Did You know - outdoor edition

[Chuck White]

Google says: A brace of game birds is a pair of birds of the same type taken by a hunter.

Says the term dates back to the year 1400.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Did you know a handy tool to have available and use when skinning and processing a deer (and probably other game) is a pair of fisherman's pincers? Those are the wide, flat bladed pincers used to skin a catfish and such. They work well to grab a thin piece of meat to pull it away from the hide or you can grab the hide from the underside and pull while cutting the meat free in those tight spaces around the neck or where the hide wants to cling to the meat around the belly and such. You can also use them to grab and separate fat and sinew you want to remove from the hide or meat.

   I have a skinning rack and fish cleaning station built on to the back of my boathouse where I clean all my fish and game and keep a couple of pair of pinchers and fish scalers there. I was reminded last night while skinning a young buck that the pincers work just as well to help grab a hold of met or hide to help separate them as needed. Try them next time.

[Dan W]

Interesting terminologies from different eras and different parts of the country!  As Yogi Berra would say: " Our similarities are different!" I vaguely recall a picture in an outdoor type magazine of a couple of ruffed grouse hunters with several pats calling it a brace.  But that's ok.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Actually, I have just read the term "brace" relating to game harvested and nobody I knew actually used that term.

  Where I grew up in the deep South everything would have been a "mess". We have had a mess of fish, a mess of turnips, a mess of quail, etc. :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   We touched briefly on them a while back and I must admit I do not use them but did you know shooting sticks are used as a rest to help steady a shooter's aim? The first ones I ever saw and the most simple design is simply a pair of sticks about head high tied together near the top - maybe 6"-12" from the top. When the shooter goes to use them he simply spreads them apart to make a fork at the top which he uses to rest his rifle on. To adjust the height for slope or such he can pull the sticks closer together or spread them further apart thereby quickly adjusting the height of the fork to allow the shooter to aim more uphill, downhill or level as needed. They are more commonly used for shooters walking around stalk hunting rather than for hunters in a stationary blind where they can rest they rifle on the side of the shooting house/blind or portable deer stand. Some climbing and ladder stands have an optional rifle rest for that purpose.

Some of the fancier store bought shooting sticks may be a tripod arrangement with an attachment to clip to upper sling mount. I think they are more commonly used out west for elk or mule deer hunting possibly at longer distances that than we usually shoot in the east.

If you watch people hunting in Africa and such shooting sticks are commonly used to shoot big dangerous game out there.

BTW - who ever thought up the idea of a gun-bearer carrying your rifle for you? I can see me on the veldt in Africa somewhere stalking a massive Kudu Ram when suddenly an angry Elephant/Rhino/Cape Buffalo/Lion/Hippo (You pick one) comes charging out of the brush at me and I calmly and sternly say "Mbobo, hand me my rifle and shooting sticks. Mbobo? Mbobo? Has anyone seen Mbobo?"

Anyway, if you have experience using shooting sticks please chime in with your observations, opinions and suggestions.

[Ron Scott]

I've used a shooting stick for years. I've had several types; most were height adjustable. I've used one for hunting with a rifle or crossbow in a soft sided ground blind, tree stand, or when walking while hunting. They provide a solid noise free rest for the weapon.

[WV Sawmiller]

Ron,

   Are your shooting sticks factory or home made? What kind of attachments do they use? What changes would you make to them after using them if you could do so or are they perfect as is?

    Does the same shooting sticks work for both gun and crossbow?

[beenthere]

I use the Primos stick for both gun and crossbow. No changes needed, IMO. Perfect as is.

[Ron Scott]

I've gotten mine from Cabela's over the years. Now they are readily available at most sports stores. I have not had to make any modifications to them. They have automatic height adjustments which can be easily set for whatever position you are in.

They also have attachments where they can be mounted on the weapon, but I just rest the weapon on the "Y" top end at the height needed for a good sight picture.

I've seen some hand made from a crouched stick years back, but the height was precut to your liking. Now they are plastic made, very durable, and easily adjusted for height desired. I'd be lost without one, especially when my old age requires a walking stick.  ;)

[WV Sawmiller]

   Do you know why a tight string or rope would not work well as a rifle rest? I think I have heard my son talk about tying a loop in a string and hanging it from a shooting house roof and putting the rifle barrel in as a rest. I have not tried it yet but I don't see why a tightly stretched line would not work.

   I looked on line and never found where anybody suggested or showed them using string or rope as a rifle rest.

[Magicman]

It would do little to suppress lateral movement but would probably be better than "offhand". 

Being that you said "barrel" it could change the point of impact so I would have to verify the zero.

[Hilltop366]

I'm thinking a "U" shape would be more sturdy and easier to use which I guess would be a "V" shape once you rest a rifle on it.

[Magicman]

A "V" shape is guaranteed to fit any rifle forearm as it settles down whereas the "U" would have to be larger to accommodate the various forearm sizes.


 My shooting stick is seen on the right in the above picture.  It is a manufacture discontinued Stoney Point Pole Cat that has a twist lock adjustable length and is at least 20 years old. 

[WV Sawmiller]

MM,

   Strange/Unexpected picture there. I was envisioning you in your typical shorts, boots, and welder's apron chasing those pore defenseless elk in Colorado. :D :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know a raccoon skull seems to be much thicker on the front than from the back or maybe the sides? I caught 3 half grown ones then the next night the mother on my porch where they had been stealing Sampson's dog food last week. I dispatched them with my .177 breakdown pellet rifle. The young ones were no problem but several times the pellets just bounced off the adult skull from a front on shot. Finally she turned around and the pellet readily penetrated from the rear. I'll have to remember that next time I get another one.

   I remember my grandfather talking about shooting trapped bears in Fla when he was a teen (they had a hog claim of several thousand free range hogs in the Steinhatchee River Swamp and bears were a constant problem for them) he said you needed to shoot them in "that thin spot" on the side of the skull. In anatomy class many, many years later I found that was the temporal bone and it really was much thinner than the front of the skull. I remember close combat classes in the USMC also identified that as a preferred target area.

   I guess another option for the coons would be use a .22 rifle but the pellet gun is quieter and cheaper.

[doc henderson]

Our foreheads are thick, as they contain the frontal sinuses.  these do not develop in humans till about the age of 5 years.  then they have a hollow air cell area.  If you have a sinusitis, it should be focal.  like an ice pick going through the skull.  if on the right forehead, you have a right frontal sinusitis.  many folks come to the ED with a runny nose, and if it starts to get cloudy, or yellow green, they think they have a sinus infection.  Most infection in the ears and sinuses are when something get clogged due to inflammation say from virus (cold) then fill with fluid, and that in turn gets infected from bacteria in the mouth and nose.  this is why with recurrent ear infection, kids get tubes so the fluid cannot build up when the eustachian tube gets swollen shut.  mastoids are in your cheek bones and you have ethmoid and sphenoid sinusitis that gives the pain "behind the eyes".  Mastoids are behind each ear and not considered a sinus, but you can get mastoiditis, and I had one case that had eroded into the brain.  young patient did ok in the hospital.  Did you know that my middle name starts with a K?

roof of the mouth and temples are good spots for animals in need of moving on to the next life.

[jb616]

Kansas? 

[Hilltop366]

I'm thinking a "U" shape would be more sturdy and easier to use which I guess would be a "V" shape once you rest a rifle on it.

To clarify I was referring to the string / rope idea in the post previous to mine shown below.

  Do you know why a tight string or rope would not work well as a rifle rest? I think I have heard my son talk about tying a loop in a string and hanging it from a shooting house roof and putting the rifle barrel in as a rest. I have not tried it yet but I don't see why a tightly stretched line would not work.

  I looked on line and never found where anybody suggested or showed them using string or rope as a rifle rest.

[doc henderson]

even a wire would be a bit springy drawn side to side, but with some triangulated support to the roof as well, and you have a suspension bridge.

[beenthere]

A "V" shape is guaranteed to fit any rifle forearm as it settles down whereas the "U" would have to be larger to accommodate the various forearm sizes.


 My shooting stick is seen on the right in the above picture.  It is a manufacture discontinued Stoney Point Pole Cat that has a twist lock adjustable length and is at least 20 years old.

Check out Will Primos products, Jackson, MS

[Magicman]

I am familiar with Will's trigger stick. Primos Trigger Stick

I have met and talked with Will several times and the Primos turkey call factory is here in Brookhaven.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know WV muzzleloading deer season opens next week? Do you hunt with a muzzleloader? Have you used and do you understand how a muzzleloader works?

  There are different features and options on modern muzzleloaders but the basics are that the gunpowder (loose powder or in pelletized form) is dropped down from the muzzle end of the gun then a bullet (A patched round ball, a miniball or a sabotted modern hunting bullet) is pushed down the barrel using a bullet starter and ramrod and seated tightly against the powder. An igniter, normally a percussion cap, sometimes an old fashioned flint, sometimes a modern rifle or shotgun shell primer or even an electrical spark system, is placed over a nipple or pan. When the trigger is pulled the igniter is activated creating a small flame or spark which goes through a tiny hole in the nipple or bore and ignites the powder in the barrel of the gun pushing the bullet out the barrel.

  Breech loaders like modern weapons combine the powder, primer (igniter) and bullet/shot into a prepackaged shell or cartridge that is loaded from the breech end of the gun for a cleaner, simpler operation.

  Do not get the impression muzzle loaders are not as accurate. I have an inexpensive .50 caliber Thompson Thunderhawk model muzzleloader that, with a 240 grain .45 caliber copper jacketed pistol bullet in a plastic sabot consistently shoots better groups at 100 yards than my Remington 7600 pump 30-06 rifle. The cause may be me and not the guns but it is still a fact.

[trapper]

I have a cva wolf which is their entry level gun. Verry accurate.  with 100 grains blackhorn 209 it is 1 inch high at 100 yards and 3 in low at 165 yards  I use 165 yards as that is the farthest I can shoot where I sit.  Break action like a single shot shotgun. Have dropped a deer in in its tracks at 115 yards. Shot several with it and never had to track one which is more than I can say using a centerfire rifle.

[WV Sawmiller]

   What bullet type and weight are you using? Round ball? Miniball? Sabotted hunting bullet?

   Mine was a gift but if I were buying one or recommending one for a new ML hunter I'd suggest a stainless steel breakdown because they seem so much easier to maintain and clean.

[Walnut Beast]

Knight disc extreme 52. Muzzleloader here