Recent content by matto

One summer I spent some time researching commercial hunting operations in SD. My dad, in his late 70s at the time, wanted to treat me, my BIL, and our kids to a hunt. My job was to pick the spot. As we all know, consistent success on truly wild birds on pubic land takes time to develop. So...

I'd get your credit card company involved. I've been forced to do that a couple of times, back when I travelled on opening weekend and getting rooms was tough. The credit card company has backed me every time.

I'm headed NW KS to hunt with a friend and my son. I hope the rain has cleared out by mid-morning saturday.

If I'm going home at the end of the day I'll clean them in my garage. I filet out the breast meat and take the thighs if the femurs are intact. Drumsticks go in the trash. Thighs get frozen separately for one big batch of carnitas at the end of the season. Breast meat gets frozen in water in...

Ground in my area is still quite a bit cheaper. Good dryland without meaningful deer habitat is $2-3k. Irrigated ground obviously depends on the quality of the well, but maybe $5k. Way out in SW KS there's a contiguous 480 acres of good, clean pasture with a couple of solar wells and tanks...

I'm glad it works for you. I shoot a 50 year old sxs so I'm a little reluctant to stress it with a load that hot. I doubt it would deliver a pattern % higher than the 1.25oz , but the extra .25oz might deliver more hits. My second place load is Fiocchi GP 1.375@1250. Fiocchi's GP Extreme...

Generally pretty good. Dove season was terrible for me, so I didn't get much practice. I spent some time over the summer patterning various loads and settled on Kent Ultimate Fast Lead, 1.25@1345(I think), in #6. A couple others were close seconds, and I'll field test once I run out of the...

I've been hanging around this site since 2012 according to my profile. This thread and the other about Kansas's opening weekend, "Day #1...", are MUCH quieter than any previous year. It's not even close. Where is everybody?

I got off of facebook 2.5 years ago and seldom miss it. Only once did I post a tailgate shot. I'll post an occasional photo here, but only maybe a once or twice a year. I enjoy the videos that people post on here, but not as much as I once did. Pheasant cover is different across the country...

12 gauge fox with 4-weight 28" or 30" barrels. Since this is a wish list, a graded one would be great. But I'd take a Sterlingworth too. It would most likely need new furniture for me to shoot it well. If I'm going to wish really hard, maybe an English/Scottish drop-lock in 12 bore. You...

About the same for us. I have access to some private in central part of the state. We hunted 2.5 quarters of pivot corners and found decent numbers of birds in most. 9 of us had 8 birds by lunch. There were quail too, but with that many hunters we don't shoot at them. After that we drove by...

I wear Meindl boots, which have the Meindl cork insoles. They've worked pretty well for me. I think they sell the insoles separately, and also not all Meindl boots comes with the cork insole.

Just got back from our 4 day trip. For sure there are "more birds". We had pretty good success hunting public. Probably 80% young-of-the-year birds, including one that should earn my buddy a trip to wherever. It had a narrow strip of "hen colors" down the middle of the breast. I passed on...

I tested the "Bioammo" loading over the summer. It allegedly has a biodegradable hull and wad, leaving only a little bit of metal from the shell head. It tested OK. Not good enough compared to traditional plastic loadings. While my sxs has ejectors, it's a pretty simple to position your hand...

Fantastic photo!