bit. We've been very successful on fox with this setup and to a lesser amount successful on coyote. I've never had a single coyote answer the rabbit distress that I have. I once called a coyote in with the little crying mechanism from a broken toy doll.That one was one of my many unsuccessful attempts to shoot a coyote with a bow

We pay fish and game departments to manage wildlife. They say that its time to control the wolf population through a limited hunting season. Everyone benefits here. There are no losers. Ranchers and farmers will have a slightly easier time raising livestock. Hunters will have a chance at a magnificent trophy. Wolf populations will become more wary of man and will continue to thrive. State coffers will be infused with needed cash. Campers and hikers will be safer doing their thing. Where is the negative in this deal?

Good to have you back but it's probably a brief visit. Hope your paying attention in school. Muzzy's are great heads and I like them a lot but don't rule out Thunderheads. I love the way that they tune and fly and nothing comes out the the box sharper.

For light rust you can usually remove most with WD-40 and some hard rubbing with your hand. Let the WD soak for awhile, maybe 20 minutes, and then simply rub.

Good news for the good guys!

Good news for the good guys!

I think that most trap guns are Improved modified, or full. Most are on the tight side.

Cooner- If your response was for me, I'm not kidding. My story is just the way it happened. I certainly thought that the choke would be damaged severely but it didn't play out that way. There was no damage that I could see with a magnifying glass and the choke screwed in with no play in any direction. There was no sign of lead in the threads only plastic.

I'm in the process of buying a muzzle loader and this has been a very interesting posting.

We've had the best luck training young beagles by running them with an older patient dog. If the older dog is not available we will hunt with the pup until we kick out a rabbit and put him on the track. If he see the rabbit usually the deal is done. After a few times like this you usually will have pretty good success. My family hunts rabbits all winter long and we have had very good luck with this method.

This situation happened to me when I still ran my gun shop. An older man came into my store after shooting his Rem. with the choke out. He had shot about 14-15 #8 shot cartridges. The threads were full of the plastic from the shot cups. I had a Rem. choke tap and carefully run the tap into the threads to clear them out. There was no permanent damage to the threads and the choke when back in place easily. I believe that steel shot or big buckshot would have been a different story and probably would have ruined the choke. This is definitely not a good practice.

This situation happened to me when I still ran my gun shop. An older man came into my store after shooting his Rem. with the choke out. He had shot about 14-15 #8 shot cartridges. The threads were full of the plastic from the shot cups. I had a Rem. choke tap and carefully run the tap into the threads to clear them out. There was no permanent damage to the threads and the choke when back in place easily. I believe that steel shot or big buckshot would have been a different story and probably would have ruined the choke. This is definitely not a good practice.

Assuming that you have a spark method and nothing else I have always used the fine birch bark fiber rolled together loosely. They will catch any spark and make a good fire. You will certainly have to be ready with other very dry and burnable material to maintain the fire after you get the bark burning. Dry weeds and dry pine branches are good material for this. I never go into the woods without my waterproof matches and several Vaseline soaked strips of cloth in a plastic bag. Very good insurance.

There are a lot of good products out there. I prefer Mathews but that a personal thing, you may like the feel and performance of another bow. What ever you buy I would suggest that you stay with a single cam model. Over the long haul they are much easier to maintain and shoot.

You've already have the answer to getting bucks. If you have does on your hunting area you will have and probably do have bucks. If you consistently see does the bucks will be around.

When I still had a 30 yard indoor range and ran leagues we had this stabilizer argument and decided to shoot an entire week long league without any stabilizers. I can't remember the exact results but the overall performance was down slightly, not enough to be any factor at all in hunting. For instance, the guy who would normally shoot 295-40X might wind up with 294-38x. Remember that this is on very small dot targets. On a hunting bow I really don't think that a stabilizer is of a whole lot of value. If your bow is not properly silenced they could make a difference in noise level and that alone might be a help. I think that a stabilizer might help a novice shooter more than a long term confident shooter.

I use fiberglass electric fence posts. They don't cost much and are very durable. White was the only color I could get so I painted them dark green. I grind the ends of the bottoms to a reasonable point and then bolt them together and adjust for a sitting position. Mine are over twenty years old and are in perfect condition. I always use them in my ground blind.

I really like the idea of a primitive season where either longbows and recurves or flintlocks and regular percussion rifles would be allowed. I really believe that inline muzzle loaders are in a totally separate class. I don't shot these guns but have many friends that do and some can make 200 yard groups that will rub up against the average centerfire rifle.

Mr. Obama is the legitimate President of the United States because a majority of the voters of this country voted for him. I, like the others, really want to keep the answer section of this web site for hunting, fishing etc. The "backlash and blowback" part of the message board is the place where political comment is welcomed.

The answer is no. Simply shooting with your fingers can't cause the arrow to drift. You can plunk the string and that will cause erratic flight as mention by cooner. The oscillation of your arrow will be to the riser and then back in a violent motion if you have a good release with fingers. I've shot with the best in the Northeast and the finger shooters will shoot with all but the very best of the release shooters. If you learn to push the bow forward and pull continually through the shot you will be amazed at the accuracy you can achieve with your fingers.The biggest cause of "drift" is collapse before the release, meaning that you pull up to the stops and then you relax a little and let the cams move slightly forward. Typically the arrow will slide to the right a lot for a right handed shooter. You can eliminate this slide by holding hard against the stops and keep mentally telling yourself to"be strong". Try what I suggest and you won't be disappointed.

The best advice ever given to me about deer hunting was "hunt with your eyes not your feet". If you still hunt never take more than 2 steps with out thoroughly searching every inch of land around you. If you stand hunt be absolutely quiet and as motionless as you can possibly be.

None of my senators even knew what a gun show is!

It is illegal here in Maine but I personally don't see much wrong with this method. We hunt apple trees and acorn stands and clover patches all the time, what is this but a form of baiting?

Don't beat yourself up over this mistake. It's a good lesson and I know that you will make sure of your target from here on out. You show character in your concern.

Kids should be taught by their parents to hunt and the state government should mind their own business.

Kids should be taught by their parents to hunt and the state government should mind their own business.

You simply can't beat the bacon wrap! I don't think that there is a better recipe. Woks equally as well with woodcock and grouse.

Certainly not the end of the species I've been reading about. These self proclaimed environmental saviors of all things living virtually have nothing on their side except emotions. Reality doesn't mean anything to them only their perception of harmony with all things wild. What was the harvest goal 220? I bet that we don't make it.

Good pictures! I've seen does really going for it before and they don't play around. I saw one doe swing her neck fast enough and hard enough to stagger both her and the doe she was fighting with. Can you imagine what she could have done to a human opponent?

Never having shot a muzzleloader with the exception of my friends flintlock my comment is not taken from a wealth of information. My very serious muzzle loader friend who shoots the flintlock is into the loading process immediately after the shot with the precise movements of a brain surgeon. He has practiced the loading sequence extensively and leave no motion unused. He is very capable with this Hatfield rifle and uses it for all species that he hunts.

Great photos of your family. Keep it up and maybe your children will enjoy shooting through out their lives.

In Maine your gun would probably bring $90-125.00 but I think that if my grandfather gave me a gun it would belong to my son or daughter some day. I have many ,many guns but my dads old model 12 with no finish and scratched wood always gets the call when I'm in the woods. I still have my great uncles old single barrel that has to be very close to 100 years old. Don't sell your family guns, someday they will be very important to you.

I'm having wicked problems with my eyes and the receiver sight on my favorite deer rifle. I've been researching battery operated dot sights that will mount forward of the receiver on my 94 Winchester and can be shot with both eyes fully open. There are a bunch of them available and I'm just now studying all of the specs. to make a wise choice. Because of the top eject feature of the 94 you will have to have the barrel drilled and tapped to take care of the mounting. This is a relatively easy job because of the flat receiver. You can expect to pay $10-15.00 per hole and you will need four. Be careful about value on some of the older rifles. Good pre64 94s are bringing very good money today. Good hunting this fall.

I'm a big fan of "stump" shooting with a group of friends. Unknown distance and awkward positions and money on the line as well as the scorn and ridicule of the group will make you concentrate like no other method I've ever tried. We all use judo points for this style of shooting. We have to pick hole through brush,shoot steep down hill angles and shoot from our knees with a hard lean to the left, etc. This type of shooting is the single best practice for any type of game shooting.

I've always found that hunting transition areas work the best for me. Where hardwood turns to softwood in a clearly defined way has produced the best for me over the years. If I'm hunting from a portable this is usually where I would set up. I certainly believe that KYLE is right about funnels as well.

Wonko- you poor pathetic thing! Only a crazy man lives in the east! I live in Maine and the liberals are taking over this place. There has been talk of introducing wolves in Maine, but at any of the public meetings the nays were loud, vocal and many in number. Nothing has been brought up for a few years now.

Remember that your compound bow can't be shot with fingers and release-one or the other. The oscillation of the arrow when released with fingers is hard right and then left. The oscillation with a release is straight down and then up. Your rest has to be made for one or the other.

I've been posting comments in more papers than I ever knew existed. The western papers seem to support the shooting of the wolf in general, but the liberal eastern papers are less generous and some of the LA Times comments are absurd. As a personal note idahooudoors, that wolf is the pretty one in your picture!

buckhunter-Great answer+1

I hunted with and sold PSE bows for many years and found them to be great bows that rarely had issues. Pete Shepley always stood behind every bow that he ever sold. I won 4 individual state championships with a Pse Infinity model and retired the bow. I shoot a Mathews now but would always consider a PSE if I were shopping for a new bow.

I hunted with and sold PSE bows for many years and found them to be great bows that rarely had issues. Pete Shepley always stood behind every bow that he ever sold. I won 4 individual state championships with a Pse Infinity model and retired the bow. I shoot a Mathews now but would always consider a PSE if I were shopping for a new bow.

I do believe that you have little to fear and usually it's a great experience to see a black bear in the wild. That being said, I believe that I would carry an adequate rifle if I were walking or working in the area. 007 said it pretty good-always better to have it!!

Clay gives you good advice. Shoot buckshot through a choke with less restriction. The turkey chokes are designed to use small shot that won't bridge in the choke. The best chokes I believe for buckshot is usually Imp. Modified or full.

For a shotgun that will be used moderately I believe that they are OK. Under heavy use I would make another choice. When I ran my gun shop the sears were a issue with either the shotguns or the lever rifles. I have no experience with the handguns.

Rifled slugs are designed for a smooth bore shotgun. Shoot all you want. Good hunting this fall!

I think that a better sight setting would be 20-30-40-50-60. You have your pins to close together to be effective. You will probably get confused with pins set like your if the big one actually does step out in front of you. Try the 20 thru 60 setting and you will be pleased with the results. Good hunting this fall!

PETA is simply a group of very radical left wing nut jobs. Most of these people could not light a campfire, pitch a tent or paddle a canoe. They are inadequate in every way so they have to have a cause to make them feel as though they have a reason to be alive and this is the cause they have chosen. They don't care about the animals, they care about the cause.

More than likely you have taught your self to shoot a bow at a cant. Your bow needs to be perfectly plumb in order to shoot pins. The best way to teach you to hold the bow plumb is with a properly installed level set into your sight. Not all shops know how to set a level.An easy way to do this for you would be a plumb and level door jamb. Make sure the door jamb is plumb by using a level and then hold the limbs of your bow against the jamb and adjust your new level while someone is holding the bow firmly in place. Simply learn to look quickly at the level as you place your pin on the target and all of your arrows will fall in a straight line. Good hunting to you.

In order to be comfortable with a release you have to have a comfortable and solid anchor that is usually much lower on your face than a traditional string bow anchor. An anchor that is used a great deal by target release shooters is to turn the knuckles up and split the first and second fingers with the jaw bone and the two rear knuckles will drop into place at the rear of the jaw bone line. You may have to turn your palm outward to get the proper feel of this anchor. Don't give up it works very well. As for the the tuning, if the bow doesn't fit you, you will never shoot it well.

I have seen bucks bed in the same area for multiple years if they have not been driven out. A quality bedding area will be used by another animal if the previous user has been killed. We have a particular spot on our land that over the years has produced probably 30 nice bucks. This spot has everything that they consider necessary to survival. Food, water, cover,comfort, sun and multiple escape routes are what bucks will typically be drawn too.

There are very few days in my neck of the woods where spot and stalk would be successful. The cover is very thick and the ground is fully covered with leaves. You would have to carefully choose your days for this sort of adventure. I done it and it's very rewarding but not at all easy.

Finding time to hunt is always a problem for me because it seems that everyone waits for fall to do all of the things to their homes that we could do easily in the summer time. That being said, my policy has been the same for as long as I've been in business, if your my employee you had better get used to shutting down for the first two weeks of November!! If you've been with me for two or more years it paid for.

Clay I sure think that you have your finger on the pulse of this administrations policies.

Don't let the sniveling worms of society get to you. These people are so far removed from life and the realities of it that I have to hide my disrespect whenever I have to deal with one. I envy you for your successful hunt. I saw the pictures and can only offer my congratulations once again. Keep your chin high, you're the good guy here.

Muzzle brakes are one of the most useless inventions in the firearm industry. Loud, huge flash and does nothing for accuracy. A gimmick.

Albino deer are legal game here in Maine and If one presents a good killing shot within my comfort range I'm taking that shot.

I do not know or have not heard of non-lead ammo in this caliber. I would have to say that it is not available.

I'd like to know the weight of the animal. Judging by the rifle appearance I'd guess in the 70-75 lb range. Great job! I wish I could have been with you.

Go to page 47 in the answers section and read about the shotgun tests we did just a few weeks ago.

It's typical to assume that the full choke would be the way to go but this can be a bad assumption. I have seen some loads in a modified choke out perform the fulls and extra fulls by a considerable margin. You really have to match the choke to the load that you will be using. I suggest that you buy a few five round boxes of buckshot and shoot them at a 12"x12" target at forty yards to see what they will do. You may be surprised by what happens.

I love the whisker biscuit. They can be a bit noisy at times. I've always got around that by polishing my arrows. They slide through with no sound at all. It is the most fool proof rest that I've ever used.

Yes. I'm surrounded by very liberal people and listening is never wrong. Their talk may reinforce what you believe or could cause you to rethink a stance. I listen to what Bella has to say.

I just re-read your posting. Unless Fletchtite has changed the formula you should wait a lot longer than 8 minutes for it to set. I wouldn't touch them for twenty minutes at least.

I'm in for the $10.00

You should lightly sand the shafts and clean with denatured alcohol. The base of each vane should be cleaned as well. Make sure when you seat the base of the vane onto the arrow that it is flat This method has worked for me for a long time successfully.

If the court acts on the evidence and statistics from fish and wildlife authority you will have the limited hunting. If they act on emotions probably not. Good luck with this one.

I have shot more animals with the 100 gr Thunderhead than any other on the market. They have never failed me. Excellent cost and availability.

We're a long way apart but up here in Maine that gun would bring $225-250 in good average condition. I've been listening, you're doing a good thing with that young man.

Congratulations on your new press. The Rockchucker is an excellent product and will last for a life time. MLH left no stone unturned and his response was well though out. I would urge you to have as many manuals as you can afford and to cross reference them to find what you are looking for. They will vary a tremendous amount in the information that they provide. Start with a reasonable powder charge and work your way up, always being alert to pressure signs. A flatten primer is a sure sign of excessive pressure. Another serious indicator of pressure is a hard bolt lift. Remember also that the hottest load is not always the load that will perform the best accuracy wise from the rifles. Keep your work bench clean and be very consistent with each step of the loading process. Reloading your own ammo is very rewarding and an excellent way to shoot more for less.

Once my customers had shot their bow enough to stretch the new string, usually 50-100 shots, I would always reset the peep sight and tie the peep in place. Depending on the quality of the string and the material used in the manufacture this might be enough to work with out a return to the shop. With factory strings, on most bows, this 50-100 arrows would not be enough and the peep would have to be reset. With a high grade custom string, and all talk of custom strings start with Shooter Choice, or a quality 8125 or 452 synthetic made by a professional shop and pre-stretched before attachment, you will have no issues with unwanted peep rotation or movement. If you don't know how to take care of some of these minor issues you really have to find someone who is qualified and close enough to help you. I believe the most qualified archery shops are those that cater to target shooters either 3-D or indoor paper punchers. They will typically see more string and cable issues in a month than a hunting shop will see in a year. Remember that a properly made and twisted string will be round and will require very little tying to hold the peep in place.

In my opinion 1" with factory ammo is very good shooting. To do better you will probably have to handload. I like the Core Lokt bullet an awful lot. I've seen lots of deer, moose and black bear that have been taken with this bullet. I have no experience with the Federal Fusion.

My hunting knife is older than me by quite a few years. It was given to me by a man who was many years my senior. He worn the knife throughout most of his life and I've had it now for 39 years. It was hand made in Germany of high carbon steel with a leather handle. The blade is getting slightly worn now and the steel is no longer shiny. It holds a wonderful edge and God willing will one day belong to my son. Lesson here is- always buy the very best that you can afford and take good care of it and it will probably serve you very well.

berky is right on. Rest the forestock on the bags and never the barrel. If you use sand bags and your right handed use your left hand to hold the rear bag in place ans wiggle the bag just a bit to adjust.

I've never heard of this one. tony167n may have the answer about resting the barrel and not the forestock on the bench.

I'm old so I'm more comfortable with what's been around all my life and that's wood. I do prefer a smooth well made wooden handle. I have a few Cold Steel knives with a rubber grip that's pretty comfortable to use. cold Steel

I would not let them hang. I would dress them off as soon as I got home.

I think that you should swap the scope out. If you don't have another scope that you have confidence in try to borrow one from a friend. Keep trying and keep posting.

In Maine we count all the points. Four points on a side you have a eight point buck.

I've had the Johnny Stewart electronic call for many years and it still works to perfection although it doesn't look all that good any more. I have never had any luck at all with rabbit in distress calls. Nothing-nada. I do however have a call by Johnny Stewart that is a dying woodpecker and my friends and I have shot many fox with this call along with a smaller amount of coyote. We have also called in raccoon, bobcat and the occasion house cat with this same call. Good hunting to you!

I truly weep for this poor young woman. Her life has been stolen from her. As God as my judge, if they needed a firing squad I'd have my hand up high.

I find it hard to believe that any bullets will out shoot Sierra's. My 223,22-250 and 25-06 will all shoot sub 1/2" at 100 yards with Sierra.

Yes. What kind of bow are you talking about?

I have the 597 Magnum and initially had many problem with this rifle. I decided to stick with this gun and it is now a extremely accurate and dependable shooting tool. I have never seen an unmodified 10/22 that would shot with an unmodified 597. That being said the dependability of the 10/22 is legendary and well deserved. I really like the look of the new 597 VTR!

That new target is terrible! Is the fore end nut that holds barrel and receiver together tight? Can you feel any play where the barrel sets in the receiver? Your shotgun should definitely shoot much better than this. I assume that the new target is at 40 yards also.

I simply don't like the progressive presses and don't use the ones I currently have. My million year old Rockchucker does about 85% of the work and the very simple Lee Loaders do the rest. Actually I enjoy loading more with the hand loading tools than any thing else. I never shoot hundreds of rounds at a time so quality not quantity are the standard with me.

like most archers I have always shot with a multi- pin sight but now that my eyes are failing the single pin is much easier to use. If I had the choice I would use the multi-pin with 5 pins set 20-60 yards

The penetration issue is not as well defined as it once was. Light weight bows and stick bows will benefit the most from the older style cut on contact models and that is why the cut on contact two blade is still very popular. Actually a very light weight bow with a cut on contact head will penetrate as well as many heavier bows with poorly designed conical heads or slightly dull replaceable tips. As the performance standard has risen on modern compound bows the penetration between sharp replaceable tips and sharp cut on contact heads seems to be virtually the same. My mind was made up in favor of cut on contact heads when we did some test with Muzzys, Thunderheads and Bear razor heads all with a 64 lb compound. In huge blocks of foam the penetration was, for all practical terms the same. With a light weight 38Lb compound bow the penetration with the cut on contact was almost one third more than that of the replaceable tip models.

I have been fortunate enough to actually see a black coyote or possibly a wolf. My crew and I were in a company truck heading to work a 5:15 one fall morning. There were three men in the front seat when this animal leaped into the dirt road. It was absolutely magnificent! We all got a great look before this"coyote" spun and went back into the woods on the same side as he had come from. I believe that this animal would weight somewhere around the 55-60 lb mark and that would be a very big coyote here in Maine. I will never forget this sighting and it truly ranks as one of the most memorable wildlife encounters of my long lifetime.

My father shot 3 coyote in 6 night sitting over the same dead deer. I have one of the old pictures. I have hunted over bait many times and have gotten a few animals but not enough to consider it a good method. I've had better luck calling but that is not a slam dunk either. Coyote are difficult to fool and you had better be alert and pay attention to the wind or you will have zero success.

Beekeeper is exactly right. Claims against rightful owners have been made on particular guns and I know of one case where the longtime owner actually lost his rifle when he carelessly advertised his rifle for sale. I wouldn't take the chance and post the whole number.

I believe that your shotgun simply doesn't like this particular slug. I would try others makers. I know that you earlier said that everything is tight and solid but I would check that over again. Do you have another scope available that you can use as a check against the one on the shotgun. If you do it's very simple to make the change and will rule out one variable. Keep trying and keep posting. Good luck.

I always start by bore sighting and then on to the 25 yard targets. Once the groups are centered at 25 I move right out to 100 yards and zero them dead on at this range. I don't shoot long range so a 100 yard zero is perfect for me. I do have two rifles that I zero at 250 and those are the 25-06 and 22-250. I rarely use either of these rifles for hunting anymore but love to shoot long range with then.

I was a gunsmith for a long time and I've never seen this happen. I would send the gun back to Remington promptly and you will have it back for hunting season.

To my knowledge there is no such thing as cheap 410 shells. The .410 is a pretty expensive firearm to shoot. Handloading is the only way to go with this shotgun. I can usually by two boxes of 12 ga field loads for the cost of one box of .410 field loads but handloads for this gun are very inexpensive to produce and perform as well as factory. You can load them very well with a simple Lee Loader.

I have shot more deer in the evening than any other time of the day. The last 1/2 hr of sunlight is the magic hour for me.

The problem is bluing salts and the issue is improper after bath sequence or duration. After the receiver and barrel is removed from the salts the gun is immersed in a cold water bath and then into a hot water bath and then into a water displacing oil bath. If you have a gunsmith that blues guns he will have both the cold and hot water tanks and can give them the proper bath in short order. The salts are creeping from the toughest place on the firearm to stop the action. Typically they are deactivated at this point and will cause no harm but can linger for a long time and continue to leach out and to be unsightly.

This is probably the only fishing question I'll ever answer but here goes. When I was much younger my grand father gave me a fly rod made of bamboo. There was four sections and an extra tip section. The rod was so light and tiny that it's hard to describe. I knew nothing of fishing and didn't have any flies so I would walk along the stream banks very quietly and drop a worm in and let the long pole stick out over the water. Even a small trout would battle like a monster with this tiny little rod and every so often you would latch on to a 15-16" brookie and all hell would break loose! What a great time that was and what a fun activity for a young man. I still have that rod tucked away some place. I'll have to look around and see where it is and maybe even take a trip to a local stream bank. To answer your question I loved that little rod!

A yound man was showing me his new bow the other day and I was quite impressed, both with his new ability and the performance of the bow. It was called the "Showdown" by Bear archery. The bow was quite fast and very smooth to draw and best of all his was whisper quite with no silencers on the string. He said that he paid less than $300.00 for this bow. There are a lot of great deals out there on archery gear right now so spend a little time and search for a good buy.

I don't believe that you could ever find a better head than the Thunderhead. I've shot all kind of game with the thunderhead and have never been disappointed with the performance. There are equal heads out there but there are not better heads.

I've been in a lot of moose kills and the common bullet is 180 gr. not the heavier 220. A solid well made 180 gr. will drop and moose with any type of solid hit. Good hunting to you!

You included the weight of you field point in your estimate didn't you? With the set up you describe with est. for the gear you have on your string, you're pretty close to 5.5 gpi and 304 is simply excellent performance. Most of us with high performance bows are typically close to 30 fps under your bow. Your going to love this thing! Good hunting!

It surprises me that there is so much from the anti's about this particular species. The wolf has become their poster child and will probably remain that way for some time. I've always believed that a states fish and wildlife dept. is potentially the best source of solid information about a particular animal and their voice should be the voice of reason. If the F&W dept. of either of these states say go it should weigh heavily in any judges decision.

Democrats have drifted to the left, Republicans have drifted to the middle or beyond, and all of the Libertarian people I know(damn few in number)seem more like Moderate Democrats than anything else.

Depends on how you hunt and the ranges you plan to shoot. But long or short and everything in between the 22-250 is probably the premier varmint rifle around.

The simple answer is that it's not always that easy to make the perfect head shot. I've seen quite a lot of deer with parts of there faces shot away and their still making tracks away from the shooter. It is a deadly shot, there is no question, but I feel that the better shot is just behind the forward shoulder. I've never lost a deer and this is the shot I always try to make.

I'm just going to join the crowd here and say Mathews. My bows are getting quite old now and are still excellent hunting tools. I've said this many times but I believe whatever bow you buy it should be a single cam model.

I have seen huge deer from my area of Maine and the current Maine record was taken very close to where I live. There are some huge bodied bucks in Maine. The rack are another story. A rack on a 275lb Maine deer is common on 175 lb Texas deer. I don't know the reason for this phenomenon but it certainly exists. If you want a deer with a big rack in Maine I'd say stay close to the coast line.

For coyote at 250-300 yards you use powerful accurate rifles. The .223, .22-250, .243 all come to mind. The 17 Hmr doesn't enter the picture in any way shape or form.

On the surface I would say that I don't like them at all, but my experience is nil and to pass judgment on something that I have no first hand knowledge of is not intelligent. I believe that there is a vast difference between some fenced hunting operations. Personally I would op for the solution that Cgull puts out there.

This is an issue that doesn't deserve to be laughed away. Some people simply don't want to accept that meat comes from a living, breathing creature. They will eat meat with no remorse as though it were an apple and then remind you of the cruelty of your ability to harvest game for the table. I can't stand this type of person and refuse to show them any form of respect. I have a friend that has this very attitude about meat and I can no longer tolerate what he has to say about hunters. Because of our long term friendship I've held my tongue but not any more. If he is so naive that he can't grasp the natural part of what I do as a hunter our long friendship is finished. No more chances for these people.

kobster Are you talking about the 17 Hmr or the 17 Rem.?

I always used co2. Fast and efficient. Make sure to have the rifle pointed in a safe direction. Some can come out very fast.

I can't see where this is a bad idea but there is a potential downside. Law abiding trained people with guns has never been a problem for me, but law abiding untrained people I don't know all that well with guns is another story. We have an event up here every year and it's as much fun as you'll ever have with friends and firearms. You can only go to this event by approval from the group. Two years ago a guy showed up, with approval from the group, and was a total disaster with his deer rifle. At one point he had the rifle pointed at another shooter with a round in the chamber. I took the rifle carefully from his hands and extracted the live round and told him he could no longer shoot with us that day. I explained why and to his credit he fully understood my concerns. He was simply untrained and it could have been a disaster. He was a terrific learner and now is a regular at the annual "pumkin smash". Proper and safe gun handling is not a right of birth. It has to be learned.

I would have to go with the clover. I plant two four acre plots and rotate them every other year. The clover is not all that common here and the deer love it. I also saw a wild honey bee swarm in a tree close to one plot a year ago(it could also have been a lost commercial hive). I agree that it's not common to see wild honey bees anymore.

Have you considered the carbon style hand and body warmers that you simply rub together to activate. I use them and have a lot of confidence in their ability to keep me comfortable after long hours spent in elevated stands. I believe that they are the same things that mattreney is speaking about. The ones that I use are multiple use items.

Make sure that you properly sight in your shotgun. Most shotguns only have a single bead and determining where they hit is sometimes a chore. Try different brands of ammo. You may be surprised by the difference between them. I never go into the woods without a good method of starting fire, a reliable compass and a bota bag. Good hunting to you!

DakotaMan uses the same method that I do and I've had great success doing it. My call is made by Johnny Stewart and over all the years I've never had any problems at all. I dress in full camo and continue to call and shoot until they stop coming. Many times they will make three or more passes. When they see you the jig is up!

Thanks for the info 2Poppa. I'm really happy that this guy was caught.

Study hard and make the most out of your school days. Education is never a mistake. Come back on when you have the chance-after homework of course-we'll all miss you. I know you be around if you get something during hunting season.

I have used core lokts for years and have never had any problems. I've always considered them a very good inexpensive bullet.

I haven't heard much about that. I hope that he got caught and got the book thrown at him. What a creep! Anyone have information!

Ammo is hard to find and pretty expensive for this rifle round. Factory rounds don't seem to shoot all that well and I find this a reasonable tough cartridge to load for. I gave up my Hornet for a 22 Mag. a long time ago and I'm very happy with my decision.

Thank you charie elk for sharing this story of compassion for a brave soldier. The effort that went into the saving of this boys life is remarkable and the ability to cut through the red tape to get the job done shows resolve in crisis. The British have fought for right along side of us for as long as I can remember and to treat him as a brother is only appropriate. I couldn't finish your story with the water starting to flow. I don't get emotional very often except for the tremendous efforts of our brave troops. I have never hear of "soldier angels" I won't forget them now.

I've said this on many occasions before that I feel that Remington has the best customer service around. I've never had a problem with this fine American company.Just recently I had multiple issues with one of their rifles and the problem was solved immediately with a couple of phone conversations.

muskiemaster I really appreciate what you just said"I didn't feel comfortable shooting". In my opinion you have an adult attitude that a lot of people don't even want to consider. Know what you can do with a bow and don't press it beyond that self imposed limit. You'll get comfortable with the 40 yard mark eventually. Learn the basics and then practice what you have learned. Shooting at 40 is no tougher than shooting at 20. Anyone can make the shot if you know the yardage. Become comfortable in your ability to recognize distance and be confident in that number when you shoot it.

I've never been on an Elk hunt but I have been in on the shooting of many Moose and I can't imagine that there is a significant difference between the two animals. The 30-06 will anchor a moose easily.

It really depends on where you hunt and what style of hunting you do. I hunt usually from close range in treestands and for this hunting I like my 30-30. I also like the 30-30 rifle for close range in the evergreen forests of Maine. This really is a question that can't be answered. It's simply a matter of personal choice.

Old timers would quickly get the hide off and let the animal cool. They would quarter the animal or cut to pieces that they could handle and cover each piece with black pepper by rubbing it into the flesh. Then each piece would be put into a cheesecloth bag with a draw top to keep the flies off. My old friend, that I have written about before on the site, used to shoot fresh meat for the road crews that would basically build roads by hand. He told me many times that the meat would last in warm weather for about four days with this method if kept as cool as possible. He also told me that a deer would last for just about one day on these huge crews.

Is the cartridge the 257 Weatherby Mag. or is this gun available in the Roberts Cartridge? If it is the Weatherby Mag. cartridge I would personally prefer the 25-06 round. I simply feel that the Weatherby rounds are too damn expensive and hard to find.

Jack O'connor hunted all over the world with a .270 Winchester and was constantly singing it's praises in Outdoor Life magazine. He was the driving force behind the tremendous acceptance of this round by the hunting crowds in America. The .270 is a terrific performer on all games animals on this continent with the exception of the enormous Brown Bears of the far north. And Cooner says it very well, will probably do the job but a bigger gun is the better choice.

I used rags for my commercial indoor targets. We would put chicken wire across the face of the wooden box to hold the rags in place( the wire won't damage arrows) and then put a piece of ethrofoam on top of the wire to keep the arrows straight. Good for shooting score. This target is not for broadheads.

I've used electrical tape for years in the deep snow and have never had any sort of problem. I believe that we should all do this hunting in snow or mud. Both of these things in a bbl. is a potential disaster.

Skeeb I'm not saying that your friends are not seeing a Lion, but the odds are off the wall. No one in Vegas would take the bet. Please be careful too with the desire to shoot this animal. Typically if the state doesn't list the animal as a game animal with a season it can't be shot. I'd check that out carefully. As a side note I hope that your right and that there is a Mountain Lion. I'd love to have them around.

If everything is tight and solid I would try another brand of slug designed for a rifled bbl. before I'd panic. I want to hear of your results.

I watch so few Hollywood movies and this one will not be an exception I'm afraid. It's just to hard to separate the actor from the character. I can't stand the Hollywood crowd.

We have the same stories about cougars or Mountain Lions here in Maine. Every years someone has a photo or a sighting or a track that they swear is a lion. The facts don't bear out lion sightings. Every year hundreds of experienced dog hunters drive the back roads of Maine looking for tracks so that they can release their dogs. Bobcats are common here and the Lynx are coming around more often. I have been following this Cougar thing for many years now and can tell you that even though the sightings continue there has never been a Cougar treeing or confirmed sighting in this state for the 40 years I have been interested in this particular wildlife story. If there were Mountains Lions in my state, with all of the Bobcat dogs out there in the winter snow, there definitely would be a treeing by now. OK now bring on bigfoot!

I really prefer standing to all other shooting positions. I've probably shot as many deer from the sitting position though.

I've seen the caps on John's postings but never really thought about it much. Now that you've mentioned it, it will bug the hell out of me!!

I'm a life member and still buy the yearly membership because when I bought the life membership I think that it was only $225.00(don't quote that) and that money has been gone a long time. STEVE182 makes a great point about the political victory fund. This arm of the NRA needs as much as we all can muster even if it's a few dollars at a time.

I'm 61 and staring a birthday square in the eye. I think that this is going to be fun.

I'm sure that either rifle will suffice for your use. Pick a good spot and squeeze the trigger. Good hunting to you!

I'm an old man and I've been fighting all of my life to keep the right, and don't be confused here it is a constitutional right, to have firearms. If any of you give up this right you will never get it back. We will continue to battle forever or we will lose. The NRA is the difference! Please make sure that you join this wonderful patriotic organization to insure that you young guys out there will have the same firearm freedoms that I've had.

jay Excellent thought. I never thought of that particular scenario. I think that your right.

Sorry-not liberty judge,liberal judge.

megrahi was convicted in 2001 of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 270 innocent people. He was sentenced to life. This animal killed without feelings and for no reason. He should either be killed or die in prison. MERCY!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Another liberty judge ignoring the rule of law for feelings. I guess we know what the Scotsmen don't have under those kilts!!

The law in New York is stupid. Burris had a weapons permit from Florida, in most states it would be at least acknowledged, but not in the nut house that is New York. Burris should have known better than to play with a loaded gun in his pocket but is that a 2 year jail term? I say no.

Rural Maine has excellent hunting and about as many huge lakes as you'll find in any state. You can hunt turkey(all over the place) whitetail deer, black bear, moose, coyote, bobcat, fox, etc. Most people are gun friendly, but we are seeing more liberal people every day. Back land will cost between $500.-1,000. per acre depending on a whole lot of factors. Most of Maine is forested so many times you can buy a small clear cut for a bargain. Evergreen trees grow rapidly, we are harvesting fir and spruce pulp from a cut done in 1994. Maine is a beautiful stat especially along the coast. Give it a try.

I have hunted with archery equipment for my whole life and ran a gun and bow shop for many years. I truly believe that the greatest development in archery since the advent of the compound bow is single cam technology. Mathews pioneered this technology and they make, in my opinion, the finest bow in the world. There are certainly many fine bows and opinions will vary as to their effectiveness but none are better than the Mathews and none stand behind their bows any better than this fine company. You can find many fine Mathews products, used, in the $300.-400. range. No matter what brand you choose, you will be wise to choose a single cam model.

Looks like your on the right track. Remember to pick out a spot when you see the one you want. To many people shoot at the whole animal. Be confident in your yardage and shoot at the exact hair you want to hit. Best of luck to you this fall. Moose are good eating!

Is there some sort of suggestion being made here?

The Muzzy line of broadheads is excellent and you will have no problem with them. When you say that you can hit a pie plate at 60 yards-is this with broadheads on or field points?

Forgive me for saying this but if I killed my son I would be laying right beside him when they found us.

The father will have to live forever with the horrible guilt associated with the taking of his son life. Some say that this is all the punishment that is needed but I'm not so sure. How do you mistake your son for a turkey? How is anyone so anxious to shoot something that they pull the trigger with out identifying their target? How many times can you say it, never take chances with a gun! No game animal is worth risking the safety of another human being. Look at the tragic results of carelessness.

I'm with everyone else ,I've never worn ear plugs while hunting and really can't imagine anyone wearing them. If you shoot a shoot at a game animal you probably won't even be aware of the gun going off. use the ear plugs at the shooting range.

mcloud I don't believe you about the Asian.

I agree that in all probability a hot light weight bbl. caused the problem. Good luck 2Poppa.

Sounds like good game management and a great chance for some exciting hunting opportunities. Good luck if you give it a go!

I use #6 shot 1 1/8 oz @ 1200 fps. I load these with 700x and winchester AA cases. Excellent economical load and also my favorite late season grouse load.