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Posted By: shaman Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
Okay. It’s about 2 hours before the rain hits, and it is going to be fairly consistent until the end of KY’s Rifle Season. I’ve got 2 tags filled, a buck and a doe; that was my target. I’m sitting here trying to wrap the alternatives:

1) Embark on an extended “Not-Hunting” season of going out fully-kitted, but refusing to shoot.
2) Shoot at yet another doe and then beg friends and co-workers to help me out eating it.
3) Man up, and accept I’m done, and have been done for 3 days, and I’m just hanging around camp because I don’t want to go home.

#3 is where this is all headed. However, I don’t want to waste a drizzly morning at deer camp and not have last final winge about it all.

The reason why I’m picking this venue to do my cranking is that I find myself left in yet another conundrum. I should be feeling great:

1) I blooded a new rifle with a new chambering (The TC Compass in 7mm08), while still on my first batch of loads. The receiving deer got knocked over backwards and died on the spot.

2) The Mauser from Hell (Kar 98 in 8mm) not only dropped my buck, but I loaned out to our FNG, Remnar and he nailed his deer with it, nearly matching the camp distance record doing so.

3) I managed to go the whole season with my Ace #1 rifle, the Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06 never making it out of the case.

It is this latter triumph that catches me and causes me to write. I mean, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT OVER? I find, for me at least, the best whitetail rifle I will ever find shooting the same load I’ve been shooting for 20 seasons and . . . I leave it cased up? And feel happy about it? This is a level of rifle looneyism that I’m not quite ready to accept.

Additionally, you can add in the mixed despair/elation over losing the Ruger Model 44 to an incipient design flaw (Lordy, I loved that rifle) and having to leave the Whelenizer at the gunsmith, so he can remove a stuck round. In both cases, I’m really forlorn at not having these as options. However, I’m happy as a clam that I was able to just reach a little further back in the rack and pick replacements.

Oh, but as I stare into my navel on this dreary morning, I find the loonyism runs even deeper. I’m grousing that I never got to try out the SXS 12 GA slug gun on a deer. Think of it, I’ve been trying to find the best possible mix of whitetail lethality, and recoil for 20 years and yet I was salivating over the chance to go out with a 10 lb double-barrel and bust my shoulder with Remmie Sluggers. What kind of insanity is that? Help me here, guys!

It runs even deeper. Yes, I love my new TC Compass. However, I don’t like the cosmetics. Black Tupperware stocks give me psychosomatic hives. However, I find myself oddly attracted to this rifle in a way I cannot describe. I thought about a nice Boyd’s stock for it, but do I want a nice walnut one or some blaze camo monstrosity? Or maybe one of those AT-One jobs? Or maybe Krylon the whole thing and let it go? I’ve not even cleaned it for the first time, and already I’m planning to tear it apart.

I’m falling deeper, and I don’t know if I need to run away or mash the accelerator pedal to the floor. Is this what being a rifle looney is really like? Am I still just in the shallow end looking at deeper water? Will I drown?
Posted By: DigitalDan Re: Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
You’re just getting started. Enjoy the ride!
Posted By: ERK Re: Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
Are you insinuating that a68 year old man buying a new270 weatherby mag with a wood stock is loony. How dare you sir. Absolutely necessary because I have never owed this caliber or a Weatherby rifle before. Edk
Posted By: shaman Re: Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
Originally Posted by ERK
Are you insinuating that a68 year old man buying a new270 weatherby mag with a wood stock is loony. How dare you sir. Absolutely necessary because I have never owed this caliber or a Weatherby rifle before. Edk


Actually, my feelings are quite to the contrary. It sounds pretty good, actually.
Posted By: Pappy348 Re: Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
What’s loony, NOT Rifle Loony, is dragging a passel of internet goobers into your navel-gazing. Just get up in the morning and do what you feel like. Some of my best hunting decisions have been spur of the moment ones.

This is supposed to be fun, not a nail-biting inner struggle.
Posted By: shaman Re: Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
Originally Posted by Pappy348
What’s loony, NOT Rifle Loony, is dragging a passel of internet goobers into your navel-gazing. Just get up in the morning and do what you feel like. Some of my best hunting decisions have been spur of the moment ones.

This is supposed to be fun, not a nail-biting inner struggle.


Funny, but isn't this all about dragging internet goobers into our inner turmoils? I mean otherwise, we'd be just writing John personal emails and being done with it. Meanwhile, John's out there. He could just be writing his articles and getting paid for it, and leaving us to stew in our own juices. I would prefer to think that we're all in this clown car together, merrily careening down the hill together.

BTW: I'm feeling much better. I got all my rifles boxed up to go home tomorrow, and I finally got a warm feeling of accomplishment. One more year of successful Cervid Serial Killing is now behind me, and I'll have a giant cooler of venison waiting for me on the way out.
Posted By: Tejano Re: Is this Loony? - 11/21/20
This Goober says go out and shoot something. I will harvest some deer to donate to Hunters for the Hungry or Meals on Wheels. I donated a box of venison sausage and a couple of bushels of collard greens to Meals on Wheels and one person was so appreciative that she found my address and sent me Christmas cards for the next five Christmases.

I will also give sausage to my clients staff for the holidays, never a problem distributing it and we have shot up to 15 deer on a single trip with MLD permits.
Posted By: Tstorm1 Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by Tejano
This Goober says go out and shoot something. I will harvest some deer to donate to Hunters for the Hungry or Meals on Wheels. I donated a box of venison sausage and a couple of bushels of collard greens to Meals on Wheels and one person was so appreciative that she found my address and sent me Christmas cards for the next five Christmases.


I'm with Tejano, I haven't given to an organization but did give one to a neighbor a few doors down a couple years ago. Unexpected and unprepared widow with 2 teenage boys really appreciated that cooler of meat. That deer also bloodied a new rifle so it was a good day for all.
Posted By: Tannhauser Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Does your state allow venison donations to feed the hungry?

Here in VA we have a statewide Hunters for the Hungry, where we can simply drop a field dressed deer off at participating processors and all the meat goes to food banks. I try to donate at least one nice sized doe a year.

It’s a great option so I can keep hunting after my freezer is full.

My decision making process on hunting goes like this: if it’s deer season snd I have a day where I can take off to go hunting, I go hunting.
Posted By: 7mmMato Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..
Posted By: Tannhauser Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by 7mmMato
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..


That’s just common sense.
Posted By: alpinecrick Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by 7mmMato
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..



So that's why I have more reloading dies then cartridges I've never owned.........


A guy just never knows.....
Posted By: Hammerdown Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by 7mmMato
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..

That's bad to the bone.
Posted By: JSTUART Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by shaman
Okay. It’s about 2 hours before the rain hits, and it is going to be fairly consistent until the end of KY’s Rifle Season. I’ve got 2 tags filled, a buck and a doe; that was my target. I’m sitting here trying to wrap the alternatives:

1) Embark on an extended “Not-Hunting” season of going out fully-kitted, but refusing to shoot.
2) Shoot at yet another doe and then beg friends and co-workers to help me out eating it.
3) Man up, and accept I’m done, and have been done for 3 days, and I’m just hanging around camp because I don’t want to go home.

#3 is where this is all headed. However, I don’t want to waste a drizzly morning at deer camp and not have last final winge about it all.

The reason why I’m picking this venue to do my cranking is that I find myself left in yet another conundrum. I should be feeling great:

1) I blooded a new rifle with a new chambering (The TC Compass in 7mm08), while still on my first batch of loads. The receiving deer got knocked over backwards and died on the spot.

2) The Mauser from Hell (Kar 98 in 8mm) not only dropped my buck, but I loaned out to our FNG, Remnar and he nailed his deer with it, nearly matching the camp distance record doing so.

3) I managed to go the whole season with my Ace #1 rifle, the Ruger Hawkeye in 30-06 never making it out of the case.

It is this latter triumph that catches me and causes me to write. I mean, WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT OVER? I find, for me at least, the best whitetail rifle I will ever find shooting the same load I’ve been shooting for 20 seasons and . . . I leave it cased up? And feel happy about it? This is a level of rifle looneyism that I’m not quite ready to accept.

Additionally, you can add in the mixed despair/elation over losing the Ruger Model 44 to an incipient design flaw (Lordy, I loved that rifle) and having to leave the Whelenizer at the gunsmith, so he can remove a stuck round. In both cases, I’m really forlorn at not having these as options. However, I’m happy as a clam that I was able to just reach a little further back in the rack and pick replacements.

Oh, but as I stare into my navel on this dreary morning, I find the loonyism runs even deeper. I’m grousing that I never got to try out the SXS 12 GA slug gun on a deer. Think of it, I’ve been trying to find the best possible mix of whitetail lethality, and recoil for 20 years and yet I was salivating over the chance to go out with a 10 lb double-barrel and bust my shoulder with Remmie Sluggers. What kind of insanity is that? Help me here, guys!

It runs even deeper. Yes, I love my new TC Compass. However, I don’t like the cosmetics. Black Tupperware stocks give me psychosomatic hives. However, I find myself oddly attracted to this rifle in a way I cannot describe. I thought about a nice Boyd’s stock for it, but do I want a nice walnut one or some blaze camo monstrosity? Or maybe one of those AT-One jobs? Or maybe Krylon the whole thing and let it go? I’ve not even cleaned it for the first time, and already I’m planning to tear it apart.

I’m falling deeper, and I don’t know if I need to run away or mash the accelerator pedal to the floor. Is this what being a rifle looney is really like? Am I still just in the shallow end looking at deeper water? Will I drown?





Just to put this whole thing in perspective; a bad day hunting is better than a good day not hunting.
Posted By: shaman Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by Hammerdown
Originally Posted by 7mmMato
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..

That's bad to the bone.



I certainly haven't gone that far-- at least not yet.


BTW: A quick word on donations. I'm somewhat limited on what I can donate. We only have 200 acres to hunt, and by the time all the Shamanic Dream Team gets a buck and a doe, there is not a whole lot of deer left. I'm also a Cervid Serial Killer that is easily sated. After running my last deer to the processor, I was happy and satisfied. What gets me is having to close up Deer Camp every year. This is the party I don't want to see stop.

I've been giving my extra to folks at work. This year is going to be hard, because most everyone is getting laid off Jan 1 and they're moving the plant to Thailand.
Posted By: 308ld Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by Tannhauser
Originally Posted by 7mmMato
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..


That’s just common sense.


Exactly! I bought 5 boxes of 7mm-08 because it was a good deal, AND I know, someday I will buy a 7MM-08. [Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Posted By: TRexF16 Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by Tannhauser
Originally Posted by 7mmMato
Looney is buying a reloading die because it is a good deal. Then having to buy a rifle to match it so you can reload for it..


That’s just common sense.


Absolutely! Sitting on my shelf waiting for partners are a 3-die deluxe Redding set in 6mm Rem, 3-die RCBS in .257 Roberts AI, two .375 H&H (1 RCBS and 1 Redding), Redding .250 Savage, RCBS .300 WM, and the winner, RCBS 9.5x57 Mauser (not 9.3!).
I don't really want a .300WM, but they were such a bargain. The 9.5x57 are as new found at a flea market for $10. I think those are a couple hundred bucks from the RCBS custom shop.
I have donor actions for everything I want to make except the 250 Savage. I have two M99 .308s - should I rebarrel one?

Oh, back to the subject - of course, pull out another rifle and go hunt another deer.

Cheers,
Rex
Posted By: Pappy348 Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by shaman
Originally Posted by Pappy348
What’s loony, NOT Rifle Loony, is dragging a passel of internet goobers into your navel-gazing. Just get up in the morning and do what you feel like. Some of my best hunting decisions have been spur of the moment ones.

This is supposed to be fun, not a nail-biting inner struggle.


Funny, but isn't this all about dragging internet goobers into our inner turmoils? I mean otherwise, we'd be just writing John personal emails and being done with it. Meanwhile, John's out there. He could just be writing his articles and getting paid for it, and leaving us to stew in our own juices. I would prefer to think that we're all in this clown car together, merrily careening down the hill together.

BTW: I'm feeling much better. I got all my rifles boxed up to go home tomorrow, and I finally got a warm feeling of accomplishment. One more year of successful Cervid Serial Killing is now behind me, and I'll have a giant cooler of venison waiting for me on the way out.








I sure hope not. Introspection ain't a spectator sport.

OTOH, poking fun at other old farts definitely is.

Sorry to hear you’re folding the tent this early. I plan on getting out a couple days a week until the end of the year, even if I’ve got enough meat, just to be there.
Posted By: Pappy348 Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
Originally Posted by Tejano
This Goober says go out and shoot something. I will harvest some deer to donate to Hunters for the Hungry or Meals on Wheels. I donated a box of venison sausage and a couple of bushels of collard greens to Meals on Wheels and one person was so appreciative that she found my address and sent me Christmas cards for the next five Christmases.

I will also give sausage to my clients staff for the holidays, never a problem distributing it and we have shot up to 15 deer on a single trip with MLD permits.


Excellent. Nice PR too.
Posted By: 5sdad Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
After filling my bow tag, I always said that I should go out like I was hunting and sit in a tree stand with my camera and record all of the neat things that I had seen while sitting there with my bow. I never did. Dumb-assed lazy.
Posted By: shootinurse Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
With about 30 deer rifles in various chamberings (with many duplicates across cartridge lines and calibers), I find myself on a six year rotation, so that they all get to come out and play. Trips to the range for all, and each gets carried at least once during our limited two week season. some have yet to be blooded, and some have multiple kills, but they all see the light of day and smell the woods and fields in turn. Nothing loony here. smile
Posted By: Filaman Re: Is this Loony? - 11/22/20
The only thing here I see loony is you still evidently have deer tags left and opportunity to hunt yet you sit here quibling about what to do and about what to do with extra meat. In this house there's no such thing as extra meat. And if there is you give it away. There's plenty of people that will be happy to take it off your hands. In any season that I have a place to hunt I hunt until I'm out of tags or closing day. My God, it only happens once a year.
Posted By: mark shubert Re: Is this Loony? - 11/24/20
I am one who has bought dies before the firearm - loonie!
That said, the last couple of years - I took out a 30-30 and 30-40.
The last 2 deer I killed were ~ 80 yards, and ~ 7 yards.
At 7 yards, the 243 destroyed a LOT of the off shoulder. If I'd thought to use my 45 Colt, I'd have been golden. DUH !!!

I've been having more fun taking grandkids, and local college students, anyway!
LET 'EM PLAY !!! smile smile smile
Posted By: GSPfan Re: Is this Loony? - 11/24/20
I have been deer hunting every day since it opened Nov 15. I have passed up 6 little bucks looking for something big. If he comes by fine if not fine. I can buy up to 10 doe tags and can hunt until Jan 1 2021. So far 6 rifles have gone hunting with me and since March I have bought 5 Ruger $1's and a Remington 700 Classic so these also need to get some field time. I'll take a doe in the late season for my brother who loves venison but doesn't hunt and a neighbor.I'll donate any amount of meat I can in order to stay in the deer blind. It lets me hunt and use different rifles and helps out someone less fortunate than myself so it's a win win. This afternoons rifle is a custom Ruger #1 in 300 H&H. There has been a big doe hanging around and it's time for her to hang on the meat pole..
Posted By: shaman Re: Is this Loony? - 11/25/20
I'm back home, well before the storms hit later this morning. I'd thought I'd answer some of the questions raised in this thread.

Why aren't we continuing to hunt? That is a good question. It has a bunch of answers to it.

Although we have unlimited antlerless tags, we do not have unlimited deer. We got to see what unlimited harvest did to the place, and it wasn't pretty. We had a neighbor a number of years back that cleaned us out, and the problem persisted for 2 years after he got evicted from his trailer. Once you perturb the resident doe groups, the deer just disappear for a while and don't come back.

Still, I'm not going to tell my guys to stop taking deer. This year, we've taken 6 deer-- 3 bucks. This is 1 more than the previous camp record. Folks are due out this weekend for another round. We're usually no more than 4 hunters on 200 acres. I filled two tags and probably counted coup on half a dozen more. If we all take 1-2 more doe, it'll be fine. The neighbors are all big on planting food plots. I like when they feed my deer. My one overarching management goal is to keep the doe groups happy. If they're happy, they bring in the bucks. If we nail too many doe, they shy away from our place.

Another reason is work. Normally I have a week's vacation left to spend on hunting. When I retire, I'll move down to camp with KYHillChick and hunt every day of season, but for now, I normally get in 9 days of a 16 day season. This year, I had an extra week of vacation available due to COVID. I came back early, because I was going to be the only one left at camp and I already had 2 tags filled.

Our venison consumption went down when KYHillChick got the cancer. She's now on a low-meat diet. That knocks at least a couple pounds a week off what we consume. We're also not watching NFL Football this season in protest. There was a sure 2-lbs a week of Cincinnati Chili that we're not eating.

Donations? Yes, I give venison to the folks at work. However, I'd much rather have those antlerless deer on the hoof making more deer. The numbers suggest that in order to have one mature buck on the property I need to be supporting about 15 doe. This year we had at least 2 really mature bucks with about the same number of doe. Part of the reason was a surplus of acorns, but a good part of it was that our resident doe feel comfortable around us. Any surplus deer get shot by the neighbors. My neighbor to the NW took 3 doe and 1 10 point buck within the first hour of season. I'd much rather he pay the processing and make the donations.

Third: I'm 62, and reaching the point where shooting doe just for the heck of it isn't my bag anymore. In fact, I rather dislike the process of doing the eenie-meenie-minie-moe thing on a herd looking to fill the freezer. When you have deer coming up and sticking their heads in your bedroom window, it just isn't the same. I do a lot of "Not-Hunting"-- going out fully kitted with a tag to burn and resolved not to take a deer.

Lastly: Why just limit yourself to 200 acres? Well, for one thing, I'm happy to be hunting on my own property and not dealing with the Orange Army. Second, being a heavy-hitting IT pro does not leave a whole lot of time for hunting junkets. KYHillChick and I haven't taken a real vacation in over a decade. The farm is 63 miles from home and I can go down there and unwind and still be on call at the plant. Last December was my first hunt away from the farm in 20 years; Folically Challenged went with me boar hunting in GA. I had a gas.
Posted By: longbarrel Re: Is this Loony? - 11/25/20
Not only have I bought dies before getting something in that chambering, I have also bought brass beforehand (and, in the case of .280, never did get anything in that chambering). Remember what Bluto said:
"What, over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

Furthermore, you only discussed a half dozen arms. That is nowhere near the loony threshold.
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