Handsome Rob

Just to give you an idea..... These are all 'recognized' chamberings. Im sure there are as many home made wildcats.....

This is literally the only way to know for sure. Being an old mauser, rechambered literally anytime in the last 100 years, you'd be silly not to. There were many tens of .21 & .22 caliber Wildcats designed and chambered in the '30s thru the '70s. My guess (&that's all it is) judging from the age of the gun & what was popular in the 'golden age of tinkering' when everyone was chasing speed, is it could very well be a. 223 wildcat based on the .250-3000 Savage.

I have that exact same SW 'folding hunter' My hunting partner picked it up at an auction in Big Piney, Wyoming last year. He gifted it to me as a thank you for dragging him out there! The very next day, I killed a big cow elk & used the knife to completely clean, dress & quarter the old girl. It'll be on my belt again this year.....

Fyi..... I moved here from England. Believe me brother, I feel your pain..... However, shipping a rifle TO TN from NY, even from NYC is as simple as I posted.

I have a good friend living in the Adirondacks. He's sent me 3 rifle's over the years & it was literally as simple as him taking each rifle to his local gun store & them shipping it to my local ffl. It was no more difficult for either of us than that.

Yessir. As shiny as they can get it.

Bubba hit the stock with a rattle can full of good intentions... "Twiddly bits" = bottom metal, trigger, bolt shroud & scope mounts. I'm undecided what to do about a recoil pad. I'd love a nice, checkered steel number, case hardened, but it'll mean a pretty short LOP. Like, 12.5" short.

Weellll........ $20 later. Decisions were made, money was spent, gunsmiths were contacted & I'm turning the proverbial sow's ear into a silk purse. So far, I've replaced the firing pin, polished & repaired the safety & sent the barrelled action off to ER Shaw for a rebarreling to 6.5x55. Once I have it back, it's getting sent right back out to GTs Customizing in Cody, WY to be reblued & have a few twiddly bits color case hardened. In the interim I've got a stunning lump of walnut, that some tit decided to varnish, to strip, polish & apply 30-odd coats of oil to, then ship off for checkering. I can't wait to get this one going!

With the hex bolts & carpet edging trigger guard?

Remember the Somalian poacher's rifle I posted about a year or so back?

Best advice I could give would be to take a half day guided trip. Most guides are super helpful with new fly fishermen & four what it costs, I promise you'll lem more in 6 hours than you will in 3 years of trying to teach yourself. Not just about casting. The casting is the easy part. A guide will teach you how to read water. Which part of a riffle or eddy is most likely to hold fish. They'll teach you why, how & when to put a mend in your drift. How to deal with current shifts & changes. Fly selection. Tippit & leader selection etc. How to finish different flies. Retrieval techniques & tests etc. Everyone thinks that casting is the be all. I promise you, I can teach a 6 year old to throw a respectable line in 15 minutes. Learning WHERE to throw the line is far more important!

Maybe it's just me, but I've never trusted anything rechargeable. It always seems like they're great for a while, then they quit holding a charge properly & as much as I use my little pocket light, i'd hate it to let me down. AAA batteries always work. https://imgur.com/a/i6Mlwy4

Nearest I have is a little NAA .22 magnum (it's been my truck sun-visor gun for 8 years) & an AMT Backup .380.

I'm not saying my wife indulges my whimsical fantasies of Class but....... She bought me a set of 3, ACTUAL Westley Richards turnscrews for my birthday!

If you're looking for close range, piggable & '4 season safe' have you considered a .17WSM? 20gn at 3000fps, 400ft/lb? It sits nicely between the .22mag & TCM

Another fyi; Gar goes really well in a Low Country boil.

Yeah......longnoses can get pretty hefty. Im still on the trail of a 6 footer. https://imgur.com/a/5xxorXg

If you want to target them specifically, you need a special lure & wire leader.... The lure consists of a 4-7" long length of white nylon rope. Unravel it a bit so it gets 'woolly' They snap at it & it catches in their teeth (this isn't a joke, by the way) Setting a hook in their bony mouths is really tough & an exercise in frustration at times! They're a ton of fun to fly fish for too!

Alligator gar, yes. Longnose, shortnose & spotted aren't classifieds as game fish.

Well bugger my old brown boots. I heard that Blue Bloods hadn't been renewed after season 10. I'm seriously happy to see it's going to continue. In twenty-some-odd years, it's the one of the only tv show that me & Mrs. P can watch together.

Sorry, also no. You can literally camp anywhere.

Pretty much, yeah. We identified a unit with a couple of trail heads, well away from civilization. Narrowed that down to south facing slopes with good timber coverage & a reliable water source & basically E-scouted on Google Earth for likely looking drainages. I've learned a hell of a lot since then & I would heartily suggest first time elk hunters; a.) Go with an experienced hunter or guide & b.) Sign up for the Elknut 101 online course. Also, register at the Rokslide forum. I've learnt more from both Paul (Elknut) & the roksliders than I could ever have done by just going & doing.

That photo was taken the day before archery opened, unit 25 in the Flat Tops. We hiked in 8 freaking miles, gaining 3500' of elevation & when we got to our intended camp site, there were 8 tents already set up. We had outfitters horse teams through camp every day. Due to access & honestly, exhaustion, we couldn't even hike out & find a different spot. Just haf to suck it up & realise we'd blown it. Never again.

No experience with the southern end of the state, but I will say that if you're packing an OTC hunt, it can be a massive $hit show, especially near population centers. You'll be fighting for a parking spot at every trail head, the outfitter camps will be everywhere from the trail out to 12+ miles & even during early archery it's a very tough hunt. The later (3rd, I think) rifle season is less crowded, but it's also likely to be 20 below freezing with 4' of snow on the ground. Personally, I find that makes finding elk so much simpler. They're out of the really high peaks & aging a track is much easier, but dealing with the cold AND altitude will give you very quick wake up. Im not saying don't do it, every western hunt is an adventure, just don't go with a picture of what you want in your mind because you'll be sorely disappointed.