squirrels to bears

[Douglas]

Just a ?, if you hade a choice of 2 guns, one will be used for squirrels,possums,raccons etc, the other will be used for dear,boars,and black bears.what cal.would you chose.and would you prefer a particular school ie Lancaster,Isaac Haines etc.of rifle?
Doug

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hmmmmmmmm.

The choice of schools is entirely based on tastes (possibly excepting that some, like the Lancaster, are a more forgiving design for the heavy calibers because they have straighter lines). Give some thought to whether you want a double set trigger or just a nice, clean single trigger. In most hunting situations I prefer just one, unset but light and crisp trigger to pull. Gives more room for gloves or mittens, too (fingerless mittens - great things for flinters).

Personally, I'd go with a .54 or perhaps a .58 for the heavy in a Bucks County - which has a very rounded top to the buttplate profile and is less apt to hang up on clothing when being mounted. This would be a plus in snap shooting - which I understand happens in boar hunting on foot.
Copy of a Verner from Bucks Co.

For a squirrel rifle I'd go with a .32 cal Southerm Mountain Rifle - plain and simple. It just has "squirrel" written all over it.
Southern Mountain Rifle

I set myself up with the same question recently, but I limited myself to just one gun for all and everything. That way I could get a nice one. I ordered an iron-mounted Lehigh in .54 cal (I've been using a .54 cal Renegade for squirrel and bunnies for years.).

A copy of a Lehigh

 

For squirrels and other small game I'd go with caliber .40.
Reasons? I like the .40.
It'd be a Bucks Co. style with +++P fancy maple, Colrain swamped barrel, and flint of course.
The .40 can be used at close range to effectivley take deer if you want. Makes a fine turkey gun too.
For larger game I'd have to go with the .58.
The .58 pokes a big hole.
It'd be an American Jeager, swamped Colrain barrel, flint.
Why those choices?
'Cause I already have them both and they are tack drivers. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Since the question is limited to "rifles" and not smoothbores, if I could have but two muzzleloader rifles they would be my .45cal & .58cal TC Hawken RB fintlocks.

If only one, then it would be my .54cal TC Hawken RB flinter

 

[Plains99]

This is why the 20 gauge/69 caliber smoothbore Indian trade gun was so popular for so many generations. Load it with shot and go varmint hunting. Load it with patched round balls and go moose, bear, buffalo and anything else hunting. It would and can still do it all.

 

[Douglas]

Thanks for the replys,heres the situation, My mom and step dad bought 40 acres in south east Alabama about 2 years ago.They called me up one day and told me 5 acres is mine for free right now :RO:,and the rest will be mine when there gone.It is about 15 acres pasture and the rest is woods with 5 springs and a 2 acre pond. Well my girlfriend and I are going to sell our house in California, and were going to buy a 24' tepe from reese tepe's and live off the land.So part of my job will be to bring home the supper.We have wanted to do something like this for a long time.Cant wait.
Doug

 

[roundball]

Then a .58cal would be more than you'd probably need if you're hunting would be limited to Alabama.

And if not limited to rifles only, I would pick a .45cal rifle, and .62cal(20ga) or .12ga smoothbore, to have plently of capability and flexibility with those two
:m2c:

 

[Stumpkiller]

So part of my job will be to bring home the supper.

So buy one gun, two dozen traps, a wide selection of seeds and starter sets (plan to arrive in the Spring and pack enough eats for the first two months), and about 50 pounds of salt.

Read up on preserving meat without refrigeration. Figure on hunting taking up 5% of your time; the rest will be clearing, weeding, planting, harvesting, preserving, hauling water, chopping wood, burying refuse, weeding some more, splitting logs, building a cabin 'cause someone's "sick to death of this stupid tent with no closets or bethroom", etc, etc.

Enjoy! :haha:

 

[roundball]

Yes, and remember to make a sturdy support stand for the 50,000 BTU air conditioner you'll have to have sticking out of the wall of that teepee.

The moderate climate enjoyed by most west coast locations due to the ocean effects will be non-existent in down home Alabama...you will be introduced to levels of heat and humidity the likes you've probably never experienced unless you've lived in the deep south.

In addition to life simply being completely miserable without air conditioning 9 months out of 12, and health problems cropping up as a result, cloth & leather goods will mildew, metal will rust, etc...you get the picture...should be an experience, :winking: that's for sure

 

[kentucky bucky]

Are you going to hunt "Dear" or "deer" :what: ::

 

[Douglas]

Stumpkiller, I know its gonna be alot of work,my girlfriend and I have been doing research on this type of living for a few years. there will be a seperate building, for storing supplies,frig,freezer,composting toilet,etc. all electrical will be solar.

I would rather be working with nature than against it.Right now I spend 10 hrs a week driving to and from work.To make just enough money to stay afloat,to live in a house,to pay the bills,to fix and work on the house on the weekends etc.etc.

I would much rather spend 10 hrs a week walking through the woods being at peace and doing what ever it is that I whant to do today not what my boss wants me to do.

And I'm lucky in that my girlfriend is the one that started this whole thing.We just want to live a much simpler life.

I'll keep you guys posted,
Doug

 

[Douglas]

Roundball, well I lived in Ohio for 20 years, not as hot maybe in the high 80's low 90's but humid, and thanks to the usmc I have been in some very humid places.
I live in ca. but a little inland so it gets in the high 90's low 100's, but not humid.Then again I'm a manager for a plant nursery,ie hot,humid greenhouse's.
Doug

 

[Stumpkiller]

Good luck to you. I'm envious . . . a little.

My wife and I used to try to be as self-sufficient as we could on one acre (on the edge of a square mile of huntable woods). We're down to a garden 1/8 of what it once was. Gave up on the geese and rabbits, ate the laying hens. I now find it easier to buy wine, beer, horseradish, sauerkraut . . . heck, I even drop my deer off for processing and wrapping.

It's a lot of work and self-denial, but it's darned satisfying. Do it now (I take it you're fairly young), because once you get set in these lazy ways of socirty you'll never be able to go back. I got married when I was 20 and full of energy and ambition. At that age I was working two jobs and going to night-school. Now I'm a lazy old fart and I want to come home from work and collapse. By the time I eat supper, walk the dog and maybe take a swipe at the lawn or one of the 1,000 projects on the honey-do list the evening is shot.

Go get 'em, tiger.

 

[RussB]

I'll keep you guys posted,
Doug

Doug, I for one will be looking forward to that.

I think it is possible, and doable, I also think for every ten who try it, nine or ten give it up as a bad idea.
The most rugged, outdoors, All American boys, I sometimes hunt with talk about such things, some have even tried it. But if they can't be away from home for three weeks at a time on an Elk Hunt, they darn sure can't live that way.
But then again we must be practical, unless they are totally retired, or born with a silver spoon, they have to be realitively close to some kind of work. And therein lies the problem in my neck of the woods. It would appear you have that covered already.
Of course, it's all in the head, and your mileage is sure to vary. In your situation, the caliber of gun would be my last worry. I suspect about any gun would work, but a shotgun / smoothbore would be high on my list.
I do admire your thoughts and wish you luck. Keep us posted.
Russ

 

I have done this twice in my lifetime, both times in the south. I once got my cost of living down to less than $100 per month. You still have to work somewhere to get the $100, and you are not advancing any in the process, only standing still, staying alive. God help if a financial emergency occurrs, injury, sickness, pregnancy.

Hope your girlfriend is not afraid of Alabama's varried insect population, lime disease, west nile virus, milaria.

Two things will ultimately get to you. The first is the heat, as already stated. The unimagineable heavy humid air that is so hot you just sit and sweat (don't even think about working that garden, heatstroke is certain), and so thick you cannot even breathe! This is the land of death by humidity, NO KIDDING!

Then there is the hunting season thing. Alabama has them too and you do not hunt, even on your own property, out of season. What you do kill in the dead of summer will be ineatable anyway, and there is no fall or winter, only summer and huricane season.

:imo: Black powder should be considered a back up gun for emergency use. You will need lots of cartridges and all of the other hunting advantages you can get. Take it from one that has been there. Subsistance hunting and sport hunting are two totally different behaviors.

Unless you get into large scale cultivation, 40 acres will not be enough for a hunter gatherer existance.

After two back surgeries and a heart attact my subsistance living days are over. It is a life for the young. The tribe would have left me on an iceburg long ago.
:results:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hope your girlfriend is not afraid of Alabama's varried insect population, lime disease, west nile virus, malaria.

Heck, we got all them buggy borne diseases here in NY - six months out of the year anywho. The Irish muckers were dying of malaria in Montezuma Swamp digging the Erie Canal 90 years before the Panama Canal was begun.

 

For hunting large game, there is no better stock shape or design than the English Sporting double rifle of the 1820/50 period, in 14 bore, of course, flint or perccusion.
: For small game, I'd like a Bedford Flinter, I think, in .28 to .32.

 

[gmww]

A suggestion for your supply building. If your water table is not too high, dig a root cellar. It will keep things cool all year long. The temp. of the earth is a constant 55 degrees. Just dig it deep enough with supported walls and a roof. If you can find a large and I mean LARGE metal culvert you can cut it in half, dig your hole and use them as the roof/walls.

My buddy in Montana dug a 12-15 foot hole, poured a concrete slab, and mounted the Culvert which was originally about 16 ft. in diameter which made an 8 foot high roof. The side of the interior had shelves for canned goods and the center/back had the dry goods. He had enough room for additional shelves in the center. Nice place to keep your powder dry and to seek a cool spot in the hot summer.

From the surface you didn't even know it was there. I can't remember if he had ventalation. I would make sure you did.

Y2K left over information. :redthumb: