Hozzie

Wish I could have made it. Have a very sick dog and couldn't leave the house. I unfortunately won't be in town for the April benefit, but I told a family friend who I think will be there and bidding on some things. I will make a meeting as soon as I can.

Get as many as you can. I use all of them to compare. I have the nosler, Sierra, Lyman, and imr book. They all have something the others don't. Especially for different bullets.

Congrats.

The biggest issue I have with most midsize SUV's is they all seem underpowered.  I really liked the Subaru, but the 4 cylinder was lacking in my opinion.  The V6 was much better, but they both still had another issue that I found with a lot of other small SUV's as well.   That was engine noise.  I admit I have a bit of a heavy foot so what I am referring to is really from a stop to cruising speed and in passing mode.  It sounds like many of them have to rev so high that they really become annoying to me.  I don't want to feel like I have pushing the engine that hard all of time even if it isn't.  Just some additional sound dampening material in the engine compartment would help.   I personally want a car that doesn't sound like it has to be at redline when I want to pass someone on the freeway if I need to.  There are a few out there that are less noisy than others, but many of the small SUV's really need some extra HP and Torque for me.  That was one thing that impressed me and my parents with the Escape.  Their 2.0 V4 Turbo has about 60-70 more HP than most and 90 ft/lb's of torque all while doing it much more quietly and it still gets 30mpg vs 33 on some of the others.  I will give up 3 mpg for better engine performance any day.

I doubt it. Scoped would be recommended. Definitely for Benchrest.

Looks good.  If you decide you really don't like it you can always wipe it down with Acetone and start over.  You can also use some of the stencils like I did with an evergreen leaf and break it up some if worse comes to worse.  I don't think it looks bad at all.

I would start here: http://www.cabelas.com/product/SAVAGE-FV-VARMINT-RIFLE/1994604.uts   There is a left hand version, but you would have to call and ask if they can get it.  You could run over to Bowling Green and order them if they can get them.   They have a $100 rebate right now as well so it makes it a no brainer as far as I am concerned.    If you plan to shoot long range, I would keep the 26" barrel or you could have it cut down and threaded any length you want.  Less than $350 each out the door after rebate.

I just drove about every small/midsize SUV with my parents recently.  If you are a big guy, the CRV may be a bit cramped.  My dad is 6'4" and couldn't really get comfortable.  They did really like the Outback, but for me, I would have to have the V6.    They really liked the CX-5, but in the end, the 2016 Ford Escape got the nod.  Best HP and Torque in class and it get 30mpg.   It was reasonably priced and they have a good incentive going on right now.  If you trade a vehicle in, get a $2000 rebate plus 0% for 60 months.  The dealer in Franklin gave my parents in trade what they expected to get selling their Impala themselves.  We also had Z-plan which made it a no brainer for them.   They were within $500 of a used model with over 20k miles on it.     If you know anyone who works at Ford, it is well worth looking into.  I would at least drive one if you haven't.  I am not a big Ford guy, but I was pretty impressed with it.

Bad time of year to have to redo it, but since it is so small and shaded, it should be fairly easy to redo it.    What I would do:   1: Once it starts growing, spray it with roundup.   Wait two weeks, spray it again. 2: After 2 more weeks, till it thoroughly about 2"-3" deep.  You don't need to till it 8" deep. 3: Have soil checked.  Adjust as necessary. 4: Rake it and break up any clots. 5: Seed 6: Fertilize with starter 7: Water   John Deere Landscapes off of Thompson Lane is a good place to get advice about what seed to use. If I could find a Zoysia that would work, that is the way I would go.  Very low maintenance.  They should be able to test your soil as well.

  I don't know what kind of cordless tools you have, but I bought the Makita 1/2" Impact for my 18v set and it is impressive.  I looked at corded as well, but it has been well worth having cordless.  I take it on trips where I am pulling a trailer in case I have to change a tire.  My buddy used it to break bolts on an 8ft John Deere Bushog that hadn't had the bolts off the spindles in probably 10 years.     I bought the bare tool since I already had the batteries.  It was a bit more expensive, but I feel well worth the extra cost for convenience.  If you are using it everyday, then I am not sure I would go cordless, but it last surprisingly long on a single battery.

My ups and fedex guys are great. They come in my backyard, pet the dog, and leave my package hidden in a good spot on my covered porch. I can't say I hate usps, but I am certainly not impressed.

Damn, if I hadn't just bought that 629 and 686, I probably could have bought this. Always my luck :(

Great. I don't get to hunt as much as I would like, but will join and do what I can. I have at least one friend who will probably join.

Once you go, it doesn't seem so bad. You forget about the drive after waking in and seeing all of the tables.

Ha. Uh...no :)

I stole this from a post from Midsouth Shooters Supply, but had to share.  It brought back some fond memories of me using a balloon launcher to launch beers off the top of my parents houseboat to my buddies floating in the lake.  It was all fun until one beer came back and hit me in the shin.  The can ripped open and luckily I wasn't cut, but it hurt like hell.   To steel the caption from Midsouth,    Remember guys, no matter what happens today, it's probably not as bad as a watermelon to the face.  Enjoy! (skip to 20 seconds). https://youtu.be/zPNNA1ZzuSc

Thanks everyone.  It really was pretty simple.  If you have been on the fence, go for it.

Sure, no problem. I basically started off using this idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn9wqmFAKo4 I went to Walmart and bought 5 colors from the Rustoleum camo collection (Black (which I didn't end up using, but would if my base stock wasn't black), Brown, Dark Grey/Green, Light Green, and Tan. I removed the recoil pad and sling studs before painting. The tools of the trade so to speak. The stock was black to start so I used a heavy duty scotch bright pad on it and put a coat of Valspar clear primer made for plastic on it. I then cut out some basic shapes as he did in the video and taped them to the stock. I then put a couple light coats of tan. I then put more tape shapes on it and did a couple of coats of light green. Once that was dry I removed the tape. It will look similar to what he did. I didn't want it to be that drastic of camo, so I then grabbed some leaves off of one of my evergreens as well as some dead sticks with a few fingers on them. I took a piece of cardboard and layed the sticks on them and sprayed to get a stick outline. I then cut it out and used it with the dark brown to create some stick shapes here and there. I then took an evergreen leaf and simply placed it on the stock in different positions and sprayed with the dark green. You can play with how much it takes. I just did those two items until I was happy with it. After I was done I decided I wanted a little more tan, so I use some tan over the evergreen leaves in a few spots. I think the biggest thing is to have some dark areas to use the evergreen leaves on. That is what will make them stand out. That was about it. I sprayed some clear matte over it and called it a day. I was amazed at how quick these paints dried. Literally 5 minutes between coats on the base coats and not more than 2 minutes between coats on the lighter stick and leaf coats. It was really very easy. I think in reality you may be able to skip the taping at the beginning, but that was how I ended up where I was.

I bought a new Tikka 204 Ruger as a lightweight walking around varmint gun, but it came with the nice wood stock. I wanted to shed the weight of the wood as well as try my hand at trying to Camo a stock. I was able to get a takeoff T3 Lite stock on ebay for $45 so it was now just down to a Hydro printing kit or spray paint. I really wanted to buy everything to hydro print as I like to play with things like this, but in the end, my $30 in paint won out. I have to say, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I don't even really care if gets scratched for no more than I have in it, and a scratch will only blend in. Anyway, if you have ever wanted to try it, it's pretty easy. My results.

I voted for Cruz today as well.  Only time will tell.  In the end, I will vote for the R no matter what.

I completely agree we don't want them out of control.  I just don't think there is any proof yet they are out of control.  I think our current regulations seem to have things pretty balanced.  If a time comes things do get out of balance, I am all for options to put them in balance.  We can hunt them all year now so I don't see night hunting being the magic answer is all.

  It may still be possible to use 22's, I didn't give that much thought.  I was thinking more of centerfire rifles not being used for Coons, etc.  I have no issue with using 22's, although I do suspect many don't even give two considerations where even that bullet is going when they fire into a tree.   I guess I should also clarify a bit.  I am not against some temporary night hunting for those who have an issue with a coyote(s) on a farm where they are having issues, but I don't see the need for all out night hunting.  The same could go for any predator, fox, etc in those cases.       What proof do you have of this?  I hear this a lot, but I don't see the numbers to back it up.  Seems we have a very healthy deer and turkey population.  It's a convenient argument when there are no facts to back it up or at least none I have seen.  I am not saying coyotes don't need to be hunted, but this argument that they are killing everything and it is hurting other populations is not apparent to me.  My buddies dad has a 600 acre cattle farm in Dekalb county and he can't recall a major issue with coyotes in the last 30 years. The same buddy has 35 acres just north of Columbia and there are more Turkey's that you can count most of the time within 100 yards of his house.   I just don't buy that Coyotes are killing everything.  Seems to me to be a pretty good balance right now.  

The issue with night hunting as I see it is too many idiots who will have no idea what is behind where they are shooting. With Coons and Possom, they are using shotguns so less of a chance of issues with what's behind it. The reg to a baiting site is 250 yards. Personally I feel if you have to bait, you aren't hunting. I have similar views about trapping (realizing it is legal) in snares. I think that is pretty shitty, but I know many do it.

I don't think so, but I really consider that a racing wreck. She was just blocking like a lot of others. I am no fan of hers, but it didn't bother me.

What a finish. Glad for Hamlin.