1. Crossfire II

The Crossfire II is an excellent scope for beginner hunters or shooters on a tight budget. This scope is reliable, durable, and affordable. It has a fully multi-coated lens, making it clear and bright, even in low-light conditions. The Crossfire II also has a fast-focus eyepiece that allows you to quickly adjust the reticle for optimal focus. This is the line that my brother has which he has seemed fairly happy with other than his scope mount issue which was largely his fault.

2. Diamondback HD

The Diamondback HD is an upgrade from the Crossfire II and is perfect for intermediate hunters or shooters. This scope has an impressive HD optical system that provides a crystal-clear view at any magnification level. The Diamondback HD also has a precision-glide erector system, which allows you to make precise adjustments, even in the field.

3. Viper PST Gen II

The Viper PST Gen II is a top-of-the-line scope that is perfect for experienced hunters or shooters who demand the best. This scope is packed with features, including a tactical-style turrets system, a zero stop elevation, and a fiber optic rotation indicator. The Viper PST Gen II also has an illuminated reticle, making it easy to see in any lighting condition.

4. Razor HD Gen II

The Razor HD Gen II is a military-grade scope designed for the most extreme outdoor conditions. This scope has an impressive high-density extra-low-dispersion glass that provides an ultra-clear and sharp image. The Razor HD Gen II also has a first focal plane reticle, which allows for accurate ranging and holdover at any magnification level.

5. Strike Eagle

The Strike Eagle is designed specifically for tactical-style shooting and is perfect for shooters looking for a versatile and affordable option. This scope has a fast-focus eyepiece and a forgiving eye box, making it easy to get on target quickly. The Strike Eagle also has a true one-power magnification, which allows for fast, intuitive reflex shooting.

I’m leaning a bit towards the Strike Eagle 3-18X44 FFP which interestingly enough I found on amazon you can get the MRAD $100 cheaper then the MOA version. Mainly because it offers the 3x for hunting in the woods while giving the 18x for field hunting. The reticle as well looks pretty handy for being able to account for precise shifts of the aim point vs playing the guessing game that I do on my thick / thin reticle.

Now to justify how killing deer is worth the $649 on my budget…

In PA for small game animals you gun with a shotgun you need a plug or as some people call them a “duck plug.” Sometimes you might buy a gun that does not already have a plug so then you have to go buy one such as this one from Remington.

That was my case when I found a 12 gauge Stevens Model 77h shotgun at a flea market that did not already come with a plug. Always looking for a new job for one of my favorite “hammers” I turned turned to 3d printing.

After getting the basic concept and dimensions online I was able to fairly quickly make a design. I have published the files on thingiverse.com. The design seemed to work well enough and print quality does not matter much in this case since its hidden from view most of the time.

At the time I printed it on my Monoprice i3, but these days I would recomend a person using something like an Ender 3 if for all the modern upgrades it has.

That was a lot of years ago. Back when deer licenses were filled out by hand. This year I went to Walmart and got my license with basically no paperwork and very small amount of waiting. Times change.

Sometimes the old ways guide the future. Ever wonder why we have to fill out the silly paper and put it into the pink envelope for the doe tag? Like a frog boiled alive we go with the flow.

Why two stamps? How many tax payer dollars are spent a year on pink envelopes three or four per person which then in a household of 3 or so hunters means you throw out like 9 envelopes? Why can’t I just auto apply for the antlerless tag when I get my license? Is our system truly laid out with tax payer money and tax payer time in mind?

Yes, I’m complaining a bit. I think the automated system has saved us a lot of time. Well…except for the hour or so a store employee spent on the phone once fixing my license data for next year since apparently none of the game commission qa testers have multiple middle names. Oh and maybe that one time the system was down in a store so I just had to come back anther day. Wonderful technology. That aside we should grow and learn from mistakes.

How much money do tax payers spend on stamps? How much would automating that to even an online system cost?

What is your experience with PA’s license system? What has worked well? What ideas do have that would make it better? Please let me know in the comments below.

Well, this past rifle season that “what if” happened to me. I was doing a drive for some of my family when I saw a deer about 100 yards away standing. Knowing it would soon bolt I quickly checked for antlers and saw none. I fired and it went down on the spot. Walking up to it though I discovered that it was actually a small buck…oh dear.

Any person who kills any wildlife while hunting or trapping or by accident or mistake shall immediately field-dress any edible game and deliver the carcass to a Game Commission officer in the county where it was killed…. (General Hunting regulations 2016-2017 edition)

It goes on to explain the process to tag the deer and so on. Well, I followed the process to the best of my understanding. I was a bit confused about which tag I should put on. My logic was I should put on the tag for the animal that I thought it was and in the end that seemed to be the correct choice after having talked with the Game Commission officer.

On to that. I called my regional office and told them I had a mistake kill to report. They took down my name, address, and phone number and said I would be contacted by the officer. A couple of hours later he called me and arranged to meet me in a parking lot. On the phone he assured me that I was not a criminal.

Again when I met the officer he assured me that I was not a criminal. Understandable so people probably are probably often worried about what will happen now. It was good to have him reassure me and see that he was being friendly and not angry with me.

After some paper work and a statement that I wrote basically saying I saw the deer, thought it was a doe, shot it, tagged it, and then called the regional office the officer wrote me a replacement tag. He took the deer and put it on his hitch haul rack and told me he had a family of 10 lined up that he though could use the deer.

I was happy. My deer did not go to waste. I did right thing and was not punished for doing the right thing. I did have to pay a $25 restitution fee which is not considered a fine, but rather part of the replacement value for the deer (the officer said the real value was way higher).

People I have heard have always been worried about the possibility of a big fine for mistake kills. Maybe there are officers out there that not so kind, but in my experience the officer in Armstrong county is a decent and understanding guy. As he told me the real criminals are the people who leave their mistake kill laying in the woods.

Be responsible and take care of your mistake kill. Sacrifice the time out of the season and pay the restitution. Someone will use the meat and it will not go to waste.

This year unlike other years I actually knew where some turkeys were roosting–in the woods very near my parent’s house of all places! So I simply slipped into the woods this morning at a little bit before 7 and by looking up into the trees found where they were roosting.

As daylight approached I watched the turkeys on the roost. They clucked some here and there which I responded to which generated curious looks at me from the turkeys. Eventually they started flying down and I got a got a clear shot at one.

After shooting, I saw the turkey go down then back up then down again. Comfortable I had the turkey I just froze and sat still. The other turkeys continued to fly down then grouped up then walked away calmly.

My first turkey ever and it was so easy! So many times other years I have had near encounters with turkeys, but some how just never got one.

In other news this was my first chance to go hunting with my Stevens Model 77 shotgun in 12 gauge. I picked it up at a flea market recently and repaired a crack in the stock in addition to refinishing it. It seems to be working pretty good now except for the action jams up a bit sometimes. Anyways, this turkey did not need a follow up shot so it worked out ok.

Yesterday, I picked up a new gun from the gun shop. A Sig Saucer P250 in .22 LR. I thought it would add in nicely with my other Sig and my many conversions for it (.40 S&W, .45 ACP, 9MM).

The nice thing about this gun is I can use it with any of my other conversion kits. Or even if I get tired of the .22 LR I could sell it as a kit and keep the firing module and make one of my other conversion kits into an actual gun.

My first target shooting with the .22 showed me something interesting. I was flinching. I dry fire practice and shoot a fair amount, but I hadn’t seen myself flinching for a while. I think I’ve been flinching just slightly, but just hadn’t been noticing. I see this as a positive sign that shooting the .22 will be good for me just like shooting round balls in my muzzleloader with a small load is good for me. It will allow me to focus on being steady while not caring about the recoil.

This gun is super accurate as are my other Sigs. I saw a few shots keyhole at about 10 to 15 yards. I was even able to consistently hit a large steel target I had setup about 125 yards away.

My only wish so far is that the 10 round magazine would have a bigger capacity. It seems like they could fit twice at least that in the magazine. Maybe there is a feeding reason or something. I don’t know, but it would be nice if it was bigger.

It looks to be a fun gun. I really glad Sig came out with this conversion for the p250.

For a trapper when you are skinning out a critter it seems the tail can be one of the toughest things to make come out right. I’ve heard claims that a tail zipper makes doing the tail like working a zipper on your coat.

Well, after finally struggling with tails for a few years I bought a tail zipper. Turns out they are not quite as amazing as people claim. After you start the tail you can use them and they work pretty amazing down until the last 1/3 of the tail when the knife blade won’t contact the skin anymore. So you end up back using your knife again. Worth it? For $3 dollars or so I think so. It does 2/3s of the tail for you so I’ll take what it gives me.

Tail strippers on the other hand have surprised me. I had really thought the tail zippers would be amazing, but I was skeptical about the tail strippers. I got two different strippers. The metal hinged type that has just one whole in the center. Then I got a plastic one that had a smaller and a larger whole. I tried the metal one and was very unimpressed. It just didn’t work well, but just dug into the flesh. The plastic stripper on the other hand is amazing. After you split the skin on the tail and start the tail for the first few inches you can get the bigger hole over the tail and it just pulls right off. You may or may not need to use the smaller hole. It doesn’t do the whole tail, but its the end anyways that is the most trouble. All in all I’d say the plastic tall stripper that came for free with my tail zipper was my best buy.

I bought my plastic stripper and tail zipper from ebay. Cabelas has the tail zipper on their site if you are willing to buy 5 or more or some silly number like that. They also had the metal stripper for $3.99. For the plastic stripper and tail zipper set though on ebay it was only $4.95 so its a decent deal there.

When I shot the buck I was approaching a gully where I often see deer on the other side. I heard something coming from behind me so I turned around and saw a buck trotting along about 50 to 75 yards away. With a quick look for points I found 3-points on one side to make it legal then I shot with my 30-06. Its tail dropped and it ran off. There wasn’t any snow, but I was able to track it by the ruffled leaves and spots of blood here and there. My brother saw it then my father got to shoot at it and miss. Then I had a quartering away shot and tried for its head twice, but only hit once. It would go for a distance then lay down until you jumped it again. Finally, just before dark my brother was able to shoot it in the neck and finish it off. My initial shot had been more of a gut shot which was why it had been so much trouble. Unfortunately, it was not as much of a fast clean kill as you would hope for.

On the flip side my doe only took one shot and dropped on the spot. I was watching a little ways up the road from where I had shot my buck a few days later with one of my friends. Then as evening came I saw two does come running in the woods about 100 yards away. I was sitting up against a tree so I had a good stead aim and after checking to make sure there were not antlers I shot with my 30-06. The doe instantly fell where it stood.

I had a good season. I never expect to fill my buck tag anymore with the antler restrictions, but I’ve been blessed with a buck two years in a row now.

My first feelings about the Sig was how sturdy and solid it feels. Then I racked the slide and found that it was smoother and easier to pull back then the PF9.

When I first shot the Sig I was impressed with how accurate it was and how smooth it felt to shoot it. I still have to stage the trigger part way back like my PF9 for longer range shots, but it was easier to stay on target. The PF9 is an accurate gun too, but I would say the difference is the level of focus I required to be accurate. For close range shots the Sig seemed able to shoot very quickly, comfortably, and accurately. In contrast, my PF9 kind of jars your hand a bit and the trigger is uncomfortable. The PF9 at close ranges is so so for me, but if you are close enough even that can become less important.

The size for the Sig is a bit bigger and heavier which I can feel the difference when I conceal carry, but I would not say its necessary a bad thing.  On the plus side it has 10 rounds in the magazine instead of 7 like the PF9. Also for me a big consideration is my confidence in its accuracy is much higher for the Sig. On the bad side for the Sig though it does not seem like a good pocket gun at all. In contrast, the PF9 it just barely small enough to pocket carry very nicely.

Another thing that impresses me about the Sig is its ability to change calibers and sizes easily with a caliber exchange kit. So I can change my 40 S&W into a 9mm, .357 sig, 45 ACP, or .380 ACP. The change over looks really easy too and can be done in under a minute with no tools. Also the kits are not registered as a gun so I can get them without going through an FFL which is a big cost saver. A con though is the kits seem to be pretty pricey and sometimes you almost wonder if it would be cheaper to buy another gun. So for now I’m just watching ebay for some used kits to see what time will turn up.

One annoying thing I have noticed about the Sig is that the magazine release tends to stick and jab you if you carry under the waist band. Perhaps, better positioning of the gun can fix this, but it does seem a bit painful at times.

So which one will be my primary carry? The Sig. Why?

1. .40 S & W (It just seems like a better round then the 9mm)
2. It feels good in my hands
3. I am confident in how it shoots
4. It has a 3 round advantage to the PF9 (barring a mag extension)

I’ll still use the PF9 just not as much. Each gun has something its better at so its about learning which is best for each situation.

To start off with I went through my Track Of The Wolf catalog until I found a side plate I liked. Handily, their parts have life sized pictures.  Then I traced over the side plate and used carbon paper to transfer its outline to a piece of paper.

After I had a good outline that seemed to fit well on the stock I cut it out of a piece of steel then started grinding to a closer fit. In the picture here the plate is still a bit too big. After I drilled the holes in the plate I further trimmed it some to make it fit nicely.

I choose to use steel over the traditional brass for one main reason. I didn’t have any sheets of brass laying around, but I did have steel laying around. Some guns were actually build using steel hardware so its actually not fully incorrect historically. Most importantly, it was good practice for me in building a plate that is the proper size.