WOW BEEN A WHILE

Well Its been a while .Shortly after the last entry my world changed forever!Long strory short.I am now remarried and a ordaned pastor.Now lets get on with life. Hopefully I will have some good hunting,fishing and outdoor storys coming soon!

Shotguns and clays

So today my son Sam and my daughter Sage hiked back to the lake to do some clay target shooting.Sam got a Rossi 20 gauge for Christmas and this was our first chance to try it out.Both the kids were stunned at how hard it is to hit those flying disks.They went through a box and a half of shells and hit a few birds but they both had smills on there faces.Sam's new 20 handles well and is a excellent starter gun.It also came with a 22 LR barrel.The only complaint was the buttstock has no recoil pad,witch is ok for the 22 but really wails you with the shotgun.We put a Sims slip on recoil pad and that made a huge difference.All of my kids do a lot of shooting but this was Sage and Sam's first time shooting shotguns,They do a lot of rifle and pistol shooting in both rim fire and center fire.The hand thrower we used is a MTM ez-double throw.It was brand new and took a few trys to get the hang of it,and it was hard to load the targets at first but got easier with use.We really had fun and dad even talked the kids into letting him try and busted both birds thrown for him witch put big smiles on the kids .The pressure was on so I was glad I didn't miss.If you have a place to do this give it a try you will see the confidence grow in your kids with each shot weather its a hit or not.I also saw confidence in gun handling and they both had a chance to practice gun safety and we discussed gun safety before we started shooting .Take a kid shooting

The Great 1911

So this past year I decided that I would finally get a 1911 and I did a lot of shopping around and handling all the 1911's out on the market.I looked at Springfield's and Kimbers and Smiths and anything else I could lay my hands on.I finally decided on a blued Taurus PT 1911 in 45ACP.I went with this one because of all the race gun mods already done at the factory that would of put any other manufacturers gun out of my self imposed budget.







This gun came with lots of cool stuff the others didn't like a full-length guide rod and reverse plug,Heinie Straight Eight night sites,Serrated slide front and rear,Checkered trigger guard,mainspring housing and front strap,Ambidextrous safety,Beavertail grip safety with memory pad,Target hammer,Skeleton serrated trigger,trigger job,Custom fit barrel with gauged bushing,custom slide to frame fit,Polished feed ramp and barrel throat,Lowered and flared ejection port,Custom internal extractor,Extended mag release button, Beveled mag well and came with two mags.









This is a added value of 1600 bucks!Well as soon as I got it I changed the grips,it came with some black checkered nylon ones that were a little slim and I just didn't really like.I added some cool faux ivory ones with the grim reaper that caught my eye.I have run about 300 rounds through it and have yet to have a single hiccup.I am very happy with this gun.I did have to get used to the sights as stated they are the strait eight sites and you line em up like a figure 8 and you place the top ring on your intended point of impact.Now this took a little getting used too as I am a bulls eye shooter and am used to the six o'clock hold.But with some practice I got used to it and found that they are very fast sights,you can get on target very fast and that is very important in a combat/defence handgun.I have shot nothing but jacketed bullets as I hate lead fowling.I give this gun a A and would give it a A+ if it came with a rear sight that was adjustable for elevation.The sights are adjustable for windage and are spot on for the recommended sight picture but I would love to be able to use the six oclock hold for bulls eye shooting.The bottom pic shows the illumination of the sights I took the pic with just a bit of backlight and they stand out in poor light to complete darkness.In my opinion this is a great 1911 and you wont go wrong if you get one.No its not a Kimber or a Gold cup but I'd put it up against them in any match and I think the shooters would decide the outcome not the brand.

Just some Pics

Setting Up

So the top photo shows the set up .The wind is from left to right and I approached the stand from the downwind side.I like this spot in the afternoon as I have discovered the fox seem to travel east of the den in the afternoon.I don't spend more
than a half hour on stand and I usually I get a hit in the first 10 min.






The second photo shows a ground level view of the same spot after I shot a fox.I parked a 4whlr at the spot the fox was shot so I would have a reference.I snuck in and placed my call and decoy about a hundred yards out.I played wounded woodpecker and lucky bird for about 30 seconds and muted the call for about 1 min .I did this a couple times and was scanning the Field in front of me when something caught my eye.
I took a second look and sure enough a fox was sneaking in from downwind about 160 yrds out.I lined up the cross hairs and drooped it with a well placed shot from my 22-250.I then started the call again in case there was a second but nothing else showed.

Predator Rifles

The top pic shows my choice in weapons for predator hunting .For some reason it rotated when I uploaded it and I don't know how to fix it. Anyway from left to right we have a ruger mini 14 that I have done a lot of work on and is very accurate for what is really a self defence weapon.Its in 223 rem and will group just under a inch at 100 yrds. I use it for areas that will have tighter cover and when I feel I will need multiple shots.

Next is my 17 Mach IV barrel for my TC Encore.It a custom made by bullbery and hasn't been in the Field yet.I am currently working on some hand loads for it and I think I have fallen for this little wildcat.

On the far right is my TC Encore with a TC 22-250 barrel on it .The action has been modified with a trigger job and heavy hammer spring,The trigger breaks at a crisp 2.5 lbs with no creep and all work on it has been done on it by myself.I also use the oversize hinge pin and it will shoot 1/2 moa and under with my hand loads all day long.I also added heavy duty lock up springs to both barrels.

The next pic shows from left to right the 17 mach IV with a 25 gr Berger sitting on top of 18.6 gr of H322,This I hope will be very fur friendly and will most likely become my go to gun.

Next is a 223 with a 60 gr V max this combo is great as long as you don't hit a bone.I try and limit shots to around 200 yrds with this one.

And on the far right is my beloved 22-250 With a 52 gr Berger hpm running at 3750 fps and is absolutely devastating on the dogs.You put it in the chest and they are DRT!Ive whacked em out as far as 400 yrds and it just puts the smack down on em.

On my next post I will talk about the stand set up and add a few kill shots.Have a great day and take a kid hunting.

Snow Camo

So for camo I go with over whites.I hunt in the snow and there are some nice winter camo outfits out on the market but they are just not versatile enough for me.I need to layer my clothing depending on the temp .

The first pic is a over white poncho that works great over a parka for those sub zero temps.

I think its Swiss army surplus and I got it at a on line surplus store for about 12 bucks.

The next pic is of some surplus over whites that fit over my standard cold weather outer where.

I got some fabric paint from Jo ans and painted some sticks and limbs and green splotches on em to break up my outline.I find that this is a important step as you will rarely be setting up with zero cover and this really helps to conceal you.

Next topic I will cover will be my choice of weapons and ammo.