Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

So went over to the VA hospital in Shreveport yesterday to review lab results from last visit. I guess I'm getting old and falling apart. Several meds got changed and I have several consults for various things over the coming couple of months. I did get a nice, automatic (battery powered) blood pressure cuff/machine so I can track my BP. On the way home I drive past a Golden Corral... you know, the best buffet in the USA... Anyway, I like them so I stopped there for dinner. It was a little "off" from others I've eaten at, but it was a smaller town and smaller restaurant and some of their prepared foods were prepared differently than other GC's I've eaten at. It was OK though and a nice break as I haven't been to one in quite a while.

Woke up with a good sized headache this morning between 4-6am. Took a couple of Excedrin and laid back down for a while then finally got up around 6 and put the batteries in and used the BP machine for the first time. BP was high (as I expected, but not terribly high), new meds, need time to adjust. Feel fine now. Debating going out and cutting up some more tree as it's supposed to drop to low 30s tonight so will want/need some supplemental heat (wood stove so as to not need the heat pump). Haven't needed added heat for the past several days with day time temps in the mid 70s or so. I still have firewood from when my son and G-kids were here, but adding to it would make sure there's plenty in case the weather turns and I can't get any cut.

So I was sitting in my recliner this morning watching Good Morning Football and saw movement out of the corner of my eye and Mel was barking a bit. There was a dog in my back pasture. So I took my .22 and fired a warning shot near it and it reversed course back out of the field the way it had come in. Not sure what neighbor it belongs to (if any). It was quite a ways back in the field. Went back in and sat down and a short time later saw movement again... I had a herd of deer prancing around in the back pasture. There was a very nice 8 point buck with a slight limp and ~6 does and a yearling fawn that he was chasing/watching over. My guess is one or more was coming into estrus. They were back there for a good 20 minutes moving back and forth across the rear pasture. I tried to get pictures with my phone but it's not a quality telephoto lens. That buck (through the 9 power scope on the 22) would have made a nice wall mount and I'm sure his back strap would have tasted very nice seared up with some onion & mushrooms.

Think I'm gonna head over to TSC and check out a mineral block and some feed for them. It's been a very hard winter for them down here in east TX I mean all that non existent snow and non-freezing weather... Trying to survive on those +40-50 degree nights has to be terrible for them. And I'm sure they must have hoof/hock problems from walking on the bumper crop of acorns we had this fall. Hmmm maybe that was why the buck was limping... It has been pretty wet though... Actually I just want to lure them back into the open more often so I can watch them.

So I'm back in my recliner and goll danged it, I see movement again and it looks like another dog is in the back pasture in basically the same place as the last one. So I grab the 22 and go back out on the back porch and this one was NOT a dog... it was a coyote! So I lined up a bit high and fired a round with the 22. I wish I'd taken the time to come get my 243 or even the AR... I doubt I hit him, and if I did it would not have wounded him bad as he was a good 150 yards away. He took off like a rocket across the field and exited full speed all the way back in the opposite corner. So I guess I better get out the 243 and sight it in and make sure it's ready for next time. Kinda nice that the last time I did an ammo purchase it included several hundred 243 rounds I have plenty of AR ammo, but don't think light armor piercing rounds would be required for this target... My favorite gun is my Wheatherby .300 magnum but that would be some serious overkill... and the bullets cost ~$3 a piece yeah... $60 or more for a box of 20 rounds. They sure are effective on elk and most other large/formidable animals though.

OK, off to get off my duff. Be well all!

 

[greybeard]

Local 300 Weatherby availability is zero and the only reason I don't own one.
You can feed, shoot, and extract 300 Winmags in one, but you'll feel the difference in your shoulder and the casing will fireform, which makes them useless for reloading.
The major physical difference is in the overall lengths.
3.34" for the Winmag
3.562 for the Weatherby

Doesn't seem like much but a huge difference in velocity and energy, with the Weatherby way out performing the Winmag. I shot my brother's .300 Weatherby last week. It was a hoot for sure and a nice flat shooter over the 300 yards we were covering. Heads and shoulders above my Weatherby Vanguard .270, which I also love. I really liked the wooden thumbhole stock he has. Lightens the rifle a lot--my .270 is awful heavy to me, especially nights I sit down at the pond waiting for beaver to paddle by. (yeah I know--big overkill, but the .270 has the better scope over my other rifles.)

 

[Latestarter]

I put a 12x scope on mine (300 Mag) simply because of its ability to shoot flat over longer distance. The first deer I took with it was at >400 yards, clean one shot kill as she jumped a stream. It is a heavy rifle. I loaned it to my brother for an elk hunting season and he shipped it back to me via USPS (dumb ass!) and they broke the stock for me right at the tang so I had to re-stock it. I'm lucky they didn't just outright confiscate it. That cost me twice as much as the rifle did when I purchased it. The Weatherby specs are much better than the Winmag, but the round seems to have lost favor for some reason. The price difference and availability of Weatherby ammo is crap compared to the Winmag.

I love the way it shoots and even though powerful, I can shoot it all afternoon without bruising or wearing out my shoulder. My Sako Finnbear 30.06 used to kick twice as hard and therefore was NOT a pleasure to shoot at all. A couple boxes through that beast and I was bruised and beaten... Could barely lift my arm for days afterwards. I gifted it to my son as he needed an elk rifle and I wasn't planning on shooting it again/any more anyways. He'll end up with all my weapons when I pass on anyways. My daughters may want one or two of the smaller calibers. I'll let them figure it out. I save all my centerfire brass but haven't learned/started reloading yet.

So I bought some deer food, deer corn, and some loose deer minerals. They didn't have the block I wanted even though online it said it was in store. So I went and spread a bunch of all three in several places down back. Then went and played with the chainsaw, maul and axe for a while. I have confirmed that cutting, clearing, splitting, moving and stacking firewood is much easier with the help of an adult son and his three boys, however young they might be. Haven't started a fire yet, but have a feeling I'll be doing so before the night moves on much further. Supposed to be mid 30s tonight and high tomorrow in the high 50s low 60s. Sat back in the high 60's and night time in mid 50s then 70s on Sunday.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sure Hope the 'Consults' don't turn anything Up for ya!! and with firearms it seems to be the way it is, most of the time....ya grab the 22 to do some squirrel huntin and see Deer everywhere ya turn....if ya take a deer rifle, the squirrels cut Nuts all over ya....I like a rifle....but, I carry a pistol when I'm out and about.... I also carry a slingshot with a few marbles in my pocket....I know ya really enjoyed the Help and Assistance there.....that chainsaw and maul will make Sore...hope ya have some Arnicare with ya...ya may Need it

 

[OneFineAcre]

A 22 gut shot coyote is a dead coyote

 

[NH homesteader]

$3/bullet? I guess I need to ask my husband how much our ammo costs... I hope it isn't that much! I know our handgun ammo price but haven't checked it out for the others lately...

Hope the consults are for nothing major and the BP gets to a better place for you. My step-dad just was put on another BP medication and was scolded for his dietary choices.

I bet our deer don't feel too bad for your deer! Saw one today, she looked good. Hope they do OK this winter.

 

[Bruce]

If you are going to split any amount of wood, you might want to get a splitter. I have a 10 ton DR electric (quiet and I can split in the little barn where it gets stacked) though you can get a gas engine for it if you need to use it away from electricity. It isn't fast, kinda slow actually, but faster than a maul and a LOT easier on my joints.

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks all. consults are basically dermatology, got some skin stuff (tags, brown spots, moles) I want checked out, sleep center, they're gonna want me on C-PAP again, which I won't do, and a lab check at 6 weeks to check the new meds balances and effects. May also get an endocrine lab consult for the various things that aren't quite right at the moment. Not sure about that one as I haven't received it yet.

The way my back and wrists feel at the moment, a gas powered splitter may not be too far off in the future. Might check that out tomorrow or after the first... That's when the eagle poops and I get paid. Took a muscle relaxer when I came in from working and right now I just got finished and came in from dozing in the jacuzzi. About cried in pain trying to lift the damned cover off the ground to get it back on top to cover the spa up when I was done. Of course it's my right wrist too, and I'm right handed, so it makes other things difficult to do as well.

The $3/bullet is only for the .300 weatherby mag... Most other (normal/common) high powered ammo is 1/2 or less, than that. All the deer I saw looked quite good, well fleshed out, good coats, and aside from the limp the buck had they were very "spring-y"/lively running around. I wish I had some game cams I could set up where I spread the food and minerals. Would be interesting to see what it brings in.

 

[Bruce]

Please talk to the sleep center people about a dental appliance. As you know I wouldn't give mine up for a CPAP if they paid me daily to do so. My nephew has to do the CPAP/humidifier thing apparently because his apnea is too bad for a dental device. But ... I know he was over 300# (at 6'4" 28 Y/O) but has dropped down into the lower 200s of late. I wonder if "it won't work" was said at the higher weight and maybe now he could use a dental device.

 

[greybeard]

I wish I had some game cams I could set up where I spread the food and minerals. Would be interesting to see what it brings in.

We planted a deer plot mix (200 lbs of it) back in late Oct. A mix of rygrass, oats, Aus peas, crimson clover and turnip seed. The deer are feasting right now, and I just went late this afternoon and pulled 3 sacks of turnips from the same plot for our own table.

I put a game cam out on Dec 16, pulled the SD card on Dec 22nd. Had 336 pictures on it. pretty evenly split between raccoons and deer.. Deer are in poor shape here--very dry fall and scrimpy acorn crop.