David_218

I am against "baiting" too, Hoosierbuck. Definitely NOT Fair Chase!!

Lost my place to hunt in Kentucky For the past 15 years, I've hunted Whitetail Deer in Kentucky. however this past season (2006) was most likely my last season to ever hunt in KY. The farm, inwhich I hunted on, the owner is probably going to sell out as his wife and him are in poor health. He called me a couple weeks ago and said not to buy a hunting license as there will be no hunting now. SOOOO I guess I'll be Deer hunting here in good 'ole Indiana.

I also fire a few rounds before the season to check zero. Then just wipe the barrel with cleaning patch. NO OIL on patch.

Indiana, just passed a law which will allow us to hunt Deer with Rifles that fire Pistol Cartridges like the .44 Magnum.

You might reconsider buying a .410 since you'll be using it on Quail & Dove. How about a 20 gauge in a S/S or a 28 gauge? Of the three you'll probably be happier with the 20 gauge.

I look for and don't mind paying more for USA made scopes like Leupold.

You might consider a Stoeger Uplander in .410. I have one, and it is a great Squirrel/Rabbit getter, especially with #5 shot.

I normally use a scoped .22 LR for Squirrels; but sometimes use my .410 Uplander S/S loaded with #5 shot fired from Full Choke Barrels. If I use a larger gauge, I'd use either a modified or Improved Cylinder.

Don't know how your Browning A-Bolt will perform, but I use 53.5 Grains/ IMR-4350/ 130 grainer in my Ruger M-77 MKII, and it is very accurate. I do have a Browning A-Bolt but it is chambered in .308 Winchester and it works well with IMR-4064 powder with a 150 grain Hornady Spitzer.

My Condolences I am deeply sorry for your family's loss. My younger Sister Nancy died back in Feb. of 2003 of a Brain Anuerism.

Nesting Canada Goose A Coyote got a nesting Canada Goose, that built her nest near our lake, a couple of nights ago.

With the above game mentioned; I'd think the .300 Win. Mag. would be the best choice. The .338 is okay for the big stuff (Moose), but a bit "over-gun" on Mulies & Whitetails or even Elk.

I normally use both rod & patch and bore snake, when cleaning my rifle barrels. The bore snake is great for cleaning between shots when target shooting.

Nice Looking Rifle!

Re: Deer Population DOWN in Indiana [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Mitchell and the DNR do not give population estimates but rely on the percentage of adult male deer, or bucks, in the hunting totals to gauge where the herd is headed. [/ QUOTE ] That seems like a highly unscientific method to me. Too many variables could influence those figures, like the total number of hunters, weather during hunting season, availability of natural forage, changing attitudes regarding antlerless harvest or the taking of immature bucks, etc. If I were in Indiana, I'd feel a lot more confident if there were actually trained people in the woods taking counts of deer in designated sampling areas. [/ QUOTE ] I agree! Our State of Indiana is in a MESS!! We have incompetent personal running the State and the IDNR. Biggest problem, here in Indiana, is finding a place to hunt!!!

Re: How high is your gas? $2.87 (Average) for unleaded regular in Indiana.

Deer population trends down Number of bucks slightly lower in ’06 than in ’05 By Phil Bloom Outdoors editor Associated Press Hunters killed slightly fewer deer in Indiana during the 2006 hunting seasons, but the number of antlerless deer taken was up 4 percent from 2005. Indiana hunters killed nearly as many deer in 2006 as they did in the record-setting 2005 season, bagging 125,381 or just 145 fewer than the year before. But it’s the numbers inside the numbers of a recent Department of Natural Resources report that reveal the difference and serve as an indicator of what’s happening to the state’s deer population. “The population is coming off of the high,” said Jim Mitchell, deer research biologist for the DNR. Mitchell and the DNR do not give population estimates but rely on the percentage of adult male deer, or bucks, in the hunting totals to gauge where the herd is headed. When the percentage increases, it indicates a growing herd, Mitchell said. A decreasing percentage means the opposite. “It’s your best trend indicator statewide,” he said. “Separate from that, we can look at this year’s total harvest as very, very similar to last year, but that was made up by an increase in antlerless (does and either-sex fawns) balancing to a very large extent the decrease in antlered.” In 2006, adult male deer accounted for 39 percent of the total. That was a drop from 42 percent in 2005, and it also was the lowest percentage of the overall makeup since 1996 when adult male deer represented 38 percent of the total. Mitchell thinks it may continue downward when the 2007 hunting seasons arrive in October. “If you’ve got a declining population as indicated by antlered and then you hammer antlerless even harder, then I would expect the decline to accelerate,” he said. “So I think next fall we’ll have an even smaller antlered harvest.” But hunters and a liberalized permit system weren’t the only factors in what happened to deer in 2006. An outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease in at least 22 counties, mostly in west central and southern Indiana, also played a role, killing off hundreds of deer. “Interpretation of the harvest is a little bit confounded by the fact we definitely had an EHD die-off in the west central part of Indiana that also suppressed the harvest a little bit,” Mitchell said. “The fact our antlered harvest is down is a culmination of both a reduction in the population and also this EHD event.” EHD is an acute, infectious and frequently fatal disease that affects deer. It is transmitted by a biting fly or gnat and occurs in late summer to early fall. Typically, the disease does not recur the following year, but its effect on hunting was noticeable. “We had several counties there in the west central part of the state where we had a 15 to 20 percent decline in antlered harvest,” Mitchell said. “We would expect that’s a little more than we had anticipated from our management.” In the four counties hardest hit by EHD – Clay, Parke, Putnam and Vermillion – hunters killed 2,407 antlered deer in 2006, down from 3,378 in 2005, but the antlerless total was unchanged. “Both of those are evidence that EHD was impacting the males more than the females,” Mitchell said. Steuben County held its No. 1 position as the top deer county in the state for the second straight year and the seventh time in the last eight hunting seasons. Hunters bagged 3,287 deer in Steuben. Kosciusko County jumped from seventh in 2005 to second in 2006 with 3,083 deer reported. It was one of four counties in the top 10 to show an increase, and one of three in the 11-county northeast Indiana area where hunters killed more in 2006 than in 2005. Allen and Huntington were the others. In addition to number changes where hunters killed deer in 2006, there were changes in when and by what means they hunted. Deer killed in the early archery season (Oct. 1 to Dec. 3) was up 14 percent from 2005 while success in the firearms season (Nov. 18 to Dec. 3) was down 5 percent. Indiana first special season for youth hunters was Sept. 23-24 and the result was 1,175 antlerless taken. [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Top Indiana deer counties Numbers listed are for total deer taken by hunters in each county in the 2006 season: 1. Steuben, 3,287 2. Kosciusko, 3,083 3. Parke, 2,905 4. Washington, 2,882 5. Switzerland, 2,821 6. Franklin, 2,766 7. Noble, 2,740 8. Dearborn, 2,670 9. Harrison, 2,650 10. Marshall, 2,583 Other northeast Indiana counties: 11. LaGrange, 2,562; 20. DeKalb, 1,950; 31. Allen, 1,589; 43. Wabash, 1,362; 47. Whitley, 1,305; 54. Huntington, 1,159; 73. Adams, 561; 78. Wells, 506.

Re: SKS Question [ QUOTE ] Have considered changing the stock on my sks, but it goes on the tractor with me from time to time and gets a bit beat up. No doubt for one you plan using to hunt with removing the bayonet and cleaning rod is a good idea. [/ QUOTE ] YEP! removing the bayonet and cleaning rod and their lugs made a world of difference. The wood stock brought the length-of-pull up to my fitting, making it easier to shoot accurately.

Re: SKS Question My "Sporterized" SKS. I replaced the rear sight with a Williams Peep Sight. Also removed the Bayonet, Cleaning Rod, and Lugs. Replaced the 10 shot Magazine with a five shot one. The stock is made by Fajen. I can get 1.5" groups @ 100 yards on average. Shoots better with US made ammo. I avoid using "dirty" Russian or Chinese manufactured ammo. [image][/image]

Re: Chili Ideas [ QUOTE ] I am participating in a chili cook-off this weekend. We always try to put out a few things for the judges if they want to adjust their chili (i.e. hot sauce & sour cream). I want to may sure all of the bases are covered. What do you add to chili before you eat it?? [/ QUOTE ] Additional Chili powder & croutons.

Re: .222 ammo It's still available. Check out www.midwayusa.com

Re: Considering a new .22 semi... Thompson/Center makes a nice .22 LR semi-auto rifle.

Re: Slug question [ QUOTE ] I shoot a remington 870 with a slug barrel. My question is what type of slugs should i shoot out of it for the best groups? Im going to be using it this febuary for a hog hunt in south carolina? [/ QUOTE ] This is a tough question that can only be answered by trying different brands of ammo. My Browning Gold 20 gauge Deer Gun shoots Remington Buck Hammers and Lightfield Hybrids very accurately.

Re: Ruger M77 Mark II I own three Ruger M-77 MKII: one in .270, one in .22-250, and another one a M-77/.44 Magnum. They have all proven to be very dependable and accurate for me.

Re: .17 ? [ QUOTE ] Seems to be the rifle to get around here lately, so my question is what do people hunt with the .17? Or is it used to just tinker around with? Just curious. [/ QUOTE ] I've owned several .17's over the years. My first .17 was a .17 Ackley Bee built on a singleshot Martini action (Back in 1968). Then I got a .12/223, and finnally a Sako custom built .17 Remington rifle. All were very good but usuable only on varmints. The .17 is a special purpose cartridge.