I could have been out for late ML season in KY this weekend, but between the rain and the dismally few deer that seem to be on the property at the moment, I figured that it would be better to stay home, clean guns, and count the ammo. It has been rather dreary the past few days.  The light is just coming up this morning– fog, drizzle. Blech!  This is a good time to search the soul, contemplate my sins, and await the day when my thoughts will turn towards turkey.

The Savage 99, and the Eternal Search for the 150 Grain Load

I DID finally get a load that shot reasonably well out of the Savage 99 with 150 grain REM  Corelokts. However, this was Pyrrhic victory.  First off, the accuracy was no better, perhaps a bit worse than the 165 grain loads I’ve been using for over a decade.  Second,  when I compared the statistics of what I had been shooting versus what I now had built, I was quite disappointed.  The final load I picked to go hunting this year was within 20 fps of the 165 grain load. Furthermore, I really could not feel a bit of difference in the recoil.  So here  I had been since 2003, dreaming of a 308 WIN load that matched the ideal 150 grain Savage 300 Holy Grail I had stuck in my head, and really  there was no stinking difference, and in fact the load was a tad more anemic than what I’d been shooting.  Drat.    Never mind  that I never once had a deer worth shooting in my sights  on which to test it out.

Okay! I repent.  I am happy enough with the 165 grain load, that I do not have to seek the 150 grain load anymore.

Actually, I am ahead on this project.  I did learn another couple of things along the way:

1)  I really do not like the Savage 99 as much when it is shooting loads up close to the MAX.  In testing the 150 grain gambit, some of the loads I tested were hot.  When it gets cooking, the Savage 99 feels a lot less friendly. This was the first time I ever came close to shooting a factory level 308 WIN load in it.

2)  I have been carping about my bad eyes for 10 years now.  I have scopes on all my rifles.  However, I had a few rounds left and tried the iron sights on the Savage 99.  The new bi-focal prescription seems to have licked the problem.   I may actually try using the irons for real one of these days.  The Savage has the old Weaver tilt-off mounts.  I have them on several of my rifles, although it has been 20 years since I last used the tilt feature on a hunt.  Weaver does not make them anymore.  Shame.  I really liked them– so much better than see-thru mounts.

The Tablet

Overall, bringing along a tablet was less trouble and less of a distraction that I thought.  Mine is Wi-Fi capable, but can’t pick up the Internet outside the house without my mobile broadband dongle.  Using the tablet as a reader was a plus.  The couple times I took the dongle along and tested my Internet connectivity from the stand, there was too much distraction.   As a comparison, I had just started a book on WWII in the Pacific.  The book was an inch and a half thick and did not fit in any pocket.  Turning pages in gloves was a problem.   I got through Muzzleloader season reading through that.  Then the tablet arrived.    It is maybe half the size of that big book on the Pacific, and it is currently holding a bunch of e-books, including U.S. Grant’s memoir.   I read two books during Rifle season,  the memoir of Leander Stillwell, late of the 61st Illinois Infantry and the new biography of Ike.  I make a rule to look up at the turn of every page, and actually the pages hold a bit less than a regular book, so I had my eyes up a little more with the tablet.  The tablet fit in my pocket, so  I could slip it in there when needed.  I have lost books off the stand a couple of times.  Once with a deer watching.  The deer did not seem to mind, but if I lost the tablet, I fear the worst.  Therefore I have rigged a tether, using a retractable key chain, hooking it to my parka and the little D-ring on the cover of the tablet.

You may still be asking:  shaman!  Is this really hunting? Look, for as few deer as came by this year, I was darn glad to have something to read.

Shooting in Low Light

That doe I missed on over Thanksgiving proved one thing to me:  Between my eyes and the optics on my rifle, I was shooting too late and too long when I went after that doe.  My ankle would not have given out on me, if I had not been having trouble getting a sight picture.  In the past, I have ended my hunting about 10 minutes before the actual end of legal hunting.  I just happened to spy her as I was packing up to leave.    It is a middle-age thing, and I repent fully.  As Saint Clint said, ” A man’s got to know his limitations.”

Resolutions and other Random Junk

My big job for next year is to get Angus ready to hunt on his own.  This is his last year as a yute.  So far he has one doe and one buck.  To his credit, he has passed on a number of deer over the years, waiting for what he wants.  I have a couple of new blind locations that we can develop this year in order to be ready next year.  Lazy Boy is a definite possibility.  I have also found sites at Dead Skunk Hollow and The Honey Hole that bear further investigation.

I think one of the troubles with our hunting this year was the guy who does our hay never showed up.  I need to get that resolved for next year.  Granted, there was a drought.  That was certainly the major problem.  However, I have always seen the deer favoring the forbs that grow after the hay has been cut.  Those were buried under all the grass.  In some spots, that has gone two years without cutting.  It is time to get something done.  He also owes me some food plots.

I would be wringing my hands with worry if this were not a drought year, probably the worst I have seen on the place.  My neighbor who does all the supplemental feeding drew a zilch off his feeders this year.  I know the deer herd is still  there.  They just went elsewhere  for a change.

I really did not have all that much new gear this year.   The new boots from Bass-Pro  were great– $70 on sale in October, but I do not see the model listed anymore.  One thing is for sure.  I am swearing off boot purchases from Sportsman’s Guide.  I’ll go into detail more about this over the winter.  Bottom line:  After 6 attempts over the past 10 years to find a waterproof boot for turkey hunting, I have found that Sportsman’s Guide’s  idea of  “100% waterproof”  is not mine.  I sent an email to Gary Olsen, and all I got was some CSR’s attempt to apologize.  I am bummed out.

To be fair to Gary and SG, I do order a lot of other stuff from them.  When you are trying to outfit yourself and the rest of the family, I have found none better (just not hunting boots).  We all wear the surplus wool balaclavas I got from him a few years ago.   They really do add a lot of insulation at just the right spot.  I also want to put in a plug for SG’s deal on handwarmer packets.  SuperCore and I were using ones he purchased two years ago, and they were still putting out decent heat for us.  The trick I’ve found is not to use them as handwarmers, but to stuff one down into a breast pocket inside your coat.  It warms the chest, it warms the blood coming to your heart and lungs.  It keeps your hands warm indirectly.  If I need a second one, I stuff it under my hat.

This is my fifth season using Icebreaker Boot Blankets.  They are just fantastic.  They are still great at insulating my feet, they are still in near-new condition, and I would wait for them to go on sale after season ends and try to snag a pair.    I also discovered a pair of knit mitten/finger gloves with the flip-open flap in the pile.  I think I got these at Walmart or Basspro a few year ago on closeout.  These had Thinsulate panels sewn in.  Wow! Talk about warm.  I wish I could be more specific, but be on the lookout.  They really did  trick that last weekend.

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