Our Firearms deer opener is this coming Saturday the 16th and it supposed to be below freezing . I went out with the ML this am (the 13th) and it was about 20 F . I was situated in my TreeLounge at 6 AM with legal shooting time about 06:18 . And I gotta say by 09:15 I’d had enough . The cold itself wasn’t so bad , but the constant wind/breeze was finally a deer killer as it went to the bone .

Looks like there will be more than one PGCA member waiting for sunrise this coming Saturday. Our firearms season also opens then, and we are expecting a warm-up with the low to be near 20 degrees in the morning, followed by temperatures rising to about 40. There is almost always wind to deal with here on the edge of the prairie, and there are times, like yesterday, when it will just about blow you out of the tree. A pop-up blind can help, but I always feel that I can't see well enough out of one.

Good luck to everyone greeting sunrise this Saturday in pursuit of venison!

Will shooting my new to me 20 DHE with 30 inch tubes choked .04,.12 this afternoon.


Will be shooting my new to me 20 DHE with 30 inch tubes choked .04 and .12 this afternoon.Doing walk up ( pheasants and Huns ) after the 1000 bird tower shoots held this past weekend at Prairie Wildlife. My dog picked up at the tower shoots adding 95 to her total. Made this hunt last year and it was outstanding.












hoting my new me 20 DHE with 30 inch tubes choked .04 and .12. this afternoon. Do a walk up hunt be

When I “set up office” Saturday morning it looks like I’ll be carrying along a Mannlicher Schoenauer MC carbine in 30-06 loaded with five different handloads that all hit same POI at 50 and 100 yards three different 150 grain bullets and two with 165’s . I’ll also be carrying my new to me Parker Grade 1 10 gauge 2 frame with its factory original 26” Damascus barrels with 00000 buck (I cast) in the right barrel and a slug I’ve made using a Moose Molds .715”-535 grain HB in the left barrel this thing is actually made for muzzleloaders but seems to do pretty well in a shotgun application . If it’s within 30 yards the shotgun gets the nod and beyond the rifle gives its service . I’ll not be in a TreeLounge but rather a Trophy Whitetail stand , they’re easier to do my two Gun thing .

The Moose Molds “minnie balls” I’m making shotgun slugs from . I have both .685” and .715” versions with the capacity to make HB and SB out of both . They’re supposedly 585 grains as a HB . I usually fill the HB version with hot melt glue to keep the plastic wad from migrating up into the cavity during flight . I’ll use the HB version in my Grade 1 10 gauge Saturday in the left barrel .

Gosh, I wish we could use buckshot here in the Show-Me State. I’d put the rifle away and still hunt the brush.

Bear in mind I hoist a rifle and a shotgun up the tree ! Not very practical in most applications but the way I hunt I can make it work .

Hunted a farm about 2 hours Southwest of us today, probably our last Missouri bird hunt until after the firearms deer season. Beautiful day -- upper 30s, relatively light winds, and good ground moisture for scenting. We found a large covey almost within the shadow of the truck, but in stuff so tall and thick I could not get a shot. Alder was persistent and the beeper let me know she was busy and thorough in the heavy cover. She pointed several singles which the DHE 20 did its job on like it has since I first blooded it last year. After lunch in the truck (a bit too cold to sit on the tailgate unfortunately--one of my favorite parts of hunting) we took Aspen out for the afternoon. He roaded a running covey for about a hundred yards before the birds went up wild, but within range of the left barrel. He finished out the afternoon early with another find and two retrieves.

Heading back to the truck we cut across a bean field and stopped at a large cement and rock slab that we'd seen from a distance every time we've hunted this farm, but never investigated. Apparently there are old graves in this field and this structure was created to preserve the site. No other indication of a homestead or evidence of more graves -- just two marble markers for young children. It was a sobering moment as we paused at these grave markers. The history of the land and the human connection with it is written in many ways.

We'll prepare for Saturday's deer opener tomorrow, and I may sit the afternoon with the bow in case a buck decides to show himself.

Best of luck to my fellow PGCA hunter colleagues!

Photo Key:

1. Alder pointed this single (she's just in front of me hidden by the heavy cover). Elaine managed to get the point, flush, and shot in a "live" photo from which this picture was lifted. You can see the bird just at the end of the gun barrel.
2. Aspen roading a running covey. I was pleased with the progress he showed today. The cover was very heavy, but he hit it with enthusiasm and found the two birds I shot for him. Elaine worked hard at cleaning out all of the debris he picked up in his eyes. Alder was bloody from her tour of duty. Tough on the dogs, but quail are where you find them.
3. This slab is at the crest of a rise in a good sized bean field. We've walked by it many times over the years thinking it was part of a foundation for an old grain silo. By happenstance we walked to it and discovered the two gravestones of children from the mid-19th Century.
4. Sobering evidence of the harsh life in the early days of life on the prairie. We frequently collect more than just birds on our hunts.

My office this morning :whistle:

Sorry to say I didn't seal the deal with my Grade 1 top lever 26" 10 gauge . Did in the poor unsuspecting critter with the Mannlicher Schoenauer MC Carbine in 30-06 shooting a Hornady 130 SST pushed with IMR3031 .

Bizarre antler formation.... he prolly won’t taste good... :rotf:





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