What to do, what to do
I have loaded my areas down with loaded shotshell ammo in
10, 12, 16, 20, 28 and 410.

What next?

Well went to the bullet storage area and found a number of partial boxes of bullets in various calibers

Went to the powder storage area and found 4 pounds of 4064.






Found loads for the 22-250 and the 308 Win.

Load, load, load and off to the range to shoot, shoot, shoot

Mike

If reducing your ammo supply by shooting it becomes a problem for you I'm sure you have friends, relatives, etc that would be only too happy to assist in such a worthwhile endeavor. I recommend bringing a youngster or two along if you really want to use it up!

Not a problem but a JOY!
What are you doing during this current predicament?

I retired a short while before covid-19, and started out the retirement and subsequently the stay at home orders by loading up some rifle ammo;22-250, 35 Whelen AI and 300 Win Mag. Still have more reloading to do, both 16 and 12 gauge along with more rifle ammo, but the reloading took a back seat to a couple of other projects.

I had a couple of live edge walnut slabs in the garage for the past 7-8 years with the intent of turning them into coffee tables....that project is now finished. My latest project being, turning an alder stem into a walking stick for my wife. I'm about done with that project. Epoxied the handle area and finished the rest of the staff with an oil and hard wax finish, added a walnut cap to the head of the staff, drilled it for a lanyard held in place with a silver colored concho and a end spike is on order to add. Along with two gardens and some other projects, I haven't lacked for something to do.

Nothing really different than I would have been had there never been COVID 19. Farming goes on as usual. Irrigating the corn heavily right now. It's at peak water usage, at about 70 days maturity, and using 2 1/2"+ a week. Going to the river tomorrow for the 4th.

Counting the days down until dove season opens on the first Saturday of September. That's approximately 9 weeks, 00 days, 15 hours 1 minute and 15 seconds........ but who's counting?

SRH

Stan, have you decided on opening day gun? .410? 28ga....or are you going to go with .22LR this year?

It will be one of my 30" barreled S x S .410s, Gene. It's just become a tradition for me now to opening the season with a "little gun". So, either the Dickinson or the FAIR Iside Tartaruga.

I have a kind of personal methodology for doves and gauges of guns used on them. I've proven to myself over the years that 1/2 oz. is the minimum load that can be used effectively on doves by me, and that 1 oz. is the top end, having never found a situation in which I needed over an ounce of 7 1/2s to kill even late season, high flying birds, if enough choke is used. Also bearing on the decisions is the fact that the first few shoots require less gun because the doves are just not quite as wary of the standers, and you tend to get closer shots. As they mature, migratory birds move down later in the season, and even the native birds become more wary, they require longer and higher shots to kill a limit. So, I vary my loads according to conditions. Lighter loads earlier and heavier ones later. If, at the end of the season, one of my 32" Fox 12s wants to get out again I will use only 1 oz. of shot in it, preferring to limit myself somewhat, in range. Most everyone I shoot with uses a 12 with 1 1/8 oz. Again, it's just a personal decision to limit myself to 1 oz. maximum.

Hopefully, this season will be a big improvement over last, during which the excessive rainstorms deliteriosly afffected our gunning for doves. The 28s, 20s, and the 16s will have to wait for a bit later in the season. But, hopefully, all in due time.

Best, SRH

This Covid19/Chinese Flu has given us all too much time. I made a custom set of shot bushings for my Spolar reloaders so I can drop near perfect shot loads from 7/16 up to 1 1/8 ounces. 32 in total. Then I made about a dozen extra powder bushings to fill in the gaps which Hornaday bushings do not come in. Newer powders often require a new size and they have not increased their selection in a while.

After that I decided to build a privacy fence that ended up being 325 feet long on the two sides. I am putting up the last two panels today. My honey list is gone. I too can not wait for opening day. .410 model 42 for me.

If you've run out of projects around the house, reloaded all you care to reload, and are otherwise starting to get underfoot around the house, it's time to go fishing. If you choose to fish from the bank take a lawn chair, a cooler with appropriate beverages and maybe lunch, a bobber rig and a good book and don't come home until a prearranged dinnertime.

If you have kids or grandkids to take fishing, all the better. Leave the book because you won't get any reading done. Then they'll be out from underfoot, too.

Whatever you do, keep your General Ledger's line item captioned "Domestic Tranquility Maintenance" in a positive balance.

We had a great time at the river last evening and night. Son and I, and his wife, closed it down at about 11:15 pm. My wife doesn't like the river at night so chose to stay home with the (almost) two year old granddaughter. We shot off much fireworks on the big sandbar on the SC side. Full moon over the river to help us see to drive our boats the several miles back upriver to the landing. It was just a beautiful evening.

My son (and farming partner) and I late in the afternoon.

I went shooting.

The intent was to shoot by myself (again) at a club that has recently acquired a wobble trap and 'work on my game'.

Well, I finally had some folks to shoot with.

One of the club officers had his grandsons in town and we taught them to shoot trap.

Two strapping young men who were both interested and motivated to learn.

I had a blast.

I didn't go out shooting, but headed to the town I grew up in, about 55 miles from where I currently live. I had it arranged with my 94 year old mom to take she and my daughter out for a boat ride on the river that she grew up on as did my siblings and I. My biggest worry was getting mom loaded in the boat, which worked out fine.

She hasn't been up the river in many years and my daughter never has been. It's a peaceful river, lined with cottonwoods, cedar, pine and fir trees, along with meadows and other vegetation. She told my daughter stories the whole trip about her adventures on the river when she was young and how she and friends would jump on the train and ride about 8 miles up the river to a place called Lotus and camp in the meadow, where the swift water turns slack. We almost made it to Lotus, before the water got to shallow to go any farther. It was a nice day and we all enjoyed the ride.....a very nice 4th!