About myself

[Paul Hoskins]

Hello Guy's , girl's,
        Just found this place this morning by accident. Looks like a good site. Was looking for information on Mossberg SS rifles and this site came up so I joined. Used to do a LOT of groundhog hunting in my younger days but have killed so many there isn't many left in my area. Sometimes I think my first wife divorced me because I spent so much time chuck hunting. No big loss. I deer and bear hunt mostly now. Being retired and on a fixed income puts a crimp in my style. My present wife fixes my income. Honestly she is a super nice person. She never beats me where it shows in public.
         Most of my shooting in this crowded neighborhood is with pellet rifles. Keeps me in good shooting form and cost practically nothing. I am basically a single shot addict but have all sorts of other "MECHANICAL CONTRAPTIONS" collected over the years, mostly unused. I also am a small caliber, high speed addict that has designed several wildcat cartridges of my own. I have also designed and built several SS falling block rifles too. Am in the process of building a bolt rifle in SS configuration with an action only 4 1/2 inches long but may not live long enough to see it completed, as I get in no hurry any more. Have a small machine shop out back with old, used small lathe and milling machine and other equipment.
         Make some of my own hunting bullets in .17, .224 and .228 calibers. These are not necessary any more as the big bullet makers are FINALLY getting around to making good .224 heavyweights. Still have to make my own .17 and .228 hunting bullets tho.
         I am mostly computer illiterate, so don't expect too much from me. Better get off this electronic marvel of modern technology as my wife is now awake......Good shooting....SS

[M. R. Byrd]

Paul,
Glad to have you decided to join us. This is a really good forum with lots of helpful and friendly folks.
 
I am an 'ol Kansas farm boy that does a little upland game hunting and hunt Kansas whitetail and mulies and Colorado elk.
 
Welcome and
God Bless,
 
Maynard Reece Byrd

[Jay Edward (deceased)]

Maynard pretty much covered it Paul.  Welcome to THL.

You'll find that the atmosphere around here is that  of mature sportsmen sitting around a campfire and discussing the wherefors and whyfors without any animosity.  

There used to be folks that said a forum like this wouldn't work because we didn't allow the cursing and flaming like other sites.

We demonstrated how it would work by escorting them out of camp.

[buckshot roberts]

:D Paul Howdy and welcome, My mother-in-law can cook up a mean groundhog, so drop on down the forums, Ron

[Paul Hoskins]

Good morning Jay, Maynard and Ron,
          Thanks for the welcome mat. I'll try to live up to your expectations but don't expect too much. As I said before, I'm mostly computer illiterate and have little idea what all these computer terms are or mean. I'm always poking the wrong buttons and mess things up. About too old to care anyway.
         Ron I can cook groundhog with the best of them. As a kid in the SE mountains of Ky. and not having much food, we didn't waste much of anything. If it was there you ate it or starved, period. The oldest kid in the family had to be a proficient hunter and expert shot by the age of ten usually and was the one who provided table meat. Anything was fair game too no matter the time of year. Did you ever try to cook and eat a screech owl? Don't waste your time with it.
        Most of the hunting I do any more is whitetails around the house and bear in Maine. Haven't killed any big bucks and don't really care to. Does are my favorite game here. We have so many deer in northern Ky. it's easy to  walk out on a farm with most any centerfire 22 caliber and kill half a dozen in a day. Anyway the does are easier to get out of the woods, especially the smaller ones. I killed one doe that weighed 174 pounds field dressed. Looked like a Missouri mule with a short tail. The easiest kill I ever made was from a lady's bedroom window while sitting on her bed. After shooting the deer, I put my pants on and dressed the deer out in her barn. Only had to move it fifteen feet......Good shooting to you guy's. ..........SS

[buckshot roberts]

:D Paul we grew up in the same area could have hunted the same spots, Ron

[grayghost]

Welcome Paul; good shooting to you! .224 is interesting to me. In WY that's the minimum caliber they allow for big game. MT is any centerfire. Here in TN, we just lowered our minimum from .243 to .22 cal centerfire. grayghost

[Paul Hoskins]

Good evening GRAYGHOST and BUCKSHOT,
        I was born and raised??? at the foot of Cumberland Mountain in Bell Co. Ky. about ten miles from Cumberland Gap. It was around a mile and a half to the Va. line if you walked to the top of the mountain behind the house. There was no way of getting into Va. tho unless you went to Butchers Gap behind the Hensley settlement or through Cumberland Gap. I suppose one could rappal down the cliffs into Va. if one was foolish enough. Good way to get bit in the a$$ by a rettlesnake or copperhead too.
        Ron, as a kid I hunted the Cumberlend & Brush mountains and ridges from Cumberland Gap to the Harlan Co. line. Most of my old stamping grounds is now the Cumberland Gap Nat. Historical Park. Can't hunt in there now, as the rangers keep track of goings and comings there now. There is even a game warden living close to where I used to live. Before 1950 they were afraid to come up in the holler.
         Grayghost, we have had the "any caliber centerfire" for deer for some time here in Ky. Actually it is a rather foolish law because some centerfires aren't as deadly on deer as the 22 Mag. Some of the pistol and revolver rounds aren't any better than the 22 Mag. Our country is loaded with foolish laws tho. Just leave it to the politicians. Mostly I use the 22 Newton and 22/6mm Rem. Ackley for deer and bear. These rifles have fast twist barrels for longer bullets. This year I'm planning on using a model 219 Savage break action for deer. I rebarrelled it for the 7-30 Waters cartridge. It is much lighter than the Rugers. I'm not fond of lugging an eight or nine pound rifle around any more. Most of my shots are under 200 yards anyway. I popped a small bear with it in Maine last month just to blood it. I only wish I knew how much pressure these old actions can safely handle. I would like to rebarrel one for the 225 Winchester cartridge but don't have a reamer. The 223 AI would be intresting on one of these actions but I don't want to go to the trouble of making an extractor for the rimless case. Actually it isn't that difficult to do. Am in the process of rebarreling one for the 30/30 necked to 6.5 with the Ackley case shape.
        With the right bullets the .224 caliber is extremely deadly on deer. They won't mess up near as much meat as the bigger calibers either. Something I don't worry about because I usually shoot them in the ribs or head. Better get off this contraption and figure out what to fix for the wife's supper. She works second shift and I'm retired so I'm the House Bitch as she calls me. Not a bad job tho...........Good hunting guy's and thanks for the intrest. ...........Single Shot

[buckshot roberts]

Paul I worked at The forestry camp, in bell county, took inmates out to fight forest fires, Yep the C.G.N.P. is a nice place to take a walk in, P.M. or e-mail me sometime, Ron

[Hiker]

Paul, Welcome to THL.