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| The roller-rack that Mrs ERJ suggested that I purchase for starting garden seeds. I have 5000 lumen shop-lights attached to the bottoms of two of the shelves. |
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| 30 Stupice tomatoes on the left side of the tray (pigmented stems) and 20 Rose de Bern on the right side. |
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| 25 broccoli seedlings in the back and 25 Federle tomato seedlings in the foreground |
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| Some lovage seeds sulkily germinating. The articles on the internet say to expect 7-to-10 days before they show any signs of life. |
Rain
We picked up another 2" of rain today for a seven-day total of 3.5" of rain.
Turkey season
Kubota, alas, is a bird hunter. You do your best and try to guide your children in the paths of righteousness...and what do they do?
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| $20 a shell. The economy shells are still $1.50 a shell |
Wild Turkeys were hunted to the point of total expatriation extirpation in Michigan by farmers using 12 (1-1/4 oz), 16 (1 oz) and 20 gauge, (7/8 oz) paper-shelled shotgun loads of #6 shot fired through single-shot firearms with full chokes. Modern turkey are make of Kevlar and reactive armor and require exotic loads. Not.
The issue is that the 1930s farmer knew the range limitations of his weapon and ammo. It doesn't take rocket-science to put a turkey into the stew-pot if you restrict your maximum range to 30 yards. BUT...if you are shooting for long beards and want to reach out to 45 or 50 yards...yeah, you are going to have to drop the big dollars.
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| From the Hodgdon Reloading website |
I have some #5 shot, 3"Fiocchi hulls, Longshot powder and appropriate wads for 1-7/8oz loads (about 320 pellets of #5).
I am feeling an urge to help Kubota out in the ammo department. It would be pretty cool to mimic the Federal Flitecontrol shells...they pattern very densely. Cool, but not necessary. He will be throwing twice as much mass downrange as a standard 20 gauge and (I think) he has a Red Dot scope so he should be able to center the pattern on the head with precision.
For what it is worth, he is in the market for a used semi-auto 12 gauge shotgun. Goose, duck and turkey loads have a lot of recoil and semi-autos take some of the bite out of them. Frankly, I think he should save a little bit longer and purchase a new Silver Eagle or similar product. But what do I know?
Bonus video
AI content
This is for my four readers from Canada. One of you has a wife whose family came from the Maritime provinces. You might want to jump ahead to the 17:30 mark.
At least up in your part of the country, you get the 30 yard shots... down here, not so much. 15 IF you're lucky, and less than a second to aim and shoot... sigh
ReplyDeleteIn which case the kind of gun and ammo shilled as "Turkey Medicine" was the exact opposite of what you need. You need very open chokes and you can get away with smaller shot. You need the gun you use for sporting clays and it points for you as naturally as scratching your nose.
DeleteDifferent horses for different courses ---or--- local knowledge trumps marketing's dancing balogna.
Good luck if you go hunting for turkeys, sir.
Expatriation …perhaps. Extirpation more likely… :-). Extermination also possible
ReplyDeleteSigh! The Extinguish Languish is my downfall. It mugs other languages for words and then mutilates them.
DeleteI will leave the word uncorrected to delight my readers and so your thoughtful and considerate comment makes sense to them.
Bayou Renaissance Man has a post about cheap shotguns with a link from yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThank-you.
DeleteKubota would have to find an FFL and pay shipping, but that might be a good option.
If the economy slows down, there might be a lot of bargains on the market.
Mossberg 835's with the vented 24 inch barrel and camo finish are hugely popular for hunting turkeys just to your west. They double as coyote medicine, when necessary.
ReplyDeleteI have to chuckle about long ranged shots at turkeys. Except for hunting season when they disappear into the woods out back, I have to shoo them away from my chickens when I'm feeding.
ReplyDeleteI had to use my chicken grabber to get one hen out of my chicken coop last week. A snuffy smith special :-)