Predator

Predator 48 9/13/2008 to 2/21/09 Bow, muzzleloader and shotgun

http://www.wholesalemarine.com/pc/R-P-MPSC-818/230002/12+Volt+Products/Marine+Pro+Hair+Dryer+12V.html?gclid=CJjSsOu-ppUCFQOcFQodvySxjg They do make 12 volt hair dryers!

I have a couple mallard duck calls I really like but after about ten series they hang up from moisture in my breath. (Yeah I hear ya - don't call as much!) Does anyone have ideas an a model out there that is not more than about $35 that does not hang up like that? I just saw a couple in Cabelas that claim to not hang up trying to avoid the sales pitch vs. reality issue. Barring that I am going to look for a 12 volt hair dryer!

"Well I'm a typical teenage boy and always hungry so... I wonder how many chicken mcnuggets I's got here?"

Well I last told some of my dangerous fishing adventures. Fishing is still more dangerous than hunting but... When I was about 15 I had gotten pretty good at shooting rabbits with the single barrel H&R. Same with my friend Ed with his Dad's double barrel. There was an over grown farm nearby that we hunted quite a bit and got rabbits all the time. It didn't matter how fast they moved we were usually faster. (Still like shooting the rabbit targets at sporting clays). This year I got a brand new pair of boots. Nice tan leather. Ed and I worked the usual hedge rows and got a few. Then as we were working on opposite sides of a nice sized sticker hedge row Ed yells "Stop! I see a rabbit!" So I stop. There was a long pause. Any second now he should fire. "Aw never mind, it's just you're boot!" Around 16 we wanted to go duck hunting at a lake about a half hour drive away. I said how are we going to retrieve the ducks? He said well, you got that rubber raft you bought at Kmart. We figured we would shoot from shore then retrieve the ducks with the raft. The lake is a little deep for waders but not more than about 5 ft at the deepest. So we talked Bone into driving us down. When we got there there was a ring of thick ice around the lake. It had frozen and thawed, but the ice stuck out about 4 feet from shore. And it was cold out. We sat on the shore early and the ducks flew by and landed in the middle of the lake. After a while we decided we could get to 'em with the rubber raft. The middle is only about 70 yds out. But as we went out the ducks headed for the other side. Ed was rowing in the front and I sat against the back. Not much room for us. Neither of us had waders on, just standard hunting clothes and boots. When we got past half way I said "Ed, Do you hear that swishing sound?" Then I look to the left and see a seam opened up top to bottom, about 5 inches! I grabbed as much seam as I could and yelled "Ed - Row! Row to the other side we can't make it back!" Well just as Ed stepped out in about a foot of water I went in SLOWLY to above my waist as the last of the air ran out. That was COLD! We scrambbled to shore. There were no dirt roads on that side so we had to hike back to the dam on the lake and then walk around to where Bone parked the Caprice. By the time I got to the dam I was shivering a bit, since my pants were frozen! Luckily Bone had driven out to the main road there. I changed into some old clothes he had and jumped in the now warm car. Some things you learn the hard way. Far as I know that raft is still there on the bottom of Wilson Lake somewhere.

Tinks 69 works even early at least for small bucks. Last year I set up a drag line. Last opener in October I hit a thin branch I hadn't seen in the dawn light when firing at a little 7 pointer at 30 yrds. The arrow flew over his back. He ran about 150 yards and came back up the drag line trail, turned to my left at 20 yards and I got my venison. The large bucks I got I just happened to be in a good spot at the time. I don't think the scent matter.

Looks really great.

A good one!

Nice one!

Health and Safety Manager. Certified in both. (My wife says certifiable - I say I already have them, what do you mean? Ah well what does she know.).

Somebody has way too much spare time on their hands.

Not much poisonous snakes around here in south Jersey but scouting this year I got a scare from the biggest black snake I've ever seen. Almost stepped on 'em, about 4 inches in diameter and about 8 feet or more long. Good thing my heart is OK. Luckily he behaved like most snakes and took off too fast to catch him.

Having done it here's some things I did well and would do better: Did Well: We started with Turkey in the Spring. Not too cold. Used a pop up blind together. Made sure she understood I had not hunted turkey much so don't expect much, just enjoy the woods. She got one the first year and every yr since. Bug control - use permanone, bug suits, Off or whatever works. Help her as much as possible to prep for the safety course. Be sure she's confident in shooting ability. Do over: When Deer hunting be sure she brings an extra layer, maybe 2 until she gets the hang of how much she needs. Don't go by what you need. Use a small back pack. And if she insists in the beginning that she knows she does not need more, then you carry the extra layer. No fun having to go back to the truck at prime time. You will need to pay for stuff that fits her. No short cuts on gear - same as yours. Tell her part of the deal is you have to take the advice given for the first year. Tell her you can ask why but don't argue. After that let her make her own mistakes becuase you won't win the argument . Also for deer try to stay with her until she gets one. When she's more experienced, use the talkabouts to stay in touch. She'll want to try spots you don't want to set up at. But be sure she knows to talk only when it is hunting related or an emergency. Some lessons will be learned the hard way. A classic was the radio transmission, after setting her in a better spot, in a very frustrated and too loud tone : "I don't see any deer over here" and she immediately hears the deer snort behind her stand. Include her in the scouting so she understands the hunt is half scouting and the work involved. Make sure it's always fun and an adventure. [ATTACH]1551[/ATTACH]

Shot a grand total of 2 with the bow, and 3 squirrels. Deer season gets in the way and the deer spots I hunt do not have much rabbits. But New Jersey might open rabbit hunting in September 2009 during the early archery season. That sounds like fun.

My frustration is our government leaders can't handle a plan that requires more than 4 years. And everyone wants it all one way or the other. We need at least a 15 to 30 yr plan. It needs to be communicated and we need to stick to that plan. That gives everyone (car buyers, manufacterers etc.) time to transition. We will need crude oil for many years no matter how good we get at transitioning to other energy sources. Making more drilling connected to developing additional options sounds sensible to me. This country once went from steam to oil. I am sure that did not happen overnight. (Besides - I want my 2005 8 cylinder 4.7 liter Dakota pickup to run 15 more years without having to drop in an electric motor. )

Read the article. 1900 fps for slugs is certainly on the high end but I guess 1200 would not make much difference for ricochets. I hope PA's study does not cause more problems. New Jersey is looking to allow crossbows next yr for all archery seasons. Next they'll say no slugs anymore, you have muzzleloader and cross bows - what's you're problem?

Very good eating too.

What deer? All I see is antlers?

And the ASTM test happens to require 31 minutes of video/audio testing per head set! (You dog).

Good Luck! You'll be fine. Your unpaid guide and hubby.

Part 3: A good friend of mine's Dad's friend was an old WWII vet who divorced and retired so always had time for some fishing. He would drive my friend and I to just about any lake in South Jersey. Now this old guy was a south Philly Italian and had a temper and a big knife. This knife was 3 inches - then it folded out to about 2 feet like a machetti! His nick name was "Bone" as in "Bone Headed". I once spilled some popcorn in his Caprice and just about escaped with my life. Anyway my friend and I were fishing in his 8 ft jon boat. We were just under driving age by now so we had Bone drive us to the lake. We were in a private lake and catching all kinds of bass on Mepps 3 spinners. You know, the kind with the big single treble hook at the end? Well my friend wheels back for a long cast and whipps it forward hard. It did not got far. It got planted on the side of my head just in front of my ear. I said "Yo Ed - you hooked me!" But he didn't hear me and tugged at the rod thinking he was snagged. A little louder I told him to cut the darn line and get me ashore. So he rowed back toward the dam where Bone was. As we got close we yelled what had happened. Bone says " Come over here! I'll just cut it out with my knife!" I said "Ed, don't let me anywhere near him, get me over to the beach pavillion - there's a pay phone, I'll call Mom or Dad!". So I called Mom, we'll meet at the hospital. We managed to talk Bone out of doing surgery. He took us to the Hospital. We beat Mom there so I walked up to the receptionist to report my problem. She said "What's wrong with you, you look fine". I said "See this?" and turned my head to show the nice silver spinner hanging there. She says, laughing, "Oh, I thought that was an earing!". They eventually turned it through and cut it off and finished up with a few stictches. But three doctors ended up looking at me. One said, "Boy, you are lucky. That just missed a major artery right there!". I still don't know if that was an excuse to have his buddy doctors have a look for a laugh or if he was serious! Anyway - see what I mean? Fishing is DANGEROUS! But I didn't say hunting was always safe....

Part 2: A few years later I had a biology class. The teacher asked us to bring in water to look at under the microscope. So I decided it would be neat to see what's in the trout stocked stream I have been eating trout and small bass out of since I was about 8 years old. Well I set up my slide and the teacher looks in and says "Wow! Class look at all the stuff in this water!" And after about the 5 kids get a look he asks me where the water came from. I said the local trout stream. He said "I guess this development around here is having effect. There's way too much bacteria in there, I wouldn't eat any fish out of there if I was you!"

You ever read Pat McManus's articles in Outdoor Life? I don't know why he title's it that way, a lot of those stories seem awful close to reality to me. I am not shy to tell people I love to hunt and fish. They always seem to say "Isn't hunting dangerous?" And I have to say "No, in my experience fishing is more dangerous". The reply is usually "No Way!". But here's my story (Part 1): First there was the day I got my limit trout fishing. I was about 12 yrs old and had found a nice waist deep hole in the middle of a concrete tunnel/bridge. I got there in waders by about 5 am I think. (Fishing starts at 8 AM). By 8:30 I had 6 Jersey stocked trout on the 'ole stringer! Well a school buddy comes up to the end of the tunnel and yells in - How did ya do? I got NOTHING! So I excitedly run in waders out of the tunnel. Ever run in waders up to knee deep, then trip? My knee crashed down on a stub of an old log in the stream. No problem, get up and keep runnin' to show off my stringer. Well a week goes by and I notice this pain in the knee still hurts after running around playing soccer at school. Finally give in to tell Mom. Get the usual check at the family doctor's and referral X rays. The next week, Mom says "Come on, got to go back to the doctor's". So in the office waiting room I was talking to this old guy about some small game hunting. Then they call me back. The docter says - you have a broken leg! Have to wear a cast for 6 weeks! He puts the cast on right then and hands me crutches! When I came out the old guy says "What the **** happended to you!" I said "All I did was go fishing?! "

That is one nice lifetime trophy!

I like making my own frame - you can put things right where you want 'em. Plan to tweak it again this fall. It's much better than these old pics, must have lost the newer photos.