I have a confession to make!

[Deadwood Dutch]

Black bears can be a problem on the trail under certain circumstances here in Pa., but you rarely ever hear of a bear attack by one. Most of the time they are raiding people's trash and cabins up in the mountains looking for something to eat. Bird feeders too. We have plenty of coyotes and bobcats. As far as Cougars, there have been some rumors of some sightings through the years, but to my knowledge, nothing ever confirmed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. I hope they stay to the West. But, other than being stupid enough to try to corner a bobcat, I would have no fear of them. They like furry little creatures to chew on. They are not large animals. But, over in New Jersey, a couple of years ago, a hiker was taking a picture of a 300 pound black bear, and it attacked him and killed him.

[Frank V]

Black bears can be a problem on the trail under certain circumstances here in Pa., but you rarely ever hear of a bear attack by one. Most of the time they are raiding people's trash and cabins up in the mountains looking for something to eat. Bird feeders too. We have plenty of coyotes and bobcats. As far as Cougars, there have been some rumors of some sightings through the years, but to my knowledge, nothing ever confirmed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. I hope they stay to the West. But, other than being stupid enough to try to corner a bobcat, I would have no fear of them. They like furry little creatures to chew on. They are not large animals. But, over in New Jersey, a couple of years ago, a hiker was taking a picture of a 300 pound black bear, and it attacked him and killed him.

Game commissions are reluctant to verify sightings. Years ago in Calif. people were complaining of mountain lions F&G ignored the complaints, then one killed & ate a woman on a hiking trail. I don't trust F&G data on the abense of animals.

[Deadwood Dutch]

Black bears can be a problem on the trail under certain circumstances here in Pa., but you rarely ever hear of a bear attack by one. Most of the time they are raiding people's trash and cabins up in the mountains looking for something to eat. Bird feeders too. We have plenty of coyotes and bobcats. As far as Cougars, there have been some rumors of some sightings through the years, but to my knowledge, nothing ever confirmed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. I hope they stay to the West. But, other than being stupid enough to try to corner a bobcat, I would have no fear of them. They like furry little creatures to chew on. They are not large animals. But, over in New Jersey, a couple of years ago, a hiker was taking a picture of a 300 pound black bear, and it attacked him and killed him.

Game commissions are reluctant to verify sightings. Years ago in Calif. people were complaining of mountain lions F&G ignored the complaints, then one killed & ate a woman on a hiking trail. I don't trust F&G data on the abense of animals.

I'll keep that in mind when I am walking to my deer stand in the early morning hours when it is still dark.

[daytime dave]

Great cofession squatch. I agree with you on all of your points in the original post.

My favorites start with four also.

[Frank V]

Something starting with a .4 on your hip is great comfort in the mountains.
A rifle in your hands starting with .4 is comforting too & is usually easier to shoot well!

[RanchRoper]

Actually Black Bears do attack people & can become predatory, eating people too.
They are not the cuddly huggy, touchy, kissy, feely, animals Disney & his ilk would lead us to believe.
I am very careful around black bears too!

Black bears are VERY unpredictable, and you are food as far as they are concerned. The Fish & Wildlife guys here say there are more black bear attacks than grizzlies by far. I've had a few close grizzly encounters horseback over the years and they seem pretty busy doing their own thing most of time. But I always give the black bears a very wide berth. The grizzlies too, but the black bears will watch you more closely I've found. In northern Alberta last summer a young woman was killed on the job by a black bear. Working at a construction site, it just came out of the bush and attacked. Her coworkers were hitting it with shovels and it kept mauling her. British Columbia reports several black bear attacks each year.

Be careful out there folks.

[Frank V]

Yes, Black Bears are VERY dangerous.

[RanchRoper]

I've seen lots of bears over the years while riding in the back country. Grizzlies and blacks. Generally I don't want to intrude on whatever they are doing, and that's probably the best advice I can give when in bear country. With luck, and some common horse sense, I'll never have to find out if my Henry is a bear stopper. The bears are just doing what they do, and I can always find another trail to take.

[Frank V]

RanchRoper that's the best policy, leave them alone & hope they do the same. Even if they don't you can always, truthfully, tell fish & game they persued you even when you took a different route.

[Frank V]

This thread is getting old, anyone see a black or Grizzly in the hills yet???
I haven't

[JEBar]

This thread is getting old, anyone see a black or Grizzly in the hills yet???
I haven't

have seen them in our hills over the years, have put some in the freezer .... used to be a member of the Big Tom Wilson Bear Hunting Club http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... d=54745124 .. .. I hunted with Big Tom's grandson Ewart .... in more recent times there are more bear in the swamps of Eastern NC than there are in the mountains of Western NC ... nowadays wild boar populations have exploded back in them there hills ..


another article on Big Tom http://main.nc.us/yancey/Big_Tom_Wilson ... 201997.pdf

[RanchRoper]

Haven't seen any yet this year. But they see me...

[Frank V]

I haven't bought a tag in two years. I've got friends who see them, but I've yet to see one in almost 10 years. Maybe I'm not doing something rigth????

[Hack]

One nice thing about calibers that start with a 4 is that they make nice big holes in paper. As I have gotten older it has become harder to see the holes made by small calibers without using a scope. On the other hand, making big holes can quickly wear out ones shoulder, which is why I like shooting cowboy loads. Squatch's experimentation is designed to get the best of both worlds at reasonable cost. I can't wait to try some of his light 45-70 loads!

[Squatch]

I have to build some more. I shot up a box of them Wednesday. I need to order some brass.

[Frank V]

I have to build some more. I shot up a box of them Wednesday. I need to order some brass.

More brass is a good thing!!!

[JEBar]

with our reloading equipment boxed up to be moved to a new location, I recently purchased 300 rounds of HSM 44 Magnum 200gr RNFP-H Cowboy Action Lead Ammo ... https://www.venturamunitions.com/hsm-44 ... 50-rounds/ .... looking forward to giving it a try .... in the link it gives a Muzzle Velocity of 975 fps .... my Nosler reloading manual calls for a range of 1330 -1800 fps for 44 mag and 811 ton 948 fps for 44 special .... with that being the case, the HSM's are loaded in the upper end of 44 special ammo .... looking forward to seeing how it performs in our Ruger Redhawk and Henry 44 mags

[Squatch]

Hack shoots a lot of those HSM's.

The problem with regular reloading manuals is they are mainly about hot jacketed rounds. You have to look at alternate sources of info for light shooting rounds. This also calls for different faster burning flake type powders. To get loads that shoot like black powder loads you need powders that act like black powder somewhat. Stuff like Tite-Group, Unique, Trail boss. These powders don't care how much open space is in the case. Magnum powders like full cases. Just BE CAREFUL! I'm shooting 10 grs of Unique in 45/70. After charging you look inside the case and it looks like a bit of leftover powder. It would be very easy to double or triple charge a case with this. 20 grains of Unique can blow up most any gun!

[Frank V]

You might want to pick up a copy of Lyman's cast bullet handbook. A lot of the cast bullet loads are mild.
You don't want to get so light that you stick a bullet in the bore.

[Squatch]

I have it and use it regularly. I just bought some 5744 powder because they use it so much for sorta warmer 45/70 loads. I want to build some of those too. I have some jacketed bullets for the hot ones.

I have also been mainly loading from this info. I have found so far that my results have mirrored theirs closely. Both with speed and group size. Their explanations on hows and whys seem to me to make good sense.

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

This link in that data makes a lot of sense to me.
http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

I didn't start using that data till I read of others having good luck with it on other forums. That and folks on casting forums recommending similar loads.

Yes I have been concerned about "too slow". To the point that I always take a cleaning rod with me. If I don't hear the bullet hit the target or see a hole I run the rod down the bore before loading another round. But in reality even though I'm shooting light loads. With the right powder speeds are Ok. Just 10 grs of Unique in the 45/70 is producing 1,130's with 300 gr bullets and 930's with 405's. Range officer told me the other day my 45/70 sounded like a 38! I can shoot 50 rds of 45/70 and the shoulder feels like I was shooting 38's. It's kinda cool hearing the gun go off and then clearly hearing the thump on target. I think shooting slow stuff makes me a better shooter. You have to follow up and hold still on every shot or you will affect the POI. The lack of recoil gets me very comfortable with the gun and no worries of flinching. Hornady Leverevolutions and a brass butt plate on a 45/70 or 44 mag is like shooting a flinch factory. Lotta bang and recoil. No big deal if you are comfortable with the gun. But a 45/70 or similar can be a little intimidating if the 1st thing you shoot is a hot round. If you are someone who thinks of a 44 mag as a powerful cartridge then the Hoss just plain looks like it will hurt.