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686

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Everything posted by 686

  1. Won my first gunbroker auction yesterday. We’ll see how the transaction goes, but I’m pretty happy so far. A pawn shop had listed a “Weatherby Mark V light weight 6.5 Creed More” [sic] with some not great pictures. Looking closely, it’s a Mark V Backcountry Ti (titanium action). Weatherby doesn’t write titanium on it, so you wouldn’t know unless you know. Listing says it’s “mint” and from the photos, looks like it’s never had a scope mounted or the action cycled much. MSRP $3300, I won it at $1500. Light weight is an understatement - 4.9 lbs. Should be fun; I don’t have a Creedmoor yet, so lots of new things to check out. Here’s one of the lousy listing photos, I’ve turned it 180 so the receiver is legible. Here’s a photo from Weatherby of what they look like in a nice photo. Carbon fiber stocks are really nice.
  2. Is the trigger on the FN a set trigger? (Can you push the trigger forward and then it has a reduced pull weight like a hair trigger?) It’s positioned far enough forward in the trigger guard that it makes me wonder.
  3. This is going to be great. Good of them to invite with plenty of time to prep. Lots to look forward to - going to be a memorable year for you! P.S. Swap those opera glasses for some modern binos. : )
  4. I think she probably is a psychopath, and it was calculated for the optics with the prosecution/jury, and locking in an anchor baby with generational wealth before she’s bankrupt and a business world pariah.
  5. The Gunny’s son is selling some of his stuff on GB. I honestly think this would be a good investment piece, but I’m sure the price will get way to rich for my blood. http:// https://www.gunbroker.com/item/912334959
  6. What heavy equipment does your pops have out there? Tractor? Disk? Drag? Roller/packer? Loader? Forks for loader? Seed/fertilizer spreader? Seed drill? Auger? What is your closest feed&seed? Once you find the soil data, it will tell you if you need to adjust pH and how much N/P/K you need. Post the results if you need help interpreting them. If you need to pH adjust, I would do that this spring so your soil will better utilize the fertilizer in the fall. Assuming you need some N/P/K, the local feed&seed may have a good fit fertilizer in bulk that you can buy and tow out to your place and apply with their spreader (I’m assuming you have access to a 1/2 ton truck). Food plotting is mostly about soil prep. Regarding cropping, I like Turner Seed Fall Deer Mix, your local place may have something different, but as a warning, lots of big seed companies back east sell stuff to stores here that just doesn’t do well because we don’t get enough rain west of about I-45 for the cultivars they use. Turner is in Breckinridge, TX. For a plot to hunt over, I would plant around October 1, and make sure you have winter wheat, cereal rye , one or more clovers, oats, etc. Here’s Turner’s blend: How many acres of food plot we talking about here?
  7. This is a big can of worms amigo, sounds like fun. As fattyflattie noted above, buying used is a great idea. How much time do you want to dedicate to the blind? Do you want it to look aesthetically pleasing or doesn’t really matter? I always thought it would be cool to make cedar siding with a chainsaw “mill”, or have it milled, but blinds can be deceptively time consuming builds, especially if you’re having to generate the dimensional material vs. store bought. Here’s one: Do you have equipment to move it? Windows is a whole issue unto itself. I thought these guys made some nice units: http:// https://www.deerviewwindows.com As far as food plotting, have you had your soil tested? Also, you might have better luck will fall food plots vs. spring food plots (spring plots need more rain at the right times). What’s the ratio of plot space you’ve got to the rest of the place? Around 3-5% minimum isn’t a bad ratio to start with. Also, exclusion fencing to keep the animals off the seedlings can be a game changer if you have a potential arrangement for that. Is the plot situated where you’ll hunt over it or not? Regarding feeders, I really like All Seasons feeders.
  8. I was a guest at a high fence place in Kansas this fall and connected with that buck. They manage everything at that ranch, most impressive to me was the fields and fields of clover coming up through the summer wheat stubble. Beautiful meandering meadows between deciduous treed hills and valleys. They don’t feed much protein, just great soil, great habitat, food plots and native browse management; along with genetic management second to none. I don’t deserve or desire any credit as a high-skill hunter for this kill (there were tons of bucks on a small high fence place, easy pickens, I’ve shot lots of whitetails, so not a challenge for me where I’m at in my journey as a hunter), nothing like the effort it takes to find and harvest a big trophy on public or low fence hunts. That said, I enjoy hunting high fence ranches (especially as a guest ; ) ), they have their place and I think are a great way to make hunting and game meat available and attainable to more people. He was a great buck, and we will enjoy the meat all year, and he’ll be a great conversation piece in my office. 267lbs live weight, 238”. Also, the best tasting whitetail I’ve ever had.
  9. Please allow us to live vicariously through your gratuitous hobby spending.
  10. I would definitely plan on driving. Compared to flying, it will be a relaxed, bring all your shit and be comfortable, shooting the shit with your buddy on the road and seeing the country type of experience vs. commercial flying, which is never really relaxing and you’ll be sweating luggage size/weight/gun rules and god forbid they lose something, then your out a day of the hunt. 150 quarts of cooler capacity is probably about the minimum I’d plan on having for a deboned bull, and it would be nice to have a soft side bag cooler for the skull to ride in. Cape will need to be in trash bag in a cooler as well, maybe figure 60quarts of volume there. I would plan on driving back with the trophies and the meat, you should be able to make it fit; figure most of your bags/gear in the back seat. Driving back from a hunt with antlers sticking out of the bed of your truck and coolers full of meat is like smoking a cigar for the entire return trip. Looking in the rear view at that stuff never gets old. Especially with the kind of antlers you guys will probably have in the bed. Veni, vidi, vici.
  11. I agree with all this. When I’m prepping for a hunt; I’ll do something physical to get my heart rate up when I’m doing some practice shooting. You can even do it at the house with an empty rifle just doing dry firing. Go jog/fast walk around the block a few times and then get on your rifle in different positions and see if you can: acquire target in scope/ breathe/hold the reticle on target/squeeze trigger without the reticle bouncing around; and see how long this takes, see if you can reduce the time. Lots of quick shot opportunities don’t get converted or result in bad shots because guys can’t do this process quickly enough.
  12. I got it off Amazon; the exact one isn’t available there right now but there are similar things available; see below. I don’t like putting a bloody knife back in its leather scabbard or on the ground/random surface when I’m butchering. http:// https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZXQMSMJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_4B18M577WF27Z5GDCRKE?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
  13. It may be of FN manufacture, but in a refined Mauser design/style; so lots of old gun people would call it a “Mauser”, even though its not built by Mauser.
  14. Elk meat >> axis meat in my experience; admittedly based on a small sample size. The axis I shot a few years back was a rutted up buck in a late dry summer in that area, which doesn’t help meat quality, I’m sure the does are better. I wet aged, lightly brined, stuffed, bacon wrapped/trussed and baked/lightly smoked the backstraps from this buck and although it all got eaten, I was honestly a little let down with how it turned out, probably just had my expectations too high. Also, I’m changing my venison cooking methods to really high heat for short durations, which gives a better result for my palate. Yes the axis took a beating in some areas, but they will bounce back quickly over a few years IMO.
  15. Condolences on the loss of your father, nice that he he passed down some heirloom pieces. Regarding the Flaig’s rifle, take the stock off sometime and look at the markings on the underside of the barrel, it will probably say Douglas or Premium; Flaig’s generally used European actions (Sako, FN, etc) with Douglas (of West Virginia) barrels. Douglas barrels are/were well regarded. What action is your rifle? Also, a tip, when you take the stock off: I like to put some tape over the blade of the flathead screwdriver I’m using to avoid any marring of the bluing on the action screws. It’s also a good time to clean and rust-protect the bottom of the barrel and action while you have the stock off. The combination of the high end European actions, Douglas barrels, custom hand carved stocks (usually by Flaig’s), and master gunsmithing made for some very nice rifles. They also had some of their own innovative items (trigger shoes, etc).
  16. Nice man! glad you made it and glad you were able to find a good outfitter! Love it when a plan comes together. So your buddy is going on the elk hunt with you? Awesome if so; hunting with good friends is the best. Let’s talk logistics on your hunt: what elevation is the ranch at? What month is the hunt? Rain gear needed? Range of shots to be prepared for? You driving up and hauling the meat/trophy(s) back? If so, what’s your cooler setup look like? What bullet you shooting in your 300?
  17. How much time we talkin here?
  18. Yeah my folks have one. When we were really clearing cedar I could push down and pile over 500 cedar trees a day. Really works best to use the dozer to push the brush into small piles and then use a skid steer with grapple to shuttle the small piles to a larger burn pile area. Cab machines are the only way to work brush fires; I’ll never go back to open machines.
  19. Looks like a big old buck to me. Staining down his locks looks good; front legs look short. If this is low fence I’m shooting.
  20. To try and answer your original question: 1. there isn’t a great spot to look for leases. It’s really hard to find one. There are some websites (Craigslist, etc.) but seems to be mixed results. It looks like tpwd has a lease database as well: http:// https://www2.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/planning/hunt_lease/listlease.php 2. In my experience, if the lease is less than 2 hours drive from your house you’ll get a lot more use out of it than if its a 2.5+ hour drive; especially with kids. 3. You can try looking on the bulletin boards at the feed stores in the areas you are considering and talking to the folks that work there. Good luck man; keep at it and take care.
  21. Check out all of the optics when you’re there. Eurooptic has good sales at the show. You’re going to want a good rangefinder and good binos or rangefinding binos for this hunt (Vortex, Sig, Leica, Swarovski). All of the clothing companies will be represented, check out merino blend thermals from First Lite and others; at least see what your size is and note it if you don’t buy some. Also, if you need to up your mountain boot game, this is a prime opportunity to try on Kenetrek, Schnee’s, etc. I really like slings from Slogan outdoors and they will be there as well (being able to pull the second strap over your head really helps hold the rifle in place when you’re traversing awkward terrain. Also, I didn’t look for packs last time, but try out some nice packs from Stone Glacier, Mystery Ranch, Kuiu, Sitka, etc. if possible so you can make a better decision if you decide to get one later.
  22. Seriously - that’s really great man. I’ve been around a good number of folks that were adopted and there is nothing quite like the attachment there, the adoptee knowing someone did so much to change the course of their life for the better. Kudos to you for that and going above and beyond by getting her into the outdoors.
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