whiskey

I know what you mean. They place I used to hunt has been logged too. Such a shame to lose all that beautiful mountain land. I wish I could afford to buy a couple thousand acres to keep it unlogged.

I have heard several theories, but I have my own. Any quail hunter knows that it isn't hard to wipe out an entire covey in one day. They flush and you shoot. The dogs get back on the birds, they flush and you shoot. Keep this up and you wipe out a covey. No birds left to breed. I think too many hunters got greedy and took too much of a toll on our population of birds. Of course, this is one contributing factor. Predators (come back of coyotes and turkey) and loss of habitat to Johnson grass fields doesn't help things any.

I hunted near Altamont. Hwy 108 cut through the middle of our hunting property when they built in in the mid 90's. I am not even sure if the same family owns the property anymore, I last hunted it sometime before 1996. I wish I owned it now and could manage it for deer. Google Maps

Listening to 5-0 Radio for Metro Nashville now.

I grew up hunting the mountains in Grundy co. and every year I would step on a grouse or two and you talk about having the crap scared out of you...

I know of a couple of coveys over here in Montgomery county, but just too few birds in general.

Daniel, I am very familiar with feists. They are hugely popular as squirrel dogs. I am sure the breed is not recognized by the AKC or the CKC, but I do consider them an actual breed, as do a lot of hunters and breeders. I have seen lineage on dogs that goes back many years. There are 3 basic distinctions that I am aware of, Feist, Treeing Feist and Mountain Feist. I think these are more of breeding lineages more than differences in the dogs appearance. I know one guy that breeds them locally.

Congrats on the deal. I would recommend upgrading your scope when you can afford it. The Bushnell may last forever, but it may fail you tomorrow. I ain't a scope snob, I killed a deer with a Bushnell 3200 Elite today, but it rides on a .243, not a .300 WinMag. I have owned a .300 WinMag and had a Bushnell fail me. Get some glass that will allow you to see clearly at 300 yards and stretch that baby out.

For me a "truck gun" could be just about any firearm. It's a gun that can be tossed behind the seat, no worries about scratches or a little surface rust. It doesn't have to stay in the truck all the time. I tend to toss a beat up shotgun in my truck when I go camping, viola, a truck gun. At night, it usually goes in the tent with me, viola, tent gun.

JG brought his lab out to trail the doe too. She did ok, but she is still too young to get serious about anything. She was also have to track through mine and Beanie's trails. I'll give you a call after the new year.

However, this time it's my furry kid that shined in the deer woods. Beanie is a 23 pound long-legged Jack Russel. I am sure she is mixed with something along the way. Beanie turns two years old next month and today was her first official day "working" in the woods. I shot a doe this morning and I watched her run from the ridge top we were on, through the bottom and half way up the other side of the next ridge. I watched her stop and lay down. I knew she was hit well and I eased over to where she was standing when I shot. Lots of bright red blood. Great! I jumped in my truck and hurried home to get Beanie. I have been wanting to teach her to blood trail and this was the perfect opportunity. We got back to the woods and it had been raining on and off for about 2 and a half hours at this point. I didn't take her immediately to the blood trail. First I took her and let her run around a little in the pasture and play a little to get the excitement level down a bit. I hooked her on a 20' lead and took her over to the blood. She hit it hard! Her tail went up and her nose went down and she was off through the woods. It was about 150 yards to the deer and she got off the trail twice, but immediately circled around and was back on the trail within 2 seconds. Straight to the deer, using the blood trail, perfect! I praised her and made a big deal of it and she got excited and grabbed the deer by the ear and shook like mad. Then she bit it on the butt a couple times. I am certainly excited by her first real blood trail. I had worked with her a little around the house, but she passed the test today. Of course this doesn't mean she is going to be golden on a cold trail with little to no blood, but it's a good start. This is Beanie and her older sister, Suzy. This is their standard "guard" position.

Actually, I am not sure if the eastern deer have the genetics to develop huge heavy racks like our here. I grew up hunting in the east TN mountains and I don't remember seeing any deer larger than the one in the video. Do you eastern guys see big heavy antlered deer know?

That is one thing I can't stand about hunting shows. You can see some of them make terrible shots and not acknowledge it. Then they NEVER tell how long it takes them to recover the deer. I want to see a "time passed since the shot" when the find the deer and a recount of how much trouble they had, or didn't have.

Let him grow a year or two more and then call me over for a visit during bow season. You should probably start feeding him lots of corn so he doesn't leave.

Cause we wouldn't like her as much if she didn't brush her hair and teeth and cover up the zits and wrinkles. Actually I wish she would stick to hunting natually, no make up, no clothes. Just her in a tree with several camera angles being one with nature and killing big bucks, buck naked. Now THAT would be a hunting show.

All of us brother! Congrats on your first deer!

I lived there for 3 years. I would not bother hunting unless you have a ton of money to spend. If I were to return to Alaska on vacation, which I recommend you do if you can swing it, I would go fishing. It's still going to cost a bit, but probably do-able. Check into the Russian River and the Ninilchik River. You can try to time a fishing trip to hit the best salmon run, but it is best to just go up there with a good bit of flexibility and willingness to travel to where the fish are. For me, I would just fly up there with my clothes and a large caliber pistol, maybe a sleeping bag, since I own a good one. I would rent a car, buy a tent and air mattress and fishing gear. I would just drive to where the fish were running and camp nearby. This has to be the cheapest possible trip. I would love to do this in a couple years when my kid is old enough to appreciate it.

Crappy hunting show....or....The Rosie O'Donnell Show? Crappy hunting show....or....Oprah Winfrey? Crappy hunting show....or....Dr. Phil? Crappy hunting show....or....The Desperate Housewives? Crappy hunting show....or....The David Letterman Show? I don't know about you guys, but it ain't even a contest for me. Some of the shows get on my nerves, but if I have nothing left to do, no football, too cold or raining outside, two broken legs, whatever the reason I am reduced to watching TV then I will pick hunting shows over just about everything besides football.

I like to watch the ones with Tiffany Lakosky

They auctioned them all today! I was the only guy there bidding, got them all for a $1 each.

Once presented with their options, the suspects willingly surrendered the heads that came from the illegal area. At least that could have been what happened. I don't know for sure... I would tape the permanent kill tag to the back of my mounts, or in a hidden area. So long as you check these deer in through the state system, there should be an electronic record. The illegal deer were not all checked in legally, I am sure.

Well I started my daughter on a .22LR at 5 years old. We skipped the whole BB gun thing, but I think they are essential for boys. She moved up to a .243 at 9 years old. She has taken deer with it the last 3 years. I think if I had it to do over, I would have gotten the 7mm-08. That is what I went to the gun shop to order, but they had a .243 on the rack and I bought it. Nothing wrong with a .243 for deer in my opinion, but I think the 7mm gives a little more wiggle room. I started on a 30-30 at 13, as far as centerfires go.

Well, like WD-40, I am also friends with one of the game wardens. However, I also know one of the poachers. I can't say I was "friends" with him, but knew him through boating, kid's softball and his concrete company. I am glad they got busted. I work my butt off trying to get a legal trophy and these guys were wearing them out in an off limits area. This has been going on for years, more than 40 years. The difference now is the fact that Fort Campbell has a couple of good game wardens that are working to get things on track. These heads will be on display to the public tomorrow. They will be on Hwy 79 in Clarksville. Just west of Fort Campbell Blvd. They will be displayed in a barn just past the Clarksville location of the Papa Rock gas station.

A carpenter, I am not. I couldn't build and "L" out of 2x4's. I have seen people use old satellite dishes for the roofs. They are getting harder to find now.