Reloading Room Pics?

[Von Gruff]

That Ram must have been a feisty one with the broken tips and a looks good on the wall. Of course I really like the kudu, not only for themselves but for the adventure they represent.

[stokesrj]

Yes, he was a fighter, I watched him for several days before he got into a position I could make a stalk on him and he had several fights. One of them I saw him looking across the next mountains about five or six miles away. He kept looking and I kept looking with my spotting scope to see what he was looking at. Then I saw another mature ram that came all the way across the valley and fought him for his harem. During that fight he knocked a chunk out of his right horn but won the fight. The next day he move into a place I could stalk him and when he did I started my stalk at 7 am and killed him at 1 pm. If he had not broken that piece out of his horn he would have been the largest ram taken in North America that year. As it was he still made the Boone and Crocket club with room to spare but came in as the second largest ram taken that year.
Bob

[Von Gruff]

To see that action and take him at the pinicle of his maturity is what hunting is all about. Yo may enjoy this from the AR forum this morning.

Why we hunt

As I walked home, elated yet sorrowful, I thought how curious that people who love animals most are often they that hunt them. There are maddening theorists in the world who will not admit to such a paradox. Yet who knows more of the ways of the birds and the beasts than the gamekeeper? Who could write so sympathetically of fish as Izaak Walton, the keenest of fishermen? And no one who has not followed the spoor of some particular animal for a whole day can quite appreciate how intimately you can come in touch with the mind and personality of that animal. He has left his thoughts traced upon the sand like an open book for you to read. Here he trotted, here he galloped in fresh alarm; here he paused to look back, or walked, fed, drank or lay down. And as the hours go by, and again and again from those footprints you visualize the whole beast before you, you are so much of one mind with him that you think yourself into his character.

We hunt what we love because we want to possess it. It may not be humane, but at least it is human. And none who did not primarily love animals would spend his life studying them, thinking about them, following them. That particular kind of theorist who loves animals so much that he leaves them entirely alone, has never felt the unquenchable craving to get near his subject.

[bwaites]

I don't hunt game animals, taking coyotes only because they are destroying both the game animal population and domestics.

But last night I walked out the door at work to find a couple little white tail bucks on the back patio, one 3 point, one 4 point, almost close enough to reach out and touch, they let me walk right up to 5 feet or so before slowly wandering further. Fascinating to watch and not difficult at all to understand why people hunt them!

[stokesrj]

I don't want to take us off topic, but I do enjoy reloading in my "Game Room" with my trophies around to bring back memories from long ago. I have a lot of people who visit my game room with different emotions when they see the trophies, only a very small part of which were visible in the photo. Some are impressed and in awe, some don't approve and hold nothing back by way of letting me know, some are just inquisitive and have never seen some of the animals before.
I usually show them my library which has many volumes of work by our greatest conservationists, naturalists, and adventurers. I have some of the most authoritative books ever written on the management of bobwhite quail right next to my Audubon collection. Non hunters are usually shocked to find out that Audubon was himself a bird hunter and used a 12 gauge shotgun and #12 lead dust shot to take the birds he painted. Or that Teddy Roosevelt was an avid hunter and because of that set in motion the actions that resulted in our national parks system.
To some it doesn't matter, hunting is bad in their mind and always will, but more than a few have come away with a different perspective.
I have the entire Florida Junior Highpower rifle team in that game room some times along with their parents and friends so it give me a wide audience to discuss these things with and I enjoy doing so.
Bob

[bwaites]

Off topic AGAIN....My fault! Someone post some more loading room pictures!

I hope no one took my post to mean that I have any bias against hunting game species...I certainly don't. Some of the African species have horns that are incredibly beautiful, as do the sheep species. But I won't kill what my family won't eat, and my wife doesn't tolerate the flavor of game, so I don't hunt them. (She has been a good sport, and has tried deer, elk, moose, etc.) I load for friends who do hunt them, I support them, I do whatever it takes otherwise to show my support, including donations to game animal groups like Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, etc.

I just don't feel any drive to hunt myself. I am considering a recurve bow hunt with some friends, one of whom took a white tail last year that might have been the largest white tail taken nationwide with a bow. He greenscored huge, (several points higher than the record) but my friend took him in an area that has at least one bigger buck and once he realized the publicity that might happen if he had him officially scored, he decided it wasn't worth having him scored. He intends to hunt that property until he dies, and since it abuts open property, he sees no reason to advertise it.

Coyotes are the exception to the "don't eat it" rule since they do hunt and take game animals as well as domestic animals and are multiplying too fast to keep up with.

[Hafast]

When you set up your reloading area, no matter what size it is, make every effort to make your bench as sturdy as possible and then add a couple more braces. Physically attach it to the floor and the wall studs. An amazing number of reloading problems are traced back to too much flex in the bench. This is especially important if you want to use a progressive press. I use 4 Dillons, an RCBS Rock Chucker, and 2 Lee 4 position turrent presses.

[stokesrj]

Bill,
I certainly wasn't thinking you were against hunting, I've seen you be very supportive over the years.
Bob
Now to reloading, I love my Dillon but that Giraud case trimmer is the cat's meow. It's just like sharpening pencils, only faster.

[capt greg]

I have limited space at the moment, however, this set up works fine for now..
DSC00909.jpgDSC00907.jpg

[Whelenon]

Pictures of my reloading room, well my shop. I put up a new garage about five years ago, it's been a dedicated shop from day one. The best part is my bench. Got the base out of a local window/door manufacturer that closed down. The bench is great for anything I can get on top of it. From reloading to lawn mower maintenance, don't have to work on the floor. Of course the biggest problem keeping it clear, always seems to pile up with all sorts of whatever.

[StoneTower]

It looks like it would make an excellent outfeed table for your table saw too

Pictures of my reloading room, well my shop. I put up a new garage about five years ago, it's been a dedicated shop from day one. The best part is my bench. Got the base out of a local window/door manufacturer that closed down. The bench is great for anything I can get on top of it. From reloading to lawn mower maintenance, don't have to work on the floor. Of course the biggest problem keeping it clear, always seems to pile up with all sorts of whatever.

[Whelenon]

It looks like it would make an excellent outfeed table for your table saw too

Good eye, it's done just that.