Driving South for Doves

Friday morning, before the sun comes up I am going to be packing my car (dog included) and driving 17 hours to see my dad and do a little dove shooting and pheasant hunting in El Centro, California.

This is one of my favorite times of year, not only do I get to escape the cold and rainy Oregon weather and exchange it for warm and dry California air; but I get to spend quality time with my dad.

I enjoy the drive from his home in San Diego to our hunt camp in El Centro (which is a trailer in a retirement park of all places). Even though we talk on the phone everyday, I still enjoy catching up on the latest and greatest. I enjoy driving around and scouting the perfect spot. I enjoy attempting to shoot doves and laughing after perfectly tracking one, only to have it pull at 180 at the last possible second.

Pictures and story to come next week!

Digiscoping with Nikon

Did you know that you can pair a point and shoot camera with a fieldscope to create a high powered lens for photography? This week I replaced my outdated camera with a Nikon S230 Coolpix. One of the many things I love about Nikon is that I can pair the new camera with my Nikon Fielscope 50mm ED to create a high-powered lens for thousands of dollars cheaper than a professional telephoto lens. This is accomplished by using a Nikon digiscoping eyepiece and new universal bracket. Here's a how-to demonstration from Nikon ProStaffer France DeWaghe. I will report back next week with some my first digiscoping photos and let everyone know how it goes.

Burning Daylight

Last week I was in Seneca, South Dakota

pheasant hunting at R&R Pheasant Hunting

lodge with a group of outdoor writers. We (Winchester Ammunition) co-sponsored the hunt with Browning/Winchester Firearms and Danner Boots. While we were finishing breakfast, Nick Sisley, an outdoor writer, stood up, tapped his spoon on his glass, said "we're burning daylight, let's go," and just walked out the door. We all stood up and followed him right out the door and into the corn rows and milo fields for some excellent pheasant hunting.

We shot Over/Under Browning Cynergy's and Citori's, and Winchester 101 shotguns with Winchester Ammunition's Super-X Super Pheasant loads (2 3/4 inch, #4 and #6 shot). I can assure you that it's a lethal combo. If you don't believe me...check this out:

The Super-X Super Pheasant load is copper-plated with hard lead shot, high velocity, heavy shot weight, long distance and a pheasant killing machine.

We did shoot a few birds with the 3 inch loads, but the 2 3/4 inch loads were great because there wasn't as much recoil and we still got the job done.

To check out more on the pheasant loads we shot, go to: http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/shotlist.aspx?bn=1&use=17

Sal Roseland and his group of guides at R&R Pheasant Hunting had us walking up and down milo fields and corn rows, jumping birds and then laying them down. Their labs and pointers never missed a beat. As soon as a dead bird hit the ground, they were on it. The dogs were very well trained.

If you're thinking about going somewhere to pheasant hunt, I'd definitely put R&R on your list of outfitters to check out.

Is it a 4x5 or a 9 point?

This post may seem a little silly but I am curious, so here it goes. See this nice Texas buck here, it may be a little hard to see but it has four points on the left and five on the right:

Would you call it a 4x5 or a 9-point? My buddies in the Midwest would probably call it a 9-point, however everyone in the Western United States would call it a 4x5. To me, it is all in the same. So is there a right and a wrong?

Secure Your Firearms

Growing up my dad kept a pistol hidden in his closet to protect the family ... until we got robbed and it was stolen. Luckily no one was home, but it was definitely a wake up call. I am a big advocate that responsible gun ownership includes keeping firearms secure. Some will argue that there is no point in having a gun that is inaccessible. I agree that having your shotgun locked in a safe down the hall does no good when someone is trying to break down your bedroom door in the middle of the night, but today there are a lot of great products that offer security and accessibility.

Recently a family fried asked me for some suggestions about locking up his firearms and I was happy to help out. He has two handguns and a shotgun that were ironically hidden in the closet. Not the best security system. The friend wanted a solution that kept his firearms accessible in case of emergency that was also affordable.

The Handgun Solution - GunVault MultiVault 2000

The MultiVault offers optimum sucurity for handguns and valuables at an affordable price. This safe has a shelf which accommodated both handguns nicely. My friend also choose to place his passport and a family ring inside. MRSP: $169.95.

He choose the basic model to save a little money, but this safe is also available in a deluxe version, which offers a courtesy light and external power as well as a biometric fingerprint recognition version. To learn more about all of GunVault's great safe options and features click here.

We secured the safe under the bed to the the floor boards with provided screws. My friend chose an access code and that was it. Now for the accessibility part. My friend wondered how long it would take to arm himself if he heard an intruder in the middle of the night. So we turned off the lights and gave it a try. After a few practice tries he was able to go from sleeping to armed in less than five seconds. One could probably shave a couple of seconds off of that with the Bio version too.

The Shotgun Solution - GunVault BreechVault

My friend was not quite ready to purchase a large safe so we secured it with GunVault's new BreechVault. The BreechVault fits into the breech of popular shotguns and locks in place. The product allows the user to keep a round in the carrier while locked as well. While a large safe would be ideal, this is a great solution in the mean time for him. MSRP: $19.95.

So with GunVault for less than $200 retail we were able to secure all three firearms. For those of you that are numbers people that calculates out to about 10% the cost of the firearms. In my opinion to have your firearms safe and accessible is priceless.