BLACK POWDER OPENER FOR 2011

We woke to wet conditions. It was not promising for a day in the deer stand. Some did make their way out and had some success.

            I was out during the afternoon session with my daughter, Ramona, accompanying me. We were greatly entertained by the local bird life but didn’t see any deer until just about 15-20 minutes before sunset.
            We had erected a ground blind at the end of one clearing and sat watching the changing weather as we waited for deer to appear. There was rain, wind, clouds and a dropping thermometer during the two and half hours we were there.



(view from our blind)

            As I said, we saw bluejays, robins, chickadees, crows and a ruffed grouse during the afternoon. We had chickadees about two feet outside the window of our blind.

            When the deer finally did appear, they came out about 125 yards distance and then like often happens, they turned and headed straight away from us. This was slightly farther than I wanted my daughter to shoot and so we watched three different deer as they made their way down an old grass filled road toward a distant apple tree.

            It was still a good time hunting and look forward to getting out again this week.

REPLACING OF AN OLD FAVORITE

Every once in awhile you make a mistake! It happens to the best of people. Some mistakes are devastating and others are just plain disappointments that stick with you for a time. I have made my share of mistakes just as you have.

            One mistake I have long regretted making is the sale of a particular rifle. Back a number of years I did not have much extra cash to buy a lot of hunting rifles or much else for that matter. At a gun show I picked up an old Swedish Mauser in 6.5 x 55 caliber. Having a father and grandfather that were both gunsmiths, I naturally had to customize it. But the end results was that it turned out to be a sweet shooting and accurate little rifle. I hunted with it for about six or seven years and took over a dozen deer with that rifle.



(the replacement for my original)

            As often happens, you get to the point where you think you have outgrown a particular item or just want to upgrade to something perceived as better. I too was guilty of that. I sold my Mauser to friend who was really interested in it, so that I could pick up a proper deer rifle. Well to make a long story shorter, that rifle I traded up for has been long gone, as well as a number of other rifles as well. All during that time I always regretted the sale of the 6.5 X 55. So I began looking for the replacement of it.

            The first thing I noticed was the rise of the sticker price. One of the reasons I had originally purchased that rifle was that it was well within my budget. I paid less than seventy-five dollars for the original one. Now they can’t be touched for much less than two hundred. Their popularity has grown tremendously, partly because it has been found that they can be easily customized to smaller hunters that might be sensitive to recoil of heavier calibers. They also are a very accurate gun and are a part of history as well. Besides, they are just plain fun to shoot.  

(top view of the rifle)

 

            So the last gun show I attended, I was pleasantly surprised to find a nicely worked over little Mauser on the end cap of one table. The sticker shock was still there, however, and I knew that there was going to have to be some dickering if I was to go home with it. That is just what happened. I paid about three times what I had initially paid for my first one, but the good part is that I wouldn’t have to do a thing to the rifle because it was well worked by the previous owner.

            Hopefully I won’t be foolish enough to make that mistake again. This is a nice rifle to take out on a rainy, snowy day. It has a receiver sight that can’t get fogged up because of wet weather. It is light to carry and I have never had a problem in the cartridge doing what it should when shot. The longest trailing job I ever had in over a dozen deer was bout fifty yards. I am looking forward to getting out with this rifle a couple of times this year.