Luke E.

They are killing livestock and a number of my family are scared to walk about their own property, I don't much care if they're endangered or not. That may not be the way most folks would look at it but it's the only way I look at it. That being said, I can't imagine a mix breed wolf/wild dog would be protected. The panthers, I assume, are protected and I really don't think they are responsible for the livestock problems and even less of me believes that they pose much if any risk to my family so unless that changes I wouldnt even consider harming them. As far as we know there is only one male/female pair of panthers and thousands upon thousands of rural acres in the area that they can roam pretty much undetected so unless they start developing bad habits I don't think we have a problem.

I certainly could do that, Red. We're not sure how large an area they roam so we're trying to establish so data. The kills and attacks that we know of are within a mile of my family land but I'm not sure how often they frequent the area that I found the tracks. I'm hoping the cameras will give some sort of idea of that so that I can bait them up when Tim and I go down in 2-3 weeks. I hadn't thought about using a goat, I was thinking that I would try to kill a doe as soon as we got there and drop the guts and carcass off wherever the cameras suggest is best. Maybe a live goat would better appeal to their killer instinct though? I hope that all of the killing is being done by these coy wolves because I'd rather leave the pair of panthers alone. I've got a night vision scope that I'll mount for wolf detail when the time comes.

We didn't either but after a great deal of research by my Aunt it turns out that there are small pockets or pairs of them in states that you would have never dreamed. My uncle, her husband, retired from the Florida Fish and Game commission so they were able to find info a little easier than most folks would have been. Those that have seen this pair are guessing them to be 60-70% wolf but I'm not sure about their qualifications for estimating wolf/coyote percentages though. My Aunt and Grandfather both said that one is noticeably larger than the other and the sizes of the tracks I found seem to back that up (male and female?). The general consensus is that even the smaller one is huge and they both have a reddish tint to the fur on their tail. They attack the horses in 2 stages, they come the first time and injure the horse and then leave. They give it time to let the adrenalin run out and the injuries take their toll and then come back the next day or two to finish it off. The first one of my family's horses they got was torn up bad. One grabbed it from behind and is large enough that it, from the rear, it could reach around to the front side of the horses hips and it sank claws in and ripped half inch deep tears all the way to the rear while the other tore up the front legs and face. Theirs was the first in the area to be attacked so they had no idea what was going on so they stayed up that first night but saw nothing. They stuck the horse in a smaller fenced in area where they could care for it. That next morning the horse was still like they left it so they changed bandages etc and then, in the middle of the day, they happened to come outside and heard the horses raising hell so they took off towards their field and got there in time to see the two coy wolves running off into the planted pines. It was to late, they said that the poor horse had no more hide left on it's face and its neck was in really bad shape among other bad injuries. They had the vet come out and put the horse down. The vet also took samples to send off to check for rabies and ? (I assume) but I forgot to ask what they found out, I would assume that there was nothing that showed up or she'd have likely mentioned it. It sounds like none of the kills have been clean kills but rather a slow painful one.

Well, while I have been in Florida I got some of my old trails cleared, cameras put out, mild scouting and a couple feeders put out along the side that my cousin has seen a hog or two near. I had seed to plant but didn't get that far along. I left the seed in case my grandfather needs a reason to get out of the house to clear his head a bit. I was going to get the seed in this morning but my grandfather wanted me to show him where the cameras were and how to operate them because he's really wanting to get a picture of the wolves and panthers. We've lost 2 horses and probably 200 turkeys and chickens to them and others in the area have lost horses as well. Most of this has been in the last three months since they cut and burned a 3,000 acre tract of planted pines near by. I found some tracks about the size of my wife's hand in one area. The claws look to be an inch or longer in length. Those were the wolf tracks, I also located some tracks from the cats that aren't far from being the same size. They say they are wolves that have a bit of coyote in them but the folks that have seen them say they are HUGE. My great aunt and grandfather have both seen them on the move and from a distance but not gotten a real good look. Hopefully we'll get a pic and then figure up the next move to make. Gotta get them patterned first though.

Think meat tenderizer....

 I've not been spending much time online over the past week nut just thought I would give an update. Nannie passed at a little after 2:00 am this morning. Her passing was the most peaceful rime of the last week by far. My grandfather is taking things better than I ever imagined but I sure hope he doesn't have a "coming un done" during or after the funeral Friday,, Thank you folks for all the thoughts and prayers, We were mainly hoping for comfort for her and my grandfather and we were blessed with both eventually so I have know complaints.

 I have never had as much luck hunting over corn as I have had hunting over a plant plot of wheat, oats, peas and/or kale etc... No, I'm not talking about having hunted over bait in TN, I have many hunting opportunities in FL where it is legal. If a doe is going to come in to corn she would have come in to a food plot just the same or better so even where hunting bait is legal I much prefer to hunt in the woods or over a food plot. That being said I'm in FL right now for family reasons and just planted about an acres worth of plot split into 2 places but I did put out feeders topped off with corn and will leave them out until I return to hunt later next month. I have NEVER had any luck seeing "shooter" bucks at a corn pile so even when hunting around bait I will typically hunt away from it and try to figure out where the bucks stall out to wait on the doe that are coming and going. Honestly, I almost didn't put the feeders out today because there are SO many acorns on the ground this year that I don't think the corn is going to offer much advantage but since I hunt this property solely for meat and it's absolutely over run with doe I'm not as concerned with the whole sportsmanlike/unsportsmanlike debate in this case. I definitely wouldn't be as proud of a trophy buck killed over bait as I would one killed by traditional methods. My biggest thing is to stay within the laws.

Since Tuesday I've been down in Florida with my Grandmother so my TN Hunting is on hold for now. Rifle season opened here on Saturday morning and I've thought about going out but every time I think I might slip away for some fresh air we have a nursing change or I feel the need to be in the room with Nannie or have to go to town for meds or food. I did however buy 3 feeders so I'm going to try to put them and some cameras out tomorrow. About dark I was needing some fresh air and decided to go for a walk. It turned into a scouting mission and found that some of my old spots have very high traffic so it should be awesome hunting when Tim and I come here on the first leg of our hunting trip next month.

 Someone was trying to get in. My wife and I were staying at my parents while they were out of town once last year and they have commercial doors and locks so even when you open with a key from outside you have to unlock from the inside or it will be locked again when the door closes. She didn't and it DID which left her out in the cold and not only was the house key locked inside but so were her car keys and the first arm load of groceries. I used a skinning knife a piece of speaker wire looking stuff, about the size or your bread time looking wire, to get in. Like someone above mentioned, if the curved part of the bolt/lug thingy is facing inward then all that is needed is a piece of wire to loop around it and something flat to catch and hold it out of the way once the wire disengages it. I would have the police or sheriff's dept. come write up a report just in case something happens later or you find out something is missing and that they actually made it inside. After breaking into my parents nothing was broken and they'd have never known had I not have told them so it's possible that someone could have locked and shut the door behind them.

 Dementia. Now if that's not explanation enough, here it goes...    My grandmother has had doctors with loose prescription pads since as early as I can remember and That practice has taken it's toll. My grandmother fell prey to such symptom treating doctors time and time again and they would give her something that produced a side effect and rather than take her off of it they would give her another pill to treat the side effect and guess what,,, yep, it would cause another side effect. I remember as a kid asking how many pills she had to take just first thing in the morning and it was 19.... 19.     Well a few years ago my grandmother (Nannie) began having some trouble speaking what was in her mind be it started on the cusp of a reaction to a medication. Whether the medications had caused it or it was just a coincident, I'll let everyone judge that for themselves but I know what I think. since then it would get a bit worse and the a bit better but would almost never quite make it back all the way where it was to start with. Fast forward to 2 months ago Nannie was still up doing most everything that she has always done with the exception of always being able to get the words she wanted to speak, to come out. I got word that she had gotten a little worse so my mother came down and worked with her diet and some other things and things started turning back around until the week before Thanksgiving  when we got a call letting us know that Nannie had woken up in a different world. She knew who everyone was but she was disagreeable and wouldn't let anyone dress her for nor take her to her doctors appointment. They ended  up calling an ambulance to come pick her up which envolved sedating her and waiting for it to kick in to get her loaded and transported. My mother came back down here to Florida to see what exactly was going on. She stayed until the day before Thanksgiving but while here they had Nannie moved to a Geriatric mental health Hospital up just over into Alabama. They started working with her medication (yet again) and said that they were making progress but this past Saturday evening I got the news that they were bringing her home and would have hospice care until it was over (I wasn't expecting this). They got here brought home on Tuesday and I was expecting her to not be able to verbally communicate much but I did expect some but I was caught off guard yet again. Nannie was not speaking at all and had quit eating with the exception of some apple sauce that her meds were being crush up and mixed with and by Wednesday night she was not drinking or eating whatsoever. Now keep in mind that when I left TN the doctor was telling us that she probably had between 6-8 weeks but that was before she quit eating or drinking. Now to hit on the subject of my post.    This week I have been watching one of the most dignity void diseases ravage my Nannie but have had to suck it up and help provide the care needed to help her maintain as high a comfort level as possible. She has dropped down to under 90 pounds now and her nerves have been in control of her body most of the time which has meant that she constantly flips from one side to the other and was so tired that when her nerves would ease for just 5 seconds she would fall asleep only for it to take back over a few seconds later. I'm not real sure how to describe much more without getting unnecessarily graphic and this has been hard enough to type out as it is but The 6-8 weeks is looking like nothing more than a few more days at the most I'm sure there are many others here that have watched this disease destroy an otherwise healthy loved one at some point and after this week I can honestly say that I understand what you dealt with.     At this point all of her kids, grand kids and the new and only great grandchild are here so we are praying for her to remain as comfortable as possible until her time comes as well as for my Grandfather to remain calm and comforted and we would appreciate anyone that would join us in that.    I apologize if my thoughts and words are scattered but I haven't slept much over the last few days so things are a bit foggy and emotional.

Glad it worked out for you. Not to mention you just saved me the shelf space that it was about to take up until I never used it ;)

I've got a few bobcats I'd loan you.

Hey that's better than Lance the 6 point that frequents my food plots. At least he didn't get kick out of the thicket before dipping his pen in the ink well lol.

I've got a couple scrapes that are in my road going up to the back of the property that are still being worked every other day. I also went and sat along the edge of a field with a buddy this evening and saw two young (1 1/2-2 1/2yrs) bucks busting each other's heads over a young doe. However, I didn't get to see anything quite like 10-ring.

   Interesting Red. I agree completely that there is no shortage of "this caliber or this bullet is best because,,,,," stories out there that are likely based on nothing more thana kill or two made by someones grandfather before the persons birth date. I always look forward to inspecting the damge and comparing it to mental images and memories of past kills. I have always found it amazing how much difference there can be in wound channel from shot to shot when using the same ammo, from similar ranges and roughly the same shot placement. Maybe that's why there is so precious little info out there, perhaps there are so many potential differences in the animal itself to be able to come up with a definitive "best choice"? 

   I went through a spell where if I was hunting meat somewhere that I was 100% against the deer taking a single step I would head shoot them. While this is typically an effective shot choice, a deer's brain is very small compared to the overall size of it's head so making sure you keep the bullet behind the eyes and above the jaw line is imperative. I got about an inch to far forward one time and ended up having to run to the deer and finish it. I can't stand for one to thrash around with a deadly wound that it might take it several minutes to die from so that was my last head shot. I would still do it if the need arose but just something so simple as her moving her head back for a Greener blade of grass as I was pulling the trigger caused me to be off enough to miss that 2-3" target.     I think if I were going to hunt with my .223 AR I would probably double tap her.The cost of 2 rounds vs. 1 isn't huge and if your 1st shot is low in the vitals your 2nd should be mid ways up them (assuming and good quick double tap) and give you a great deal more damage and a better chance for blood.     You guys that are hunting or have and have taken a few deer with .223, what ammo are you using? There are A LOT more and better options available now than there were the last time I hunted with the caliber.

You won't typically get much blood at all when you hit around the spine even if you're using a larger caliber. If you get a pass through around the vitals, you will almost always get blood..... Eventually. The higher up the shot, the longer it will take because the body cavity has to start filling up with blood so that it can start spurting out as they run. Widening half moon passes will usually net you a successful tracking. I find hitting lower in the vitals with a small caliber (.223-.243) to be best because blood hits the ground quicker. That being said shooting stray into the shoulder will break them down very quickly but usually ruins what little meat there is in the shoulders. A neck shot in the first 8" of neck from the base of the skull will almost always drop them in their tracks even with a small caliber. By the time Florida's deer season is over I will likely reach or pass the 100 deer killed mark and 75% of those were with a .243. I have used these shots many times so I'm not just guessing, this seems to be how it worked out almost every time. There will always be an exception though I guess.

Get up and get out there brother. I'll text you a pic of the peak game movement chart but 10-1 is peak today.

I completely understand not wanting to carry it until you get the problem ironed out. I've been sitting here with a pistol (unloaded) trying to come up with some other way that this could happen and really haven't come up with anything else. Mom expecting that you'll find that this tends to happen with a full or nearly full mag and that a mag swap will cure what ails it. Again, I'm anxious to know for sure.

The fierce wind was probably making your tree sway all around... Right 😏

 That's an interesting failure deafdog! I'm just thinking though this really quickly without a gun in my hand as a visual aid but I would say to go ahead and rule out any feed ramp issue and there would only be one possible reason for the mag to be the culprit that I can think of off the top of my head.   First off, under normal circumstances a gun will only eject one case ( live or empty) per cycle of the slide. Any possible way that it's bouncing back enough to where it actually achieves to slide cycles from one shot? I seriously doubt that but hey, it's an unusual failure.  Next would be the only mag failure I could think of, If for some reason the mag was spitting a round straight out the top of the mag(rather than having to be slid forward and up by the slide) it could, while the slide is in the rear most position after kicking out the spent brass, spit an unfired round out while the ejection port is still open. This would mean that the feed lips were flexed and spread open out of spec. If this were the case I would tend to think that the unfired round would not always clear, and get hung up some of the time but?  Does it tend to happen when you have a fully loaded or near fully loaded mag? I ask because if the feed lips are spread open to far then it would most likely be most problematic when the mag was fully loaded since that's when it would be under the most pressure.   I'm surely interested to hear what you find the problem to be.

  I wasn't hunting but it was windy where I was as well. Tomorrow morning is looking good though but Weather.com is still calling for between 9-11mph wind during morning hunting hours so? I won't make it out until after church when Maroonandwhite gets out there after church. I think the rut has pretty well fizzled out on that property but oddly enough it still seems strong hear around my house.

I'm still in Gallatin unfortunately. Most of the guys I'm working with today Are hunters so at least I'm not the only one hating life right now (; Good luck to everyone out there this evening, this cooler air ought to get them stirring.

I hope everyone that is able to hunt this morning didn't let the rain scare them off. I'm having to work in Gallatin today so no hunting for me but I've only made it from out at my house into Murfreesboro and have seen deer in 9 different spots so far and 2 were a buck chasing doe around fields and another was a doe followed by a buck jumping across the road in front of me, the rest have just been doe. They're moving and making me wish I wasn't working.

Sorry to hear about the lay off especially this time of year. Hopefully York week of hunting will be fruitful.