Recent content by Powderhorn Jim

Kansas does stock pheasants for their "governor's hunt", and a lot of them. A number of years ago that hunt was conducted south of Goodland, Kansas on and around the State wildlife area down there. For days after that there were literally herds of pheasants running back and forth across the...

I agree. My labs have grown up on a ranch. It always amazes me how easily they navigate good barbed wire fences. Unfortunately where I hunt in SD, there are miles of old, partially downed fences hidden in deep weeds and grasses. my current pup is exceptional at navigating even those, but it...

I don't hunt around old homesteads/houses/barns anymore. I've found open wells, septic pits, broken off steel fence posts, hog wire, chicken wire, barbed wire and lord knows what other hazards. There is no bird worth endangering my dog. I'm too old for that.

You and me, both apparently. My right ankle is permanently fused thanks to a badger hole.

SE NM was obviously a lot better than SW. I've hunted around Socorro for years with reasonable success. Never anything outstanding, but enough to keep the dogs and I entertained. Mostly Gambel's, with a few Scaled thrown in. This year I hunted for a month and saw one live quail and tracks in one...

I bought a Final Rise Summit XT last year. Its a good vest. Extremely modular. You can add pockets and pouches until you are blue in the face. For me, the most important part of any vest is that it not interfere with my gun mount. The Summit addresses this issue well. Many of the vests have...

I hunt because I enjoy it. I shoot skeet and sporting clays because I enjoy them. Why not? Life is short folks.

Yup, those are the ones. They distort things not directly in front of you. That doesn't work with my lifestyle.

I tried progressive lenses. They didn't work at all. Years ago, on the advise of a hunting brother, I went to lined bifocals with the "bi" set low so it didn't impact my shooting or walking. Still works to this day. The only downside is raising my head high to use a computer, which is fine with me.

Pure copper shot is an approved (by the USFWS) non-toxic shot. The kicker seems to be the coating and a device to detect that coating without destroying a shell. BOSS says their product is legal wherever non-toxic shot is required. They are waiting for approval of a device they have developed to...

My go-to is the CrockPot for pheasants. Can of mushroom soup, can of chicken soup, can of celery soup, can of corn, spices as you prefer. After 7 hours on low, the meat is "velvetized" and oh-so good.

Just returned from two week trip hunting in SD. I use non-tox exclusively as there are a lot of State Wildlife Areas where I hunt. I hunted with my CZ Sharptail 28ga side by side for all 13 days (weather made me skip one day). #5 and #6 Bismuth worked well. I did reload some #8.5 tungsten last...

If I'm sure the bird has been hit I do not. I have good dogs. That is their job. I may lose one bird a season on average.

I shoot a lot of 5-stand in the spring/summer/fall. Our course is set by a State champion SC shooter and uses 11 or 12 machines. I shoot all from a low-gun stance. It can be tough to shoot over 80% on most of his setups, but I still find it easier than wild pheasants as you know where the bird...

My right ankle has been broken 2 times and fused 3. It has caused my knee to become unstable. In normal field hunting situations I am OK but on uneven ground I struggle to find a good solid base to shoot from so I shoot well sometimes and others I just shoot to say I did. I'm also scared to...