I need to persuade some buddies to head up there sometime. One extremely good day of calling produced this a couple years ago: Spoiler Seven good coyotes in one day. Given, we (I hunt with another guy who has lots of experience) had some located prior to hunting them, but we were on the money. They were shot in open prairie land near drainage ditches and treelines adjacent to crop fields. The rifle I'm holding is a .22-250AI built specifically for quick kills without blowing the hide apart since we sell the hides and sewing them up is a pain in the ass, not to mention caping them out. I hope to repeat this once 2011 rolls around. How did you hunt the wolf? Calling? Bait? Trapping? What is the general public opinion up there regarding wolf hunting?
Nicely done. Basically, I was still hunting early in the morning in a blind, and had used a bit of fox piss as a scent mask, and about 200 yards off I saw it walking. Saw it as a glimpse of movement barely in view, and waited about 15 minutes for it to wander around until I got a semi-clear shot at it. Here's a pic from the blind showing you what it was like. (Spoilered for size) Spoiler Saw it just above the "w" in "saw" on the right, then shot it just above the "h" in "shot". No calling, just still hunting and paying attention, I guess. The 20+ year old Browning A-bolt .30-06 (composite stalk) I bought new, 180 grain custom loads, and a kick-ass low-light scope. I cannot speak highly enough about that scope... the Leupold VX-7L 3.5-14x56mm. Super wide angle, and incredible low-light performance. I also had a mil-dot reticle put in it as a special order. Probably half an inch drop at 200 yards, and the wolf just dropped. Not as spectacularly as that antelope video, but it didn't go another half step. As to public opinion, it's mixed. Those that don't hunt, your typical granola muncher types, or those that only know about wolves from reading fantasy novels are aghast, but farmers and hunters treat them as the pests they are.
I can't imagine how nice a 56mm objective would be in low light conditions. How much earlier/later do you feel shooting with it compared to other scopes with smaller objectives? The scope cranked down to 3.5x with the scope focused 50-100 yards must make for great fast shooting too. It blows my mind how they can shape the lenses like they do and make 'em work. The scope sitting on the varmint rifle is a Leupold VX3 4.5-14x with custom range compensating turrets that are set to exact loads (hot 40 gr. Bergers in this case) so they are much faster to use than traditional tall turrets. The only downside is that changes in conditions can affect the zero and effectively make the turrets close to worthless. It accordingly only gets used in the cold weather we hunt in (january-march). So far I think the most useful attributes for a scope in hunting situations is a scope with low to mid power and a good wide adjustable objective. It could even be a fixed power scope, depending on the usage- as long as I can focus it quickly and easily to varying ranges. I hate being limited by an out-of focus scope and having a wide field of view in some hunting situations can really help seal the deal when you need to. Super clear glass and razor-fine reticles have only really mattered for shooting really small holes in paper. Repeatability, consistency, and dependability are necessities across the board. There happens to be a large population of hipsters, hippies, and soft suburbanites up here in the Twin Cities that would be appalled at the thought of wolves being hunted, much less see me pull a few rabbits and a gun case out of the car upon returning home from hunting. At least the neighbors in my much more rural hometown would have been encouraging if not already hunting with me.
I can see better in the dusk and dawn with that scope than I can with my own eyes... it collects way more light. The only thing I don't like is I couldn't get it in a 1.5-9 in that size objective. The BEST hunting scope I've ever had was the original mid-80's Bushnell Banner wide angle, 1.5-9x52mm PERFECT field of view, and insane clarity and low light performance. It sprung a leak, so I sent it back to the factory for the free (lifetime warranty) reseal, and UPS lost it. Couldn't replace it, as it was 15 years old and end of life. Got a newer Bushnell, and it was crap compared to the original. Then got the Leupold, and use the replacement Bushnell as a backup. (Leupold quick release mounts work really well for that).
Parts of Minnesota had a bunch of snow dumped on it on Saturday. Here are a few shots from the deer stand as the sun was coming up Sunday morning. Spoiler Spoiler Anyone see a deer to the right of that shooting lane? Yeah, neither did I... Spoiler It was pretty to see and neat to be out in...but it sure made it hard to see or hear anything.
traded some beer to the local lobster fisherman for some lobster, 14 lobsters for 6 beers and a trolling lure.
This guy almost jumped in the boat. He got me pretty good when I was taking the hook out and the boat rolled. If I wasn't in a 3rd world country and if the only medical facility within 50 miles wasn't closed for the week, I probably would have got stitches.
I'm off to Upstate NY this weekend to see if I can't put venison on my plate for the next few months. If I get one, cool beans. Frankly, I'm just looking forward to sitting by myself in quiet woods for hours on end, regardless of the outcome. It's been too long. Pictures will be posted if victory is achieved.
I'm 1 & 1 on the year, so far. Killed a 125lb doe, this past Monday and lost a doe Sunday, the 21st. Don't know what happened with the first one. I was using a 45-70, with the Hornady LeveRevolution ammo, put a good shoot on her and never found her. We trailed the ole girl for close to 3 miles finding huge pools of blood every so often. Got to the point where we weren't finding blood so we spread out and did a grid type search for about 30 minutes... nothing. Sucks losing one. I hate that I didn't put her down quickly. The second one didn't make it very far out of her tracks. Shot her with a 25-06 using Federal 115 grain trophy bonded bear claw ammo.
Got my first deer at about 6:40 on the morning of opening day. Second year 2 point spike, around 90-95 lbs. field dressed. I was shooting Remington AccuTip slugs, and those things put a serious hurting on a deer. That entrance wound is about 3.5-4 inches wide.
I don't hunt so I have an etiquette question regarding deer hunting. My property boarders some state land. I have no problem with the hunters traveling through or hunting on my property but there's a very high traffic hiking trail (really more of a single lane road) that runs along my property edge that hunters have been firing mighty close to. Since it's technically on my land I've had three dog walkers that use the path complain to me about the hunter's proximity. One was firing downhill at a deer aiming down towards this path. I use this path a couple times a day as well to walk my dog so I don't want to get fucking shot or worse have him get shot. So my question is this. Everyone uses one of two paths to enter the woods, one on my property one on the state land. I was going to post an "Attention!" sign of a blown up map highlighting where the path is and ask hunters to remain on the other side of the hill from it when hunting. If you hunt what would your reaction be to seeing this?
It varies from state to state, but around here unless it's posted either "NO TRESPASSING" or "NO HUNTING" it doesn't carry any legal weight. Check your local regulations to see what needs to be done. If you land borders public hunting land, there's not much you can do. People who walk out in the woods during deer season need to be aware that it's going on. Just because you don't look like a deer doesn't mean an errant bullet from a hunter 400 yards away can't find you. If you're going to go out during deer season, at least do your part and wear blaze orange. If you're walking your dog, put a blaze orange vest on the dog. Some dogs may be mistaken for deer by young or inexperienced hunters. Since you border public land, it may be a bit of a grey area. Your best bet is to contact a CO. Tell him your situation and he will advise you what to do in accordance with local law. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/index.htm</a>
I like seeing signs and maps, I plug that stuff into my gps and it saves me time. I have no desire to hunt near hikers or their animals, to much can go wrong. Don't worry about etiquette, post the information, most hunters I know respect landowners.
Usually hunters have to have permission (written in some instances) to enter or hunt on someone elses private property. Id just do the paranoid thing and forbid any persons, hunters or hikers, entrance to your property. You really want to deal with the legal hassle if some schmoe gets blasted by a stray bullet? I don't know what legalities you'd encounter with state land trails entering your property but Id be wary of it and look into with a fine tooth comb. edit: Fuck everyone that is gun hunting this week. I have the itch bad. No way to scratch it. Damn Commies. Someday Ill find a copy of the outdoor channel segment my dads friend filmed of me taking a buck at 125+ yards with a .44 mag. Hell yeeaaah ebragging!
It didn't keyhole. Shot was taken at 35 yards, max, and I'm using a rifled slug barrel. Take a look at the balistics gel test for these things (fast forward to the 7 second mark). If you look at where it enters, there's a significant amount of blowback at that point. I'm guessing that's what caused the larger-than-normal entry hole.
Can anyone recommend a good quality scouting game camera? From my research I have found brands like Wildgame Innovations and Moultrie for the inexpensive kinds, and Bushnell for the more expensive. I'd imagine with price comes quality, but I don't shop for these kinds of things ever. Any help?