“Tag: one track mind”

Gas prices are up and the stock market’s down. Most of us are on a tight budget, but want to find some good hunting close to home that won’t push the fuel tab into three digits and keep us away from family and other obligations for days on end.

On an early June ground squirrel/coyote hunt in eastern Oregon, I had a chance to test one of the coolest rifles I have shot in a long time—the Mossberg 715T Tactical .22 rimfire. Like many gunmakers, Mossberg is trying to cash in on the AR craze sweeping the country.

The basis for mountain hunting is a strong enough body to be able to keep steadily going at a reasonable pace for several days at a time. For hunters age 40 years or more who live as sedentarily as most do, a “reasonable pace” is not the equivalent of the pace of a 30-year old that has been guiding in the mountains since he started shaving and does it for months at a time.

In the process of testing the Barnett Ghost 400, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to hunt urban deer with a depredation permit. It’s been difficult to find time to go hunting, with family obligations and the extreme heat that has been plaguing the country this year. The few times I have been able to climb in a stand, I have come up with a big zero.