Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Apologies to all from an ordinary guy

Boy I've never got such from the heart feedback on something I've said and I really appreciate all of you guys' honesty. You are all right and I was wrong on what I said on the other thread about being an ordinary guy and I do apologize. What more can I say? Good hunting to each of you, whatever tool you use.

Justme,

I think you started a pretty good thread in your other post. I find the replies interesting to read, and to be honest, the number of us that are "just ordinary guys" surprised me too.

Like others said, I feel real fortunate, that the true experts on this forum, and there are a number of them, are so willing to offer advice, and openly share knowledge and experience with all of us. It sure makes for a great forum!

-Dan

no need to apologize justme; good thread; all the replies proved what a fine bunch this really (usually?) is. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Justme, I too read your other thread with interest. Thank you for posting such an interesting topic.
I too was wondering if I was the only one that didnt have $1k invested in every rifle in the cabinet. Good hunting, Mark

Justme, no apology necessary. The guys here are super I agree. As for the elitist you still see them on some forums. I recall last year seeing a post that would have been a perfect demonstration. Can't remember if it was on this site or not but it asked: " If you had lost all of your hunting gear could you still hunt if you only had $1000 to refunish yourself?". Most guys, even those with super custom wildcats and Russian sounding scope names said that they would likely run to Walmart, buy a marlin 30/30, maybe a bushnell scope, box of corelokts, warm underwear and best bino's they could with whatever was left if it meant the difference between hunting or not hunting. However, one of the first guys to respond said it was impossible because he wouldn't even consider hunting with a scope that didn't cost $1000 and that his rifles were $ X,000 and, and , and ......... Just about everyone took delight in lambasting him and he eventually stopped responding. No attitude of "only the best or nothing at all" here because love of firearms is an extension of love of hunting which is an extension of love of the outdoors and the bonding experiences associated with it. Despite all the high dollar custom talk people still realize what is at the core of it all and that is what makes most of 'em so likeable. So really, in effect, we are all kind of in the same boat. - it's just some of the oars are prettier than others. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

justme, don't worry about it. I think most of us are regular guys with varying degrees of passion towards shooting and hunting.

My stable is very meager. I hunted with a Western Field .270 with a Nikon scope for many, many years. Be careful! Hanging around here might just get you dreaming of building things for yourself (grin). I haven't gone the custom rifle route yet, but dream of the day. My problem is also a limited budget and priorities. The $1-2K that I "try" to budget each year tends to go towards actual hunts rather than rifles. You'd be surprised where you can hunt for that modest budget, especially when you start making friends with the yahoos that hang around here <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />. It's truly a great place to hang out and I'd put several of the guys here on my top 10 list of friends. It's amazing how friendships develop over the course of the 8 or so <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> years that some of us have been chatting it up on the web. For me it started way back when, with many of the same guys that are still here today, at Alloutdoors.com then went to Shooters.com when Alloutdoors began overmoderating and subsequently here when Shooters did the same. I think I've met 16 posters in person, and have talked to many more on the phone over time.

Rick runs a great place here and I don't doubt that you'll end up making some great friends if you stick around.

Welcome!

Oh BTW, I'll add that the (approx) $860 I saved up for nearly 3 years and spent on a pair of Leica 10x42 binoculars was to this date the BEST spent money I've ever tossed towards hunting. Of course they're not for every environment, but I'd MUCH rather go back to that old Western Field than to the crappy binoculars that I used to use. Keep an open mind and take advice with a grain of salt. There is a LOT to learn here!

justme,

No apologies necessary. If you hadn't been here for quite awhile, it would be easy to think that this place could be seen as elitist instead of a looney bin populated by gun nuts.

Anyone who can engender such a list of thoughtful responses as the other thread has probably done us a favor by forcing us to examine our reasons and priorities. Not a bad thing for a lot of us.

I'll tell you where I find value in this site. I have a few custom rifles, but they have taken me awhile to acquire, saving money, and looking for real bargains every chance I get. But I really can't afford to have a lot of the things I would really like to have. This forum has been a great resource to learn how to do things I have a talent for to convert to gun related equipment.
I do gunstocks and other wood work on the side now, thanks to the amount of help I can always count on in the different forums and sites I frequent.
I've also learned where my money is best spent- and it isn't always on the most expensive gear- just the gear with the most value. I'm also lucky to live very close to Leupold, Columbia Outerwear, Danner Boots, and several other outdoor related industry giants and can buy lots of good gear at "seconds" prices at the factory stores.
As Muley Stalker said, this is a great place to make friends and find hunting/fishing/outdoor partners. I've met up with many of this sites characters and can't say I've had a bad experience yet, and some of them have been and continue to be a real hoot. Take advantage of what is available here and you might find you have a completely different outlook on your outdoor activities and gear.
Just keep in mind "Elitist" is an attitude, not a price tag. - Sheister

Sheister, you have a Pong game? oh, man ,you're as "hillbilly" as I am! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> And justme, don't worry about it!
The people I really don't like are the ones talk like they know everything and whoever they are talking to knows nothing! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> I am not a master of the universe, but some guys figure they can piss down a guys' neck and convince him it's raining! You won't get much of that on this site. A fella would get jumped on too quick! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> That's why I like it. I have a big problem even posting, let alone posting pics, so I am always practising, sometimes badly! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Catnthehat

I love it! LMAO- Sheister

One of my favorites,for sure! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I think I heard Eastwood say it in "Heartbreak Ridge" Another of my Fav's is Foghorn Legghorn "I sa, I say, he's a good kid, just a little on the slow side, don't ya know..." Too funny! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Catnthehat

Justme, I,m sort of late on this too. Like others I read all the threads and they are intresting. I'm not an elitist nor am I a reverse snob. That is a guy who does all his hunting with a broken beer bottle and runs down anybody who uses more efficient tools. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

As my old daddy used to say If you live long enough you can see mighty near anything. It's all in what a feller wants to have. I don't have one custom anything save for a sheath knife I made. I have some old, worn slick rifles that are old friends and can do anything I am ever likely to want them to do.

Most everybody here is just an ordinary guy with different ways of doing things and different things they want. Some want that $5,000 rifle and some don't. Neither is right or wrong just different.

Now me, I love the old military rifles. Got a pile of old war dogs that to a lot of people are just so much scrap iron and dinged up tree limbs. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> But me, I just love them. Was I to put them all in a pile and sell them I could most probably afford to have a top notch gunsmith build me a whiz bang rifle and get me a pair of binoculars that would let me count gnat whiskers at a thousand yards. That ain't what I want though.

BCR

You're right,Creek, we all like to shoot and hunt, some can do it with more expensive stuff than others. If I didn't have the money, I would still be happy as long as I had a $25 gun to hunt with ,or a solid glass recurve, wouldn't matter, as long as I could hunt! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Catnthehat

Savage, Remington, Winchester, and many more rifles have been killing game, with all kinds of ammo for over 100 years.

The thing that dismays me is when some posters say "THAT gun is a POS, THAT bullet won't get you game, THAT scope , though adequate, won't provide the 1 minute extra light that MY $1400 scope will, so YOURS is a POS.



If you can afford loopies, fine.
I Can't. Do I still get game - you bet. Last years bow kill was a P&Y record book...eligible net score was 125, mine was net 142 6/8 net. Braggin'?? No. Did I register the deer with P&Y??
Nope. Couldn't be bothered. That's not why I hunt. Funny thing is, I did it with a bow and arrows, and sights, that many here would consider POS.

If you can afford custom rifles, and love them....good for you!!
I can't. Do mine still get game?? - You bet.


This is a pretty good forum.

Having said that, it tends to be more of an EQUIPMENT forum than a HUNTING
forum. Everyones discusses EQUIPMENT, and JUDGES other's on their equipment.. Yet I see no discussion on animal habits, preferred feed of Big Game animals, rut dates, How to hunt certain types of game, how to call, scent control, etc.

Yes, you can learn here.............but moreso about equipment than hunting.


I know a TON of people that have equipment that MANY here would consider substandard
yet these same people go out year after year and get moose, elk, mulies and BIG whitetails..........how do they do this with the JUNK they have??



Just luck I guess..............

But some of them don't have the internet and therfore don't KNOW their equipment is substandard........and so just keep going out and killing game...........

Mauser, I think that threads get moved so quickly on the forum that they are lost quickly(by me ,anyhow!) There are tips and stuff on hunting, but they are scattered throughout the whole dang place! I am new to computers and have a heck of a time finding anything <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> However, if hunting strategies and biologies are what you are looking for , the best thing to do is to talk more about it and start posting in the different categories! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> BTW, is your '96 a stocker, or have you done it up? One of my customers shoots a stock NO.4 Enfield,can't figure out why everybody doesn't. Tags out every year, too!

Must be the superior ammo I load for him! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Catnthehat

I am a newcomer to this forum. Being on the downhill side of 50 I think I am qualified to express an opinion on this subject since I think I've made all the mistakes that are able to be made.

I am just a working guy too with two kids with ambitions to go to college but aren't smart enough to have scholarships to pay their way. We've never gone overseas on any trips and our idea of a great vacation is to go camping for a couple of weeks without a call from the boss to get back to work.

I own a couple of "custom" rifles (they're stainless and plastic ones as described by Mule Deer). They shoot like nobody's business but they don't look too fancy. I learned how to get them from asking around and getting lots if ideas from other shooters. Guys that hang out at HUNTING ranges are always glad to share their opinions and ideas. You can formulate what would likely work for you.

To get there, however, I bought and sold LOTS. I now have a .30-06 and a .338-06. Both are custom jobs with Leupold scopes. From my early days, I shudder to think how many rifle and scope combinations I bought and sold (at some type of loss). With what leaked out on these deals and savings I put together over the last 20 years or so, I think I have a great hunting combination.

If I had to do it all over agin, I would have kept my first push feed Winchester 270, Weaver K4 and Bushnell binoculars. I would have save my nickles here and there to get ONE custom (like the 30-06 I use most of the time, Leupold VX-III and Swarovski 7x42 binoculars) and with the money saved from trading, probably have gone on more out of province hunting trips.

I've learned to go whole hog on binos because the fun (for me) in hunting is seeing the animals. I'll sacrifice a lot for good binoculars today than I would have when I was younger.

As I get older, I get more satisfaction looking at the pictures of my past hunting trips instead of looking a a pile of sales receipts on my desk or rifles in my safe that I never use anymore.

CatNtheHat,



Don't get me wrong. I like this place, and am guilty sometimes of the equipment thing too. I suppose most forums tend to be that way.....



My Model 96 swede is not my main gun, I've only shot two deer with it so far. Shot 3 this year alone, with my 30.06 . But I like the swede, and the cartridge.



It has been "sporterized" to some degree..........barrel cut from 29" to 24", bolt bent and re-attached, after-market safety......can't remember what kind.....floorplate hinged.........and release modified.........re-blued.......trigger grooved............bolt jewelled.........tapped for scope and scope mounted............

stock has been cut down and shaped a bit, stained a deep rich brown.



Did the stock and re-bluing myself, a smith did the rest. The gun is 100 years old this year, hope to use it on more game this year.

Don't sweat it. The forums all seem to have a few self-proclaimed know-it-alls, the "my way's the ONLY way" types, as well as a clique or two that act like it's their forum.

I could care less. We all paid the same amount to join. I'm here to learn about new things, and/or share my experiences with others who have the same interests. Flame wars are a waste of time for those who actually have a life apart from the keyboard.

My $70 "WesternField" (made for Montg'y Wards by Marlin, puchased for me by my Dad in '68) will bring home the venison just as well as Joe Self-Important's $3,000 "pre-64 (I always picture soft golden light shining down on it from heaven, with organ music playing softly in the background when I see such posts) Model 70 Super Grade", or what have you, will. Mauser96's Swede obviously will do the same.

There are idiots everywhere - the advent of forums like this just makes them more obvious.

R-WEST

Rwest, you are so right! What bugs me is the political thing that gets going. I handg out on these things to try and grab info that I can and to see what it is like in other parts of the world.
And Mauser, there is no such thing as being guilty of the equipment you use! Run what ya brung! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
I have a lot of rifles, but I still like Dad's Enfield, good handling rifle. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />