Finals of... Deer Season?

So, after finishing things up at school, I was able to take the LAST TWO DAYS of deer season and actually go into the woods and hunt, instead of just thinking about it. It was cold, raining, and windy... classic. The deer, or course, had better sense than to be out in this mess, especially with an armed stranger prowling about. I even hunted from my 'magic tree', from which spot I've taken many, many deer over the years. No luck. Two weeks before, a friend just back from Iraq wanted to go hunt on the land and unwind; in the process, he killed three deer in two days. Coming back to the house, he berated my brother and I for stealing deer from the local petting zoos to stock the farm with. Lovely. He lost track of the deer he saw; the only deer I saw was one that had very carefully bedded down about 15 feet behind my truck and quickly bounded over the fence onto county land (aka "out-of-bounds") when I returned cold, tired and wet the last day. As if insult needed injury, I found out that 4 deer had passed just behind the house earlier that same day while I was out in the woods.

So... finals for deer season are over this year. Based on the score, I think I'll be taking the course over next year...

LG

Finals are over... Finally!

OK, I made it through finals with only a minimum of sleep deprivation, and hey! Christmas came early for me. I'm a fairly likable guy (really!), so how could I deny myself the opportunity to purchase a Shiloh Sharps business rifle when it came up for sale through a friend at a really good price? I couldn't, so it came home with me... a plain but exceptionally well made gun in the light plinking caliber of .50-140. NOT what I was looking for... our deer in this neck of the woods aren't typically armored, and I usually hunt with a .45 caplock and a nice pleasant load of 65 grains of 3F; it has proven quite sufficient. But, oh my... the .50-140 is fun to shoot. Yes, it does have a stiff recoil, but not unmanageable with 425 grain bullets. I really wanted a .45-70, since I already have reloading equipment for that caliber, but this gun came with dies, brass, a mold... kinda shot the "I'm not set up to reload that caliber excuse" ( A known, valid excuse for passing up a firearm at a good deal, though employing it often leads to regret later). I've not shot it enough to really see what sort of groups I can get with it, and the first few shots were of the 'hang-on-for-dear-life' variety, until I realized it wasn't going to incapacitate me. Even so, I was getting a fair offhand group at 50 yards using the 10-year-old ammo that came with the gun, more than adequate for whitetail hunting. (Normally I am leery of handloaded ammo that comes with a gun, but: I trust this individual, all shells were full-volume Pyrodex, eliminating the possibility of a double charge, and all measurements were within spec for the round.) Now I'm looking for a 600 grain mold, preferably for paper-patched bullets, and getting ready to load some more rounds with the 425 grain bullets using honest-to-goodness, real blackpowder. I guess I should mention what I consider a 'fair' group to be, just to avoid the sidelong glances... in this case, a little less than 3 inches. Not that hot, but considering a new (to me) gun, basic iron sights, old ammo that needed a good cleaning, rain, and concern over being able to clap with my shoulder blades after the first shot, I'll give it a fair rating. I expect improvement with fresh ammo and a decent day, and some more time behind the trigger. Then I can move back a bit (my home range is 300 yards... across the boxwood nursery, over the hayfield and past the garden) and really start playing with it.
Alas, classes start again all too soon, so shooting will be limited over the Christmas break... soon I'll be back to stream hydraulics instead of ballistics, relegated to merely plotting the summer's lead-and-powder based activities.

Merry Christmas!

Where are we going?

Howdy! What this blog is... and isn't. Old Trails are those places that we love to revisit time and time again, whether physically or just while daydreaming. They are the paths of our lives; they are how we got to where we are now. New trails are exciting, and I look forward to them, but old trails are where I go for solace; to get my life sorted out, so set priorities, and think about the things that I enjoy in life. Most of my old trails are in the Southern Appalachians, and I get to walk these quite a bit. Others are in Alaska or on the deep blue; those I only visit in my mind, at least for the time being. All of them are worth going back to occasionally. I enjoy the outdoors in most any form; I did my undergraduate work in biology so I could spend my days outside, and it paid for itself many times over. Now I've moved into a slightly different area of study, but it allows me to start putting everything around me together in a (sometimes) coherent pattern. You won't see it mentioned too often my writings here: this blog is devoted to the things that I enjoy when I go to my happy place. What are these? Shooting, mainly blackpowder but hey, I believe in diversity: my flintlock and my M4gery get along together just fine! Hunting... not fanatical, but I do like a deer in the freezer. Fishing - I love fishing in almost any form, from dry flies to otter trawls... Camping, usually incidental to some other activity. Reading, though right now it is mainly confined to textbooks and journal articles... but I still remember what it was like to read for pure enjoyment too! All sorts of other stuff too, but we'll just wait and see what shows up.



What this blog isn't:



Political... both major parties can take a North-South walk on an East-West bridge as far as I'm concerned. I vote for my own self interests, hope for the best, and plan for the worst.



A fountain of wisdom... all advice given herein is worth exactly the cost of admission, no warranty either express or implied, and no guarantees. Read at your own risk.



It probably won't be a lot of other things either... very little coal ever makes the transition to diamond, and I suspect that this blog while stay in a rather loosely consolidated carboniferous state, totally lacking in luster or clarity.



I'm currently a full time student working on my PhD, so blogging will be sporadic, erratic, and chaotic. Pretty much a reflection of my life at this point... but at least I'm seldom bored!



More as events warrant...



LG