doubleA

I am guessing you are comparing the Montana version to the Finnlight. Both are light weight rifles having stainless construction and synthetic stocks. The are very close in the overall length and weight. I like the mauser claw extractor over the M85's. I do favor the Sako's removable box magazine over the Kimbers "blind" box. I have both makes,a Sako in 270WSm and the 8400 in 300WSM. They each have their attributes, both are very nice rifles and it's going to be a toss up. I suggest you get your hands on each of them and handle them. Alot of times after doing so, one will feel better in your hands and the decision might be easier. Price wise the Sako is going to cost a bit more. Good luck!:disolve:

okiedog, the "tiki" torches work fairly well as do thermacell's for skeeter control.The torches do add some ambiance. I can say from experience that it's best if you empty them while not in use. The citronella oil seems to evaporate over time. I had a quiet father's day yesterday with the mrs and # 2 daughter. After church we had hotdogs n chips and plenty of the wet stuff. Hope the projection system works out well for you:clap:

I have a outdoor sound and lighting system in my back yard. I am running 800 watts in 8 speakers spread throughout the area, 100 CD changer for sound. Have direct tv and 36" plasma TV in the outdoor kitchen that is also run through the system and is watchable from the pool. Using a In Focus projector along with a 13x12ft screen. I have a system I made to pick it up and hold the screen. In the past I have used it for pool parties, fellowships etc. Guitar Hero is a big hit with the kids.I dont have any recent pics of the screen but here is a one when I was constructing the screen rigging. Sorry I have posted some of these pics before. The screen is 27 ft behind the hot tub to give you an idea of the size of the screen.

Use the drop down menu then left click "image code" to copy. It should look like this when pasted here. Nice smoker, just remember to go slowwwwwwww.

She is undecided at the moment. Two totally different areas............ fashion design and a pediatrition, a child doctor. Forgot to mention, she has 3 days until she leaves for the Ukraine on a mission trip. She'll be there for a few weeks working in an orphanage helping the children there get to know God's love for them. Then's it back here for a few days and then off to college.

and she just graduated high school this evening. Funny thing is that everyone's congratulating us as parents and my reply is yeah, now we can go deeper in debt, even with scholarhips private college is expensive. One of my favorite pics I took of her over the Christmas holidays last year.

There are several things that will matter.... condition,cailber, is it CR or a PF action. Being that's it's a synthetic model. With the advent of Wallymarts and the like, companies brought of low grade budget models to sell too, this can be a factor. FNH USA is now producing the M70's, so that can be a factor too. Our economy is down, factor that in. Lots of variables for sure, I would say if you can get it for a song, buy it and try to sell for what you want, your local market will dictate the price.

One thing that hasnt been mentioned yet is.............. time, it's a huge investment. Not going to get into detail but bad things can and do happen when having children. My youngest daughter spent the first 4 1/2 months of her life in NICU. At the time it turned our life as we knew it then upside down. My wife was working at the time and had to quit her job to be with the baby everyday, I had to continue to work. It was 50 miles one way to the hospital for her everyday. Times were tough on us financially, spiritually,emotionally and tried our marriage. Even though the child was insured when she came out of the womb, people have no idea of the work involved dealing with doctors and hospitals and insurance companies. Not everything is covered and it's quite a shock when the HR dept wants you to sell everything you have to pay the bills. Long story short.... that was $575,000 and nearly 15 years ago. Countless of hours dealing with the bill collectors, insurance, doctors etc, it took us about 8 years to clear things up. The daughter still sees a couple of specialist and has a couple MRI's done yearly. The time will come, and it will trust me, it will come when you have to suddenly take off of work, miss a night with your buddies, cancel a hunting trip,be at the the child's medical check up, ear infections,soccer games and this and that, fight with medical claims and so on. Yeah, time...............figure that in, it's priceless.

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I like how this bear turned out also. On this hunt I had my heart set on a color phase bear and on the second day a dandy reddish/brown boar gave me a shot but I decided to pass since it was still early. Hindsight being what it is, that bear never gave me a second chance, I arrowed this one in the last 20 minutes of daylight on the last day. What makes the white "V" on the chest, this is the second one I have taken with that?

Doc, if I understand your post correctly, you are are on the right track. I use the same method when shooting off a bench. Your rifle should be centered on the target as close as possible as it sits. The rear bag is squeezed in a way that you can move up,down,left and right in a very controlled way. Doesnt matter the caliber to me, I shoot them all this way, yes even big magnums. I was looking through some pictures and found this one of a friend of mine shooting my Sako TRG 42 in 338 Lapua . The stock and trigger are set up for left hand shooting but he managed to shoot very well that day. There are numerous things that you can do to help with consistancy while shooting off a bench but that's another story. Not the best picture but it does show what you are describing. Notice the left hand under the butt and on the rear bag.

Here's a pic of my 2008 archery Saskatchewan bear. Decided on a 1/2 life size charging mount.

The girls made supper tonight. Tonight's menu was chicken picatta, fresh asparagus wrapped in prechuttio ham, rice pilaf with a organic caprese spinach/baby romain salad with feta cheese. For dessert I whipped up (literally) a dish that our own Randy's wife gave me a recipe to while I was at their home during a deer hunt this past Thanksgiving. She called the "butterfinger dessert". Sue, a big ol Texas thank you for the recipes! The whole famliy gave it a big thumbs up tonight and #1 daughter said she was going to share it with her culinary class. This meal didnt help my diet out but what the hay, I couldnt sit back and only eat a salad tonight.

Not exactly what you have in mind but here is a post I made a few weeks back. Never made it without whole muscle or the use of smoke. http://www.realtree.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85113

Nice little carbine you have there heavy metal. It ought to serve your needs as a deer thumper for years to come. I certainly dont like to "knit pick" but firearms safety is paramount and is 24/7/365, the picture of your son with his finger on the trigger makes me a bit uneasy. Sorry for the rant.

Hope your season(s) are productive and memorable Michael. Isnt spring time just awesome? Was able to take 2 birds with the scattergun and one with a bow back in March so all is well here in South Texas.

Where are the seats located? Front/center?? :confused: That D-11 is going to produce alot of greenhouse gas but if the jump is succesful there should be some carbon credits available.:D:D

I have liked Danny from the beginning. I think most will agree that AI has improved since the beginning, by that I mean that there seems to be better preformers. The group we are seeing now are all very very good. Each in their own way are great, I kinda wish they picked the top male and female. In the end I see Adam winning, though I dont care for men wearing makeup and fingernail polish that guy has a set of pipes and I believe has the most "market" value. It wont be long now and we will all findout.

As bad as these fires appear, they can be a blessing to the area wildlife/land. Last year a wildfire jumped a highway and most of the 15,000 acres of the Chaparral Wildlife Area in Artesia Wells, Texas was nothing but scorched earth afterwards. The head of the CWMA is a dear friend of mine and he was pretty optimistic afterwards, told me it was a 15,000 acre lab for his 100 biologist. I have talked about that fire with him at length and it's amazing how little wildlife was lost and how quickly the property has recovered. All together there was 50,000 acres consumed in the fire.It is well known for some great whitetail hunting and is by draw only.

I just pulled it out of the smokehouse. I was away from the house this afternoon an it turned out a bit drier than I like but it's edible:D

There was a post earlier about what folks did with their turkey(s) after getting one. Just a follow up here and a suggestion to those that have not tried this. It's a little time consuming but well worth the effort. I take the semi-frozen breast and slice/cut it into appx 1/4 inch pieces I then season it with simple spices. I use Salt, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Crushed Cayene Pepper and Cure. I then place in in a plastic container and refrigerate for 24 hours or so. This gives it time for the spices and cure to thoroughly permeate the meat. The next step is to place it on drying sheets, the ones I use are plastic and have a 3/8" grid and work well with jerky. Make sure that none of the pieces touch each other this helps with the air and smoke to be able to pass through . I then place the sheets on racks in my smoke house which is a simple 8x8x7 ft steel room with a walk in door, fire box in the concrete floor and vents used to control air/smoke. Then in this case, apply smoke with mesquite and oak. The amount of time needed depends on the ambient humidity and tempeture. Most of the time I'll give in 8-10 hours with the temp never going over 180 degrees.I'll check several times for dryness and remove it when I think it's done. With jerky you just want to remove the water/moisture from the muscle and not cook it. * Note*Cure is a very key ingregient in making this as it wards off botulisim bacteria and spoiling of the meat. Cure is simply sodium nitrite applied to salt as a carrier and used in very small amounts. I just finished putting this batch in the smokehouse awhile ago and decided to make this post. we should have some sample by this afternoon:):)

I use oak, mesquite and pecan, all of which I have an endless supply of on my place. Speaking of which I have a batch of turkey jerky ready for the smokehouse in the morning, which will be done with a oak/mesquite blend.

It's been a year now since I posted the original, so I am going to resurrect it. He has risen.......

Still have a tag left and seeing alot of birds so I shot these........... with a camera the other day while havng my morning coffee and oatmeal. Not very good quality but you can get the idea what's going down. Tommy with a bearded hen along with some onlookers waiting their turn........

Congrats on your 3rd bird Rhino, now you can sit back with me and enjoy the rest of the season helping others.

The Castle law has changed things somewhat dealing with your personal/home/belongings here in Texas. I dont know the whole story but hear is just an excerpt.