Chris

+1 Loshbough. Good property, good people and good hogs. I'm heading to Texas at the end of Feb to see if I can't put some pork in the freezer. Night time hunt w/ thermal optics... should be fun.

At a guess, probably a few. Check this out: https://www.iapf.org/jun19-ivory-poachers-sentenced/ According to this they are kicking in doors and arresting bad guys... 51 arrests since October 2017. Poaching can be big money, so these guys they are taking down can be pretty serious criminals. I don't expect they are gentle. I was visiting a private reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park a few years ago and marveled at how many rhino they had. I asked one of the guides why they had so many... he just smiled and after a quick look around confided that "We just kill poachers, so they stay away. Other units don't, so no rhino."

This is a great program. Poaching and habitat destruction are the main cause for African animals being wiped out. Without units like this being willing to step into the line of fire, these animals will be gone in no time. It's expensive though and a lot of places outside the national parks have a hard time funding these units. Hunting seems to be the best way to help pay for these types of anti-poaching units. Eco tourism helps, but a single hunter (on average) spends 7 - 10 times as much as a tourist and usually in remote locations far from the national parks. The saying in Africa is "if it pays, it stays"... in other words, if the animals have a value as a renewable resource for hunters and tourists (or even as a commodity) then Africans will protect these animals and the habitats they live in. If not, the wildlife will quickly disappear (see Kenya). So, do your part... Go Hunt in Africa! It's cheaper and easier than you think.

Wow, that's a gorgeous combination.

I don't mind this one. CWD is a serious problem. If the urine based products are a vector for spreading the disease, I say put a stop to them... or only allow locally sourced products.

This time of year I always wear orange when I’m at the farm. Heck I make the dogs wear orange. Too many trigger happy hunters back here to risk it.

Tons of movement so far this weekend. The rut is in in a big way. My brother put a decent 8 pointer on the ground last night, off to a good start.

These are halfway decent. I used it on a pig hunt in Texas and was able to take a pig at 60 - 70 yards on a moonless night. Not going to get you anywhere near the magnification you want but it's an effective nightvision scope for under $500. https://www.amazon.com/Sightmark-SM18008-4-6x42S-Digital-Riflescope/dp/B00NZ98OKG/ref=sr_1_21?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1542143524&sr=1-21&keywords=sightmark

Interesting. I think it's wishful thinking that you would have time for more than two shots during a charge, but it would certainly speed things up if you did need a reload. It's a beast at 13+ lbs and after 10 miles in the hot African sun I think I'd hate this gun... a lot. I also have questions about that bolt handle being down that low by the trigger... seems like it would be a knuckle buster on a .416. Still though, a clever design... perfect for a cull hunt. For that matter, I've been close in on a few herds of two hundred plus Cape buffalo and the extra firepower would have been welcome. I'll have to go take a look at this bad boy during the SCI convention in January.

Young Frankenstein ftw! If you don't mind reading subtitles, I recommend Troll. It's a Norwegian flic (or maybe Swedish... I don't remember)... quirky and fun but still "scary". But if we're talking straight horror instead of horror / comedy (did I mention "Tucker and Dale vs Evil") I've got to go with John Carpenter's "The Thing"... classic.

Finally saw movement last night. Couldn't get in range, but had a large group of does come through.

Yeah, nothing moving today. I saw one doe off in the distance but other than that... nothing.

I've been seeing a lot of movement. The rain and cooler temperatures are getting them up and moving.

I've had very good luck w/ rechargeable lights. They don't hold as long of a charge, but for my purposes it's not that noticeable. That being said, my bug out bag lights use disposables but for everyday use, the rechargeables are the way to go. I use a Surefire sidekick on my keychain and several Streamlight stingers for my vehicles and the house. I've been extremely pleased with both products.

It'll be hot and sweaty, visibility is gonna suck but I'm gonna be in a tree regardless. Got a nice heavy 8 pointer on camera so gonna give it a shot.

Nice! Be careful out there boys. Snakes are out and about. I was putting out cams this weekend and saw a good sized rattler and almost stepped on a smaller cottonmouth.

Well done. Looks really good.

Check out some of the online / iPad apps. For a minimal monthly fee you can get access to large portion of Marvels older content. It tends to lag a few months behind whats on the racks but it saves a TON of money. Don't know if DC has anything similar.

I prefer Z Nation to TWD. It's got a sense of humor. TWD just leaves me exhausted and depressed... I get enough of that watching the news.

Coming out of Johnson City, Loshbough will be an easy trip. It's a fenced property (I think 500 acres or so) but the way it's laid out, it really doesn't feel fenced. I've had several good hunts there. Accommodations are nice, clean and well maintained. You'll have to take care of your own food but there's a kitchen and grills so it's not a big deal. There's a good processor and taxidermist nearby as well so it's easy to take home a cooler full of butchered and packaged pork. If you want a free range hunt then look at the auction hunt I posted from Alabama Hog Control. It's in Prattville so it's an eight hour drive for you, but it's fully free range and for about the same price you'll likely bring home a LOT more pork. You'll be less likely to bag trophy boar, but if you are after meat that's an economical way to fill the freezer. Plus hunting at night w/ thermal sights is an intense experience. Regardless, have fun, be safe and shoot straight.

Truth. A charge from a big ole 300 lb boar is not something you want to have to deal with. A lot of hog outfitters won't let people hunt that way due to the massively increased risk. If you do decide to use a spear or knife, make sure the outfit you are hunting with has some really good catch dogs.

I've hunted several times with Loshbough in Crossville. Very good outfit, excellent dogs and some really big boars back in those hollows. I can also recommend Alabama Hog Control if you want something a little more extreme. Night time hunting w/ thermals. We dropped 14 pigs out of a single sounder last year. It's an immense amount of fun. Which leads me to a shameless plug. The Music City SCI chapter is having an auction for hunts on March 15th, and there just so happens to be a nice hog hunt right here: http://www.icollector.com/1-day-Alabama-Night-time-Hog-Hunt-for-2-Hunters_i29121350

Well done, sir!

Until this year, I haven't even seen a decent buck on my property. That just changed.

I've had similar problems w/ core-lokt. It's cheap and generally performs well, but in the six years I've been using it, I've had two dud rounds while hunting and a handful more at the range. Once I use up what I've got I'll probably start looking around for something to replace it.