whiskey

  There are limited areas with huntable populations of quail. Fort Campbell has a decent population. I believe that in most areas of the country the population is steadily declining with little hope of fully reestablishing meaningful populations every again. 

Dave, which officer did you get this from? Initials are fine, or a PM if you don't want to post publicly. Thanks

  Agreed. They should have made "paid hog hunts" illegal and removed all restrictions from killing them. Bait them, Shoot them with spot lights, day or night, night-vision, full auto, whatever. 

I have seen a lot of young rabbits this summer. Seems to be a healthy crop of doves this year too. Hopefully we have a good migration for the opening weekend. 

I was hog hunting with a buddy in south Florida one afternoon when nature called. I told him to go on ahead on the trail and I would catch up after I had finished my business. We were in planted pines and the forest floor was covered with 4 foot palmettos. I slipped off the trail a few yard and found a comfy spot. Just as I dropped trousers and squatted my buddy jumped a herd of pigs just up trail from me. I heard the squealing and palmetto rustling and realized they were headed right towards me. I desperately tugged at the .44mag on my loose belt with my left hand, while my right held firmly to my anchor sapling. As the hogs got closer, the gun finally came out of the holster. I cocked the hammer and pointed towards the noise, fully expecting to have a face to face encounter in the next seconds. The palmettos were so thick I couldn't see more than 4 feet in any direction. Finally the hogs passed without me seeing one. I finished and gathered myself, chuckling at the prospect of having to fire that Ruger .44mag one-handed from a squatted position, bare-assed, and the likelihood that I would have fallen backwards fulfilling every woodsman's worst bathroom nightmare. When I popped back out of the trial, there was my buddy. He said, I thought that old saying was going to come true, you know the one... I thought you went to crap and the hogs ate you... LOL. 

I tried a laser as a bow sight many years ago, but had less than great results. I wanted it to bow fish with also. 

So before we proceed to the legal issue...Not knocking your choice, just offering my experience. I'd recommend a red dot sight or a conventional scope as a better alternative for squirrel hunting. I tried playing around with a laser sight many years back and found it to be ineffective in the woods. I really like the red dot sights for short distance. I hunt conventional scopes on my .22 rifles, but I do have a red dot on my turkey gun and on my .22 pistol.    Now legally:    Their explanation isn't clearly written. A laser isn't capable of locating wildlife through it's projection of visible light. According to a senior TWRA employee on another forum, laser sights are completely legal.   check here: "scn" is a TWRA employee and he and other TWRA officers routinely answers questions to clear up the regulations.    http://www.tndeer.com/tndeertalk/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=31&Number=3205329&Searchpage=1&Main=241819&Words=laser&topic=0&Search=true#Post3205329   and   http://www.tndeer.com/tndeertalk/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=31&Number=2892455&Searchpage=1&Main=214266&Words=laser&topic=0&Search=true#Post2892455     Welcome to the forum. Hope you hang around. 

Just curious, what are you planning to put a laser on and what do you plan to hunt?

I put in for KY, both doe and buck, but didn't get drawn. Nonresident tags are few and far between.    I guess I won't put in for TN. I don't think I will be up for a hunt this fall. I broke my leg last weekend, so going to have to stick to old man hunting this fall. 

Deers heads are always moving and usually right as you pull the trigger. Even the best shooting hunter will sooner or later hit low and blow a jaw off, causing a slow painful death.

Yes a .223 can cleanly kill deer. So can a .22 short. That doesn't mean that either should be recommended for the task. I killed lots of hogs in Florida with a .22mag. I won't recommend hog hunting with a .22mag.    A .223 is a suitable choice if the shot is well placed. That said, my daughter put a 100gr .243 in a doe's chest a few years ago. Knocked the doe down, but the shot was a little high, top of the lung. The doe traveled a long way and was only recovered with the aid of a dog. She was only off a couple inches. If that shot had been made with a 30-06, I don't think the deer would have gotten back up. Part of the killing equation is transfer of energy. A larger diameter bullet of heavier weight has the ability to transfer more energy. That, coupled with the larger margin of error that a larger caliber can compensate for, make the .223 a less attractive recommendation for deer.    I don't have a problem recommending a .223 in an AR style rifle to get a kid or lady started hunting. The low recoil helps them practice more and so long as a responsible hunter is coaching them on shot placement, then it's one more hunter joining our ranks.    But if a full grown man walks into a gun shop and says, "What's the best caliber for deer hunting?" I don't think the answer should ever be .223.    I believe that Tennessee changing the law to allow any center fire caliber for deer hunting is proof enough that the .223 can be an effective round for deer. Hunt with what you like, hunt how you like, be responsible and enjoy the sport. That's way more important that the caliber you choose. 

Anyone tried anything new? I have been on a summer kick of well iced Irish whiskey. So refreshing.

First find a TWRA Hunter's Safety class. The dates/locations and details are available on the TWRA website. There is an online version also, but it is far less informational IMHO.   Second, find a mentor. Someone that you can hunt with will keep the sport more fun for you on slow days. For me, hunting is far more about fellowship than harvest.    Learn to walk quietly. :)

Shaun, I have a Burris FastFire III that has a 3MOA dot. I think it is as small as I would want to go. Since the brightness is adjustable, it stays true to the 3MOA size. I love the Burris, it's small and sturdy. You could probably mount it with a Marlin 336 base on the flat top strap.

I hunted deer and hogs for years with a 5.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk and Hornady 300gr XTPs. Nothing wrong with the 240's, my gun just liked the 300's better. I used open sights, but I have used a pistol scope on a 7.5" Super Redhawk. Don't buy a scope until you have a chance to lay hands and eyes on it. The extended eye reliefe varies and can make a big difference. I also suggest staying at 1.5 or 2 power. 4 power is just too much.

Not an easy place to find a reasonable lease. Too many folks with more money than sense paying jacked up prices. That pushes the average Joe's outward and they have leased up everything within an hour's drive of Metro. I see more Davidson plates than Montgomery plates at the gas stations in Clarksville during deer season.

Tell the "G" family I said hello and that we miss them. Hope y'all have a great trip and good success fishing and hunting. Don't let the kids show you up. 

I am doing a square foot garden this year. First try, got a buddy helping me. This was taken last weekend. Everything is twice as tall now.

Awesome!

One warning on the online class... My daughter had 3 nights of the week long class, then we got the flu and had to take the online and Saturday class. She struggled with the portion of the test that she had only learned online. I'd suggested sitting with her for the online portion.

She does need her hunters safety course to hunt if she is 10. If you want to take her before you have an opportunity to attend the class, TN offers an apprentice license that is good for 1 year, so long as you are accompanying her, which I assume you would be. I suggest getting the apprentice license now for spring squirrel, and then attending the class in September. That is when the classes are most commonly offered. A full list of dates is on the TWRA website.

Not a bad bow. If I remember right, it has the more traditional vertical limbs, so the technology has gone away from that. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing. It was a fast bow back when it came out. If the price is low, and you need a good hunting bow, go for it.

We had a good season. I killed 2, daughter killed 2 and several buddies got birds. Personally I thought the birds worked well this year. Weather was a little cooler and wet.

Killed a pretty good bird in Kentucky this morning. 12" beard, 1" spurs, pushing 22 pounds. Called in with my favorite mouth call, Final Steps Red Blood Cutter. [URL=http://s75.photobucket.com/user/whiskey101/media/BE57562E-D2C7-4ED7-A018-9CB2F3261BEF-5609-000004211B427BE3.jpg.html][/URL] It was a miserable rainy day, but ended well enough.

^ awesome