Bird Watcher

Real nice Marty. It looks like a good time.

That's what I'm rockin dude. I have some hornady critical defense loads that I think would do just about as good a job as I need them to. Really what concerns me most is the lack of capacity, but it's a trade off for concealment.

It depends on where I am fishing. If I am in a very public place with a well lit ramp close to civilization, I don't worry about it. If I am in a remote spot up a river or creek down a dirt road in the middle of BFE Oklahoma, I have one on me. I had a couple uneasy encounters with pit bulls and meth heads at the access a couple summers ago and since then I've had a small .380 to carry when I'm in those places. Before anyone starts with the "what you going to do with that peashooter?" comments. It's the one I will carry. I don't want a big one because I couldn't conceal it as easy and it would be to cumbersome in a pair of shorts, so the one I have with me is better than the one I would leave in the truck.

I think it's really hard to predict waterfowl hunting. We can all guess and draw on past experiences, but you just never know. Stay flexible and scout and you should be alright if you want it bad enough. I'm much more concerned about the snow cover and weather north of us. I think that these days, that makes a much bigger difference. It will be interesting though. I think one of the biggest factors influencing the majority, not all, of the waterfowl migration the last 5-10 years has been the increased corn production throughout the midwest. I'm curious to see how the migration changes, or if it does, due to the widespread loss of the corn crop this summer. It may not matter if the current generations of birds have become imprinted on that migration pattern or it may completely change things. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I do agree with F&F that if the birds are around they will be much more concentrated where there is water. I've had some great hunting during drought years, but every year is different. We'll just have to see. If it's slow and the weather is like last year, I'm heading to Prairie Creek for a 40#er

I have 34 Hens and poults coming to the feeder here in town and only 4 of them are mature hens. I think thats a pretty good survival rate.

Not looking to start an argument, but I think the Benelli Vinci is still a recoil driven system. They just changed it to what they call an "in-line Inertia Driven" That's why the Vinci has that ugly humpback is to accomodate the rod that goes down into the butt on the other Benelli shotguns but goes straight back on the Vinci's. For what it's worth, my best friend went and bought one. The first time he came up to hunt, we hunted on an especially sloppy day. Granted, this is antcedotal, but when we broke the guns down that night in the motel, that Vinci was like a Swiss watch compared to the traditional benelli actions if you ask me. He couldn't get it put it back together right and had problems with it the rest of the weekend. His fault for not fully reading and understanding the diagrams, I know, but it didn't look easy to me.

Congrats man. Glad it worked for you. I bet it was a blast. I had a day up there this spring fishing for white bass that turned into a gar derby. They are a lot of fun to catch.

My opinion would be to find a first generation SBE HK for about 750-900. It's not going to be the softest shooting auto, but it will definitely be softer than your 870. I'm a big fan of the gun though. I've had one for 16 years that has been abused and misused and never fails unless it's exceptionally dirty. The great thing is that if it is too dirty, I can pull it apart in my layout blind and clean it with no tools. My everyday gun for the last five years has been a 20 ga. M2. I absolutely love this gun. I first planned on just taking it on a few hunts a year, but after the first time I took it goose hunting I never carried the 12 ga again. It's lighter faster and easier handling. It makes doubles and triples a lot easier for me because I can move the gun faster. No matter what anyone says, the 3" 20 ga load carries more than enough punch on any sized waterfowl out to 45 yds.

You know what they say about Dream Lakes, "no matter how good they look, there's always some guy that's tired of fishing her."

Actually, I'll tell you where there is a super gar hole. Bicentennial access on Spring River South of Baxter Springs. What the locals call "Blue Hole" The big deep hole at the top of the gravel bar beside the bluffs on the West side of the river is loaded with gar. Probably one of the biggest gar holes I can think of. There will also be lots of them around all the riffles that far up Spring River.

There's all you want to catch on Spring River From West of town down through KS to Grand Lake. There will be some in all the creeks in spots, but Spring River is loaded with them. So is Neosho River and Grand Lake for that matter. They become a real pain there's so many of them tearing up your lures and stealing your bait.

Fishinwrench would be your answer, but I'm pretty sure it's normal for there to be a click every 1/4 turn or so if it's in gear. I don't think so in neutral. Maybe your shift linkage is off? Surely Wrench will chime in if he sees this. He's usually very helpful on this stuff.

Almost like a "if a tree fell in the forest" moment. Could have been a Native American omen too. I think it means it will be a good winter for fishing.

If you can't be handsome, at least be handy. I love some red green, but it takes a certain sense of humor to watch it. Most of my family rolls their eyes if I stop on that show.

You've definitely paid your dues in time for a fish like that. Congrats and here's to you for being concerned with the health of the fish.

I consider myself a full supporter of the 2nd Ammendment, but I can agree with you on this. I know every gun I've ever purchased I had to clear a background check, but I've only been buying them for 10-12 years. Before that the ones I had were given to me. I don't like the "gun show loophole", but I hate to even admit that because of the Fast and Furious debacle. In my opinion, the administration was going to manipulate and exploit that situation for an end run on the 2nd ammendment. Their "smart kid" scam blew up on them and a border patrol agent was killed. Still, I believe you shouldn't be able to buy assault weapons and handguns without a background check of some kind. I don't think they should be illegal though.

That's just it. IMO, it's a slippery slope once you start legislating the second ammendment, and all you are going to do is keep honest people honest. I guarantee you, if a criminal is a criminal, they won't care if they went through the legal process properly to own one or not. Look at Mexico. Private citizens have to declare and register their guns just like you are talking about, but we all see the news stories out of Mexico. It doesn't seem to keep the criminal element from obtaining them.

Wow. That's great. I've owned 4-5 of them over the years, but they've all broke in the first 1/3 from the tip so I kind of gave up on them. I know I'm kind of rough on gear, so I didn't really hold it against them. I just figured they weren't the rod for me. I may have to reconsider after reading this because I really like their feel in hand.

I saw this Today and it reminded me of this thread. Paw Paw was definitely not a sheep. http://www.gainesvil...ports?p=2&tc=pg From the article.... Surveillance video of the incident was released on Monday by the Sheriff's Office. It shows two masked men entering the Palms Internet Cafe, 8444 SW State Road 200 in Ocala, just before 10 p.m. Friday. One of the men had a gun. Williams was seated toward the back of the cafe dressed in a white shirt, shorts and baseball cap. One of the masked men, identified as Duwayne Henderson, 19, comes in pointing a handgun at customers. The second man, Davis Dawkins, 19, is seen swinging a bat at something off screen, which was later identified as a $1,200 computer screen. As Henderson turns his back, Williams pulls out a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun, stands from his chair, takes two steps, nearly drops to one knee, and fires two shots at Henderson, who bolts for the front door. Williams takes several more steps toward the door and continues firing as Henderson and Dawkins fall over one another trying to exit the building. The two eventually run off screen. Both men were shot by Williams. Their wounds were not life-threatening. Each was arrested hours later and charged with attempted armed robbery with a firearm and felony criminal mischief.

that fish is all hybrid if you ask me. they don't always have broken lines.

I've went and caught them and ate them probably a dozen times. I like to go at night with a waterproof flashlight and just grab them. you can pick up a lot in a few hours out of a clear spring creek. I know a few people who go catch them often to eat. We always boil them of course and we like to let them sit in a kiddie pool for a few days with well water running over them to clean them out.

A friend of mine put it on his duck boat. It lasted about 2 years before it was all ripped up, but he lives in Central AR. and hunts a lot of flooded timber. It might not get as torn up if you were only hunting grass, weeds, flooded crops, etc.

Glad to hear. Take it slow and don't over do it. It's a marathon, not a race.