Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[JimR]

"Witch firearm should I use/buy"? And "witch caliber is the best for..."? IMOP, Is a never ending debate that will never be unanimously agreed on! Along with many other firearm and ballistics subjects. Fir one to be stubborn, hard headed, and one sided about it all. Is simply a fools game gentleman!

Shoot safe!

Any firearm is better than none.

 

[JimR]

That's the way my BIL use to be. He just slings slugs at any deer sees. He's hit deer in the rump, blew off one's nose among other places. Mostly small deer too just to fill his tag.
Now he's got one of those heavy rifled barrels that are accurate out to 100 yards with a scope. Scary for him because he hunts a small patch of woods with his two sons.

Hey, there is nothing wrong with taking out a deer with a head on nose shot if that is all you have to shoot at. Our woodlot is a hill across the street from our house. One morning after work I huffed it up the hill with my shotgun. I get up to the crest of the hill and stopped to catch my breath. A doe runs right up at me and stops behind a bunch of Maples 45 - 50 feet away from me. All I can see is her head. She looked around behind her and I raised my shotgun. When she looked back around I dropped her where she stood. I gutted that deer and dragged it off the hill and down the driveway. My wife came out wondering what was going on because our Lab mix was going crazy in the house. I told her I just shot a deer. She laughed and said you just went out hunting. I laughed and said that was my best day of hunting. It was quick and easy. I have yet to ever do it that quickly since. That was about 40 years ago.

 

[JimR]

Today I scrounged up a small rim 3/8 - 7 clutch sprocket for my 550XP. I had this in my box of spare parts from back in 2004 when I had my 262xp. On went the 20 inch bar and 3/8 full square toothed chisel chain. It was too cold and windy to be out there messing around swapping bars to see which chain cut faster. I cut this whole pile up with the 3/8 chain. This Ash was standing dead and super dry. Even with the oiler turned all the way up I clogged the bar up twice with chips shutting off the oil supply. I also did a mod job on the muffler today. The saw is loud and cuts just fine with that chain and bar combo. The last picture is the final one after opening up the exhaust. The spark arrestor screen was put back in. The first muffler picture is a new hole inside the muffler. I dremelled that one out. That lip before it had an edge that stuck up. I took that down also. The exhaust hole was round. I oval shaped it by 50% more. I was very happy with how the saw cut even with the 20 inch bar. The balance is about 1" down on the nose of the bar. A lightweight bar would fix that.The 3/8 bar setup is here to stay. I'm quite happy with it.

 

[JimR]

Very interesting! I don't doubt it, but I believe I will try that and see for myself. I reckon there's only one way to find out!

One thing I did everytime the deer made the scrape bigger was to dig it out a little more and piss on it again. I did this every other day for 2 weeks prior to opening day of archery.

 

[MustangMike]

If you are rating a big game cartridge based on both popularity and effectiveness, the 30-06 becomes very hard to beat, and hand loaded it is even more effective.

 

[JimR]

If you are rating a big game cartridge based on both popularity and effectiveness, the 30-06 becomes very hard to beat, and hand loaded it is even more effective.

I believe that is the most used big game cartridge.

 

[MustangMike]

One thing I did everytime the deer made the scrape bigger was to dig it out a little more and piss on it again. I did this every other day for 2 weeks prior to opening day of archery.

One of my very good friends has done this during bow season in NY.

 

[JimR]

One of my very good friends has done this during bow season in NY.

I had to give up archery due to a shoulder surgery. I have had my left shoulder fixed 4 times since 1993. The last time was 2013. My surgeon said the next time will be a replacement. I am being somewhat careful with it.

 

[MustangMike]

I believe that is the most used big game cartridge.

I currently have 3 guns chambered for them, two bolt actions and a lever action.

My grandson and I will each have one of the scoped bolt actions on opening day (Sat). One of them will be converted to 338-06 when my barrel comes in.

It is not nearly as popular as the 30-06, but I believe it will be very effective.

I also love my 348 Winchester, but with the stupid NYS 3 point rule (in effect up at my property in the Catskills) it precludes me from using any gun with open sights.

I know that no round is impervious to brush, but a 200 grain 348 bullet will do a lot better than a 130 grain 270 bullet. The lighter / faster bullets will generally deflect significantly more than the slower heavier bullets.

 

[mountainguyed67]

a lotta road hunters. They get pissed off when they see us out dirt bike riding.

I’ve encountered some hunters that think no one else should be in the forest during deer season, that they have exclusive use. That’s total nonsense. I told one it’s firewood cutting season, hiking season, backpacking season, fishing season, picnic season, camping season, Sunday drive season, and kite flying season. He asked me “what are you doing up here if you’re not hunting” about fifty times, I got tired of answering the question. keep in mind our deer season starts in August and goes until the end of October. That same guy told me he’d be hunting an old overgrown road the next morning, the same road I was hiking on. The next morning he wasn't parked in the area of that road, and I saw him 3,000 ft lower standing on the side with a big group of hunters. I could have asked him the same question. He didn’t hunt, he drank a lot of beer though.

 

[mountainguyed67]

I also find it funny, that they drive way up into the mountains to go hunting. All the locals know that you'll find all the deer near where people are living...they get plentiful food and water at 4k' feet, why are they going to go hang out in the granite at 7k'+?

I know hunters that hunt high elevation, and some that go lower elevation. I don’t know their reasons.

 

[sean donato]

Young guys believe everything. My friends brother (I think he’s maybe 22-23) knows a lot of facts about guns but doesn’t know **** about real life application. I can’t even listen to him anymore lol. He works in the gun department of the hardware store and when I hear him drolling on back there I just walk away.

Told me I should ditch my .338 federal hog gun cause a .223 chambered AR is better because you’ve got 30 shots. Ok pal. Pretty hard to kill a hog any more dead than a 225 grain Nosler partition to the head. Lol.

I don't know about better, but when loded with harnady v-max they are quite effective on feral hog. I have a former co-worker that went full time in a local harvest crew. He gets down around Texas quite a bit. The one farmer basically allows them free range to kill as many off as they can. He took a bolt action down his first year. After that it was an AR in .223 wylde. I loaned him my 458 socom upper. He raved about it, but didn't like the cost of ammo and doesnt hand load, so he switched back to his upper and has been using it ever since. Before the AR craze it was pretty normal to hunt quite a bit of different game with a .223. My old man has shot many deer with his single shot .223 in his youth. Shot placement mattered a lot more but it is quite effective on soft targets with the proper ammunition.

While I don't think many of the new calibers are better then the old, we have to remember we have much better better hunting bullet selection then we did even 10 years ago, which could make a longer range kill ethical. (Whatever that magical yardage is for you.) Even at closer ranges (well say inside of 300 yards) the newer bullets fly better and dump more of their energy into the target then many of the older bullet choices did.

If you are rating a big game cartridge based on both popularity and effectiveness, the 30-06 becomes very hard to beat, and hand loaded it is even more effective.

I was waiting for someone to say this lol. My old man has this long rant about the 30-06 being the best cartridge in the world. One of the old guys you mentioned wrote this very long winded article (pretty sure my old man still has it somewhere.) About how amazing it is. Kinda like a Swiss army knife. Good at a lot but great at a few. Really the same could be said for many rifle rounds imo.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

If you are rating a big game cartridge based on both popularity and effectiveness, the 30-06 becomes very hard to beat, and hand loaded it is even more effective.

I believe that is the most used big game cartridge.

Most definitely considered the most versatile hunting cartridge in North America by not just the a average North American hunter but by many many famous late and STIHL living hunting and rifleman authorities on the subject. Never heard anyone say otherwise, or that the 30-06 is an over rated cartridge! It's definitely one of my favorites of all time! I know of seven or eight different households just here in my small community that have at least one 06 in the gun locker. Some houses have more than one. Including me!

Shoot safe gentleman!

 

[JimR]

Most definitely considered the most versatile hunting cartridge in North America by not just the a average North American hunter but by many many famous late and STIHL living hunting and rifleman authorities on the subject. Never heard anyone say otherwise, or that the 30-06 is an over rated cartridge! It's definitely one of my favorites of all time! I know of seven or eight different households just here in my small community that have at least one 06 in the gun locker. Some houses have more than one. Including me!

Shoot safe gentleman!

Me too but all military.

 

[GrizG]

Stake out a deer scrape sometime and piss on his scrape. Or better yet make a scrape on the ground aside of a deer rub and piss on it. Go back in a few days and look at your scrap that is now 4 feet long and 2 - 3 inches deep. I tormented a 6 pointer this way pre archery season. That scrape ended up being a good 4 inches deep and over 6 feet long by opening day. I got him on the 2nd day. If you doubt me, go and try it to see for yourself that it works.

This reminds me of a season when I found a scrape on a trail. I covered it with some leaves so when I came back through that area I could see if it had been revisited. Sure enough it had... all the leaves were moved and there were fresh marks in the soil. I covered it up again... Then I took up a stand in some hemlocks on a little hill over looking the trail. A while later I watched a hunter moving through the woods. He stopped at the scrape... then he proceeded to knock all the leaves off it with his foot and kept going.

 

[Sierra_rider]

Hunting season is also the best cuttin and dirtbike riding season. They just need to deal.

Hunting season is also the best cuttin and dirtbike riding season. They just need to deal. Like the idiots who hunt turkey right off the side of singletrack trails. Roost 'em on the way by.

I actually got held at gun-point by a jackass turkey hunter. Neither one of us was technically supposed to be there...he wanted to call the sheriff on me for trespassing...he gave up when I told him my GoPro was recording and he'd get charged with with brandishing a firearm as well as trespassing.

It's private timberland and the company really doesn't give a hoot about dirtbikers as long as you don't cause any trouble or create drama. The kicker was that he was hunting off a singletrack that I cut...I ended up finding his truck out there and may or may not have pulled a valve stem... Enjoy your walk #$@%head.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Me too but all military.

Yes! The roll played by the 30-06 in US military history is another solid testament to the iconic cartridge! IMOP, It is simply one of the very best cartridges ever developed. Everything about it. Manufacturing costs, ammo availability, ownership popularity, low recoil energy, accuracy, hunting capabilities, the wide rage of different factory loads, hand load capabilities,.....How much time you got? I could go on and on!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

My splitter has some old tires in rough shape that won't hold air fir very long. So I will not been using it that much until I get the new rims and tires on it.

These are the tools I've been using for the last couple of weeks to split my scrounge. I break the rounds down into quarters out in the woods. Then load'em and haul'em.

Remember this snag?

My neighbor didn't haul it all out of the woods. He's retired, starts sip'n early and naps a lot. Shortly after I got home from camp. I asked him if he got all this snag out of the woods. He told me "no, I haven't had the time" But I know he's just to proud to say his saw isn't big enough and he's to crippled up to do the work by himself. So I'll be scrounging the rest of it up for him as I can these next couple weeks.

I scrounged up this four round load fir him late this afternoon.


Cut safe, stay sharp, and be aware!

 

[GrizG]

As a stop gap measure you could try putting Slime tire sealer in the tires. If you put enough in, inflate the tires and flip them around for a while so all surfaces inside are covered, they will seal well in my experience: l stop gapped the cracked tires on my father’s zero turn three seasons ago and they are still holding air.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

As a stop gap measure you could try putting Slime tire sealer in the tires. If you put enough in, inflate the tires and flip them around for a while so all surfaces inside are covered, they will seal well in my experience: l stop gapped the cracked tires on my father’s zero turn three seasons ago and they are still holding air.

That actually crossed my mind and I'll probably end up doing just that to get me by until I mount the new rims and rubber. Thanks fir the reminder!