Whacking and Stacking

[steveoh]

Yesterday had a great day of shooting with Kevin. No Turkeys, but that's ok. It wasn't from lack of trying. We chased over hill and ravine and got in some serious exercise.

It was beautiful though the wind blew 18-22 knots a good portion of the day according to the weather app.

My plan was take the Bulldog Turkey hunting. But day before I decided to remove the moderator and DonnyFL adapter from the Bulldog because I have been unable to get rid of the clipping and inaccuracy that starts at the adapter. Went so far as to order four new barrel supports and install them. No love. So bye bye. Then I noticed the scope rings were off kilter. I replaced them with a better (barely) set of UTGs. All looks level now.

The hope was to use the Bulldog as the M3 doesn't have the power I desire to feel confident with taking down a Turkey. Well it wasn't sighted in. So scratch that idea for now.

When we tired of chasing Turkeys Kevin headed back to the Dairy and I decided it was a perfect time to sight in the Bulldog. At Kevin's suggestion I loaded up and headed to the Gravel Pit where I was semi protected from the wind, and the new found noise of the unmoderated Bulldog would be tempered by the surrounding mounds of earth.

Two shots later I was sighted in at 41 yards. Then I stretched out to 50 yards. I do need a real world dope chart for farther distances. StrelokPro gets me close, but there's that confidence thing. I farted around for another hour verifying the M3 was right on at 50, and it was. That makes me happy.

Packed up and headed to the Dairy where I walked my fool legs off, taking out a ground squirrel at 50 yards, and then a Collared dove at around 20 yards. Zapped a couple of Voles at point blank range after finding them under a piece of plywood. That's a childhood habit that continues to this day. I usually find a snake to admire.

On my drive in to the dairy I took an offhand shot with the Bulldog at a Jackrabbit. He zigged and I zagged. Confidence took a slight dive.

All in all a great day hunting with Kevin. I feel so fortunate to get these days hanging out with Kevin and hiking around until we're both exhausted. Life is Good!

Fast forward to this morning. I was enjoying my pint of Joe when I spotted a squirrel in the Peach tree. Ran to shop and grabbed the M3. Squirrel was gone. Back inside to coffee, looked out window and there the bugger was again, eating an immature peach. I zoomed back to fetch the FX and took aim at a mostly obscured by branches and leaves Squirrel. Aimed for the small open area and let the NSA slug fly. Good grief that was loud! One dead Squirrel. Then I spot three more running around the fruit trees. I ended up whacking two more for a total of three Fox Squirrels for the morning. That puts me up to 9 + so far for the year. That's just my backyard.

I also had two turkeys gobbling in fron of the house this morning. One was a very mature Tom. Oh my trigger finger was itching something mighty fierce.

[Tinkerer]

You've had a very entertaining weekend for sure!!!  Beats being stuck at home. 

[Alan]

Well, I haven't had any luck. My recurring back spasms returned, and the pill bottle is empty! But I do like the story, and it is a good one. Watch out, however, as it is difficult to keep a man down. Notice, I didn't say good, as it is your day, Steve!

[Steelhead]

It was a nice day. I needed the diversion as I'm in the midst of multi-thousand dollar work snafu that is the responsibility of yours truly, so anything that takes my mind off of that and other pressing issues right now is welcome.

Lots and lots of turkeys, but getting wise to the game and on the move constantly. Instead of sitting traditionally, it's more like "Hurry up and head them off at the pass!"

The Gravel Pit is a perfect spot to shoot sub-100 yards. It's been used for just for that for decades. The reason I don't set up and target shoot there is the same reason that I haven't put in a semi-permanent range on some of the other spots; it's smack dab in the middle of the deer hunting area. The ranch, while fairly large by what most people consider, actually has very little deer habitat. Acre-wise most of the property is either the active dairy operation or open fields that are barren and used for farming feed, grazing, and/or just too close to home and buildings. I don't want to set up a shooting range that will affect the deer and run them out to parts unknown. On Saturday I spotted a shooter buck in velvet that was about 50 yards from the Gravel Pit in the creek bottom.

Steveoh and I have been brainstorming on a good location for a semi-permanent range. Hopefully I will something in place this summer.