Bearing Arms.

Earlier today Tom Knighton covered the not-so-great news about the number of NICS checks performed on firearm transfers during Thanksgiving week, which were down about 13% compared to last year.

One state that bucked the trend, though, is Virginia. The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports the state was among the top five across the country for both NICS checks in general and NICS checks on the transfer of long guns; a surge NSSF’s Mark Oliva attributes to concerns about a sweeping semi-auto ban coming as soon as the Democrats take complete control of state government next month.

The spike in sales is an indication that at least some Virginia gun owners are aware of the looming threats to their Second Amendment rights, even though Democratic officials have largely been silent about their gun control plans. State Sen. Creigh Deeds told reporters a few weeks ago that he and other lawmakers are working on language for an “assault weapons ban”, and Sen. Scott Surovell has hinted that a permit-to-purchase law is likely to be introduced as well, but to date only two gun control bills have been filed; one meant to aid civil lawsuits against the firearms industry, and another dealing with the transfer of firearms that belong to a prohibited person.

You guys from Virginia are weird. You’ll sit at home and let democrats be elected into office, but when it comes time to react, you’ll get into your truck, head to the nearest FFL, and fill out paperwork. I don’t understand the laziness of one versus the diligence of the other.

Outdoor Life.

For years now we’ve heard from rifle and ammo manufacturers that the 6.5 Creedmoor is their most popular cartridge. It’s an excellent round for open country, and it’s found its way into plenty of Midwestern and Eastern deer camps, too. But there’s one consideration that’s become a head scratcher. A whole bunch of deer hunters are reporting sub-par blood trails — even on well-hit deer — shot with their 6.5 Creeds.

Just ask full-time Wisconsin blood-tracker Dean Muthig. When I spoke with Muthig a few years back, he had put his Bavarian mountain scent hounds on 230 deer tracks so far that season. Many of his calls over the years have been from parents who need help recovering deer during the youth rifle season. Not because their kids are making poor shots, though. Muthig says younger hunters seem to shoot just as accurately as adults. Instead, it’s because they tend to use smaller calibers like a .243 — and the 6.5 Creedmoor. In other words, it’s not that these kids aren’t killing deer. They just can’t find them.

Consider the 9-year-old boy who shot a nice buck on a Wisconsin food plot. The 8-pointer fled into a stand of pines, which his family searched without finding a speck of blood. When Muthig arrived, his hound lead him directly to the buck. It had run 175 yards before piling up from the double-lung shot. The bullet had not exited, and there was no visible blood on the entire track.

Stop saying that a lung shot is a good shot on deer. It’s not. If you want to put the deer down in a immediate, ethical shot, aim for a high shoulder shot.

Source.

A hunter is dead after being shot in Juniata County on Tuesday morning, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The Game Commission said a hunting party of 24 people was doing a “deer drive” …

Eventually, a buck jumped up and broke back through the drivers who were about 100 to 200 yards into the drive, according to the PGC.

With the idiots in the woods, public land hunting is very unsafe, not to mention that other hunters may bust your hunt by walking underneath your stand or beside your blind.

Drives are the worst kind of unsafe hunting.

Thanks for the patience waiting for posts. I had a successful hunting trip, at least by my estimation. For what it’s worth, I am profoundly impressed with the 7mm PRC.

Parody, but still amusing.

@waynecountylyfe

Stop Texting Me Pictures of Your Deer!

♬ original sound – waynecountylyfe

Animals just seem to know when to stop in order to preserve life.