Just Enough to Get By

[Don A Parsons]

Frugal hunt 2019 is a go,,, archery first for 3 critters each followed by rifle to cap off the season...

All the simple old equipment less my new barrel,,, Old knives,,, hip pack of goodies,,, and worn out boots...

I shouldn't for get to mention my old Leopold binoculars,,, our hunting gear combined would fit a $200 bill since its seen alot of uses... The only other thing up dated is the emergency kit,,, other than that it's bare minimum...

Good times fore sure as we keep it simple,,, hopefully I find a nice shooting/ walking stick this year.

Cheers from the North

 

[Don A Parsons]

Old Timer that I'm hunting with this year knows all to well how to save funds for more boots on the ground...

His list includes a 1967 Remington 308 semi auto that he bought new, both him and his rifle are well worn...

A set of binoculars from 30 years ago with most of the paint missing,,, all the lettering has faded away,,, they might be old 7 power Weaver glass since I ain't seen anything like them in all my years,,, 1 lens is kinda Fuzzy but the other side is still good.

I like his skinning knives,,, Old and rusty along the sides but the cutting edge will cut paper with ease,,, my old time blade is a 1976 Puma 5" with the bone handle,,, I found out last week that it's actually a collectors item... Ha. Here I am walking around in the bush for 40 years with a diamond hanging off my belt...

The back packs are old budgeting types that cost us next to nill,,, Old water flanks, the cheapest flash lights with duct tape holding the end caps,,, WW II compass along with weathered paper maps that have seen better days,,, good thing the plastic bread bags are holding the map together...

I found my old flint stricter in the bottom of my pack the other day,,, some of you folks rember the old wood sticker with the flint Glued to the wood,,, the striker slides into the back when not in use... I bet it was worth $3 bucks back in the day... It was my Dads when he was in his 30's,,,, 75 ish years ago...

Funny what we've been packing around for all those years,,, a roll of rusty hay wire,,, black electrical tape,,, spool of fishing line & hooks,,, and a Mimi sewing book with thread and needles incase I decide to stop along a cut line and do some sewing... LOL

Nothing like sitting on a rock in my long John's well I hem up a tear in my pants... Ha

Always good to be prepared you know...

Yuppers,,, the more digging I do the more of this simple stuff I'm finding,,, at least we found some lite weight candle holders at a frugal cost,,, UNO Units for $20 each with 3 extra candles,,, Old timer is making some PCV plastic pipe tubes to put them in so they don't get crushed,,, threaded end cap with foam on the one end to keep them snug from the bangging around...

A hand full of zip lock buggies,,, chunk of tarp,,, blue water proof foam to sit on,,, and some silver emergency blankets turned into extra large sleeping bags...

We used Gorilla Tape to put the ends tighter,,, $5 total for each of them,,, super warm once we're rapped up in them along with the camo blanket we place over top to dampen the rustling sound,,, nothing worse than scaring off the critters in a big silver suit... Ha...

Yuppers,,, a bit of old school with some of today's new world junk to incress the good times in the back woods...

The best part is knowing that it cost us next to nill for another year of good times... That's what really counts...

 

[Don A Parsons]

It was years ago when I meet up with an older fellow on a cut-line,,, he had the simplest set-up going that brought up the indeed of Less is More...

He was well into 60's closing in on the big 7,,, Old worn out wool lumber jack coat and wool pants with binder twine belt to hold them up,,, most of us remember the orange lumber jack suspenders that would button up to the pants,,, Ha,,, he was missing one button so he cut a slot in the seam to push the leather part threw,,, he used a willow stick to run threw the hole to help hold his trousers up,,, deffinatly a bush craft fellow...

His back-pack was a canvas tarp sewed into bag,,, 1 old leather belt strap to sling it over his shoulder,,, just enough room for a 8x8 tarp,,, sleeping bag, 1 gallon glass water bottle, tiny cup and coffee pot to make a cup of coffee on the cut-line,,, he called it the Moose and Deer trap as they would come up the cut-line to see what was going on,,, """some""" furry critters are curious that way...

Alot of the Moose he harvested happened when he was splitting wood,,, keep your gun at ready he said...

Talking about a gun,,, his was a number 4 British Lee-Enfield in 303 with iron sights,,, he could reach out there easy with the old iron...

Thin Burlap strap was the sling,,, it had bradded ends so he could sling it over his shoulder,,, pretty crude set-up,,, but it cost him nothing less the pocket of assorted ammo...

A old home made skinning knife along with a hand hatchet,,, it kinda matched his large Gray felt brimmed cowboy hat...

Rustic set-up fore sure,,, fat chance that I'd ever see my self looking like that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, well here I am 40+ years past that encounter as I Sloooooowly transform into that category...

Yuppers,,, the simple things in life...

Today Im sitting on a cut-line with my old bow and bent arrows,,, only time will tell if the critters yonder up my way to look at this middle dude leaning against a tree,,, they will probilibly show up when I'm fast asleep... LOL

 

[memtb]

Don, sounds as though you've pretty much got it figured out. We've got a ton of money tied-up in hunting gear, though much of it sees double duty for other purposes. Much of our gear is 20+ years old (rifles, binoculars, pack frames)....our wool clothing is Korean War era. Our newest gear was new Leupold scopes about 6 years ago. memtb

 

[HARPERC]

I'm not sure if cutting back on what I carry is wisdom, or plain Jane age

First question asked about equipment any more is who is carrying it.

 

[Don A Parsons]

I was on another thread regarding the """Idea""" the One-Gun for everything,,, I'll keep another one as a back-up and my 22 rimfire and Shot-gun...

The time has come to finally scale back on my 7th or 17th round... Ha

I have the Two Rifles picked out of my collect along with the cartridge of choice...
Not the best of the best when it comes to long range hunting,,, hopefully they will satisfy my needs at the shooting range which they will do,,, so long as I put in my effort...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xsuLLAPQrLoDCC3c6

308 Winchester to feed Two of my Remington Model 700's...

I know,,, I'm stepping back alot since there 10's of thousands of better rifles and cartridges to choose from,,, I realize that since I have a 30/06 in present day and ran threw the category of Magnum rifles in my youth...

So I'm planning on going to """near""" bottom of the cartridge chart to save on funds,,, """frugal""" Lapua brass,,, a bit less powder use then my Aught-Six,,, and a fraction of barrel life... The 308 Winchester is in the 0.835 range of Over-bore which means that most high quality stainless steel barrels might last a longer if I tap it kool between the shots,,, and run mild/ hot loads sparingly...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JtTuLKiXeZGqqWBF9

The plan is underway,,, I'm scaling back on my pick-up truck collection first,,, in my free time I'll work on thinning the rifle collection at the same time...

The F/PRS rig will see the most changes as it becomes a more simple rifle...

Remington Model 700 Short Action LR Vartec 308
https://photos.app.goo.gl/PT2UkiofGB5pPKCZ8

 

[Don A Parsons]

So here's the low down on the 2 Gun...

My 6.5 A-square I had built last spring shoots real nice with the medium / heavy barrel... But the battle of chasing the brass neck donuts is a bit much at times... I don't have this issue with my 308...

Most of the time when the 08 brass is trimmed short I can reload out in the field with the collect-die,,, not worry about neck-donuts,,, cleaning and annealing...

I call them my hunting/ plinking rounds,,, sloppy powder measuring,,, fast track bullet seating and be back on the iron gongs from 100 to 600 meters in a few hours...

1 to 1 1/2" MOA is good enough,,, fast and easy,,, the real plus is resizing the brass with the hand press... They resize like butter with next to nill of effort apposed to working with the stretched 6.5 A-square cartridges... If there not loaded hot with the 140/147 grain'ers they hardly rock the 5 and 600 meter gong... The 180's in 308's Rattle them easy with tame loads...

Being able to see the gongs swinging after impact is a plus since its tricky hearing the Pack sound when other folks are shooting... Ha...

Like I mentioned,,, I enjoy the 6.5 A-square,,, its a awesome hunting cartridge with soft recoil,,, but its not me since I come from the standard 30 caliber world... LOL...

I know,,, there are lots of better choices of cartridges to choose from,,, but the majority of my reloading supplied are 308 Winchester...

Enough for 1 persons life time,,, I'll double up my stock just to make sure I can pull off a few years before re-stocking... Its nice having lots of supplies with same lot numbers... For 2 rifles chambered identical """Less""" making specific ammo for each of them...

Cheers from the North

 

[Don A Parsons]

Looks like my good friend is bringing in the Remington barrel tools so we can change things up on a few rifles...

Top quality tools since we have 5 rifles ready for work-overs,,, then we send them out for machining... A bit easier this way less those costs...

This idea is deffinatly in line with just enough to get by...

Ye Ha to good times....Remington Model 700 LR to tear down to put back to factory...

Cheers from the North