the watcher

GCN20 said " disagree that most serious hunters use bolt action, many favor it due to long range accuracy, but many hunters are taught that semi auto is a more ethical choice by many hunter safety instructors. Serious shooters for target practice won't, but many hunters do favor semi auto. I used to guide for goose, bear and deer and the mix was at least 50/50 of what people used.  I can tell you with certainty that semi auto shotguns are heavily favored by serious 
We will have to agree to disagree. Perhaps it's the group I used to hang with. We were serious hunters/ shooters. Not a semi auto center fire in anyones gun cabinet. Several of them were guides ( big game in northern BC ) several were rifle club instructors and some taught Hunters Safety.  Several have now moved into the super long range shooting now. ( 50 cal stuff )  Never have I heard of a hunter Saftey instructor say use a semi- auto centerfire. It's in no way more ethical. Less accurate equals more wounded and more ruined meat.  If you cant hit what you shoot at , you need to shoot more targets and not take shots that you know wont kill. Over a year I would fire thousands of rounds ( not an exaggeration) so like I said maybe it was the group I hung with.  As far as semi auto shotguns , yes perhaps more are used than I believe but I've seen way, way to many have issues when used in adverse conditions. Almost everyone I shot birds with used pumps.
As far as modifying guns , my only personal experience was glass bedding , filing trigger mechanisms to reduce trigger pull, and a few other minor things for better accuracy.  I did have friends of made full autos out of semis but they were rediculously inaccurate and unmanageable. They scraped them fairly quickly. Many built wildcat calibers but I never got into it.
I will add this bit to end my discussion. The last 15 years I hunted deer were my best. I decided to hunt alone. That is when in my opinion I became an elite deer hunter. I watched them. I studied them. Most evenings I  just watched. I learned more about deer then than in all my previous years. I'd kill 3 a year for food. Most were  standing shots. All but one were one shot kills. My biggest problem those last 15 years were the Yahoo's driving around shooting off the roads at deer on my property and towards me or our buildings.

GCN20 said " disagree that most serious hunters use bolt action, many favor it due to long range accuracy, but many hunters are taught that semi auto is a more ethical choice by many hunter safety instructors. Serious shooters for target practice won't, but many hunters do favor semi auto. I used to guide for goose, bear and deer and the mix was at least 50/50 of what people used.  I can tell you with certainty that semi auto shotguns are heavily favored by serious 
We will have to agree to disagree. Perhaps it's the group I used to hang with. We were serious hunters/ shooters. Not a semi auto center fire in anyones gun cabinet. Several of them were guides ( big game in northern BC ) several were rifle club instructors and some taught Hunters Safety.  Several have now moved into the super long range shooting now. ( 50 cal stuff )  Never have I heard of a hunter Saftey instructor say use a semi- auto centerfire. It's in no way more ethical. Less accurate equals more wounded and more ruined meat.  If you cant hit what you shoot at , you need to shoot more targets and not take shots that you know wont kill. Over a year I would fire thousands of rounds ( not an exaggeration) so like I said maybe it was the group I hung with.  As far as semi auto shotguns , yes perhaps more are used than I believe but I've seen way, way to many have issues when used in adverse conditions. Almost everyone I shot birds with used pumps.
As far as modifying guns , my only personal experience was glass bedding , filing trigger mechanisms to reduce trigger pull, and a few other minor things for better accuracy.  I did have friends of made full autos out of semis but they were rediculously inaccurate and unmanageable. They scraped them fairly quickly. Many built wildcat calibers but I never got into it.
I will add this bit to end my discussion. The last 15 years I hunted deer were my best. I decided to hunt alone. That is when in my opinion I became an elite deer hunter. I watched them. I studied them. Most evenings I  just watched. I learned more about deer then than in all my previous years. I'd kill 3 a year for food. Most were  standing shots. All but one were one shot kills. My biggest problem those last 15 years were the Yahoo's driving around shooting off the roads at deer on my property and towards me or our buildings.

But but but...those are 5 seconds gone form your life that you will never get back. Besides, its not manly to wear cleats. Showing up at Emergency is much more manly.

We moved to just south of Calgary to see our grandkids grow up and for the better (theoretically) weather. We found that it was more expensive to live there, and the warmer weather produced a lot of icy sidewalks where the wife slipped and fell, breaking her wrist. But most of all, we missed the blue-collar attitude of Winnipeg, the friends we had and the easy familiarity of living in a well-known community. Hell I missed all the trees and seeing clouds- the view of the mountains was nice but seeing the grass turning brown by the end of July was weird.
The moves cost us a lot, but the relief we felt when we spent the first night and woke up in the morning in our Manitoba home was palpable. We found out that the imagining of a better place can be more a fantasy than a reality. We are home now.

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

So just a bit if background. I was a big time gun guy for decades. I owned my own 22 at age 12. I was on a championship Jr. Rifle club team. Our meat diet was 99% wild game for decades. I use to work crazy hours spring to fall then hunt non stop everyday for 3 or 4 months before heading west for work.   I've owned 100s of guns over the years including hand guns at times. I lived to hunt and shoot back in the day. I still have guns but I'm just not into it like I was anymore.
Yes , almost any gun can be turned into a concealed weapon with a bit of work. As far as turning a semi into full auto it was easy with particular gun makes and models but not most.Its tough and makes them pretty much useless. The majority of centerfire hunting rifles are bolt actions. Not to be insulting but most really serious hunters and shooters won't bother with semi auto center fire rifles. We mostly saw them used by casual hunters.  .22s are a different story. Tons of .22 semis are used are used for plinking, gophers .....  As far as shotguns it would be pumps, double barrel, semi, single break then the rarely seen bolt action.
I am in favour of gun laws that make a REAL difference. Laws that actually do something not just make uninformed  non gun owners happy. I'm a big fan of the PAL licence.  Having your background checked by the RCMP before you can own, posses , borrow,  use a gun makes a whole lot of sense.
As far as hand guns. My understanding is about %80 - %90 of handguns that are confiscated have come across the border. So an outright ban isn't going to do alot. I'm not sure what has changed I  the last 20 years but when I owned them I could only leave my property with a handgun to go to a sanctioned gun range at a particular time. I was required to drive directly there and back with no stops in between. I can't remember the last time I heard of a legal handgun owner shooting someone. I'm sure it must happen but not very often in Canada. I really doubt an outright ban would have any real effect. I suppose it would effect the %10 to %20 of gun crimes that are committed with stolen handguns .I really  don't have a dog in that race so it's not all that big of a deal for me.
I see no reason for any Canadian to own military style weapons. Guns designed and made to kill only people belong in the hands of the military only.
I think alot of the American gun  idiocy makes non gun owners in this country assume it's the same here. It jades their  opinion. 

And therein lies the problem. 

Yeah banning guns makes sense on the surface. No guns. no gun crimes. Until you realize that most gun crimes are committed with illegally obtained guns. People don't go to Cabela's to get a gun they're gonna use to hold up a store or shoot a rival gang member with. Criminals using guns will find guns. And there just isn't a way to get all the guns out of our country now...which is mostly due to us being neighbors with the...youknowwho...(points down south). So it's a fair conversation to have...but not one I'd ever want to take up considerable time in our politics. We need to go after the root of the problem.
When I was a younger man, I knew multiple illegal ways to get a gun if needed. I'm assuming this has only gotten easier.

On this I agree. If the Democrats had fielded any kind of a candidate that connected with people then a narcissistic ,lieing , womanizing,  failed businessman would never have been elected in the 1st place

Ron Lancaster won something like 4 games in Saskatchewan before he was fired. He then went into broadcasting for the next decade being an analyst on the CFL on CBC broadcasts & used that time to figure it out. He became an elite head coach in Edmonton & Hamilton. My guess is he learned to surround himself with great assistants & delegate authority. I think he learned to manage people.

Death threats to Jets and Tampa players families didn't help either 

A tale of 2 Presidents 
First the idiot
Who thinks he is still the President 
Second the sometimes forgetful compassionate old man
 

Precisely.
Biden just announced more oil drilling permits. Not even a week since the report saying "no more drilling"
I have come to realize that the people who will not be affected, do not actually care.


 

In the US it's all about getting the iffy voters out to vote.
The Republicans in the Trump era are doing that. They are appealing to the far right who want change and it's working. 
The Democrats are not appealing to left leaning people who want change. They continue to bend to their financial backers who dont want change. Who dont want ANY shift towards a more socialist system. They aren't getting people who want change out to the poles.
Sometimes I vote for the 3rd party in our system only because it's the 3rd option and it's important to have that.    (When the legit contenders are crap )

In the US it's all about getting the iffy voters out to vote.
The Republicans in the Trump era are doing that. They are appealing to the far right who want change and it's working. 
The Democrats are not appealing to left leaning people who want change. They continue to bend to their financial backers who dont want change. Who dont want ANY shift towards a more socialist system. They aren't getting people who want change out to the poles.
Sometimes I vote for the 3rd party in our system only because it's the 3rd option and it's important to have that.    (When the legit contenders are crap )

The Germans exterminated 6 million Jews along with another 5 million POW's so let's just stop there. Whatever Hell was brought down on them from the sky was as a result of Adolph Hitler's & his fascist Nazi party along with military & genocidal policies that had the full support of the German people.
Same with the Japanese. They were butchers in occupation & killed millions of innocent civilians & POW's in Asia. Whether it's one bomb that killed a hundred thousand or 2000 bombs that killed 50 people each, war is an atrocity. But we reap what we sow. History has shown time & time again that it seldom turns out well for the conquerors. In this case, the German & Japanese.

FIFY

And God, of course

I read the last few posts and all I can think is ," what a f-ing world. ". 

Exactly. Can you imagine the complaints if cars and people were stuck for days in our 4 ft drifts on the highway by my place. Meteorologists and the Highway dept take their best educated guess and always should err on the side of caution.

My guess is we are in around 30 inches of snow. It's really hard to tell though. I've got drifts right on my lane and in the yard that are 4 to 5 ft deep.( That will work the old blower out ) My son has a house on the property and the drifts are over the hoods of his SUVs .The highway that fronts the property is still closed and I assume blocked as there is no traffic and locals will go even if it is closed. While it wasn't 97 or 66 it was still a heck of a storm. 
Edit : I was out on snowshoes today and I  could sink a ski pole completely in on the drifts on my lane .