End of Season Thoughts

[Big John]

This was an excellent season for Hunting this year! filled the freezer, Duck's, Rabbit's, Grouse, Deer, Fish, Geese, all good!

Seems everyone else done good as well!

I find that this time of the year is the time to re-think weapon's, gear, clothing, etc. And start a new year with new thought's and strategies, and new toy's!

So I bought new decoy's, new rifle, a new shot-gun is on it's way, got new gear and clothing for X-mas. Now I find myself with a small problem I never thought of. I didn't get a new Crossbow! Now the wife (bless her) won't let me get one. Of course she did say I could sell something else to get one, but that defeat's the purpose of getting it in the first place, I told her. Still no go. But, I Love her, and she set's the rules, "after" hunting season.

And so, after all this, is anyone else upgrading and getting new toy's to help even the odd's this year? If we all do this and get the result's we wan't, we should all be buying new freezers this season as well don't you think?

Let the New Year of Hunting Begin, I am Ready!!
John

[R.J.]

I hear ya John .... had a fun season again .... looking forward to upcoming Jacks and Geese .... then Spring Turkey .... Hope to get out tomorrow for some shed antler hunting ...

Looking forward to the 23rd ... Hope the weather pans out for decent pictures !

Anybody know what the opener is for Turkey for 2008 ?

[Big John]

I have already seen the pictures, R.J.!
Every night I see them coming in, and then "BANG!" "BANG!" "BANG!".
They are not going to be Happy that day!

[huntman]

I have ordered the new relayer to add to my excalibur collection which isnt really much of a collection it will make my total three. I am looking for a small calibire rifile enough to take out these damn coyotes that we are having a problem with on the land i bow hunt. Not sure if i should go with a 222 or 223 or something a little larger? Anyone got any suggestions? I am also looking to add a muzzleloader for next seasons controlled hunt, other then those items i pretty much have everything a hunter needs. The wife doesent bother me with purchases becuase she buys whatever she wants to!!

[Normous]

huntman:
I belong to the Varmint Hunters Association since 1993. A incredible quarterly publication on Varmint hunting, accurate rifles, handloading, shooting, and much, much more. www.varminthunter.org
Highly recommended to anyone with such interests, a full array of well written information is published. I eagerly await my copies and read everything back to back.

Right now the .204 seems to have taken the Varmint Hunter Community by storm. Numerous rifle manufactures have adopted the new killer cartridge to their linup. Hornaday, Federal, Winchester, Remington have provided numerous high quality factory loadings to the .204 linup. Quality bullets manufactured by such reputable companys such as Sierra, Hornaday, Berger and Nosler are offered, between 32-45 grains. Loads exit the serious end at between 3900-4100 fps or more!
Easy a 400 yard Killer. Some have rung out that .204 to 600 yards. It runs out of steam past 650.

Just the perfect coyote medicine!! Of course anything in the .17,22 and 6mm's will work fine on Varmints.


Good luck John! Man I'm lucky I married a good one. The Relayer Y25 will be a gift.

[Boo]

Armando. The 223 is pretty popular, it has a much lower report than a 22-250 , 220 Swift. The 204 Ruger is pretty popular as well.
Muzzleloader? The Savage smokeless powder with the Accu Trigger is flat out amazing!
All I am getting is the Relayer. Well maybe the new Hoyt Dorado recurve too.
Oh yeah I forgot, I am waiting until a few more rifles come out with a 338 Federal.

[TPM]

John, sounds like you had a great season! I've been spending the last two weeks inventorying gear to see what needs replacing or upgrading. I pulled all the ground blinds in this week and they seemed to have weathered another season just fine as did most of my gear. I'll probably add a few goose decoys (you can never have enough!) and I have to check what's left in shotshells and re-stock but I think that's about it. Might invest in a rangefinder one of these days. I'm not one to replace major equipment unless I have to. For me if it works, don't fix it. I only own one crossbow (Phoenix) and I love it. It gets used for hunting and 3D and unless it gets lost, stolen or detroyed it's probably the only crossbow I'll ever own. I used to have a bad shotgun habit but I'm down to three now and out of those one gets used for about 80% of my shotgunning needs. Same story for deer rifles.
So for me it's mostly cleaning and putting away. I shoot in a winter .22 league and that starts this week so I'll be getting the Anschutz match rifle out in the next day or two to get it ready. I've got some bunny hunting opportunities in the next few weeks and of course we'll be out for goose at the end of February.

[Doe Master]

Rick it is the 25th of april for the turkeys .The only time it will change supposedly is if it falls on a sunday .

[Pydpiper]

Yup, time to make the big dogs sit up and bark! I am going to spend the winter deflating yotes with the .220 Swift, trying not to think about the turkey season that is creeping up fast..
I had the best year of my life out there, best of times, best of people, sad to see it all disappear at the turn of a page of a regulations handbook.
Here is hoping for a fall turkey hunt!

[Fishn-Hunter]

Huntman
I have a .223 and it is more than enough gun for yotes even out to 300yrds they have dropped in there tracks. But I stay away from from hollow pts and stick with pointed soft points or ballistic tips as they get better penetration at longer ranges.
Fishn-Hunter

[DoDFire]

End of season for me,,,,, Well I have been working alot and the wife keeps me informed of all the Deer movements..... for the past week 3 bucks and a couple of does have been show'n up at our place (after dark) EVERY NIGHT. they come out of the woods from the ridge and work the field then go to the creek. Turkeys are a daily thing,, just spooked about 20 hens in the back yard as I came in from work (20 yards from my back deck) I am going to buy a feeder for the turkeys and feed them till spring. I plan on devoting most of my time and effort for a friend of mine that has muscular dystrophy to bag one of those long beads that visit my place on a daily basis. Then I will prep my place for deer season. I want to build a shooting house on the ridge and clear a few shoot'n lanes so that I can take the wife, kids and my friend on a few deer hunts this fall. Between turkey season, work, family time, and the other events of the year I plan on set'n the hook in some of those big river smallies around here....LIFE IS GOOD!!