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Post by Doc Barranti on Aug 12, 2009 10:10:04 GMT -5
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Post by Doc Barranti on Aug 10, 2009 5:48:36 GMT -5
Lee,
Great article! Well written and informative!
Thanks!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Aug 6, 2009 4:47:49 GMT -5
Great looking sixgun, Rob!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Aug 6, 2009 4:20:01 GMT -5
Way to go Dick! He's gonna look great hanging on my wall!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Aug 6, 2009 4:19:17 GMT -5
Sometimes things are just bound to happen. Yesterday my wife & I drove down to the county fair to watch the kids in the pig wrestling contest. Might just be the funniest thing I've ever watched, 6" of clay & about a thousand gallons of water makes for a pretty slippery arena. 4 kids on a team & a mudded up hog, they have 1 minute to put him in a barrel in the middle of the arena, I laughed until I almost lost my partial! :oops: Anyway, on the way down I spot a dead badger on the highway, I just hate it went the die that way, they deserve me :cry: it was a big old boy, somebody probably dinged up their car when they smacked him. My buddy callshot & I decided to go back down today, there were a couple of food booths I hadn't sampled :lol: & I intended to correct that, first was a double cheese burger, fries & a big drink, we sat around for a little while & I had to have a large cup of peaches & cream, then for a finisher I had a large Teton fry, thats french fries with cheese, sour cream & chopped green onion, I was a happy man but felt like a elephant seal. We decided to leave & got about half way home & a badger goes blasting across the highway, I tell Steve to STOP :twisted: I bail out right on the road, jerk my carry gun out (model 60 S&W snubbie) & take off running. The grain is 3 feet tall, I'm looking left, right & out in the field, looking for any movement in the grain, then off to my right I spot the grain waving, he's headed my way, yoweee! I've got a 2" barrel snubbie with only 5 rounds of 125 gr +P ammo in my bobbed hammer gun, this could be interesting. He charges up to within about 10-12 feet & I see the grain stop moving, I do a fast double tap into the thick grain, one of them hits him & he takes off.........& I take off after him, I'm down to 3 rounds, I'm wearing my rubber Pittsburgh Steelers slippers & the grains clear up to my Pelosi :wink: I keep running & I'm making good time, Callshot said he scored me about a 3 on speed, I was so full of grub from the fair I could hardly keep up, one of us was getting tired :roll: Anyway, 300 yds out he runs down into a little depression & I see the grain stop moving, I ease up & I can see his nose, he's trying to decide what to do. I give him a fast double tap, he growls & rolls down into a small crack in an old lava reef......... I got him! Yippee!! Well, now Barranti has his badger pelt and I'm all caught up, thanks to the one last week for Contender. He isn't full grown but a very nice badger with good markings, he'll make an excellent rug. Dick
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Post by Doc Barranti on Aug 4, 2009 22:00:05 GMT -5
Those sure do look good, Mark. I like the lines of the fixed sight FAs...
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 31, 2009 23:08:00 GMT -5
Great job, Glenn! Glad you were able to work it out!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 31, 2009 23:04:17 GMT -5
Thank you for such a generous compliment! I am honored to be associated with such a fine group of sixgunners and craftsmen.
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 30, 2009 9:27:39 GMT -5
Major, great catch! Congratulations!
Boge, the way your TLAs have been falling into your lap, I am sure you won't have to wait long for a Border Special!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 28, 2009 22:31:41 GMT -5
Well, we know for sure that Glenn wasn't packin' iron, because he didn't whack that goat!
Glenn, that is time well spent. Bravo, my friend, bravo!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 27, 2009 20:36:01 GMT -5
Changed the oil in my black horse today (Suzuiki 4 wheeler) & headed for the mountains, I wanted to check some of my old water holes & take a few photo's along the way. These are very special water holes, me & my 4 son's have hunted them for many years & lots of deer, elk, moose & even a mountain lion were taken by these water holes. In Idaho its illegal to bait any big game animal (good law) so the most effective way of hunting sept & early oct is in the vecinity of a water hole, there will be many trails leading to the more remote water holes, you just have to do your homework to be successful. In my early years I would pick 4-5 different ones, brush the entrie area down with a piece of brush & then check them for fresh tracks every 2-3 days, after a while it was quite easy for one or more of us to be successful. One son was the youngest hunter in Idaho to harvest a bull moose with a bow, 2 years later he whacked a record book mountain lion, again with the bow. Southeast Idaho is also one of the biggest sheep producing areas in the US, there are thousands of the "woolies" roaming the high mountain meadows & slopes, there's lots of water & plenty of grass, ideal habitat for "woolies", the herders come from all over the world but mostly old Mexico, Chile, Peru & of course the Basque herders from the Spain-France border areas. These guys are always carving there names in the millions of quaken aspen trees in the area, some are quite good, some are quite graphic! Outside of their native country there are most Basque people in Idaho than any where else in the world. Below is some of the water holes, flowers & "quakies" we photo'ed today, yes I had Callshot with me! Some of the many wild flowers in the area. One of our favorite water holes. More quakies will sheep herder art :wink: Water hole My neat little 32 maggie & an old tree stump This is Callshot, all dressed up with his new 32 maggie.....no the picture isn't out of focus, thats how he really looks :wink: I think some of these guys have been out here to long! Still lots & lots of grass for so late in July, plenty of feed for the elk. Hope you enjoy them! Dick
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 27, 2009 20:33:26 GMT -5
Although I do own & shoot a few scoped handguns I have always much preferred iron sights for all my shooting needs. I have taken a few animals with my scoped guns in the last few years including a cow elk with my scoped 44 Super Red Hawk, a bull moose with a SRH 480 & a 4X3 buck about 5 years ago with a scoped 7 1/2" SBH, every other animal has been taken with iron sights & that includes a whole lot of animals, everything from elk, deer, antelope, bears, mountain lion, hogs, etc, down to many hundreds of small game animals. Like many who are well over 60 years old I sometimes have a serious need for a scoped gun when hunting, if a deer or elk is standing in dark timber or its very early in the morning or sundown in the evening I have had to pass up shots on several occasions because I can't see the sights. Even then I've stayed with iron sights 95% of the time because I like the look & feel of a good single action or double action gun without a some what akward scope on top. Two years ago I took a cow elk at a lasered 168 yds with an iron sighted Ruger OM 45 colt, a 260 gr cast slug & a healthy dose of H110, the cow was standing in 18" of snow & the sight picture was very crisp & clear, under different circumstances I would have passed on that shot at much closer range because of sighting issues & old eyes. Of all the guns in the Ruger line up there are almost none that are capable of clean kills out at the 200 yd mark..........perhaps the 41, 44 & 45 but there is one more lurking at my house, the 10 1/2" 357 Maximum with a 205 gr LBT wide nose. My load is 18 grs of 4227 & a magnum SR primer, while this is not a maximum load in the Maxie it should be worked up to in anyone's gun, never jump on some one's else's load without a work up! This combination with a scope on top just might be the answer for an old fart from Idaho on the occasion when the distance is long & the sight picture is fuzzy. With this in mind I made a call to Dan Galuppo way back in New York & quizzed him about his no drill scope mount, Dan told me he had over 9,000 rounds of full power 44 magnum loads through his SBH with absolutely no change in zero, I had to try one! Not wanting to drill or tap my gun was high on my list of scope mounts & after putting the mount on my gun using Dan's very detailed instructions I think this is really going to be the raspberries for long range hunting with a revolver. After installing the mount I added an Ultra Dot red dot scope (no magnifaction) & headed for the range. After a few sighters I settled in & shot this 5 shot, 1 3/4" group at 50 yds off the bags, not bad for zero power, I was very impressed, the mount & scope worked great & Dan at Edge Custom has a winner on his hands. Frankly I'm still amazed at how well it works & I'll continue to pound a lot of ammo down range in the next 2 months, many will be at long range, I'm a happy man My Maxie with a very nice target shot using the new no drill mount from Edge Works & the Ultra Dot scope at 50 yds. Close up of the target, this is going to be a dandy setup for big game. Close up of the scope mount & scope, very neat, tidy little package thats going to ride very well in my Barranti shoulder righ this fall, I'm ready! Dan can be reached at his website or call 315-662-7531. Dick
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 21, 2009 6:46:37 GMT -5
Nice going, Glenn! Good shootin'!
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 17, 2009 5:10:09 GMT -5
Today I had to make a mad dash to the big city (pocatello) & pick up my 89 yr old mother, she's been in ICU at the regional hospital. Along the way I spotted a dead badger, someone had hit it with their car, I hate to see them go that way :cry: much better if I shoot them it looked like a nice one, it seems like they have been haunting me. When I got home I cast bullets for a while & decided to make a quick run out to where Callshot & I spotted those 2 last night. At the last minute I decided to throw in the 45 Bisley, as much as I like the 32 its like asking a boy to do a man's job when it comes to badgers. If you wound one they are down the hole in a hurry, I didn't want to be shoveling at midnight if I had any success. As I eased down the road & started looking at the dirt mounds scattered throughout the sagebrush I spotted both badgers laying on top of one of the mounds, they were watching me from about 75-80 yds, I cruised on by, went about 200 yds out of sight & grabbed the 45, shucked it in the Barranti crossdraw, made sure my cartridge slide was full (thanks Mike) & started walking back up the dusty gravel road. As I topped the hill I could see both badgers, they were playing in the brush but still very close to the hole, it was quite hot & they wouldn't be very active for another couple of hours, I didn't have much time as I had to be back into town for a gun club meeting, it was going to be now or never. I tried to stay low........as low as 270 lbs can get :cry: & slowly worked my way down an old fence line, the badgers were on full alert from the little episode yesterday & both went down the hole, I crawled over the fence & leaned up against a post, gun over my knees & waited. After 20 minutes one of them came up for a look around, I eased the sights down onto him & the second one cautiously peeked over the dirt pile. Against my better judgement I tried for a double, never heard of anyone getting 2 badgers with one shot & I was going to get that opportunity. The shot turned out to be 45 yds, thats not 45 yds out in the open, thats in the tall grass, scattered sagebrush & an old fat boy all pumped up with excitement :lol: I broke the shot & one badger went down the hole, the other one took a quick look my way & before I could whack him, down he went :cry: wow, I was hurting, i had just blown the chance at not one but 2 full grown badgers, then the waiting began, I would look at my watch, wipe the sweat out of my eyes, dry my gun hand off on my shorts & cuss myself for missing. A badger, when they are being hunted can lay very flat to the ground, both of these were as flat as a postage stamp :wink: 40 minutes passed & I finally seen something move at the hole, one of them was peeking over the top, sniffing the air & wondering what was going out, he came out & the other one followed, now they are really nervous I just knew they were going to spook down the hole before I could send 260 grs of Elmers finest on its way........at the shot I heard that wonderful hollow thunk, the badger spun, rolled over & I could see the tail twitch, yippee, talk about happy I ran over there, gun cocked with my left thumb between the frame & hammer & half of him was down the hole, I grabbed him by the tail & hauled him out, the big Keith slug had hit him perfectly behind the should, I was back in the winners circle & out of the whiners circle :wink: was I ever pumped. Woody will finally get his badger, now I need one for Contender & Barranti, there's still one out there, maybe my luck will continue. This is the dirt mound they were laying on, they do massive amounts of destruction in pastures. You can see they have some real good fangs, a ground squirrel is good for about one bite! I had decided I needed a change of luck & left my Pittsburg Steelers shoes home, I wore my Texas Longhorn shirt & my Arizona Cardinals hat, it must have worked! For a summer time badger this bad boy has some really long claws & a good coat, Wood is going to be a happy man with this pelt. You can see where the big 260 Keith (18.5 grs 2400) pinwheeled him, right behind the shoulder. I'm going back for the other one soon! Dick
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Post by Doc Barranti on Jul 17, 2009 5:07:42 GMT -5
Last night was a pretty good night for hunting so myself & Callshot decided to try it again, I took him to another one of my honey holes. He's lived here all his life & never been in this spot before :wink: its pretty remote. We smoked several ground squirrels along the way & all of a sudden Steve said, there's a badger. It was on his side & I didn't see it, we stood there for several minutes watching in the tall grass, it wasn't a real likely looking spot for a badger but he swore he spotted one. I crossed a barb wire fence & started easing along a small stream. After going about 100 yds a big badger came barreling down the bank to my right & headed out across the big green meadow, I was just about to go to work on him with the 32 maggie when a second badger did the same thing, I was shocked, this was only the 3rd time in 50+ years of badger whacking that I've seen 2 together, same thing happened last year & I got one of them. After running 30 yds or so the second badger turned back towards me & starting running for the sagebrush, I sent 3 shots his way but nothing connected & he went down a hole. I headed out after the first one but couldn't locate him & headed back :cry: I was really torqued, I had the chance to bust 2 of them & struck out, dang it! First photo is Callshot with a ground squirrel he busted at 36 yds with his 357 Blackhawk. This is an "unnamed river, very good trout fishing, I hauled some real arm yankers out of there. This is me drawing down on a ground squirrel. I know this looks like a bear den but its a fresh badger hole, its huge! Nice scenery shot of part of the huge meadows in the area. I'll be back there in the next day or two, there were badger digs all over the place. Dick
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