Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Deer & Deer Hunting Shot Simulator-This looks kinda cool

Want to see how the shot from your deer hunting rifle has affected the deer you just shot. This software can help. Of course you have to have a mighty long extension cord to make it work on the deer stand though.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Six Secrets for the Bargain Hunter

After shelling out a ton of money on a deer hunting rifle and decent scope, these tips will make your remaining money go a little farther. I don't know about refrigerating the deer urine though.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The AR-15 Platform As A Hunting Rifle

I've always heard that the AR-15 has too small of a caliber to be good as a deer hunting rifle. This article makes some good points against that viewpoint.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010

How to Hunt With a Shotgun : Matching Game to Shotgun Caliber

Hunting Equipment Today

Interesting options when hunting with a deer hunting rifle

Weird Deer | Outdoor Life-Flying squirrel attack!

Weird Deer | Outdoor Life-Lined up like dominoes

Weird Deer | Outdoor Life - deer Kung Fu

Weird Deer | Outdoor Life - the cat is thinking "I could take him on"

http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2010/09/weird-deer?photo=4


Collin Condray

Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse any typos.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Friday, September 17, 2010

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Emma's First Deer

Emma’s First Deer

First Year Deer Hunting – Emma’s Deer

Emma’s first deer was an exciting time for her, her dad, myself, and would be for any young deer hunter just starting out. Emma is my 15 year old great niece. Her Dad, Todd is my nephew. This was the first year that they have had the opportunity to hunt on our farm and the surrounding area. Todd is a construction worker by trade. He owns his own sheet rock taping business. This last fall Todd volunteered to help me with some work on my farm in Northern Minnesota in exchange for a guided hunt for Emma and himself on, and around my farm. Knowing Todd’s work and my love for both of them, I couldn’t pass this opportunity to share my passion for deer hunting with them. I told Todd that I couldn’t promise a trophy deer, but that I could positively get them in front of some nice whitetail deer that I had been seeing on and around our farm. I got them fired up for deer hunting by telling them of the several nice trophy deer that were in our hunting area. I knew of at least 2 nice 8 – point bucks, and a nice 12 to 14 point trophy deer, that was roaming our farm and hunting area. They got to see a lot of does and small bucks the two weekends they were here, helping me, before the rifle deer hunting season. I told them our hunting area needed help harvesting several of these does as I felt our buck-to-doe ratio was getting out of balance (too many does in respect to the number of bucks, a problem many hunting areas are experiencing these days). They both were excited, and said they would be happy to help if the deer hunting opportunity presented itself. I reassured them it would. Todd wanted some tender venison for his freezer anyway.

Youth Deer Hunting – Women Hunters

I just love helping youth deer hunters. I feel every experienced mature deer hunter should help mentor and educate young deer hunters; especially women hunters. Youth deer hunting is so important to our sport, and so are women hunters. It is so much fun, and so rewarding to mentor such a fine young woman deer hunter such as Emma. She is such a treat.









The Deer Hunt – A Young Woman Deer Hunter

I decided to take Emma out to, what I call – “The First Year Deer Stand”. It is a two person deer stand overlooking one of my clover fields. It is a great stand for a youth deer hunter to harvest their first deer. This stand is very comfortable. It is about 10 feet off the ground; 4 x 8 feet in size with 3 foot walls and roof overhead. Inside there are 2 adjustable fishing boat seats that swivel, and soft carpet on the floor for sound insulation and foot comfort.

Emma and I arrived at the stand a little later that we would have liked to. We were very quiet in our approach. We circled downwind of a bedding area and quietly climbed into the stand. We set up. Emma was using my Winchester, pre-64 model, model 70, deer hunting rifle in a 30-06 caliber. It has a Burris 3x9x40 scope on it that is sited in for 200 yards. She would be shooting Hornady light magnum, 165 grain – SST bullets. This is a great whitetail deer cartridge. It has a muzzle velocity of 3015 feet per second. I was carrying my Remington model 742 carbine, semi-auto, in a 30-06 caliber, with a Bushnell Trophy Red Dot scope on top. I was shooting Remington 150 grain core-lock bullets (please note that the Hornady Light Magnum bullets are only to be used with bolt action rifles. Please read all ammunition warnings before use).

A Long Shot – What A Shot

As we settled down for the hunt I told Emma to watch her front and to the right. I would cover the back swamp area and the woods to our left. We whispered off and on as I talked about women hunters, youth deer hunting, whitetail deer habitat, and gave her tips about deer hunting and shot placement. We had about 30 minutes of legal light left when Emma whispered, “Uncle Steve, there’s a deer.” I turned slowly and sure enough, about a hundred yards out, moving quickly to the middle of the clover field, was a young doe that had just come out of her daytime bedding area. Emma was getting excited now. I told her to stay calm as the deer would soon stop to feed. To my surprise, the deer kept moving towards the other side of the field. I told Emma to get her rifle ready. I was just about to do a grunt call to stop the deer, it stopped on its own and started to feed. I could sense Emma’s uncertainty about shooting this deer. I said “Lets watch this deer for a few moments, it’s not going anywhere soon.” As we watched the doe feed, we waited to see if any other deer were going to join her. Maybe one of those trophy bucks would show up. I told Emma that there was no better decoy, for a trophy deer to come to, then a real life deer; especially if it was the breeding season and the rut was on. We waited about 10 minutes. I told Emma that this deer was all alone, we were losing light, and there was only one day left to hunt. “This would be a great first deer to harvest, your dad will be proud, and you will help my management plan.” She said “OK, I’ll take her.” I said, “Great, let me range her. She is at a 195 yards.” Emma sited on the broad side standing deer. I coached her of where to site, how to breath, and finally the squeezing of the trigger. “BLAM!” The Odd-6 roared, as I watched through my binoculars. I could see she was hit good. She ran in a big circle and stopped again broadside, this time a 175 yards out. I told Emma to take another shot. She was breathing hard now and I could tell the adrenaline was pumping through her veins. “BLAM!” The deer took off running in our direction, heading back towards her bedding area. I told Emma to take my semi-auto rifle and that I would do a grunt when she was in the open about 50 yards away to stop her. That rifle wasn’t needed as the doe dropped and expired about 75 yards from us. “Nice shot!” I said, as we high fived each other. We took a moment to enjoy the moment. I told her of how proud I was of her, and how pleased her dad would be. We talked of the value of harvesting a deer like this doe. I told her that a trophy deer is in the eye of the beholder; and that her deer is a trophy deer. This would be some great eating venison.

Field Dressing – Teaching Young Deer Hunters

I believe that youth deer hunters and women hunters should be taught how to field dress a deer by an experienced deer hunter, at least the first few times. I took the time to show and explain all aspects of removing the entrails. After seeing how it is done, Emma was much more comfortable with that aspect of whitetail deer hunting. I know that Emma, and her dad Todd, had a great time deer hunting our family farm, this past 2007 deer hunting season. Todd harvested a nice doe himself the weekend before. They definitely will need a bigger freezer.





























Next Article – Gary’s Trophy Buck

Va DIY gunsmith class adds element to hunting

Local/AP
[Print]  [Email]         Share

   

Va DIY gunsmith class adds element to hunting

By: BRIAN MCNEILL
Associated Press
07/18/10 1:30 AM EDT

AUGUSTA SPRINGS, VA. — Nick Hamilton peers down the scope of his 7mm bolt-action rifle at a bull's eye target propped up 100 yards away.

Hamilton, a contractor from Fairfax County, built the custom rifle himself that weekend as part of a new do-it-yourself gunsmithing class offered by a pair of Charlottesville-area hunting and firearms experts.

Two days of hard work have culminated in this single moment of truth. Will the rifle - which has never been fired - actually shoot?

Hamilton clicks off the safety and places his index finger over the trigger. His body perfectly still, concentration showing on his face. He squeezes the trigger, ever so slightly.

The rifle fires. Its bullet punches a dime-sized hole through the paper target and kicks up an explosion of dust at the Hite Hollow shooting range in George Washington National Forest.

"How'd it feel?" asks Paul Fritz, one of the class' two instructors.

"It felt good," Hamilton smiles. "Real good."

"Well, it works. It goes bang," said Jackson Landers, the other instructor. "Hallelujah."

Hamilton is among the first students to take part in Landers' latest venture: a class on how to build a deer-hunting rifle.

Landers - who already teaches a deer-hunting class for beginners interested in the local food movement - wanted to offer a set of skills to the most hardcore do-it-yourselfers.

In late April, Landers wrote on his popular blog, rule-303.blogspot.com, that he was launching the new class "because hunting, field dressing, butchering and cooking your own food isn't quite DIY enough."

"Hunting and butchering your own food is pretty satisfying as it stands," he continued. "Obtaining that food with a tool that you built yourself takes you to a whole new level."

Landers, an insurance broker by day, seems to be on the cusp of garnering a lot of attention. His first book, "A Locavore's Guide to Deer Hunting" is scheduled to come out next year from Storey Publishing, which specializes in books for country living. His Deer Hunting for Locavores class was written up last year in the New York Times. A TV show is in development by Discovery Networks - which owns the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and numerous other channels - is also in the works.

To co-teach his DIY rifle building class, Landers enlisted the aid of Fritz, a trained blacksmith and firearms expert who lives in Troy. While not at his blacksmith's forge or tinkering with firearms in his garage, Fritz works as the information technology director at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello.

Much of the rifle building class takes place in the garage of Fritz's home in Troy. The garage is remarkably chockablock full of power tools, welding equipment, rifle parts, ammunition, thick firearms encyclopedias, anvils and much more.

A major aim of the class, Fritz said, is to give the student the ability to build his own rifle, using common tools that can be bought at any hardware store.

"Everything we're using here can be bought at Lowe's," Fritz said. "These are tools that you can find very, very easily."

The DIY rifle class gets underway at just after 9 a.m. last Saturday. Hamilton pulls into Fritz' driveway, after a two-hour drive from Northern Virginia, ready for two days of sweaty labor in the service of his goal to own a rifle he built with his own hands.

"I'm a real do-it-yourselfer with everything," Hamilton says. "I figure, why not with guns too?"

Hamilton took Landers' deer hunting class after reading about it in the New York Times. His chose to take the DIY rifle class, he said, after he imagined what it would be like to hunt with a gun he crafted himself.

"Take your first deer with it," he said. "That'd be pretty cool."

Hamilton has brought along an old beat-up Brazilian Mauser rifle, circa 1908, which he will strip down for parts.

Landers, working alongside Hamilton, is stripping down a 1938 Mauser that was used in World War II by the Nazis.

As Landers breaks the rifle down, Nazi insignias are clearly visible on the receiver. Someone - probably a Russian soldier, Landers says - has stamped out three swastikas.

It was apparently picked up off the battlefield by the Russians, as it was kept in storage in Russia for years until it made its way into the American surplus market, Landers said.

Mausers, he explains, have been in use around the world since the late 1800s. Many of the parts are often interchangeable, no matter which country it came from. And they can be picked up for $50 to $200 at gun shows or from many used gun dealers.

From their pair of old Mausers, Hamilton and Landers remove the mechanical heart of the rifles: the receiver and the bolt, which together are known as the action.

They spend hours retooling these parts. At one point, Fritz heats up Hamilton's bolt with a torch while Hamilton bends it by banging it with a three-pound blacksmith's hammer.

The trickiest part of the operation was removing Hamilton's rifle's original barrel from the receiver. It took at least an hour of trying to twist it off with the aid of a wrench, a pipe, a band saw and a six-ton press.

"There you go," Fritz said to Hamilton, as they finally removed the receiver. "You are now the proud owner of a brand new receiver, only 100 years of use."

An important point about the class, Fritz said, is that the student performs 99 percent of the work on his own rifle, all while under the supervision of Fritz and Landers.

After retooling the original parts and making several other modifications, the action is installed in a new stock. Also added are an after-market trigger, a new scope and a modern safety.

The following day, the trio heads out to the Hite Hollow shooting range, located about an hour west of Charlottesville. The goal is to break in the newly built rifles and zero the scopes with the help of a laser.

They spend a few hours shooting at paper bull's eye targets affixed to cardboard boxes and at bright orange clay targets.

Once finished, Landers said, Hamilton's DIY rifle is the equivalent of a high-end deer-hunting rifle that could retail for more than $1,000.

The class costs $800 and students are asked to bring along their own Mauser rifles for parts. At the completion of the class, the students will have their own deer hunting rifle, a gun case, a gun vise, a gunsmith's screwdriver set and a cleaning kit.

"Everyone else in the world takes their gun to a gunsmith," Fritz said to Hamilton. "Not you. You'll get to say, I built this.'"

___

Information from: The Daily Progress, http://www.dailyprogress.com


Capital Land blog

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said his office has turned over 1,500 pages of city Peaceoholics contracts related to an audit of the nonprofit group requested by  Ward 7...

More than 2.17 million passengers flew into and out of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in July, setting a new record for the busiest month in the...

FreedomWorks is among the organizers of the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington, that will hit the streets of the District on Sunday. The event’s theme is “Remember in...


Local Opinion Zone

While the governor has promised to unveil his proposal to privatize the state's ABC stores on September 8th, that's not nearly enough time for Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, a...

Last week, Jeff Smith and Bryan Weaver - Ward One D.C. Council Member Jim Graham’s two challengers for renomination - met up for a rush hour powwow at the corner of...

A state of emergency engulfed the Phillips Collection and its surrounding neighborhood this morning as a renovation-related fire broke out on the roof. No artwork was...


'); document.write(''); }

To view this site, you need to have Flash Player 8.0 or later installed. Click here to get the latest Flash player.


Most Popular Headlines

'); document.write(''); }

'); document.write(''); }

 


 


Wish I lived near Augusta Springs so I could take the course. Now I have to keep a look out for old deer hunting rifles like the ones in the article so I can do the same thing.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Official State Hunting and Fishing Websites

Ready to get out your deer hunting rifle and go hunting, but need to know when and where to go? Below is the latest list of hunting and fishing sites with all the information that you need by state for 2010.

Blocked Deer Hunting Rifle Barrel Explodes

A great reminder to keep your deer hunting rifle clean and well maintained.
Blocked Rifle Barrel Explodes - Watch more Funny Videos

Friday, September 3, 2010

Buck Attacked By Agressive Bear « Sportsman's Blog

Blogger’s NOTE: since first posting this story about a day ago, other Internet sources (i.e. http://tinyurl.com/35nxr4o) have called into question the authenticity of the information reporting this event occurred in Minnesota.   While it would be nice to have the information correct and verified accurate, what is most interesting and provocative is the content of the pictures.   As this story further develops, we’ll provide the information as we discover it.

A good friend of mine who lives down in the area where this was purported to have happened sent me these interesting pics by e-mail.   As is often the case, the e-mail fails to mention the name of the photographer/witness to this scene, but nevertheless the pictures are striking enough I thought I would pass them along.   Check out the brief story and photos as it appeared in the e-mail.

This is just west of Chatfield [Minnesota] off hwy 30.  The pics are of a buck that was hit by a vehicle and could not walk.  It happened locally off of County Road 139 near Cummingsville, MN.   A friend of a friend happened to stop to look at the deer when the bear came out of the woods and attacked it.   He was actually pretty close when all this happened as the pics will show.   ~Anonymous

DeerbearPic1

DeerbearPic2

DeerbearPic3

DeerbearPic4

DeerbearPic5

DeerbearPic6

DeerbearPic7

DeerbearPic8

DeerbearPic9

DeerbearPic10

DeerbearPic11

DeerbearPic12

DeerbearPic13

DeerbearPic14

DeerbearPic15

As is always the case in these viral e-mail stories, if the witness to the scene wants to step up and take credit for the photos, as well as tell us some additional details about what they observed, we welcome those comments.

For what it’s worth…it should be noted that this summer in southern Minnesota we have been hearing many reports of bear sightings outside their typical range.   In fact, for the first time in my nearly 50 year lifetime we have had credible sightings of bears with cubs less than two miles from my farm.   Amazing!

©2010 Jim Braaten.  All Rights Reserved.  No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

  • Share this:

Filed under: Nature (General)

Amazing pics! I hope he had his foot on the pedal and his hand on his deer hunting rifle just in case.

Remington 700 Video Review

And here's another video review of a Remington 700 deer hunting rifle and Center Point scope. Pretty comprehensive but the camera work is a little jerky so be warned if you're prone to motion sickness.

Hunting Deer with Black-Powder Rifles | Rifle Cabinet

Hunting Deer with Black-Powder Rifles

Sportsmen looking fοr аn additional hunting challenge sometimes turn tο οƖԁ-style black powder rifles, hunting deer аnԁ οthеr bіɡ game аt a closer range, wіth a one-shot limit. It’s a test οf a hunter’s patience аnԁ skill – уου hаνе tο really know thе game уου′re hunting, уου hаνе tο bе more conscious οf thе wind, аnԁ уου need tο bе аbƖе tο ɡеt much closer. It’s a primitive weapon, bυt many hunters find thаt іt gives thеm a ɡrеаt sense οf accomplishment, аnԁ mаkеѕ thеm feel more connected tο thеіr ancestors, whο used weapons Ɩіkе thеѕе tο hunt fοr food.

Black powder hunting fοr deer requires уου tο carry tο carry more accessories thаn уου ԁο whеn hunting wіth a modern rifle. Thе black-powder shooter needs tο carry powder, balls, patches, a ramrod, cleaning jags, patch lube, solvent, аnԁ a ball pulling worm. Even іf уου hаνе a bag thаt stores аƖƖ thіѕ gear comfortably, уου′ll still need tο bе extremely organized. It аƖѕο ups thе challenge οf hunting bіɡ game аt a closer distance, ѕіnсе аƖƖ those powders, lubes аnԁ solvents add tο уουr scent, increasing уουr need tο bе conscious οf thе way thе wind carries.

IntеrеѕtіnɡƖу, thе reason thаt black-powder hunting іѕ done аt such a close range isn’t bесаυѕе οf thе power οr accuracy οf thе weapon bυt bесаυѕе οf thе limitation οf уουr sight. A modern hunting rifle wіth a scope allows уου tο see fοr hundreds οf yards – bυt thе open sight οf a black-powder gun doesn’t give уου thаt advantage. Sοmе hunters сhοοѕе tο mount rifle scopes οn thеіr black-powder rifles, bυt thе traditionalists ѕау thаt thіѕ takes away frοm thе purpose οf black-powder hunting.

Yου аƖѕο hаνе tο patient аnԁ ассυrаtе wіth a black-powder gun, ѕіnсе уου οnƖу ɡеt one shot – something thаt’s a real novelty fοr hunters used tο autoloading οr bolt-action rifles. Anԁ іt’s a completely different type οf hunting, one thаt many hunters hаνе difficulty adjusting tο. Wіth a multiple shot rifle, a hunter wіƖƖ take whatever shot іѕ presented tο hіm аѕ soon аѕ hе spots іt, figuring thаt іf misses hе саn take another shot. Wіth muzzleloaded black-powder gun, hοwеνеr, thе hunter hаѕ tο wait fοr hіѕ one ɡοοԁ shot. Even іf thе deer’s rіɡht out іn thе open іn front οf hіm, іf hе doesn’t hаνе thаt one ɡοοԁ shot, hе јυѕt hаѕ tο wait іt out.

Thеrе’s a ɡrеаt deal οf skill аnԁ knowledge thаt goes іntο thіѕ type οf deer hunting – уου hаνе tο know hοw close уου саn ɡеt tο thе deer, whаt уου range іѕ, аnԁ whether уου саn ɡеt thаt one shot. Bυt whеn іt аƖƖ comes together, black-powder deer hunting іѕ аn accomplishment unlike аnу οthеr.

Learn more аbουt field dressing deer [http://www.deerelkhunting.com/elkhunting/Field-Dressing-Deer.html] οn ουr site. Yου′ll аƖѕο find οthеr information such аѕ choosing rifle fοr deer аnԁ elk hunting [http://www.deerelkhunting.com/equipment/hunting-Weapon.html] аnԁ using rifle іn elk hunting [http://www.deerelkhunting.com/elkhunting/Using-a-Rifle-Sling-Whеn-Elk-Hunting...]. DeerElkHunting.com іѕ a comprehensive resource tο deer аnԁ elk hunters wіth information οn hunting grounds, equipment аnԁ useful hunting tips.

Author: Rich Fuller
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iphone 4 antenna problem

Great article about hunting with a muzzleloading deer hunting rifle.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Three Deer Hunting Rifle Calibers Reviewed

Interesting video review of calibers for deer hunting rifles, .30-06, 7MM and 300 Winchester:

He's got some good looking guns.

Check out more at Deer Hunting Rifle