ArtL

I was a set for a great deer season and then it happened...... First a wisdom tooth acted up and that required oral surgery, and then the flu. Can you imagine here it is the last day of the season and I have not gotten out yet. I will not either as I feel terrible. Guess that there will be next year. Well going to get back to coyotes next week I hope.

Good show and great looking dogs. The season close for us last week and I only got 5 for the season, which is pretty good for MA.

If I don't clean a gun after using it (even if not fired) I feel strange. So I just give it a quick cleaning. I guess the military side of me shows.

S&W 1911 and S&W 625... or whatever I grab from the gunsafe when needed....

I have been luck so far as they were just walking around on me and not attached. I have been on antibiotics for the problem and really don't want lime disease. I have some friends that do and it has really been bad for one. He is in suck tough shape that he had to retire. He got the disease before they really understood what was going one, and he wasn't treated. If I have any doubt I get to the doctor immediately.

I use an M2 Tactical with the pistol grip and ghost ring sights for bird shooting all the time. I find that it works great, but it does take a bit to get used to the pistol grip. If the bird is going straight away and upward at a sharp angle it gets in the way some of the time. Otherwise no problems at all. Not an M4 but close in configuration.

Great pic.... when I tried to get an M4 they just laughed and said, "Wish we could get them!" How is it now trying to get one..... that was about 6 months ago. I got an M2 Tactical and love the gun too.

Thanks.... I just ordered some and now I will wait. Got 4 ticks on me again today, and don't like that. I was on antibiotics for lime a few years ago.

I have had good luck with S&W and with Colt. I have used my Colt for 20 years and never had a problem with the weapon. Now magazines will give you problems so don't buy junk. You get what you pay for and with 1911 magazines that is the one thing I have found to be true. Chip McCormick and Wilson magazines have always worked great for me. I never leave them loaded for more than a month and rotate them. I use a color code on the bottom of the magazine to show which ones to use. Find ammo that you like and the weapon likes. They all seem to run on 230 gr FMJ, but most will run on more than that. I used a 1911 while in the military and have carried my old Colt for years. I would stake my life on it, and in time I may the S&W but not until it has fired 500-1000 rounds. It is only 2 months from birth so it has to earn respect. Have fun..... get friends to let you shoot their guns, and ask questions. I also shoot 45 acp out of S&W 625's and find them fun too. Art

I'm wondering how the rest of you keep the deer ticks off of you. I have had them get on me and I don't like it very much. A couple of friends have lime disease, and one is still having problems after a few years. I have tried sprays with DEET, but nothing seems to work.

No pictures as it was a meat hunt. We went to get meat for the freezer. My companion lives in AK, and has for over 30 years now. He wants food for the family and not a throphy. I lived there enough and took enough moose that it is no big deal. This one was a yearly and gave about 350-400 pounds of meat. I took it with a 308 at 50 yards. In my foolish years I went for larger moose and found the meat not as good to eat, and getting that big sucker out of the woods took 4 men a couple of days. In AK most of the hunts you go in by float plane and setup camp. We would spend a week in the woods and the bush pilot would check on us from time to time. If you set a signal he would land, otherwise he continued onto another group of hunters. I have seen good size moose with larger racks, don't remember the width for what they call a throphy, but you could have over 1500 pound of animal. I'm to damn old to do that type of hunting anymore and as you see I have a digital camera but it is broken.... In my days of hunting the cameras would not take the cold and wet, which is what most hunting I did in AK seem like... cold and wet or wet and cold. Art

The district I hunt in MA allows hens or cocks. It shocked me too, but they allow it. The hens seem to be much easier to get as they tend to run in the brush and stay put until you or the dog are right on top of them.

I'm really thinking about a blind as I have open ground by the cranberry bog, and about 150 yards or so where they pop in and then seem to disapear like a ghost. I have not been able to coax the yotes close. Anyway another good day for pheasant..... go one more to add to the total and may try tomorrow too. I just love shooting the M2 at the birds. Just use cheap low brass #6's with IC and have good luck so far.

I have been pretty lucky so far this year. With only a limited amount of time in the field and no dog I have gotten 3 pheasants so far..... 2 cocks and a hen. Looking forward to getting more. Did miss 2 birds though. One no hit and one no shoot. It got up behind me and was gone before I could get the gun up. The M2 even though it is a tactical model works great. Did also call in a couple of coyotes but could not get a shot off at them. They were like ghosts..... Oh, using a 223 on the coyotes not the M2.

I doubt that I will be on the range anytime soon as I plan to start coyote hunting this Saturday, but I will do as you ask when I have the chance. Don't hold much stock in paper though as I only use for sighting and then move onto iron plates and the like. Have fun.... shoot often... hit what you shoot and and hopefully someone coming into your house realizes 12 guage slug at short range..... It will be quite a mess. I have seen the results of a 12 gauge at close range when doing First Responder runs before being promoted to a desk jockey. It is not pretty but is final. I do believe that trying to say being 60 and a retired person makes someone less capable to judge things is not correct. If that wasn't your intention then so be it, but I would read what you type before posting it. Anyway good hunting and shooting. Off topic again, but my S&W 1911 has finally arrived at the shop so Saturday is hunting and gun picking up time. Maybe I could post that target..... LOL.... wrong board.

Two more days and we get to see if there will be any pheasant hunting worth a damn, and we get to see if the coyotes are going to be out and about.

I think you need to read my threads as I said I use and M2 tactical now and that the 870 was used for 25 years for deer hunting. I may have been a Deputy Fire Chief for 34 years but you may of heard of Vietnam and realized that some of us have shot in anger, and not a paper. lf I offended you so be it but in this world that happens.

Nice shooting but at 30 feet I could almost throw the gun and do as good. Maybe 30 yards would be a better test and even at that buckshot would do pretty good. My best shooting is with the M2 tactical and sluggers. The 870 was good to 75 yards if you prayed a bit before letting her fly, and at 50 yards was deadly. The M2 is better and I'm not surprised as it is 25 years newer. They must have made some progress in 25 years with barrels, and the like.

Wow....that is quite the mag extension. What you going to be shooting with that gun?

You are lucky as here in Massachusetts we are at the mercy of the state to stock the pheasants. There is almost no native population of pheasant or quail. We do have turkeys up the butt though. Just yesterday there were over 20 walking around in my backyard. They are so thick that people are running them over on the streets in highly populated areas.

When I hunted in South Carolina that is almost exactly what we did.... The relatives are farmers and we had great hunting. We did the same in PA.... nothing works better than a food source to bring in the deer.

I use an Aimpoint T1 on my M2 Tactical and have good results so far. Haven't used it on deer yet, but will this season. I got it mostly for quick shots at coyotes. The Aimpoint scopes seem rugged and easly to zero, well at least to me they do.

Those are great looking dogs. We have one more week before bird season opens, and coyotes too. Not sure which I will do as the coyotes are really what I want the most and I hear them every night outside my house.

Sluggers give me very tight groups. At 50 yards they will keep everything in the 9 ring on a 100 yard slow fire target. That is off the bench, and when offhand they will stay within an 8" circle (me being the problem) not the gun. I would easily go for 100 yard shots if braced up, again me being the problem. I find that everything I have used doesn't give much better groups than Sluggers. Not being a rifled barrel that may be why, but then again it is good enough for me. Don't know if it will take out a deer this year as the M2 is new this year. I had used an 870 for the past 25 years with good results, most years taking a deer, but didn't like of just got tired of a pump gun. Oh, did forget to say that after spending 5 years hunting in Alaska (lived there) and a few times in Africa that I only use a slug gun because MA requires it. I don't believe in taking on much besides deer, and never anything that bites back with a slug. I have seen them fail big time, and multiple times, with brown bear in Alaska. So have fun hunting and maybe you will find a slug and gun combination that pleases you.

Not sure about the R1, but with my M1A which is a piston gun I clean the piston after shooting the weapon. This is the most important part of the weapon and without it functioning correctly there will be problems. With many piston guns you have to be careful what powder you use, if you reload, as to slow a powder can damage many of them. I use power with a medium burning rate, and don't know if you always use factory loads and if you ever clean the piston. I don't care what the manufacturer says about not needing to clean a weapon (you name the part) I always do it. I have hunted in Alaska, Africa and many other places and don't need to face the elephant with a weapon that goes click when it should go bang....