Archive through December 23, 2009

[bcarl]

Scott,

I second Kraig, nice wife! Does she have a sister?

Your comment about a rifle each year reminds me of a buddy who's wife believed he should have only one fishing rod. He would order rods from the catalog and have them sent to my address in order to sneak them in his house. Once in the house his wife would never realize he had a new fishing pole. I was able to try out some new fly rods, spinning rods, etc. before he came for pickup. Unfortunately they split up, so he no longer needs to sneak 'em in the house. I sure do miss his ex.

Bruce

 

[aschumacher]

I sure do miss his ex....

 

[sstanton]

She does have a sister! She's ten years older than my wife and they look like twins! Oh, decisions, decisions, decisions, I have a tough choice to make now! My wife got me a Dicks gift certificate to buy my own gun! Now I'm having a hard time deciding what would be the best caliber for an "all around" sorta rifle. I'm leaning towards the .243 that would work for pretty much anything I would need to shoot around here, but I still have not totally settled on it.

 

[bjrainey]

Brendan, Bobby,
As for the 17HMR you will find they are pretty destructive on squirrels, especially those little greys you have in the south. Maybe not as bad out of a handgun, but I bet they would really make your ears ring! I have owned several 17 rimfires in HMR and in the Mach 2. I have seen both of them do considerable damage to the meat even when only head shots were taken. Those little !7 grain missles tend to "migrite" to areas where you least expect them to exit. I have had the whole off side shoulder ruined on head shot squirrels. It didn't seem to matter whether it was an HMR or a Mach 2, they both did it.
As for Gound hogs, or wood chucks as some know them, out to 125 yards all shots were kills with complete penetration. beyond that i have only shot a couple and both were solid hits, first head shot and an instant kill. Second one was a body shot and a crawl off. these shots were taken at 150-160 yards. at that range the little bullet loses its punch and penetration.

This has been my experience.
Brad

 

[wcompton]

Scott-
The .243 is a good choice, though when you do go to buy check barrel twist. Also, the .243 is great if you reload, brass and bullets are plentiful. I bought a Remington 700 with a 1 in 9-1/8 twist barrel and am finding that it doesn't quite stabilize heavier (deer-sized) bullets as well out past 200 yards. For prairie dogs, it's great, but I think I'll be getting a 1 in 8 twist Kreiger heavy barrel here within the next month. My "other" all-purpose is a 30-06, it'll soon be complimented by either a Ruger #1 or a T/C encore in a .204 Ruger.

 

[bjrainey]

Scott,
A .243 is a great choice! It is one of my favorite calibers. Some might say it is a little light on deer, but confining your shots to the heart lung area, using 100 grain bullets of good design you should be OK. If you don't go out there shoulder busting with it, you will be fine.
Bullets for the .243 range from 55 grain to 100 grains and the lighter bullets are fast and explosive!
My .243 has seen most duties as a varmit gun, but was a good choice for deer in Florida.

Here in Indiana, it is not a legal deer hunting rifle caliber. However it is in a handgun... still trying to figure that one out.
Any ways, you are blessed my friend!
What ever you choose, have fun in knowing that your friends are envious.

Brad

 

[sstanton]

The New York regulations only state that it has to be a center fire rifle. I think it's strange that there are no size requirements for calibers. I'm still debating though. I already have .30-06 shells, but that kicks like an angry mule and I'm only 5'8" and only have about 155 pounds to speak of so it tends to beat me up a little!! There are at least 5 calibers I want so choices, choices, choices! Picking up Cubs is sooo much easier!!!!

 

[bbowman]

Brad;
You say a .243 is not a legal round for deer in Indiana?
What are your state restrictions on hunting calibers?
I know some states are shotgun only,but a well placed .243 will take any whitetail within its range capabilities.
What is the minimun caliber?
Just curious,this is something I did not know.
Bobby B.

 

[bbowman]

Scott;
If you want a little more "punch" than a .243,check out the ballistics on a 7mm-08.
It's a great round for whitetail,and it won't beat you up as bad as an 30-.06.
Our problem down here is the lack of available
ammo.
Are you guys up North having the same shortages?
Bobby B.

 

[bjrainey]

Bobby,
Just a few years ago, Indiana was shotgun only.
Then they started allowing handguns .357 dia bullets with a case length of 1.16" and larger.
About ten years ago the rules changed and said that the bullet diameter had to be .243, I suppose to allow the single shot T\C Contenders and Encores could legally be used. Then a couple years ago, they opened it up to rifles in handgun calibers such as .357mag,.44 mag,.45colt etc.
Hopefully in the future will will see a rifle season in Indiana.
I don't see the reasoning why they would think that a .243 in a 14" barrel handgun is safer than a .243 in a 22" barrel. I think the rifle would be safer because many people would finally be able to accurately place thier shots in the kill zone. That is what I hear most people complaining about with the .243. It isn't an issue of whether the .243 is or isn't capable of taking game. the issue is whether or not people will take the time to shoot accurately enough to make a killing shot.

 

[bjrainey]

Bobby,
Yes ammo up here is hard to come by.
Reloading components are scarce too. And prices keep going higher and higher for what you do find.

 

[sstanton]

Bobby, I dont think we are having shortages. I cant really say for sure, to be honest. I had also heard from others that the 7mm-.08 was a nice round. Only within the last 3 years have we been able to use rifles in my area of NY. Before then it was shotguns and handguns only. It also goes county by county on whether or not you can use them. I know Long Island is shotgun only, for obvious reasons, and there are a few other areas up Buffalo/Niagra way that are that way too. The next county over just went to allowing rifles as well and 1 or 2 more that are all within driving distance from my home in Corning. I will be making a trip to Dicks Sporting Goods on Sunday to see what they have there. The Mrs. doesnt know anything about guns and didnt want to just go ahead and buy me one, and I dont blame her really! Another friend said I should get a 300 Win Mag, but I think that would be a little much around here! My older cousin is set up to re-load .270 so I may just go with that one.

 

[wcompton]

Bobby-
The only shortages we have are primers and some of the powders, but they're coming back. Federal gold match primers are the hot item, as well as Winchester primers, but I can pretty easily find CCI primers and Remington primers. Most powders are to be found again, I've been able to find most all Hodgdon powders (except Varget until recently) and all IMR and Winchester poweders. Bullets can be tough to find, Trophy Bonded Bear Claws used to be plentiful, now they're really tough to find. Heavier soft point bullets like a Sierra Gameking can be still tough to find. Brass hasn't been an issue unless you're loading something oddball.

For what it's worth, South Dakota rules simply mandate that it must be a centerfire cartridge that makes 1000ft*lbs energy at the muzzle. I've witnessed a friend do all his hunting in the past 2 or 3 years with a 22-250 and the deer & antelope have always gone right down.

Scott-
A 300 Win Mag in that area would be PLENTY large for deer, it's sized about right if you ever want to head west for Elk. Going for 270 Win is an excellent choice. The 270 Win is based off the 30-06; anything based off the 30-06 cartridge seems to do well from the 35 Whelen, 280 Reminton, 270 Win, 6.5mm-06 A-Square, 25-06, etc.

 

[bbrigham]

Scott.....That 270 is a good choice and having someone to reload makes it so much better. Our regulations in NY are kinda messed up. They claim it has to do with population density but yet our modern muzzle loaders are extremely accurate and long shooters. I wouldn't think twice about taking a 250yd shot with my Encore, then ya have the 14" 308. I love that one but it's not fun to shoot at all, it just plain hurts. I've bent 3 grip screws so far. They are loaded pretty hot but it is so consistent I wouldn't want to change it. I don't know what math NY uses but I'm not gonna complain. I get emails from the DEC every couple weeks and they said the southern zone got off on a real strong start and finished off at the average. That must be where their math comes in again, I've talked to a lot of hunters from different parts of the southern zone and they all said this year was way down on deer numbers and shots herd. Around me I think shots herd were only a quarter of the last couple years. Only thing I saw was two tails in the brush.

 

[wshytle]

The phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words" doesn't mean post a thousand words before you start posting pics again. Come on guys, lets see some bloody ole bucks or at least a squirrel without his head. I appreciate caliber talk and knock down power as much as the next guy but the title of this section is hunting/fishing pics - post em here. Lets get to it! I want to see some pics of what the woods/fields have produced this fall/winter. I plan to take a big doe for the freezer so it's up to yall to provide the super kills and such. Nobody wants to see a picture of a antlerless doe. Quit talking so much about the darn calibers and what they do and kill something. And merry Christmas once again.

Wayne

 

[sstanton]

So I ended up buying a Mossberg .270 this afternoon. After using all the Dicks gift cards I got it only cost me $4.97! It came with a scope and I threw in a box of shells and a shoulder strap.
Brendan, I didnt really hear too many shots around here either and I agree that NY's math is a tad screwy! I know there are alot of deer around here but not too many hunters any more. The top of the hill I hunt used to sound like a war during gun season but almost no one hunts up there any more and remains pretty quiet. There is a guy that owns 500 acres and doesnt let anyone hunt it and arrests the people he does catch, so no one wants to go there except for the deer!! It's sad that even the state land around here doesnt get hunted very much either. No one to push the deer around.

 

[bbowman]

Looky what I had under the tree!(Get it,...under the tree? Yuk,yuk!)

Four gobblers on Christmas day!
There is a Santa Claus!

 

[aaytay]

Looks like we had a visitor early this morning....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Art, neat photo. What kind of tracks crossed the turkey's tracks just up the hill?

Bobby, nice Christmas photo.

 

[chunt]

Nice friday night ice fishing catch...