Hunter Safety time again...

[W3MIV]

We are late with classes this year, but now revving up the process in Carroll County, Maryland. The first batch is age sixteen or so. Once the little buggers leave our classes, they can hunt legally (with a license, of course) in any state in the nation.

As a certified Hunter Safety Instructor for the Maryland Dept of Natural Resources, my autumn includes the always interesting, often entertaining and occasionally dangerous task of teaching youngsters how to make sure their quarry is the only thing killed or injured in the field.

Funny part of it all is that I no longer hunt. :roll:

Anyone else out there a HSI?

[N8YX]

The parents of one of our secretaries are both instructors and run a skeet/sporting clays range which is located about 40 miles to my southwest. Myself and 'DSG took their class several years ago; even though I've been hunting (and been licensed on and off as such) for around 25 years, a refresher never hurts - and I would rather have an impartial teacher for Nicki.

I highly recommend the course to anyone, although a lot of it is basic common sense...which (unfortunately) isn't so common.

[suddenseer]

Way to go. When my daughter turned 16 I took her to Ohio's course. I got my first hunting license when I was 16. I took the course with my daughter although grandfathered in. It was money well spent. Ohio has a youth deer hunting day around Thanksgiving. I was her non hunting adult guardian. I gave her my old Ithica 12 ga. She did her pappa proud by taking an 8 pointer. I had to do all of the dirty work. She freaked out field dressing the animal. We both drug it to the truck. I took her picture at the check in station. She has not hunted since.

[NQ6U]

Used to be a hunter and have no problem at all with properly regulated sport hunting but, somewhere along the line, I found that I just didn't want to kill animals anymore. Something about getting older and closer to the end of my own life, maybe? I don't know.

[suddenseer]

Used to be a hunter and have no problem at all with properly regulated sport hunting but, somewhere along the line, I found that I just didn't want to kill animals anymore. Something about getting older and closer to the end of my own life, maybe? I don't know.The last time I went deer hunting during shotgun season (Ohio does not allow rifles for deer hunting) I added up all of the costs. The venison in the freezer came to about $45.00 a pound. I have not been since. I was a vegetarian at the time, so I gave all of the meat away. I did not see the point in going anymore. Now that I am an omnivore again, I have pondered it. I always renewed my hunting license, You still have to buy a deer permit. I hunt in Ohio zone 3 (Athens county) I could take at least 3 a season. One for shotgun, one for crossbow, one for muzzle loader. One can participate in urban pest control too. Most Ohio deer are grain feed, do the meat is not too gamy tasting.

[N8YX]

I don't hunt deer, waterfowl or upland game - though I love the taste of venision.

If I'm going to spend time afield I would rather spend it performing pest control. Specifically: Coyotes, coydogs, feral dog packs, feral hogs and other noxious, predatory species. Groundhogs occasionally get a free pass, unless a property owner is plagued with such an abundance of them that their burrows pose a real threat to livestock.

A group of wild dogs gets no quarter whatsoever. Even a 'yote or the random mountain lion (which we now have here) will scurry away if I get careless and it sees me. Not so with predatory mutts - they do not fear humans and will attack in groups. When I'm in dog woods I hunt with an autoloader. And lots of extra magazines.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

I saw hunting in Texas as a kid, spoiled me for life.

[suddenseer]

I don't hunt deer, waterfowl or upland game - though I love the taste of venision.

If I'm going to spend time afield I would rather spend it performing pest control. Specifically: Coyotes, coydogs, feral dog packs, feral hogs and other noxious, predatory species. Groundhogs occasionally get a free pass, unless a property owner is plagued with such an abundance of them that their burrows pose a real threat to livestock.

A group of wild dogs gets no quarter whatsoever. Even a 'yote or the random mountain lion (which we now have here) will scurry away if I get careless and it sees me. Not so with predatory mutts - they do not fear humans and will attack in groups. When I'm in dog woods I hunt with an autoloader. And lots of extra magazines.If I knew you back then, you would have gotten several steaks, and 6 or more summer sausage sticks with my compliments.

We have coyotes, and wild cats here too. There have been numerous black bear sightings in Greene county (south of me) There is a nest of American bald Eagles near me. I have spotted them several times. The first time I thought I was seeing things. On the local tv news they had a story of eagle sightings near Springfield. Looks like wildlife is returning.to Ohio.

[kc7jty]

I have absolutely no problem killing animals. It's just that I'm too gd old and full of aches and pains to bother anymore.
One of my best culinary experiences was a ring neck pheasant I shot and prepared meticulously to a James Beard recipe.
Bird was taken in SE PA with a Remington 870 Wingmaster 2¾" #6 high brass through a modified choke.
http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/wild-ring-neck-phesant-robert-pearson.jpg
yes, that is frost in the foreground.

[W3MIV]

Bill's pheasant reminds me of one trip along Carroll County's northern border with PA. Large farm, soy and sorghum and corn, laid out in long strips about twenty-five or thirty yards wide separated by clear strips of about half that width. The place was a game farm in the cold months.

Two of us, with a guide/handler and two dogs. We had busted a few cocks and were about to head back when both dogs went bananas. We fell in behind, me on one edge of the narrow stubble strip and my partner on the other. The dogs were racing back and forth, but they could not pin the bird. Suddenly, my eye caught a flash of movement. This wily old cock raced out into the clear strip and took off like seasoned sprinter. The dogs wheeled, running out into the clear lane after him. He immediately cut back into the stubble; I could see him quite clearly, hunkering down but running like all hell, dodging like a broken field man. As soon as the dogs got close, he zipped back out into the clear lane and took off. It was like watching two Wiley Coyotes trying to get the Road Runner.

That bird worked the deal to perfection, reaching the end of the field before he launched, squawling, cackling and shitting as he rose like a rocket. We were both laughing too hard to shoot when he did the transition to level flight, so he made it out of the field into the next on the other side of the hedge line.

Ever see a pair of embarrassed dogs? They really show it.

[n2ize]

We are late with classes this year, but now revving up the process in Carroll County, Maryland. The first batch is age sixteen or so. Once the little buggers leave our classes, they can hunt legally (with a license, of course) in any state in the nation.

As a certified Hunter Safety Instructor for the Maryland Dept of Natural Resources, my autumn includes the always interesting, often entertaining and occasionally dangerous task of teaching youngsters how to make sure their quarry is the only thing killed or injured in the field.

Funny part of it all is that I no longer hunt. :roll:

Anyone else out there a HSI?

No but I remember taking the hunter safety course when I was on the High School rifle team. The instructor was a retired military man. It was a great afternoon and he had a great sense of humor. And I got my certificate. Yet I still couldn't legally buy or own a BB gun in my town.

[n2ize]

I have absolutely no problem killing animals. It's just that I'm too gd old and full of aches and pains to bother anymore.
One of my best culinary experiences was a ring neck pheasant I shot and prepared meticulously to a James Beard recipe.
Bird was taken in SE PA with a Remington 870 Wingmaster 2¾" #6 high brass through a modified choke.
http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/wild-ring-neck-phesant-robert-pearson.jpg
yes, that is frost in the foreground.

Only problem is that if I saw a bird like that around these parts the last thing on my mind would be to shoot it. But that's because they are rare round here.

[al2n]

Not an official instructor, but I have taught both of my kids plus several of my nieces and nephews how to properly handle a firearm. Also took my brother in law to task a time or two when I saw his very dangerous handling of a pistol. One of these days the man will hurt someone.

My oldest is going to go to the classes once her school schedule calms down. Youngest has another year before she will be able to fully grasp what the classes have to offer.

No moose the last couple years. Lots of grouse and hare to keep us fed though. The hare population up here goes in a 7 year cycle of boom and bust and we are at the peak of the population curve right now. Some parts of the state literally have herds of bunnies roaming the tundra. Got a snow machine this year, so we should have no problem getting to the not so hunted areas. Amazing what a couple miles off the road system will do for hunting success up here.

Still working on my archery skills and have considered taking up muzzle loading. Up here bow and black powder get access to some pretty nice hunting grounds off limits to the rifle packing guys. Seen a number of black powder go for cheap at auction the last couple years. One of these days I will pull the trigger and buy one.

[kc7jty]

Those old ring neck cocks are smart all right, and tough. I've drilled a few with #6 while on the outbound, feathers a flying loose, only to achieve a slight wobble in their flight pattern.
They'll wait till you're 5 feet or less from them before they jump, making all the noise they can, which often scares the crap outta you.

Cotton tails are another eastern delicacy. I've had a few mountain grouse over the years here in Idaho, and have found every one of them to have a somewhat sour acrid taste to the meat.

[kc7jty]

because they are rare round here.
They are abundant in Philadelphia, due to no hunting there. I used to see them all the time watching trains. They know people won't bother them and don't give a chit about you.

[n2ize]

Used to be a hunter and have no problem at all with properly regulated sport hunting but, somewhere along the line, I found that I just didn't want to kill animals anymore. Something about getting older and closer to the end of my own life, maybe? I don't know.

I shot a squirrel once with a .22 and that was enough for me. Killing stuff just doesn't set well with me. Never pointed a gun at a living thing since.

[kc7jty]

Takes divine patience to bag a (woods) squirrel with a 22.
Gray squirrels are the best tasting critters. Amazingly sweet nut like flavor. All the ones I ever got were tender too.
Pan fried in butter with onions, salt, & pepper.

[NQ6U]

Takes divine patience to bag a (woods) squirrel with a 22.
Gray squirrels are the best tasting critters. Amazingly sweet nut like flavor. All the ones I ever got were tender too.
Pan fried in butter with onions, salt, & pepper.

I shot a lot of grey squirrels when I lived north of Sacramento. There were groves of black walnut trees growing along the river; I'd hunt them and bag a limit pretty much every time. I'd always used a .22 because it was more fun than a shotgun, which always seemed a bit unsporting to me. I bought a Ruger Model 77-22 bolt action .22 specifically for the purpose, put a big old Nikon 4x scope on it so I could see well in the dark woods, shot standard velocity rounds and it was damned accurate. Big fun; I still have that rifle and if there was anything that would get me back into hunting, it would be a chance to hunt squirrels along the river again.

[WØTKX]

Pheasants and Prairie Chickens, yum yum. I used to hunt, but have not in years.
Love to bag pheasant, and grouse. Very tasty, and pheasant is a "weed species", not native.

Hunting them without dogs is difficult, they do scare the crap out of ya when they blast off.

Grouse is 'effin tasty. Have not hunted anything in 8 years.

[kc7jty]

I think the ring necks are from China.

[KG4CGC]

Only problem is that if I saw a bird like that around these parts the last thing on my mind would be to shoot it. But that's because they are rare round here.I'd try to feed it. So then it could breed.

[W3MIV]

Here is a blast from the past: 3473

This was shot on Miller Island (now part of the large containment for dredge spoil from Baltimore harbor and northern Bay channels that is being turned into a park -- it subsumes both Hart and Miller Islands) in about 1971 or so.

When the gummint mandated steel shot, I gave up waterfowling.

[W3MIV]

Yet another from the same period:

3474

This one taken in a field in Talbot County in which we had a goose pit. (Why I let my idiot friend who shot this prop my gun against my arm I do not now know -- spoils the shot).

You can never go home again.

[W5GA]

When the gummint mandated steel shot, I gave up waterfowling.
Why is that? Did you not have a gun that would take steel loads?

[W3MIV]

Why is that? Did you not have a gun that would take steel loads?

In those early days of steel shot, there were few shotguns that could handle steel. If you shot an autoloader or pump gun, you could buy new bbls of tougher steels that were being made for steel, but if you look at those images -- a side-by-side for shooting over decoys and an o/u for longer shots from the pit -- those guns would have been destroyed by steel shot. The chokes would have been peened out to cylinder and the soldered ribs between the bbls split apart. No thankee...

As well, the first generations of steel were truly awful stuff. Instead of forming a shot string, the early steel pellets would clump together, hitting the choke like a solid ball. They were also much lighter than lead, and began to yield far more crippled birds than clean kills. In many ways, the policy was counter-productive of protecting waterfowl populations. It took a long while to correct these deficiencies.

Were I to bother with waterfowling today, I would go with one of the tungsten-laden polymers like that made by Kent in WV at the old Activ plant. (I think they are still there.) There is also bismuth, which is very heavy and yet somewhat malleable. Both are very costly, but when you count up what it costs to waterfowl, the price of your shells is bupkes.

I am content now to sit back and take an occasional trek across a game farm when I want to refresh the memories of upland fun. Waterfowl today, however, has become a "big business" on the Shore and it just doesn't make sense to me at this stage of my life. Better to teach the youngsters -- most of whom are more interested in killing Bambi, anyway -- how to conduct themselves in the field safely and ethically.

[kc7jty]

You look like a buddy of Papa Hemingway.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f385/joshuablum/PapaHemingway2.jpg

I wounded a couple Canucks with 12 ga 2¾" Rem Express "magnum" BBs through a modified choke. Almost bought a single shot 10 ga. Then decided to move outta PA.
Had Canuck honker in Montana at a singles party that was cooked in a marinade (no heat). Unbelievably good. Cut into approx 3/4" cubes. It was the darkest purple/maroon color.