Leo

I agree with the white farm duck/mallard folks. Domestic White Ducks (Pekin Ducks) were originally bred from Mallards and can breed with wild mallards. I've seen those before. They are often huge in comparison to full wild mallards.

If you decide to try the 165s try Federal's Vital Shock with 165gr Sierra Gamekings (I don't recommend the matchkings for hunting). The Gamekings are consistently one of the most accurate bullets for me and they will blister a deer.

I wouldn't expect that pistol to be very accurate with pistol rounds with the 3" long chamber. Used for shotgun ammo only it would probably do fine as a close range varmint zapper.

We appreciate the card from you Realtree folks. It's good to know that folks are thinking of us. That does help. My wife has now lost both her parents since February this year and there is an empty house the surviving children have to deal with. So back to normal is still a ways off. It's been a very chaotic and emotional year (understatement I assure you).

30-06 guns typically have a twist rate that performs better with 165 and 180gr bullets. I like the Federal 165gr Sierra ammo and Hornady 180gr Light Mag Interlocks. My 30-06 Tikka won't shoot any 150gr bullets worth a darn. But it does shoot some 165s very well and almost any 180 you feed it excellently.

I bet if he knew a joke about his password he'd remember it Hope it was a great birthday!

The 7mm RUM is a great cartridge. It does take roughly 30% powder for it to attain it's performance advantage over the 7mm Rem Mag. That means the 7mm RUM will kick a good bit harder than the 7mm Rem Mag in the same gun. If you're sensitive to recoil you might really hate shooting the 7mm RUM in that gun.

How does that set up perform in a crosswind?

Really really nice! Congratulations!

You have worked hard I know you're happy. Good for you!

Got that right!!! I've only bought myself two vehicles since 1989. One of the worst feelings ever is paying for repairs on a vehicle you are still paying for. After the vehicle is paid for, even a MAJOR repair is almost always cheaper than a new vehicle monthly payment. The rule in this house is never have more than one car payment. My wife's is almost done. Then it's my turn. My vehicle is still going strong though so we might bank it for awhile.

Unions are great when they do great things for you. But when they mess things up, there's nothing you can do about it. Seriously, there's nothing. Ever heard of someone suing a union and winning? Ever heard of a union going bankrupt because the plant got shut down because of strike negotiations? They can do good things or totally ruin everything. I truly hope your Union is reasonable and you don't end up looking for a new job because they aren't reasonable.

Just stay away from it as much as possible. Late nests are often completely sterile. Beginning of June is pretty late. So they might not have had a chance anyway. So don't feel too bad about it if they don't hatch.

Well I hate it but I'm not going. I'd like to but past events of this year plus having very long overdue reconstructive sinus surgery scheduled for June has clipped any notion of me attending at this time. Right now I'm not planning anything except giving myself time to heal.

Don't forget you also need the following: Travel Insurance Malaria Prophlaxis (like Malarone or Larium) Doxycycline (in case of tick bite fever) Plus a host of vaccinations that can't all be done at the last minute. Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B Vaccinations (takes a year for the full series) Up to date Tetanus vaccination Yellow Fever vaccination (some but not all locations in Africa) As Silvertip pointed out yes you can go for less. The HR guys are friends of mine as well. A group blocking out tickets on an airline with a travel agent will save everyone some money as well.

It is true that the fastest bows have short brace heights. However, that's just part of the equation. Not all short brace height bows are super fast. Limb preload, limb materials, riser design and cam design play a very big part in how fast a bow is. I hear what a lot of folks are saying about longer brace height equals more forgiving shooting bow. That's certainly true when you are comparing bows of equal speed. However, when the shorter brace height bow is significantly faster than the long brace height bow the forgiveness factor kind of cancels out. Yes the shorter brace height bow has a longer power stroke so the arrow is on the string for a longer distance. When comparing two bows of the same speed the longer distance means the arrow is on the string for a longer time. The longer time increases the opportunity for error to be introduced into the shot. In other words it's less forgiving. Now if the short brace bow is a lot faster than the longer brace bow, it's actually possible the arrow stays on the string for a shorter time even though the arrow is on the string for a longer distance. Some of todays ultra fast short brace height bows are far more forgiving then you may expect because the speed adds a forgiveness factor. Try before you buy. You might be able to shoot a short brace screamer just fine.

After a 10 year battle with Alzheimers my mother in law passed this morning. We got the call at 4:30am this morning. God rest her soul. My wife has now lost both parents since February. It's been a tough year for her family.

Thank you for letting us know how it shoots. The extended magazine option is good to know about. I actually like to put an extended magazine on scoped shotguns. It helps the balance of scoped gun. Plus the ability to stuff a couple extra turkey loads in the gun when you're patterning at the range makes shooting from the bench more comfortable.

That's the teeth the sheephead around here have. They bite barnacles off pilings with those choppers. They like fiddler crabs and mole crabs too.

Sheephead (aka. Freshwater Drum) aren't nearly as tasty as the saltwater variety (Red Drum and Black Drum). 3lbs and under are the best eating size for them in my experience. It's nice white meat but on the bigger ones it's very coarse and slimy. It's pretty hopeless for baking. Some folks cut it in narrow strips boil it in saltwater squeeze lemons over it and dip it in melted butter. (that's the "poorman's lobster" method). If there is any on your filets be sure to cut any red or yellow meat out of the filets before trying to cook it. I used to eat them when my Grandmother cooked them. (Yikes! That was 30 years ago!) She would dry the filets off with a paper towel, salt and pepper them and then shake them in a bag of flour. She'd then sauteed them in a pan with melted shortening and butter until they were golden brown on both sides. Don't let the pan get too hot or the butter will burn! She'd put the cooked filets on paper towels to soak up the extra grease after cooking. Then I'd squeeze a lemon over the filet just before I ate it. I wouldn't consider them great eating but they are edible. You must have caught them in deep cold water if they didn't fight much. I've caught them when they are sluggish and I've also caught them when they'd makes runs like a striped bass. We catch a fish also called a sheephead here in saltwater. It's not a drum at all. It looks completely different. They have teeth that are flat and look like the front teeth of a human. The saltwater sheephead are fantastic eating. This causes confusion. It seems to mostly be around the great lakes that freshwater drum are called "sheephead". Every place else I've caught them they are referred to as "drum". I've had to explain more than once to folks I've fished with here from the great lakes area that the saltwater sheephead and freshwater sheephead are completely different.

For the most part a 7 inch brace is that critical minimum for me too. Grip design makes a big difference. Some short brace height bows are easier to shoot than others. A short brace bow tends to really benefit from slimmer less "torquey" grips and an STS.

Diamondwood handle is a very sweet touch to a great blade.

I'm glad you two are getting to go this year. Have a great and safe trip. What will you be fishing for?

I agree.

Thanks, I'll start using that function.