Republican State Legislatures Assume Leadership of Insurrection.

Today is decades day at school. Red Ribbon Week. Guess I’ll drag out my bell bottoms, head band and Ray-Bans … that ought to do it. Thought about wearing a 90’s rap outfit but couldn’t find a pair of baggy pants. Thought I might go for the 50’s with jeans cuffed at the bottom, a white T-shirt and a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve…but I don’t own a white T-shirt. I don’t have the proper physique for that anyway.
 
Decades day sounds like fun.
My problem is that even sticking to the ones that I've personally experienced, I have an awful lot of them from which to choose.
 
leaningright said:
Got vehicles in this morning and $1200 later have new tires on one and better tires on the other.

I was wrong. I had to take dad to his cardiologist today, not tomorrow, so we made that trip as well. That was pretty much my day. Got home at 4:45 and went to the woods until dark, which is about 6:30. Lots of small critters stirring, but no deer. Will try tomorrow after work.

I read … a lot. I read/study my Bible, obviously. But in addition to that I read a lot of fiction for entertainment. Mostly Westerns, but also a lot of magazines from the Outdoor genre. Hunt/fish/sports, with sports limited to baseball and football. I’m not a big basketball fan but will follow March Madness.

You’re so right about your dog. My 2 acre place borders a WMA (Wildlife Management Area) of some 42,000 acres. Your dog would have plenty of room to run.

I smoked from the time I was 18 until I was 37. My boy was 2 and I didn’t want to encourage him down that road. My dad smoked for over 61 years, until he had heart bypass surgery at 75. I was determined to be a better example. Hope I was.

I do try to be active but I have resembled that Goodyear logo comment at time in my life. I’ve always been a big guy but I do try to stay in some sort decent physical shape. Weighed 225 when I graduated high school. Flirted with 300 by the time I was 25. Not good on a 6’ frame. Been back at 225 for over 20 years now and in better than average shape for my age. Everything I enjoy requires me to be able to get around well. Riding my motorcycle, hunting, fishing, gardening, golfing…. So I do a little extra exercise during slow times to try to maintain.
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Do you hunt on the WMA?
 
leaningright said:
Absolutely. It was the deciding factor when I bought this place in 1992. Gave $30,500 for it back then.
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Cool! I had some woods next to my property, but they timbered it. Nothing like yours though. When I bought my place, I had a set amount I was gonna spend (I was single), just in case I would get laid off or lose my job. There was a really nice place less than 1/4 mile from our gun club, set in the side of the ridge, but it was just much. If I knew then what I know today, I'd have bought it.
I told the GF I'm thinking of selling and want to get back out further in the sticks (darned developments springing up!), she didn't say too much. We'll see...

My father and I hunted (actually parked at) a farm that bordered Game Lands here in PA. for years. We were rather successful hunting there. The farmer died, and his nephew (who inherited it) posted it now because some idiot stole all the junk cars and tractors he had and sold them for scrap. His farm is at the base of a ridge, the Game Lands ran parallel to his farm. My father hunted it since he got out of the Navy in 1945, I hunted it since 1972. There is one access road that borders the Game Lands from the top of the ridge, but it's too much of an uphill drag, even for the most fit. That, and it's the only public access and it's hunted pretty hard on the top. I had a few surgeries that put a stop to my hunting over the last 3 years (right after I retired), but I'm feeling much better now. I may ask if I can park there and hunt flintlock season since my father and his grandfather were good friends. We'll see...
 
Pretty uneventful day yesterday. I ended up going as a 50’s guy. I had to substitute a gray t-shirt and candy cigarettes for real ones. I was surprised that our town store had them. The kids love it when teachers participate in their activities though. I’ll carry a hobo knapsack today as it is “carry your supplies to class in an alternate way” day. I’ll be interested to see what the kids come up with.

I jumped the biggest buck I’ve ever seen as I was walking into the woods yesterday. He came out of the thicket about 50 yards up the trail from me and ran straight away at full speed. I could have shot and hit him but I’m not in the habit of shooting the south end of a north bound deer. I know who some people who would have tried because he was such a big one, but it isn’t me. I’ll get a better, more lethal shot at one.
 
What type of deer do you have where you are? We have whitetails here, but if they wander into yards west of the city--they won't be downtown!-- you can't shoot them.
I think you are allowed to feed them, however. Either way, some people do. Apples and whatnot. But neighborhood dogs spook them away.

There are places and times where you can hunt deer with a proper license, but because Massachusetts is so densely populated, you can't use a rifle in most counties.
You have to use a slug shotgun, so not too many people bother. Those who do tend to apply for out of state licenses in New Hampshire, Maine, and maybe Vermont and New York.
They're mostly people from the smaller towns, though, because hunting isn't a major part of urban culture.
Still, the deer overpopulate without a hunting season because they have less and less space to live but it doesn't stop them from screwing around.

My rifles are too small bore---.220 Swift, .22-250--to use on deer even if I were inclined. The .44 Mag carbine would work well from short range, but I never aimed it at anything living.
Some assholes gave me an M16, also small bore, for that.
 
We have whitetails here. There are also mule deer in western Oklahoma. I watch the NE game warden shows … Northwoods Law is my favorite. These wardens cover Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and maybe even Rhode Island. I see the number of out of state hunters they have up there.

I’m also familiar with no rifle states. I read a lot of hunting articles and several of them cover hunts in shotgun only states. Makes sense to me to restrict the weapon in more populous states. I’d actually be ok with that. I kill most of my deer with a bow or black powder rifle anyway. I also am nervous when hunting on my father-in-law’s place with a rifle. I can see houses in the distance as I walk to the woods there. I’m very, very particular about direction before I take a shot.

Lots of deer around here have been taken with the 220 Swift and the 22-250. We call them poacher’s weapons ;). Poachers prefer them because they can just tell the game warden that they’re coyote hunting when found with those rifles. Coyote season is year around.

That 44 mag carbine has been the last sound many deer have heard because we have a lot of bottom land that is thick with brush offering few shots past 80-100 yards. That’s one of the best brush guns ever made. When I was a kid all my friend’s dads were buying them those old Rutgers for their birthdays to use to deer hunt.

My dad didn’t deer hunt so I didn’t buy a deer rifle until I was 14 and could go with an uncle. Saved up and bought a Marlin 30-30.

Gonna try to find Noah and get some advice. It’s been raining here for nearly 11 hours. Thinking about making some popcorn balls for the church kids tonight. I think I’m out of peanuts though.
 
I wouldn't shoot deer with a bullet that small because they're going to run a while before they bleed out.
If I hunted, that would be too inhumane for me. The Ruger .44 was made for brush hunting deer.
I got it just to have the whole set--.44 plus matching .22 rimfire carbines plus the .44 Super Blackhawk single action western revolver.

I kept the stuff in case the kids were interested but they weren't. They'll just sell it all when I settle comfortably into my urn!

Even without hunting, I enjoyed shooting as a kid before the military. My friend Andy lived on a small farm outside of the city (obviously), and we'd target shoot there,
wasting expensive center-fire ammunition to do it. It was fun making things blow up on impact.

I haven't seen it for decades but there used to a cartridge called the Winchester .225.
It was unique among varmint class cartridges because it was rimmed like a .30 / 30.

We discovered that if you used the primer, powder, and bullet from the .225 Winchester factory load
to handload the .224 Weatherby brass for the .224 Weatherby VarmintMaster rifle,
you'd get even tighter machine rest groups than you'd get with the Weatherby factory ammo.

There was a Guns & Ammo article about our handload in the 60s. As a kid, I was fascinated with high velocity center fire .22 rifles until
they gave me one (an M16) in the Army, and that somehow got me over it completely.
,
 
NiftyNiblick said:
I wouldn't shoot deer with a bullet that small because they're going to run a while before they bleed out.
If I hunted, that would be too inhumane for me. The Ruger .44 was made for brush hunting deer.
I got it just to have the whole set--.44 plus matching .22 rimfire carbines plus the .44 Super Blackhawk single action western revolver.

I kept the stuff in case the kids were interested but they weren't. They'll just sell it all when I settle comfortably into my urn!

Even without hunting, I enjoyed shooting as a kid before the military. My friend Andy lived on a small farm outside of the city (obviously), and we'd target shoot there,
wasting expensive center-fire ammunition to do it. It was fun making things blow up on impact.

I haven't seen it for decades but there used to a cartridge called the Winchester .225.
It was unique among varmint class cartridges because it was rimmed like a .30 / 30.

We discovered that if you used the primer, powder, and bullet from the .225 Winchester factory load
to handload the .224 Weatherby brass for the .224 Weatherby VarmintMaster rifle,
you'd get even tighter machine rest groups than you'd get with the Weatherby factory ammo.

There was a Guns & Ammo article about our handload in the 60s. As a kid, I was fascinated with high velocity center fire .22 rifles until
they gave me one (an M16) in the Army, and that somehow got me over it completely.
,
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I used my .220 Swift one time back when I was 16 to shoot a deer. I was parked (eating lunch) at the edge of a field that was about 500+ yards long and a doe slowly walked just inside the woods at the other end. Two other guys shot at it with a .30-30 and a .308 and were hitting well in front of it and didn't spook it. I had the Swift in my car as a back-up and said I had a gun that would reach it, pulled it out and leaned against a telephone pole and dropped it with one shot. I wouldn't recommend using it unless you are sure of shot placement. Lucky or good, that small bullet did a lot of damage because it expanded on impact and ruined part of the rib meat, tore part of the heart apart and gutting it was very messy. Needless to say, those guys were impressed a kid made a shot like that (I owned the Swift since I was 12 and it's still my favorite rifle, aside of a custom built .50 flintlock my father built), although I now have a very accurate 700 BDL .30-06 I bought when I was 18 I used for deer. I also have a Sako L579 .243 I, on rare occasion, take to the range and shoot at the 200 yd. targets. Never used it for deer, but with bullets loaded with Nosler ballistic tips, it puts a hell of a hurting on a groundhog.
 
I have a cheap (< $300 in 2000 when I bought it), Savage 223 bolt action that I have made some pretty good shots with. I've killed a running coyote with it at 216 yards, a standing deer at 320 yards and a standing turkey at 405 yards. It is amazing how accurate this little gun is. The 55 grain bullet performs extremely well but I would never shoot a deer with that gun unless I had that "perfect" shot. In fact the one mentioned is the only deer I've ever shot at with it. It's a great armadillo gun. It eliminates those pests with extreme prejudice.

It's still raining here. Supposed to move out some time this afternoon. Hoping I can get back to the woods after work. I only have this evening and tomorrow morning to hunt as we will be going to Norman to see the boy and watch the football game this weekend.

It's costume day here at school. I'm here as one of the little green alien men from one of the Toy Story movies. Easy enough costume. Green hat with three eyes and an antenna, a blue shirt with a Pizza Planet logo taped on it and blue jeans. The kids love when teachers participate and will like the simple efforts I put forth this week. I will definitely get more out of them in my classroom going forward. That also goes for taking time to go to their sporting events, which as a coach and sports fan I like to do anyway. But also going to stock shows for the kids who show animals in FFA or perhaps some FCCLA (formerly FHA) competitions and then Academic team meets. I may not like those things as well but showing a kid that you're interested in their work outside the classroom helps to connedt and reach more kids in the classroom. Been trying to get some of the younger teachers to realize this but some of them are too cool to wear a silly hat or carry a bucket around during the day.

If I don't get a deer here during the next 2 or 3 weeks I will likely poney up the money and pay for an out of state license when I go to Kentucky and hunt on my Father-in-law's place. Not my favorite thing to do but I do like to have a deer in the freezer before the seasons are over.

Back to rifles, several of the men here hunt with a 243. That's a little light for me but they are superbly accurate and very lethal. I have several calibers in my safe to choose from...44 mag, 303 British Enfield, 308 Savage, Marlin 30-30, 4 black powder rifles, even a couple of shotguns I could use slugs with. I won't be using the shotguns because of a lack of accuracy...or more correctly, precise accuracy. I can hit a deer with the slugs within a certain range but I like a gun that I can tell within an inch or so of where the bullet is going to strike. Leads to cleaner kills.

Mr. Niblick, I will address the G&A article this evening from home if I remember to check in. You had mentioned this handload on another thread and I am almost 100% sure that I looked up that article then. My memory is fuzzy and I am blocked out of the G&A archives by the firewall here at school. I was going to post the link if I could find it again.
 
I think the .224 Weatherby brass is still available, but the exact factory components for .225 Winchester may not be.
I don't think that the Ruger No. 1, which was the exact kind of rifle in which one would expect to find a rimmed cartridge, was ever factory chambered for it.

As I recall, the powder used looked extruded like tiny pellets. I haven't been into that stuff for decades.

Also, machine rest groupings are kind of irrelevant for hunting. That's what it took to create the smaller groups because the groups were small to begin with.
It was more an academic exercise than anything else.

The .220 Swift was the fastest of the smaller cartridges at over 4000 fps, [not the most accurate] and the .22-250 was the hardest hitting.
Everything about the .224 Weatherby with Winchester components was theoretical accuracy, but they were all accurate enough to hit beer cans on a stone wall with a scoped rifle.
I liked especially to hit old books in the bindings, but than I realized how anti-intellectual that looked!

I would have loved to have had a .25-06 with my fascination for speed, but I didn't know about them when I was into shooting as a young kid.
There once was an amusing comedy article in G&A about the .17-50 caliber (.50 cal Browning machine gun based) load used to shoot elusive naugas back when Naugahyde was popular.
i haven't seen an issue for decades, though.

I used to remember Elmer Keith on G&A. He liked bore more than speed--an advocate of big calibers.

He's the reason were got curious about the Ruger carbine which shot essentially huge handgun cartridges
even though they had special carbine loads on the shelves [which I stupidly fired in the Super Blackhawk all the time].

As I didn't hunt, I liked to play around with the little, high velocity calibers.
 
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Wow, what a busy day. Busy weekend, really. Friday I got up and went deer hunting one last time. Had a buck come in from behind, downwind. Winded me and I turned just in time to see it disappear into the brush.

Dad switched propane providers. They did a pressure check and determined his system was leaking. Shut the gas off until a guy could come check it out. Dad called me at 10 Friday morning. I climbed out of my tree stand and went to his house to spend the day so I could help my dad hear/understand. Long story short, three leaks under the house and one big leak under the ground and a day and a half of work … dad finally has safe use of his propane. I had to leave for Norman at 2:30 yesterday so I called in my older brother to help dad.

Spent the yesterday evening and today with our boy. Went to the OU/Texas Tech game today. It was a fun one to watch if your an OU fan. There was a plane flying around town with “Let’s Go Brandon” trailing it and advertising some new social media site. Some young guys tried to get the chant started behind us at the stadium. I was glad the crowd didn’t join in. Like I told my boy when I was explaining that chant to him this morning, I don’t care for Biden but I can’t condone that.

Tomorrow, we’ll go to church with the boy, take him somewhere for lunch then head home. Busy but satisfying weekend.

Edit: Finished typing the above, turned the TV on in the hotel room and discovered the World Series game 4 was still on. Watched the last inning and a half. Not having a dog in the fight and being very busy this week I’ve only seen part of one game until now. Saw most of game 1. Looks like the Braves are going to get it…if they don’t collapse like they did against the Dodgers in the NLCS last year.
 
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Propane providers?

No main gas lines there?

That probably means well water and septic tanks, too.

I assume you don't have to generate your own electricity, because that would take a lot of propane!

Just kidding. Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages, but I was programmed for urban life.

Rural living takes effort!
 
Nope. No main gas lines. About 15 miles up the road near the coal mining areas there are natural gas lines available to communities.

We definitely have septic tanks. Mine was paid for by my tribe.

Wells? We have rural water. Old timers call it “city water.” My dad also has two wells on his place, my oldest brother has a well on his place and I have one on mine. I have a pump in my well and it makes a nice back up when there is a rare disruption in the city water supply. Dad has a draw bucket set up on one of his wells. They’re nice to have if needed.

And you are so correct, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. I guess I have to say that even though I was born and spent the first 8 years of my life in a city, I was born for rural life.

Watching the Cowboys and Vikings tonight, checking the internet for the baseball score. Houston is trying to take it home for another game or two. I’ll be checking to see if the Braves can come back and maybe walk it off. The best thing about a return to Houston is it gives me something to watch Tuesday night.
 
Back in 2017 I posted a project I undertook. I posted pictures, step by step, of a 303 British that I sporterized and put a scope on. I put the scope on it back in 1993 and have taken several deer with it. In 2016 I shortened it and re-crowned the barrel. I showed various targets with reloads I created just for the gun. When I’m serious about killing a deer I choose that gun out of my gun safe.

Now I have an old 1975 model H&R Huntsman 58 caliber muzzleloader. I’m thinking of drilling and tapping it to receive a scope (my eyes aren’t what they used to be) and adapting it to use 209 shotgun primers. My only concern is if the barrel is thick enough to drill and tap for a scope mount.

Basketball season opens tomorrow night for our high school teams. They play a town about 15 miles from here so I think I’ll go watch them. Our boys team will be decent but our girls … ??? We’ll have to wait and see.
 
Whenever I see Harrington and Richardson, I think of the old break open .32 cal revolver with which my grandfather walked heavy during prohibition.
My grandmother gave it to me when he died, along with some of his other personal effects. The ancient ammunition has plain lead bullets with no jacket at all.
I never think to include it when I mention my collection because it's more of a keepsake than a firearm. I'd be afraid to fire it. It's really old.
 
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