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How a Feral Gang/Opposing Force Might Come at Your Retreat – Pt III
Posted: August 15, 2014 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
Read this,pay attention,re-read parts I and II-
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Do more PT.
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Good basic system. Wouldn’t take much to add a filter and pump to make the water drinkable.
Only problem is it relies on electricity.
I would add a couple of hand pumps- one at the sink,in case of no power,you could still pump water for washing dishes,bathing,etc. and one in the area they have for processing their game.
Depending on terrain,and/or and the strength of the framing,it’s also possible to elevate the tank,using gravity to provide water flow.
Place the tank on a platform,or if the ground has enough of a slope-put the tank at the high end,and outlet at low end.
Just my 2 cents on the subject.
Hunting with a muzzleloader
Posted: August 13, 2014 by gamegetterII in firearms, hunting, preparedness, shooting, survival, UncategorizedTags: firearms, fishing, hunting, shooting, survival
In this post,I’m going to focus on sidelocks,and modern inlines,the poor man’s inlines,not the high dollar Thompson Centers etc.
In many states,as long as it’s a muzzleloader,it’s legal to hunt deer with in muzzleloader or “primitive weapons” seasons.
Some states,such as Pa,restrict hunters to using only flintlocks during muzzleloader/primitive weapons season.
I do not currently own a flintlock,and have only limited experience with them,so I will not be writing about them.
I currently use two muzzleloaders for hunting,and old-(mid 80’s or so)- CVA Woodsman,and a new-(last year)- Traditions Buckstalker.
Neither of these perform well with any of the high velocity bullet/sabot loads.
You can’t load 150 grain charges in them,so the bullets do not stabilize properly in flight,and end up hitting far to the left. 10″ at 100 yards for my Buckstalker,using the black sabots,and the 240 grain round nose lead bullets that I bought a box of 200 of to use for target practice. They are accurate out to 50 yards or so,and have almost the same point of impact as my hunting load at ranges up to the 50 yards,at which point they start hitting to the left-3-4″ at 75 yds,10″ or so at 100 yds.
I can use either pellets or powder in my Traditions Buckstalker,but only powder in my CVA Woodsman-so I use powder in both.
I prefer Triple7 over Pyrodex,as you get higher velocity with the same amount of powder.
You use FFG equivalent powder in muzzleloading rifles,you can also use FFFG as long as you are using .50 caliber and under.
There is a big difference in velocity with the FFFG,I use it for my hunting load,95 grains of Triple7,with a 240 grain .44 caliber Hornady XTP bullet,with the Hornady green sabots.
I buy the bullets in boxes of 100 from Midway USA,or any of the plethora of online sellers of bullets.
I use the .44 caliber bullets with the green sabots because I can use them in my old CVA,and my new traditions.
Another reason I use powder, not pellets is because I can use a lighter powder charge for target shooting-I don’t have to use a 100 grain charge-(2 50 gr pellets),or an 80 grain charge-( one 50 gr and one 30 gr pellet).
I use 70 grains to target shoot,except for the month before hunting season,then I use the 95 grain charge,and the XTP bullets.
I target shoot with the 230 gr round-nosed lead bullets,because the have almost the same point of impact as the 240gr XTP’s, and a box of 200 and the sabots to go with them only cost about 50 bucks including postage.
Beats the hell out of paying $15.00 or so for a package of 20 bullets with sabots.
100 240 gr .44 caliber Hornady XTP’s plus sabots only costs about 50 bucks including postage-again-beats the hell out of $15.00 for 20 bullets+sabots.
With the newer inlines that use the 209 shotshell primer,you get more accuracy,and can make longer shots. Using my Buckstalker,I can put 3 shots into a 3″ group at 100 yds,and a 4-5″ group at 150 yards,more than accurate enough for a kill shot on a deer,elk,or a feral hog at those ranges.
I’ve tried a lot of different bullet and sabot combos,patched round balls,and conical bullets that are sorta like an improved minie ball. The best load I’ve found is the Hornady XTP and XTP magnum. The load I found to be the best for what I hunt is the .44 caliber 240 gr jacketed hollow point XTP with the Hornady green sabots.
Using 100 grains of Triple 7 FFG I get 1820 fps,using FFFG Triple 7, I get 1970fps.
The 95 grain charge gives me almost the same velocity,and seems to be the best charge to use,I get the same accuracy,about the same velocity, a little bit less of a smoke cloud after the shot.
Any charge between 80 and 120 grains works in the Buckstalker,in the old CVA,I never use more than 100 grains.
You have to try different powder charges,and different bullet/sabot combos to see what works best for you.
Most older muzzleloaders are more accurate after a few shots have been fired.
That doesn’t seem to be the case with the newer inlines,as my Buckstalker has the same point of impact for 3-4 shots,then begins to lose accuracy until I run a patch or two down the barrel.
I choose which muzzeloader to use based on where I’ll be hunting,if it’s going to be mainly close range shots-under 50 yds,I use the CVA sidelock,if most shots are going to be beyond 50 yds,I use the Traditions.
Another bullet to try is the newer conicals,you will need a felt patch between the bullet and the powder charge for optimum accuracy and velocity.
Most of the conicals bullets are heavier than the 200-300 gr range of the most popular bullet/sabot combos.
The conicals have the “knockdown power” of the jacketed hollow points,but don’t have the velocity. They will take all North American big game animals.
After you have tried a variety of bullets,and bullet/sabot combos,pick which type works best for you,then pick the exact bullet,or bullet sabot combo that works best for you,in your muzzleloader.
I picked my load after a few years of shooting a whole lot of different bullets,it’s what works best for me,it may work for you-it may not.
Some other bullets work good,but I have not found anything that beats the performance of the Hornady XTP in my muzzleloaders-if you have a top of the line,newer inline,there are 150 grain powder charges/bullet combos that will work better for you.
If you are like me,and can not afford to buy the top of the line muzzleloaders-you can’t go wrong using the Hornady .44 caliber 240 grain JHP XTP bullet with the green Hornady sabot.
Some other great bullets to use are- Sierra Sports Master 240gr JHP,Nosler Sporting Handgun .44 caliber 240 gr JHP-(handgun bullets work just fine in muzzleloading rifles)-Swift A-Frame Bullets 44 Caliber 240 Grain bonded hollow point, Speer deep curl,Barnes XPB, Winchester Silvertips,
Then there’s these…Hunters Supply hard cast Bullets,Goex Black Dawge Bullets,Montana Precision Swaging Cast Bullets 44 Caliber (440 Diameter) 380 Grain Lead Straight Sided Paper Patch.
As you can see-there’s a lot of choices out there,including patched round balls-which were killing deer,elk,bison,feral hogs,bears,cougars,wolves,and any other game animal long before any of us were born.
When hunting,you want to be able to reload as fast as possible. There are “speedloaders” available from many companies,they are just an plastic tube with removeable caps on the ends,the diameter matches the caliber you are using,and you can put your pellets or powder,along with your bullet and sabot,or bullet and paper patch,or felt patch in the tube.
Since I use powder,not pellets,I put the measured powder charge and bullet already in the sabot in the tube. Then,all I have to do to reload is dump the powder down the barrel,start the bullet in the barrel with the plastic bullet starter I carry on a string around my neck,then use the ramrod that’s attached to the muzzleloader to seat the bullet on top of the powder charge. If I’m using my CVA sidelock,I put a percussion cap on,if I’m using the inline,I break it open-(like a single or double barreled shotgun)-and place a 209 shotshell primer in the breech plug,and I’m ready to shoot again. There are plastic “dogbones” for sale to hole 209 primers-get one-beats the hell out of trying to pick a primer out of the box with half frozen fingers !
I know the above description sounds like a lot to go through to reload-but it takes 30 seconds or less with practice.
Hunting big and medium sized game with a muzzleloader is not much different than hunting with a rifle or a shotgun using slugs. You still have to do your scouting,find the food and water sources,along with the bedding areas,and trails to and from theses areas. The newer inlines are more like rifle hunting,it’s just a lot more important to make your first shot count,because it takes so much longer to reload.
You do have more range than a shotgun with slugs for the most part-unless you have a rifled barrel for you shotgun,then it’s about the same range.
With the muzzleloader using loose powder,you have as much control over the load you use as you do if you are reloading your rifle ammo.
I use my inline during Ohio’s shotgun season,because I can make a longer shot,since I don’t have a rifled barrel.
Plus I get strange looks when using my Mossberg 590 for deer hunting-must be the heat shield…
You can get a new inline like the traditions Buckstalker I have for under $200.00,add another $50-75.00 for all the accessories you will need,and for under $300.00 you have a rifle that’s fun to shoot,is accurate,and can take any big game animal in the USA-even a Kodiak brown bear.
You can also find used muzzleloaders for under $150.00 at most gun shops-just be sure to inspect the barrel to make sure it’s not corroded due to poor cleaning practices.
Another benefit is you get more time to hunt with a gun,as most states have a season for muzzleloaders only.
If you don’t have a muzzleloader-try shooting one-it’s fun,less expensive than shooting most rifles,and it’s a great back-up weapon to have in case you run out of ammo during a SHTF situation…
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Tips on processing your own deer
Posted: August 11, 2014 by gamegetterII in food preservation, hunting, preparedness, survivalOnce you have shot your deer-whether by bow,shotgun or rifle,the first thing you have to do is field dress it. One of the most important things is to cool the meat down as fast as possible. This means getting the deer back to camp,or home,get it hung up and skinned as soon as possible,if it’s hot outside,pack the chest cavity of the deer with ice,both on the trip home,and once the deer is hanging up.
Venison tastes better if it’s aged for about 5-7 days,if temps are 40 degrees or cooler,you can let the deer hang in your garage,shed,barn,wherever.
If temps are above 40 degrees,butcher the deer,and the meat can be aged in coolers with ice,or in a refrigerator for the same 5-7 days. Aging the meat allows the muscles-which is what meat is- to relax,which makes it more tender.
Butchering a deer is a fairly simple process,there’s a ton of You Tube videos that show the process step by step,and an equal number of books on butchering wild game.
One of the keys to good tasting venison is to remover every bit of fat from the meat-venison fat tastes nasty-cut all of it off.
To improve the flavor of your ground venison-do not grind pork or pork fat into the meat-grind some beef fat into it.
You want to get about an 80-20 ratio of meat to fat,it doesn’t have to be exact,make it 90-10 if you want low-fat ground meat,but remember,the low fat meat has less flavor,and does not make good meatloaf,meatballs,etc. Any more than 20% fat,and you have greasy meat that shrinks to half the size when you make a burger out of it.
I get beef fat from our local grocery store’s meat dept. they only charge me between 59-79 cents per pound.That’s a great price,for under 10 bucks,you get enough beef fat to grind into 50# of venison.
Always grind the meat twice,it breaks down any connective tissue and small bits of silverskin you missed when trimming the meat,plus it mixes the fat in better.
A vacuum sealer machine is the best way to package and freeze your venison,if you don’t have one,use plastic wrap,butcher’s paper,then place the packages in a Ziploc type freezer bag.
I cut a few nice roasts from my deer,and instead of removing the entire “backstrap”,which is the loin,I leave it on,because I cut some t-bones and strip steaks on my bandsaw,then cut out the remaining parts of the backstraps.
Most of the meat is cut up for stew meat,and ground venison. You should end up with about half of the weight of the deer,after it’s been field dressed.
A 150# deer,weighed after it’s been field dressed,will give you about 75# of meat.
I live in Ohio,our deer get really big because they eat a lot of corn and soybeans from the farm fields. I usually end up with around 90# of meat from the deer I get here.
Those of you who hunt deer a lot should look into investing in an electric grinder,makes the process go much faster than using a hand crank grinder that clamps on to your table.
I still have a couple hand crank grinders,I keep them because there could be a SHTF situation in which we have no power from the grid for weeks or months-maybe longer.
All it took was a tree branch to cause a blackout that shut down all power in Ohio,Pa,Ny,and parts of Canada for several days a few years ago-you should always have the means to survive without power,or with a back-up power source in case a similar blackout happens,or the people who shot the transformers at a substation in CA decide to shoot up multiple substations ,in multiple states.
Like the Boy Scouts say-be prepared.
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Do more PT.
Back up power sources for your home or retreat.
Posted: August 11, 2014 by gamegetterII in preparedness, survival, UncategorizedThere’s a very god chance that during any SHTF event-the grid is going to go down.
How are you going to keep your food cold,frozen foods frozen,have lights,Tee Vee,internet-(if it hasn’t been shut down by TPTB)-and charge your cell phone,GPS,etc.?
Keeping your food cold is important-so is being able to re-charge the batteries for cordless tools.
The cell phone is only important if you have no other means of communication-it may well end up being useless after a short period of time. Most cell towers have back-up power at least the important ones. This means you may have some ability to communicate by cell phone for a day or two.
You do have other means of communicating with other friends family-and your tribe,group,whatever you call your friends who are aware of the chances of a SHTF event right?
Someone in your tribe has their HAM license and radio right?
Solar panels are a good thing to have-they just don’t generate much power in some locations.
Small windmills work great if you have a decent amount of wind in your location.
Micro-hydro works – if you have a stream very near your location.
A combination of wind and solar will work in all locations-with some planning.
There’s another thing to add to the combination as long as there’s some wind in your location. Windmills have been used for a couple hundred years to pump well water-what you need are two large plastic water tanks-250-500 gallons are an ideal size,tank size depends on power needs.
One tank gets placed at ground level-or in your basement-the other needs to be elevated,can use the attic of your house as long as you reinforce the framing,or just use the tower the windmill is on if you want to-all that you need is one tank higher than the other-the greater the height difference,the more power you can generate.
The system is based on having a fairly large bank of deep cycle batteries-that’s your biggest expense,and at least one power inverter.
Here’s the basics-the windmill pumps water to the upper tank,when there’s no wind,a small battery powered pump takes care of pumping water to the upper tank when there’s no wind.
Using the windmill to pump water from the lower tank to the higher tank when there’s wind,and using battery power provided by solar panels to power a small 12 volt pump-(think bilge pump from bass boat or ski boat)- when there’s not enough wind,then the water from the upper tank is drained through a series of progressively smaller PVC pipe until it hits just above the level of the lower tank. The stream of water then turns a small water wheel-(think old time mill on a river using river’s flow to turn the huge millstone to grind wheat and corn)-that’s placed inside a piece of PVC pipe that’s epoxied to the inlet to lower tank. The small wheel can even be a car or truck alternator-or it can turn a shaft that then turns a magneto type generator with a voltage regulator to be sure the batteries do not get voltage higher than the 18 volts most car and truck alternators put out. The water wheel could also turn a generator that puts out AC power-but then it gets into more complicated electrical engineering.
With this type system-the water is always moving,always producing power-and there are two methods of pumping the water to the upper tank-the direct power from the windmill turning a shaft that turns a pump-and the battery that’s charged by both the windmill and the solar panels.
The greater your power needs-the bigger your battery bank needs to be-more batteries means more stored power. You also need to have a small gas powered generator-2500 watts or so-to charge the batteries when they are too close to being drained.
You can also have separate battery banks for the solar panel array (s). the windmill/water tank/battery powered pump setup (s),meaning if you need more power-build more windmills with water tanks,or just have smaller windmills with car/truck alternators charging a small battery bank,and/or place more small solar panel arrays facing south.
When you set up your battery banks-be sure to have each battery you add fully charged when you add it.
Another thing is you have to use the batteries,they have to be discharged and recharged.
Once you have the system installed-use it to run your home or retreat for the weekend-this way the batteries are getting used,they go through the discharge-recharge cycle a few times a month.
Yes,the batteries are expensive-you can either give up some extras now-or have no power when the grid goes down-it’s your choice…
If anyone wants more info on this type of a system,e-mail me gamegetterII@yahoo.com
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Train.
Do more PT.
How a Feral Gang/Opposing Force Might Come at Your Retreat – Pt II
Posted: August 10, 2014 by gamegetterII in UncategorizedCaching Supplies
Posted: August 10, 2014 by gamegetterII in firearms, preparedness, survival, training, UncategorizedLike the Boy Scout motto says-be prepared!
You should have caches of supplies hidden along your E&E routes,and around your home,or your retreat in the boonies.
The supplies should consist of medical supplies to restock your IFAK,and some additional wound treatment supplies,along with food,water,spare weapons, ammo,clothing,spare assault pack and ruck.
Depending on where you live-you can bury a lot of stuff in the ground. A 5 gallon bucket holds a little over 30# of rice-that can sustain a lot of people for a few day-or a few people for much longer.
Medical supplies can be stored in sections of 6″ PVC pipe with end caps-there are threaded end caps and adapters available so you can cut the pipe to whatever length you need.
Ammo can be stored in the PVC,5 gallon buckets w lids,or military grade ammo cans.
Supplies in your cache (s) should also include some basic tools-gun cleaning kit,solvent and gun oil,gunsmithing tools,maps and compass,knives,axes,hatchets,magnesium block and striker for starting fires,paracord,tarps,batteries for scopes,GPS,rangefinders,radios,wipes,and personal hygiene items,clean clothes-especially socks and underwear.
You should also have some water in your caches.
When you place whatever it is you are burying-or hiding under rocks-or whatever you have to do in your AO-in the container that it’s going to be stored in,open up an oxygen absorber or two-even three depending on how much you have in the container-all those hand and body warmers you see at the checkout in wally world are oxygen absorbers-just open them up-shake them,to be sure the iron powder is mixed up well-then place in the container just before putting the lid on it.
Food items-like rice,pasta,flour,sugar,salt,etc do not spoil when there’s no oxygen-steel and iron items don’t rust when there’s no oxygen.
The idea behind having s supply cache is that if for whatever reason, you have to dump all your gear-you have a place to go and resupply.
Your caches should be in hard to get to places-that way there’s less chance of others finding your cache.The farther out of the way your cache is,the better the chances that no one else finds it.Plus no one will be able to see you as you resupply.
There’s the PT thing again-you have to be in shape-be able to go get supplies from your cache-which is far away from the routes others travel-and do so undetected.
When SHTF-there’s almost zero chance that you are going to be staying in one place for long-you have to have supplies stashed along every possible E&E route- around your residence,and your bug out location.
You have to walk the trails/routes that others travel in your area,so you can choose a cache location that’s away from normal routes-the PT thing again-walk the trails carrying your full ruck.
You don’t want to find out that you can’t get to your cache when wearing your EDC plus ruck-choose your locations when you have all that shit on-it would really suck to find out it takes you an extra 10 minutes to get to your ammo cache when you have people trying to kill you closing in on you.
Having a lot of supplies cached is just common sense-the idea is to survive the coming collapse.
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Do more PT !
Gardening, Canning,and Food Preservation-Part III
Posted: August 7, 2014 by gamegetterII in canning, food preservation, gardening, Growing your own food, preparedness, survivalSince it’s now August,a lot of tomatoes should be ripening,along with some of the various types of hot peppers, green and yellow wax beans,and pickling cucumbers should be producing the majority of their cukes by now.
This is when a pressure canner pays for itself,as it’s the only safe way to can green and yellow wax beans.
The bigger benefit to having a pressure canner is that you can take your tomatoes,peel them,remove the seeds,-(save the skins,and all the stuff that comes out with the seeds)-and cook them down into sauce or puree.
I have this old strainer I got from my grandma with a metal stand that is designed to fit over a mixing bowl,it also has a wooden pestle-(like mortar and pestle)-Google it if you don’t know that it is…
It is the perfect set-up for forcing the last of the tomato juice from the seeds,skins,and the membrane that holds the seeds in place-use the juice that you get by pushing all that stuff through the strainer to add to your tomatoes as they are cooking down into sauce or puree.
If you don’t want to go through all that-buy a new sieve that has a crank-type handle on it that turns a blade to force the stuff from the skins seeds,and membranes of the tomatoes through the holes. That is a much faster method-I just use my grandma’s because that’s how I have always seen it done-so that’s just how I process my tomatoes.
Once your sauce or puree is cooked ’till it’s thick enough-follow the instructions from the Ball Blue Book of Canning, and/or the book that comes with the pressure canner.
I posted links to a bunch of sources for canning info in a previous post titled- ” Gardening,Canning and Food preservation part I ”
Another benefit to having a pressure canner is that you can make your tomato sauce or puree into a meat sauce if you want to have already made pasta sauce on hand-great thing to have a LOT of for your emergency food supply.
You can also make vegetable soups-using the tons of zucchinis and green+yellow beans you you should have now-and can that soup in your pressure canner.
Again-follow the Ball Blue Book instructions,or one of the other resources I posted in part I of this series.
To use up your pickling cukes-I make some into bread& butter type pickles,some into dill pickles,some into garlic dills,and some into hot dill pickles-using a variety of my hot peppers from the garden.
I do NOT use my pressure canner to make any kind of pickles-or a water bath canner-I cold pack ALL of my pickles,along with most of my hot peppers.
How to make cold packed pickles and peppers will be in Part IV.
Until then…
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Do more PT !
Mrs. Starvin Larry in the garden…
How a Feral Gang/Opposing Force Might Come at Your ‘Retreat’
Posted: August 7, 2014 by gamegetterII in UncategorizedSomething everyone needs to read-even if you just consider yourself a “prepper” or a “survivalist”,or you think you and a couple of your buddies can protect your families in a disaster/crisis/SHTF situation-read this-let it sink in-then start doing something to prepare yourselves for something like this-because these types will be out there.
Starvin Larry 