What did you do today?

[bladeracer]

My life got flipped on its head while I was at Bathurst
When I left it was peace and quiet here. I got home to find that my daughter's family will be living with us now, two adults and four kids from five to fifteen - a very much more hectic life. They were passing through on the way down to Tassie where they'd put an offer on a bush block. Somehow (I'm still not sure how) it all changed and they're now staying here.

The kids are good though. The oldest has been coming pistol shooting with me so we'll sign him up at the club real soon. I've booked four seats at the longarms safety course next week so we'll have my daughter, her husband and the two oldest kids licenced by next month.

[Darththorn]

My life got flipped on its head while I was at Bathurst
When I left it was peace and quiet here. I got home to find that my daughter's family will be living with us now, two adults and four kids from five to fifteen - a very much more hectic life. They were passing through on the way down to Tassie where they'd put an offer on a bush block. Somehow (I'm still not sure how) it all changed and they're now staying here.

The kids are good though. The oldest has been coming pistol shooting with me so we'll sign him up at the club real soon. I've booked four seats at the longarms safety course next week so we'll have my daughter, her husband and the two oldest kids licenced by next month.

If you can figure out a way to get LRD to process your applications within a month, let me know your secret method.

[bladeracer]

My life got flipped on its head while I was at Bathurst
When I left it was peace and quiet here. I got home to find that my daughter's family will be living with us now, two adults and four kids from five to fifteen - a very much more hectic life. They were passing through on the way down to Tassie where they'd put an offer on a bush block. Somehow (I'm still not sure how) it all changed and they're now staying here.

The kids are good though. The oldest has been coming pistol shooting with me so we'll sign him up at the club real soon. I've booked four seats at the longarms safety course next week so we'll have my daughter, her husband and the two oldest kids licenced by next month.

If you can figure out a way to get LRD to process your applications within a month, let me know your secret method.

Yes, I see they're running about four bloody months currently
Oh well.
Actually, five doing the course now, finally convinced my brother-in-law to add CatA/B to his CatH

[bladeracer]

Permit finally came through so I picked up the Norinco 1911A1 .45ACP this arvo.
Just finished loading 190rds for it.
We have a Classic Pistol match on Saturday morning so I'll see how it shoots then.
600,000 serial number so near the end of the 1995 production run I think.

[bladeracer]

Shot a Classic Pistol match this morning and really like this pistol.
I loaded 230gn round-nose bullets just to be sure they would feed, and they shot fine, zero issues today. Another shooter gave me five rounds of his SWC 200gn loads and they ran fine also so I'll order more of those.
Picked up a Kimber .22LR conversion for it today, and that ran fine as well.

[Wapiti]

Something really weird happened this afternoon.
I was out taking some silage to supplement feed the old cattle (old Droughtmaster girls we just keep that we don't breed from anymore), and they all rocked up. Good to put eyes over them all to check if any are having trouble or checking condition. I like to see them nice and fat and able to take the cold winter nights we get.
Many deer come over too, even a few pigs at times.
Anyway, I stood on something strange, it was the black tufty end of a pigs tail, chewed or ripped off. WTF? Then I see all this blood in the dirt. I looked everyone over and no problems. So I sat on a log and just watched quietly for 15 minutes, looking all around.
I see this big hollow log, broken in half, splintered all over the place with the broken 6-foot section sitting on the rest of the old fallen tree. Blood around the log, on the splintered wood, big tears in the ground and scuff marks.
I thought, could i have driven over something with an implement, or the pipe layer the other day and not noticed? No, no f'ing way. Because I've been running underground poly everywhere to new troughs as I'm expecting a very bad drought.
So I take the tail back, going to show the missus, but Dusty the dog grabs it and chews the bones and what's left worth eating from it when I was doing something else, and wrecks my show-n-tell.

What the hell happened there, I do not know. All the big deer I usually see come over all OK, all the old girl cattle, the donkeys that patrol that paddock all there and no blood around their mouths.
You just cannot have game cameras everywhere, but I wish there was one there last night. Scary thing was, it was barely 300m from the house, over the hill.
Always something happening.

[Die Judicii]

Something really weird happened this afternoon.
I was out taking some silage to supplement feed the old cattle (old Droughtmaster girls we just keep that we don't breed from anymore), and they all rocked up. Good to put eyes over them all to check if any are having trouble or checking condition. I like to see them nice and fat and able to take the cold winter nights we get.
Many deer come over too, even a few pigs at times.
Anyway, I stood on something strange, it was the black tufty end of a pigs tail, chewed or ripped off. WTF? Then I see all this blood in the dirt. I looked everyone over and no problems. So I sat on a log and just watched quietly for 15 minutes, looking all around.
I see this big hollow log, broken in half, splintered all over the place with the broken 6-foot section sitting on the rest of the old fallen tree. Blood around the log, on the splintered wood, big tears in the ground and scuff marks.
I thought, could i have driven over something with an implement, or the pipe layer the other day and not noticed? No, no f'ing way. Because I've been running underground poly everywhere to new troughs as I'm expecting a very bad drought.
So I take the tail back, going to show the missus, but Dusty the dog grabs it and chews the bones and what's left worth eating from it when I was doing something else, and wrecks my show-n-tell.

What the hell happened there, I do not know. All the big deer I usually see come over all OK, all the old girl cattle, the donkeys that patrol that paddock all there and no blood around their mouths.
You just cannot have game cameras everywhere, but I wish there was one there last night. Scary thing was, it was barely 300m from the house, over the hill.
Always something happening.

1) Cows with guns ?
2) Aliens ?
3) Poachers ? (most feasible)
4) A big hungry dog or pack of ?

Got any pics of the log ?

[Wapiti]

Yeah, yeah I know, you open yourself up to humourousness by posting stuff up. There's a completely normal explanation, I just don't know what it is.
No phone service here so when working I don't take the phone as I've broken too many, so heaps of opportunities for memories are missed.
Only thing I could think of was bringing the tail back for showing the wife because it wasn't chopped off clean, it was chewed off at the top. Great idea, when one of the dogs jumps up and flogs it.

No dogs in that paddock, about 300 acres, it's been exclusion fenced. There are a few pigs in there, I've tolerated them because they clean up the other animals I've had to get down in number but I have been distracted. They've escaped me so far by hiding in the gullies and piled up timber windrows from fence prep.

I did see a very dominant boar once, attacking a sow very violently and trying to kill it, and another old boar slicing open another I'd shot the day before. I know that when pickings for meat are scarce, they will eat one another. Like humans do.
There's not many times I've shot something the evening prior to find any trace of it the next day.

[No1Mk3]

Spent the day identifying and pricing a collection of mainly Austrian 19thC military arms most of which will go to auction. Sold an M71 & M71/84 Mauser out of it to a bloke who came in to pick up an LEC Mk1 303 Cavalry he'd bought and also a Winchester 1886 in 45-90, dated to 1889 and retailed by a large dealer in Calcutta. Wondering if anyone here loads for the 45-90 in original Winchesters? The twist rate is different to the Sharps and prefers lighter bullets 300 t0 360g.

[Wapiti]

A mate of mine has an extensive range of original old Winchesters, he won't even look at modern Jap-made Wins copies or South American copies. He brought out a 45-90 strange looking Winchester lever, and a 50-90 and 50-110 I think it was, in original single shots, they looked so ancient I thought they'd blow up. He casts his own bullets too. Way too much time! I'm jealous.
I have these old rimfire swingers across the gully from the house yard, 12mm MS plate. He asked if he could have a shot at an 8" one at about 50yds, I thought, that ancient thing will be OK, it won't have the nuts to damage that. No, BOOM and a hole right through the 12mm mild steel from the 45-90. Respect.

[bigrich]

Yeah, yeah I know, you open yourself up to humourousness by posting stuff up. There's a completely normal explanation, I just don't know what it is.
No phone service here so when working I don't take the phone as I've broken too many, so heaps of opportunities for memories are missed.
Only thing I could think of was bringing the tail back for showing the wife because it wasn't chopped off clean, it was chewed off at the top. Great idea, when one of the dogs jumps up and flogs it.

No dogs in that paddock, about 300 acres, it's been exclusion fenced. There are a few pigs in there, I've tolerated them because they clean up the other animals I've had to get down in number but I have been distracted. They've escaped me so far by hiding in the gullies and piled up timber windrows from fence prep.

I did see a very dominant boar once, attacking a sow very violently and trying to kill it, and another old boar slicing open another I'd shot the day before. I know that when pickings for meat are scarce, they will eat one another. Like humans do.
There's not many times I've shot something the evening prior to find any trace of it the next day.

sounds like pigs attacking one another , or maybe something DJ forgot in his humorous post . small hairy man looking for something to throw on the BBQ

sorry , couldn't help myself cannibalistic pigs would be the only thing i can think of . that big dominant boar you described is the most likely suspect . how big was the pig tail ?

[Wapiti]

About 400mm?
Going on memory here.
Never seen a tail ripped off and found absolutely nothing else anywhere except for blood. That sort of spray doesn't just come from a tail.

[bigrich]

About 400mm?
Going on memory here.
Never seen a tail ripped off and found absolutely nothing else anywhere except for blood. That sort of spray doesn't just come from a tail.

yeah righto, so not a small pig the tail came off . very unusual situation . the destroyed fallen tree you describe with just blood no bones sounds like a very large boar went nuts, attacked and ate a smaller rival. solitary boars around that region have displayed some very cunning behaviour to me . nothing would surprise me . feral pigs as you know, quite often leave no bones behind . hunting tenterfeild years ago i witnessed a entire cow carcass disappear in a couple of days except for the upper front leg bones as they were quite large . i've nailed little "suckers" and the carcases are gone overnight . just a blood stain next morning . it's been dry out your way for some time , maybe a very large boar has busted into that paddock to kill and eat whatever it can get . check your fence line for evidence i guess . if the fence is intact the culprit must be in the paddock . staking out the paddock with bait and a thermal might provide answers . i'd stay up on the back of a ute though as it sounds like you've got a very aggressive boar . i've learnt about "personal space" of animals out bush . closer you get the more likely they'll turn on you . i hunt alone and am very selective about going after pigs . i've come across them unexpectedly, for them and me, and any closer than 30 meters i've had some come at me . got the adrenaline going i'll tell you ! it's why my 308 is set on 2 power on my scope and i only use more magnification if i need it . i might not be here if i had a "telescope" that some hunters favour on rifles . can you post some pics of the busted up tree ?

i like a good mystery , but your not "Hercule poirot" mate . never mind "murder on the orient express" , we got a mystery at wapiti's estate cheers

[Damo300]

Prints.
What do the prints say?
I'm going with a big pig, and the others joined in the feast.
Dunno why they'd leave the scrumptious tail though. Your dog tells you that's a tasty treat, I'd imagine the pigs would have too.


However, if it's a yowie, make sure you use a camera from the 60s to film it.
Apparently they slip in and out of dimensions, so you're going to have to be "on the ball".

[Wapiti]

We went on a run checking the boundary of the paddock, and there is no damage to fences so I can't see that anything's got in. That paddock adjoins another about 3-400 acres, the boundary around that has had the exclusion fence (1800 high with a 300mm apron sprung down - the only way under that is not really possible without big damage being obvious. But the dividing fence between the two hasn't been replaced yet, it keeps the cattle where we want them, but there are many holes that allow pigs to get through, Deer just jump standard cattle fences and the fawns go through the pig holes.
The thing is that there are numerous deep gullies with scrub, high water grass and that sort of thing. I know there is at least one dominant boar in there for the last few years since that area was closed off and I know there have been litters born in there. The small boars we've seen have a few years on them too now.
Tracks? the country is so dry, the usual muddy tracks being able to be checked out where you'd see the big prints or the tiny little piglet tracks are no longer able to be see, especially with all the deer around.
There's some foxes appeared lately (see the scats around), maybe climbed the fence, cats too, but no dogs. Dogs don't work like that.
I know pigs will attack when pushed, and I haven't been giving them any carcasses lately to draw them out as my priorities have been elsewhere, on water. We're about to get the biggest El Nino ever and things will soon get worse so priorities unfortunately.

Twice I have been deliberately targeted by a male pig when not actively hunting, actually stalked by something a few times as well. Last time was very eye opening and from what I've had happen, I think most people have no idea what would happen to them in some areas if they were incapacitated after an accident or fall by themselves. In my case the last time I was busted up my wife had to leave me to get the Viking back into where I was to take me out, and I was paid a visit in between her leaving and coming back to get me out.
Mates who've grown up out here on properties and are all day out working on these places all have these experiences, and the scars. You sit long enough somewhere out here by yourself, and you will have a visitor who will come and see if you are one rung below them in the food chain. You will change your outlook after that a little. Those who shoot from vehicles or in groups making noise will never get these experiences so will not believe those that have and joke about it.
It completely changed my opinion of what a person needs to carry around, and when I see the survival bushcraft expert videos and magazine columns on the subject, it's pretty obvious it's all just rubbish and just typed out from a desk.

[Die Judicii]

Yeah, yeah I know, you open yourself up to humourousness by posting stuff up. There's a completely normal explanation, I just don't know what it is.
No phone service here so when working I don't take the phone as I've broken too many, so heaps of opportunities for memories are missed.
Only thing I could think of was bringing the tail back for showing the wife because it wasn't chopped off clean, it was chewed off at the top. Great idea, when one of the dogs jumps up and flogs it.

No dogs in that paddock, about 300 acres, it's been exclusion fenced. There are a few pigs in there, I've tolerated them because they clean up the other animals I've had to get down in number but I have been distracted. They've escaped me so far by hiding in the gullies and piled up timber windrows from fence prep.

I did see a very dominant boar once, attacking a sow very violently and trying to kill it, and another old boar slicing open another I'd shot the day before. I know that when pickings for meat are scarce, they will eat one another. Like humans do.
There's not many times I've shot something the evening prior to find any trace of it the next day.

I've witnessed all to often, instances where landowners say, "there's no dogs, or pigs, in there because of the exclusion fence," only to find that they have found a dead spot (a way in). Maybe not in this instance, but exclusion fencing is not infallable.

[Die Judicii]

Yeah, yeah I know, you open yourself up to humourousness by posting stuff up. There's a completely normal explanation, I just don't know what it is.
No phone service here so when working I don't take the phone as I've broken too many, so heaps of opportunities for memories are missed.
Only thing I could think of was bringing the tail back for showing the wife because it wasn't chopped off clean, it was chewed off at the top. Great idea, when one of the dogs jumps up and flogs it.

No dogs in that paddock, about 300 acres, it's been exclusion fenced. There are a few pigs in there, I've tolerated them because they clean up the other animals I've had to get down in number but I have been distracted. They've escaped me so far by hiding in the gullies and piled up timber windrows from fence prep.

I did see a very dominant boar once, attacking a sow very violently and trying to kill it, and another old boar slicing open another I'd shot the day before. I know that when pickings for meat are scarce, they will eat one another. Like humans do.
There's not many times I've shot something the evening prior to find any trace of it the next day.

sounds like pigs attacking one another , or maybe something DJ forgot in his humorous post . small hairy man looking for something to throw on the BBQ

sorry , couldn't help myself cannibalistic pigs would be the only thing i can think of . that big dominant boar you described is the most likely suspect . how big was the pig tail ?

Mate,,,, you are spot on. I did forget.
When I typed out that response (above) they were firmly entrenched in my mind to rate a mention,,, but yes, I did forget.
(Maybe one too many reds last night)

[Die Judicii]

About 400mm?
Going on memory here.
Never seen a tail ripped off and found absolutely nothing else anywhere except for blood. That sort of spray doesn't just come from a tail.

yeah righto, so not a small pig the tail came off . very unusual situation . the destroyed fallen tree you describe with just blood no bones sounds like a very large boar went nuts, attacked and ate a smaller rival. solitary boars around that region have displayed some very cunning behaviour to me . nothing would surprise me . feral pigs as you know, quite often leave no bones behind . hunting tenterfeild years ago i witnessed a entire cow carcass disappear in a couple of days except for the upper front leg bones as they were quite large . i've nailed little "suckers" and the carcases are gone overnight . just a blood stain next morning . it's been dry out your way for some time , maybe a very large boar has busted into that paddock to kill and eat whatever it can get . check your fence line for evidence i guess . if the fence is intact the culprit must be in the paddock . staking out the paddock with bait and a thermal might provide answers . i'd stay up on the back of a ute though as it sounds like you've got a very aggressive boar . i've learnt about "personal space" of animals out bush . closer you get the more likely they'll turn on you . i hunt alone and am very selective about going after pigs . i've come across them unexpectedly, for them and me, and any closer than 30 meters i've had some come at me . got the adrenaline going i'll tell you ! it's why my 308 is set on 2 power on my scope and i only use more magnification if i need it . i might not be here if i had a "telescope" that some hunters favour on rifles . can you post some pics of the busted up tree ?

i like a good mystery , but your not "Hercule poirot" mate . never mind "murder on the orient express" , we got a mystery at wapiti's estate cheers

Yes Mate, common sense agrees with you regarding size etc.
Alf Dean (a famous Australian big game fisherman of the same era as Bob Dyer) is on record as having hooked and fought a shark for just over an hour that was estimated to have been world record size (ie: 2,240 lbs or above) only to have the line go suddenly slack,,,,, and to reel in what was left.
It had been bitten in half.
Since then there have been numerous cases of similar events.
Which kinda runs parallel to the theme of the fictional film Jaws.

[Die Judicii]

Wapiti,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
In all seriousness,,do not discount the "small hairy man" either.

[Wapiti]

Wapiti,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
In all seriousness,,do not discount the "small hairy man" either.

Time has a way of making you forget what ever happened in the past mate, time even has a way of the brain making you doubt you even experienced some things.
I thought I'd just have a look for what I'd written here sometime in the past about the SHM myth out this way and whether I'd told some tales from out this way, couldn't find it. It was only after a discussion once with some old mates when we all got together at a shearing shed bash and we were all prompted that I actually wrote it down in a word doc and stashed it in a drive. Found it the other day.

Like people who see things in the sky, those glued to their couches are missing out. People like us here don't have that problem, but then again being in the right place at the right time can be an eye opener.

[Wapiti]

About 400mm?
Going on memory here.
Never seen a tail ripped off and found absolutely nothing else anywhere except for blood. That sort of spray doesn't just come from a tail.

yeah righto, so not a small pig the tail came off . very unusual situation . the destroyed fallen tree you describe with just blood no bones sounds like a very large boar went nuts, attacked and ate a smaller rival. solitary boars around that region have displayed some very cunning behaviour to me . nothing would surprise me . feral pigs as you know, quite often leave no bones behind . hunting tenterfeild years ago i witnessed a entire cow carcass disappear in a couple of days except for the upper front leg bones as they were quite large . i've nailed little "suckers" and the carcases are gone overnight . just a blood stain next morning . it's been dry out your way for some time , maybe a very large boar has busted into that paddock to kill and eat whatever it can get . check your fence line for evidence i guess . if the fence is intact the culprit must be in the paddock . staking out the paddock with bait and a thermal might provide answers . i'd stay up on the back of a ute though as it sounds like you've got a very aggressive boar . i've learnt about "personal space" of animals out bush . closer you get the more likely they'll turn on you . i hunt alone and am very selective about going after pigs . i've come across them unexpectedly, for them and me, and any closer than 30 meters i've had some come at me . got the adrenaline going i'll tell you ! it's why my 308 is set on 2 power on my scope and i only use more magnification if i need it . i might not be here if i had a "telescope" that some hunters favour on rifles . can you post some pics of the busted up tree ?

i like a good mystery , but your not "Hercule poirot" mate . never mind "murder on the orient express" , we got a mystery at wapiti's estate cheers

Yes Mate, common sense agrees with you regarding size etc.
Alf Dean (a famous Australian big game fisherman of the same era as Bob Dyer) is on record as having hooked and fought a shark for just over an hour that was estimated to have been world record size (ie: 2,240 lbs or above) only to have the line go suddenly slack,,,,, and to reel in what was left.
It had been bitten in half.
Since then there have been numerous cases of similar events.
Which kinda runs parallel to the theme of the fictional film Jaws.

Some blokes came out this way to pull some old big timbers out of the hills, and had to make a few tracks to get the skid-steers in, Two blokes were sitting up high in a 4WD Isuzu truck eating lunch with the doors open, three pigs came into the clearing and they watched them for awhile, then the larger gingery boar tried to get up into the cab at them, unprovoked. It jumped up and fell out again and when the doors were shut it attacked the door above the step, I saw the long creases in the steel skin from the tusks. They were absolutely sh*t scared.
If I hadn't stood there talking to them after it happened, and saw their emotions, I wouldn't have believed it.
So why bother telling unlike-minded people afterwards, time has that way of convincing you to forget way in the back of the brain somewhere.

[bigrich]

About 400mm?
Going on memory here.
Never seen a tail ripped off and found absolutely nothing else anywhere except for blood. That sort of spray doesn't just come from a tail.

yeah righto, so not a small pig the tail came off . very unusual situation . the destroyed fallen tree you describe with just blood no bones sounds like a very large boar went nuts, attacked and ate a smaller rival. solitary boars around that region have displayed some very cunning behaviour to me . nothing would surprise me . feral pigs as you know, quite often leave no bones behind . hunting tenterfeild years ago i witnessed a entire cow carcass disappear in a couple of days except for the upper front leg bones as they were quite large . i've nailed little "suckers" and the carcases are gone overnight . just a blood stain next morning . it's been dry out your way for some time , maybe a very large boar has busted into that paddock to kill and eat whatever it can get . check your fence line for evidence i guess . if the fence is intact the culprit must be in the paddock . staking out the paddock with bait and a thermal might provide answers . i'd stay up on the back of a ute though as it sounds like you've got a very aggressive boar . i've learnt about "personal space" of animals out bush . closer you get the more likely they'll turn on you . i hunt alone and am very selective about going after pigs . i've come across them unexpectedly, for them and me, and any closer than 30 meters i've had some come at me . got the adrenaline going i'll tell you ! it's why my 308 is set on 2 power on my scope and i only use more magnification if i need it . i might not be here if i had a "telescope" that some hunters favour on rifles . can you post some pics of the busted up tree ?

i like a good mystery , but your not "Hercule poirot" mate . never mind "murder on the orient express" , we got a mystery at wapiti's estate cheers

Yes Mate, common sense agrees with you regarding size etc.
Alf Dean (a famous Australian big game fisherman of the same era as Bob Dyer) is on record as having hooked and fought a shark for just over an hour that was estimated to have been world record size (ie: 2,240 lbs or above) only to have the line go suddenly slack,,,,, and to reel in what was left.
It had been bitten in half.
Since then there have been numerous cases of similar events.
Which kinda runs parallel to the theme of the fictional film Jaws.

Some blokes came out this way to pull some old big timbers out of the hills, and had to make a few tracks to get the skid-steers in, Two blokes were sitting up high in a 4WD Isuzu truck eating lunch with the doors open, three pigs came into the clearing and they watched them for awhile, then the larger gingery boar tried to get up into the cab at them, unprovoked. It jumped up and fell out again and when the doors were shut it attacked the door above the step, I saw the long creases in the steel skin from the tusks. They were absolutely sh*t scared.
If I hadn't stood there talking to them after it happened, and saw their emotions, I wouldn't have believed it.
So why bother telling unlike-minded people afterwards, time has that way of convincing you to forget way in the back of the brain somewhere.

mate , i try to always have a open mind . i don't have the level of experience of folks who live and work out bush , and every time i go on a trip, i talk and ask questions of people with first hand experiences . i learned a lot about deer , and other stuff , talking to you . when i was a younger petrol head i asked questions of expert engine builders/drag racers and expanded my knowledge and skills . i apply that same attitude with hunting and bush life . also observation and deduction . last time i was out up the road from you i checked the dams for signs . being colder pigs weren't wallowing , but were still coming to drink . bigger pigs were walking through the mud at the edge of a dam and the bigger ones were laying down leaving a imprint of their belly in the mud . the mud was half dry so i could see the imprint of their hair in these pig "bowls", good way to judge their size too . small pigs with shorter legs dragged their belly out to where they could get water with trotter marks beside the belly drag , leaving tracks like a turtle dragging themselves up a beach . amazing what you learn when you take the time to look. i've seen some very cunning, intelligent behaviour from solitary boars in the high country . i tell folks at the range about what i see and experience . some older blokes just nod their heads , younger fellas having only shot out west, laugh as they've only shot mobs of pigs that have a mob mentality . i don't doubt for one second the actions of boar you've described . when i'm out on my own in the bush i realise i'm not necessarily the apex predator out there . a injury through stupidity or being over confident could end badly .

[Wapiti]

Which is one of the biggest issues I have with the politicians and police, and the rifle/shotgun shooting mentality of almost all of "our" shooting political representatives.

They come out hunting a few times a year, and are now experts in shooting politics. But they are experts in people-politics, sliming their way up the club and business trees by white anting others with their expert self-accomplishments.

The amount of times I have needed a sidearm out here when I have been in unforeseen, unfortunate circumstances is a massive source of entertainment for so many people. they have actually no idea about this stuff.
Not having a shot at anyone (no pun intended) but you spend all hours on your two legs in certain country when working and focused on anything other than being stalked or part of the food chain yourself, or being lined up by a pack of feral dogs when pacing out a fenceline with an armload of pickets and a toolbelt, or lying on the side of a hill with shattered bones sticking out of your leg and you are visited by a few hungry pigs with the best noses in the business, or anything else, and you will be glad for your pistol.

And these types of people know it all, won't back us up when the city lounge-lizard WLP who are terrified of farmers who can actually shoot (unlike them) and dare to be armed as well as their unskilled political bully selves, or the dare I say it, by committee fudds at your local range who's egos are soothed by power and paper punching, say "I can't have a pistol in the bush so I'm not sticking up for your need then"
And lets not even mention suppressors.
Girls with penis's will scream blue murder about the bloke at the range with a 300 and a brake (a range being a place where loud noise is apparently expected FFS) yet back off and run for the dark when the light is turned like cockroaches on about backing fellow shooters who might professionally need a suppressor to be legalised by again, city slime who think they know what someone else in a world they do not know, need.

And people wonder why there's a divide.
We are all experienced to a good degree in what we know, from both experience and mistakes, and the way we cannot come together is pitiful.

[Maxjon]

Realised I need to get my bottom pour furnace going again to cast bullets....ladle is too slow....
Trimmed all my 310 Cadet brass back to 1.075 inches for flawless function, I hope!

[Wapiti]

I'm interested to work out why the tiny black piglet and it's slightly bigger ginger mate are nowhere to be seen at the spot I put out silage for the old girl cattle.
They were always there waiting for me, they'd come bolting out of the brushy gully when they heard the tractor.
Ever since I found the full-grown pigs tail and all the other carnage, at this feeding spot, they have been absent.
Hmmmm. WTF has happened there.

[bladeracer]

Cowboy national titles are at Virginia, north of Adelaide, 19th to 25th of October. Seven days of shooting, and 975+rds of ammo to burn (1030+rds if you shoot every event). The "+" is because with the shotgun you reengage any misses, if you aren't shooting well you can burn a lot more than the minimum 186 shotgun shells.

So I need to load a lot of ammo for it, but I'm out of .430" fibre wads for the blackpowder .44-40's. Tried calling, texting and emailing the local supplier but couldn't get a response, so I figured I'd get a price to order them from the US. Local price is $260, including $40 in postage. Out of the US, A$168 including US$60 in postage, wow. Ordered them from Track of the Wolf in the evening of the 31st, they arrived this arvo. Checked the bank account, they only charged me A$147.63 as they reduced the postage to US$45. Pretty awesome service. I didn't go back to see how long it took to receive them locally last time, but I suspect getting them from the US was quicker.

And they threw in a copy of the The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper

[Wapiti]

That's a great thing BR, a more deserving bloke there never was.

I just came back in from pegging out some new fencelines, gates and new paddocks for my breeding elk and reds yesterday that came up from interstate, with centre laneways to bring them all into the yards and with external paddocks around them for the cattle to hide them from the outside world. Breeding paddocks, maybe 150-200 acres each in a line leading into the laneway and gates in all corners. Getting around the rocky outcrops, making sure there's good tree groves in each and keeping assemblies away from soak areas. Working out where the underground water poly will be going.

But I saw all this vicious pig digging, the bastards are breeding up an I just haven't had the time to find them deliberately anyway. So I hear this big commotion and see 4 of my donkeys (stock protection against dogs, way less work and better than Maremmas and just forget useless Alpacas) making a lot of braying and chasing something flat out through the trees. I see this mob of pigs running flat out, and this donkey catches up with one as it stuffs up and goes the wrong way, grabs this pig, maybe 7-10kg by the spine, bites into it and runs off. I see the donkey throw this pig in the air about 4m high and it looks bloody lifeless. They all make a huge cloud of dust where it landed and took off. I couldn't find anything, and my two dogs I had with me had a ball sniffing around. Too late in the day to worry about it, I won't find it.
I just shake my head and think, bugger me I didn't see that coming. Never a dull moment.

[Wapiti]

A mate had given me a new Optika 5 scope he'd bought from The Barn. This was because of my rabid refusal to use them out here in all conditions after having two older Meoptas, 3-12 x 50's, fail when their internal lubricants melted and splattered around inside the scopes lenses.
He was there at the time and still laughs about it.
Anyway, he bought up on European Optika 5's and 6's as they are now moving to China.

Anuway, the 2-10x is perfect for the clip-on Viper I use for my dog rifle, a Howa 243. 2 or 2.5x is perfect for the clip-on view setting in the Nitehog, better than the 3.5-10x VX3i I had on it, the world's most perfect hunting scope. The Viper is also European made. I just do not want more Chinese sh*t if there is an alternative.
Especially as the importers of China crap are ripping buyers off and pricing the junk at the levels of European made better quality gear. Then saturate the market with advertising. And the European stuff doesn't, so it's almost unknown.
I just don't get why people allow themselves to be arse-raped by these consumer scams.
But I had to wait for the new clip-on adapter to suit the Meoptas 42mm objective, the one for the 40mm Leupold was too small. Finally it arrived from a European optic supplier. I tried to get it from the Brisbane supplier Going Dark, but at the time they were ignoring calls and emails due to the fact they were associated with ASA, who had shut up shop dealing with the public.

Anyway, I finally got around to fitting it to the Meopta, which I'd already sighted in when testing Speer 70 and 75gn loads, which I've decided to try on dogs.
These clip ons do not need any sighting in ever, they are made to sit on the same optical centreline as the scope is, and if your daytime scope is sighted in, so is the Viper.
Apparently, the Chyna ones always need zeroing in, even checking each time they go on/off.
Anyway, these fit with a turn-on bayonet-style mount, maybe 15-20 degrees turn on lock? Anyway, the pic says it all.

This is at my normal farmyard range of 110m, shot at a little "hand-warmer" heat pad, during a drizzling afternoon.
The three across the top are the 70gn handloads, the three below are the 75gn.
Because it was with the scope set on 2x with no digital zoom from the device at all, I'm stoked. I'm continually amazed by the ease of use of these things, and although this device is a few years old now, I can't see any difference in image quality with the latest China ones. So I don't think I'll be shopping for another thermal for a long time.

Nitehog results.jpg (682.05 KiB) Viewed 41 times

[marquesgriffin]

I had a good day. I worked on camping and hunting projects for a part of the day. I wrote down some ideas from my hunting experiences and made them into stories. I like thinking about those hunting experiences because I always remember things that I forgot. I also looked at hunting and outdoor things, like gear and equipment and I compared them to see which ones would really work when I am hunting. I did some things I had to do and I organized my notes for the writing I have to do soon. It was not a day or anything but it was a good day because I was doing things that have to do with the outdoors and hunting which I really like. Now I am going to stop working and take it easy.