Hunting

[salt and pepper]

As archery season is less then a week away here in Montana, I was just wondering who on our site, are the hunters?
What type of hunting is to your liking and the game you hunt most.

 

[Hoot]

I haven't hunted in many a year. I get offered more venison than I can possibly deal with every season. When I was hunting, I used a .45 caliber flintlock. I keep getting a hankering for squirrel...might have to see about it this fall. I shoot center with this old bolt action .22 of mine. It's gotta be cold ..(and I do mean cold) for a few weeks afore I would eat squirrel.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Used to hunt deer during archery and rifle season here in Yooper land. Due to a less capable body, and a very heavy bow, I gave my archery tackle to my eldest son, and my rifles to my two boys, and one of my daughters, same with the shotguns. I figure the hunting tools should be handed down while my kids are in their prime, rather than when they no longer have time to use them.

I did go hunting with my other daughter, who doesn't like firearms, but with a camera. We had fun. She isn't an anti-gun, or anti-hunting person. She just doesn't want to use them, or hunt herself. I can agree with that.

Anymore, I hunt for wild berries, a good fishing hole, and mushrooms. I could hunt, but have so many things to do, and so little time to do them in.

Realistically, hunting is for young to middle aged men and women, not for someone with a bad knee and an achy wrist.

Wish I had someone who loved to give away venison, or bear meat. (heavy sigh).

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[salt and pepper]

I haven't hunted in many a year. I get offered more venison than I can possibly deal with every season. When I was hunting, I used a .45 caliber flintlock. I keep getting a hankering for squirrel...might have to see about it this fall. I shoot center with this old bolt action .22 of mine. It's gotta be cold ..(and I do mean cold) for a few weeks afore I would eat squirrel.

I still have and use a .50 cal Thomson Hawken (percussion) I built from a kit many moons ago. Also use a custom Black Widow longbow and a compound bow. My rifle is a .270 Weatherby mag. I have hunted everything from rabbits to buffalo. Mostly deer and antelope, but have been lucky enough to harvast mountain goat, mountin lions and more. Gotta go for now , my buddy is here , we are going fishing, see ya.

 

[taxlady]

I haven't hunted in many a year. I get offered more venison than I can possibly deal with every season. When I was hunting, I used a .45 caliber flintlock. I keep getting a hankering for squirrel...might have to see about it this fall. I shoot center with this old bolt action .22 of mine. It's gotta be cold ..(and I do mean cold) for a few weeks afore I would eat squirrel.

I'm curious. Why does it have to be cold for a few weeks afore you would eat squirrel? Do they change their diet when it gets cold and thereby change flavour? Do they get more fat in the cold?

 

[pacanis]

I'm curious. Why does it have to be cold for a few weeks afore you would eat squirrel? Do they change their diet when it gets cold and thereby change flavour? Do they get more fat in the cold?

Maybe Hoot gets hungrier when it's cold.

 

[Hoot]

Maybe Hoot gets hungrier when it's cold.

I do...but the reason I prefer to wait until it has been very cold for a week or two is that there is a parasite that lays its eggs on the skin of squirrels. It is known by a lot of names....wolves, warbles, bot fly grubs.
All the authorities say that is doesn't affect the meat, but if you ever saw one, you would understand my reluctance to eat meat that has such creatures on it. And I will eat most anything! Mind you, I was raised up being taught that the meat ought not to eaten when wolves are present. Old habits are hard to break.

 

[taxlady]

I do...but the reason I prefer to wait until it has been very cold for a week or two is that there is a parasite that lays its eggs on the skin of squirrels. It is known by a lot of names....wolves, warbles, bot fly grubs.
All the authorities say that is doesn't affect the meat, but if you ever saw one, you would understand my reluctance to eat meat that has such creatures on it. And I will eat most anything! Mind you, I was raised up being taught that the meat ought not to eaten when wolves are present. Old habits are hard to break.

So, I guess the cold weather kills the parasites. I would wait too.

 

[Hoot]

They say the first frost kills them...I ain't in any hurry...let Old Man Winter do his work first.

 

[pacanis]

That's' interesting, Hoot. I used to hunt and never heard about that, but usually it's October and cold here when small game opens. It mustn't be as much a concern up here.
Is this only squirrel, or rabbits, too?

 

[Hoot]

Never seen one on a rabbit, but then rabbit season in NC starts in late November.
Squirrel season begins in the middle of October. We seldom have a frost until November.

 

[pacanis]

The whole parasite thing wigs me out anymore.
I remember having a deer hanging and seeing the ticks pouring out from under its armpits (so to speak). Not a big deal if you are hunting at camp and your deer hangs for a while before heading home, but I often think about my neighbor who hunts about 20 minutes away and processes his own deer. He gets a deer and it's hanging in his garage an hour later. And he has dogs. I'm sure the ticks simply don't crawl off and die.

 

[CraigC]

I use an AB Biller 48 with a spring steel freeshaft and upgraded bands. Favorite game is black grouper, hogfish and mutton snapper, in that order.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I used to hunt when I was a kid. Mostly small game and birds. A couple of times my brother and I went deer hunting, but it was mostly just to appease our dad, who insisted it was some sort of rite of passage.

It's probably been 30 years since I last hunted. Well, unless you count asparagus and morels. I still "hunt" those.

 

[pacanis]

Hey Craig, can a spear gun be equated to poundage on a bow? I was wondering how they compare... how powerful they were in the air.

 

[CraigC]

Hey Craig, can a spear gun be equated to poundage on a bow? I was wondering how they compare... how powerful they were in the air.

Don't know of any comparison ever being done. It is way too dangerous to even load a speargun out of water, let alone fire it. Since there isn't any fletching on a spear shaft, I believe water density helps maintain a true "flight" underwater. Water density also is a range killer though, restricting the ability to make kill shots at great distances. You might hit the fish, but without any serious damage. Judging distance and size takes some getting used to as objects appear about 33% larger and closer underwater.

 

[pacanis]

What is it's lethal, accurate distance?
If you shot a big fish at 10 yds would it pass through?

 

[CraigC]

What is it's lethal, accurate distance?
If you shot a big fish at 10 yds would it pass through?

Probably not. However, the idea is to take shots at a down angle so if it isn't a kill shot, the bottom or structure will stop the shaft from being a through shot. The instinct of most fish is to try for cover. Having a 6' shaft perpendicular to your body makes diving into cover rather difficult. This type of spearfishing is most effective on bottom dwelling species. If you do have a through shot, reloading and getting on with tracking is much quicker than fumbling around with a tethered shaft. Besides, there are some fish that if not killed using a tethered shaft, can kick your butt!

Obviously in blue water spearfishing, the equipment and technique is entirely different. These folks are going after tuna in the hundreds of pounds range as well as lightning fast species like dorado and wahoo, where the bottom may be hundreds or thousands of feet down.

Then there are those which I consider nuts. They like to shoot cobia off the backs of schooling bull sharks.

Shooting Cobia off Bull Sharks - YouTube

 

[FrankZ]

I was hoping to get Kathleen through the online portion of the course so we could do our field day together.

I don't know how it will play out.

 

[Mad Cook]

Mind you, I was raised up being taught that the meat ought not to eaten when wolves are present. Old habits are hard to break.

Why? Because you're taking food from the wolves? Or another more sinister reason?