The Five Gun Selection

The question has come up from time to time while sitting over a meal or at the campfire "What five guns would you keep if that's all you could have"?  I too have thought of this as I get older and thin out the collection of firearms to my up and coming hunter sons. I think the list is different for every man based on many different conditions and locations where they live. For instance my list does not include any long range shooters as I don't really have the need for such a firearm. My choice was made based on needs rather that wants and tends to be more practical than some of the list I have seen printed before. I'll start in no particular order and try to explain why I made the choices I did.

No collection would be complete without at least one .22 rimfire. My list will include the ever popular Ruger Mark II semi-automatic pistol in stainless steel. Mine wears the 6 7/8" barrel with iron sights. I have owned mine for about 30 years and it has never failed to operate in any way. The ammunition is cheap and you can carry plenty your jacket pocket or in a small field bag. This pistol is fun to shoot and is an excellent tool to teach newcomers how to shoot and handle a firearm. It has plenty of power for small game like squirrels and rabbits. I also often take it along to take care of critters of the no neck variety.  Ammo can be purchased almost anywhere which should be considered for your limited gun selection. Who wants to own a gun which uses a cartridge of limited availability?

Next on my limited list of five is another pistol.  This second pistol is the brainchild of John Browning.  It's the 1911 style semi-automatic pistol of .45 caliber.  This power house is all the pistol you should ever need for self protection.  It has plenty of knockdown power without being a beast to handle. This is another cartridge that is easy to find for purchase and reload if you so choose.  There are so many different models to choose from in today's market and I love them all. My personnel choice is a full size model with combat style sights. It's accurate and it feeds well from the single stack magazine. You just can't go wrong with the 1911 pistol. It's been working for 100 years now and it will work for another 100 years I'm sure. Shop carefully and pick the model you are most comfortable with. You will not be disappointed.

Third on the list is a 12 ga. pump shotgun. This is the most versatile gun of  the five. It can take birds or big game for the table, clay targets for fun and be used to protect yourself if need be. My choice is the Browning BPS but there are others simialar models to choice from. I use a 28" barrel with a set of choke tubes to match the ammo and game I am persueing. I also have 19" cylinder bore barrel for mine which allow it to work double duty as a house gun. This short barrel is very easy to handle in tight quarters. Most pumps will handle  2 3/4" and 3" shells.  This makes them suitable for duck, turkey and deer hunting. For a pump shotgun I would always pick a 12 ga. over a 20ga. because the ammo selection is much greater.

A center fire rifle makes my list's number four spot. A bolt action rifle makes the most sense to me as they are so dependable and accurate. Choose a caliber that is somewhat common over one that is not as popular. You want to make sure you can always find ammo.  My first choice is the .308 Winchester. I live in the east  and there is nothing here that I would not take with the .308.  It has alway been a very accurate cartridge and it can be found loaded in many different brands and bullets types. My Ruger Model 77RS is in stainless steel and it will shoot groups less than 1" with my hadloads and with a few factory loads. My rifle wears a 4-16 power scope which works well for the deer hunting I use it for. Most of the hunting I do leaves me with shots that will range from 50 yards out to about 200 yards. At these ranges todays premium bullets should make clean  kills with one shot as long as you do your part. I'll discuss options in a later paragragh as the options and calibers are endless for a firearm in this catagory.

Last but not least on my list is another gun that is totally fun to shoot and very pratical. It's a another rimfire but this time it's a rifle. My choice is the 17HMR bolt action. Not only is it alot of fun to shoot it is accurate and when matched with one of the trajectory compensating scopes you will be surprised how far you can shoot it accuratly. This tiny .17 caliber bullet is moving so fast it makes clean kills on rabbits or squirels and has even been known to kill a deer. Fox, crow, bobcat and coyates should be no problem for the .17 at reasonable ranges. It is not legal in my state for hunting big game but I know it happens. Plenty of ammo should be purchased for this rifle as it is not sold at every county store out there.

The choices for a five gun battary are endless and I have just listed what I like for where I live. Bassically I choose a small pistol, a big pistol, a shotgun, a big rifle and a small rifle.  Action types and cartridge selections are as varied as can be and none will be wrong or right for every person. Choose what you are comfortable shooting with and is in your price range. My oldest son has started his collection and so far has gathered a 12 ga. and a 20ga. shotgun, a small rifle and a large rifle.  His two calibers of choice thus far are the .243 Winchester and the .300 Weatherby Magnum. Others are on his Christmas list for sure and pistols too when he becomes of legal age to own one. Get your first five started and practice, practice and practice a little more.  If you you have any questions on safe gun handling please visit the website of the National Shooting Sports Foundation at http://www.nssf.org/ .  Be safe my friends.

My Favorite Baits for Largemouth Bass!

I'm not sure if I learned to walk and talk first or to fish. Either way I've been fishing for a long time now. With more than 45 years of serious fishing under my belt I thought I could share with you a few of my favorite baits and how I like to fish them here in the south for largemouth bass.

I will list these baits in the order of having caught the most fish on them.  Like many of us I have no choice but to start with the soft plastics. The invention of the plastic worm has to be the best invention of all time to the bass fisherman. Without a doubt the plastic worm has caught more fish than any other lure ever. At least for me it has. I learned to fish the worm during the late 1960's and into the 70's. I have used it all over the Southeastern United States in water as deep as 35 feet to as shallow as 6 inches and everything in between. Water temperature of 58 degrees is when I start using the worm in the spring and I have used it in water up to 102 degrees on the surface. I will use the soft plastic all summer and into the fall until the water falls back to about this point of 58 or so degrees.

The weedless worm rigged Texas style is my preferred style of worm fishing. depending on the water depth I will use a slip sinker somewhere between 1/16 of and ounce and 1/4 ounce. I tend to carry two worm setups with me on each outing. A light rig using 10# test line and a heavier rig using 14-17# test lines. On any given day the fish will tend to show a preference for one or the other. In the heavy cover I will use the heavier rig to muscle the fish out. If the cover is light I will use the lighter rig. Always use the sharpest hook you can afford and try to keep that hook sharp. This will make the hook set much easier. I also like to use worms with two different contours. I use a skinny worm on the light rig and a bolder contour on the heavy rig. I switch back and forth until I find the combination the fish are liking and then I will stick with what is working best.

These soft plastics now come in a rainbow of colors. Try sticking with a few of the best sellers in your area.  I always carry a few of the following colors which are hard to beat. Blue, green, black, red and purple. Fish each until you find the one the fish in your lake like the best. There are also the more recent colors like watermelon seed and others, made by mixing two colors into one worm or by adding glitter into the plastic mixture.

Another version of a soft plastic bait is the lizard which I fish in heavy grass and weed beds. I fish the lizard with as light a weight as I can get away with and still be able to cast the bait. I always use a large and heavy duty hook with a lizard.  Big fish love this bait and the heavy hook helps hold the big ones. I use a 5/0 or a 6/0 hook and my favorite lizard size is 6" long. Because it is used in heavy cover 17# test is the recommended line size as a starting point. The lizard works best when it will fall slowly after coming off of a lilly pads or some grass.  This is when the strike comes most often.

The last soft plastic I use on a regular basis is the soft jerk bait. There are many different brands and styles available. I like one that has a slot for the hook to ride in. This is a bait that I only recently began to love. I use no weight at all other than the hook I select. Usually a 4/0 offset wide bend hook is what I use with a 7 foot heavy spinning rod. I use 14-17# test lines and make fairly long cast. I start moving the bait at once and keep it into the grass or right along the edge of the grass for best results. I like a light colored bait so I can see the lure as it is jerking back and forth on the retrieve. Many strikes are in plain sight as I keep the bait near the surface. When you see or feel the strike set the hook and hang on.

My second favorite class of baits is the spinnerbait.  I like the standard style wire frame baits that weigh from 3/16 of an ounce and on up to 1/2 ounce.  The most balanced all around weight for most situations is 3/8 of an ounce  and cast with 14-15# test line. I use casting equipment with a short 5'-6" rod so I can make a slight underhanded cast keeping the bait low to the water with a gentle or no splash landing. My casting reels are left handed retrieve models so I can start reeling as soon as the lure hits the water.  I use three  basic retrieves when using the spinnerbaits with willow leaf or Colorado blades. On the surface of the water with the rod tip helping to control the depth I run the bait  just a few inches deep. This will leave a small wake behind the bait. My second retrieve is the slow roll which will keep the bait 2-4 feet below the surface and the third is a deep retrieve running the bait along structure along the bottom. Piers, post  and stumps fields are my favorite spots for fishing the spinnerbaits but I have used them with great success in the fall in big flats and in the back of feeder creeks when bass are chasing the shad.  If I had to only have a few spinnerbaits I would start with 3/8 ounce baits in white, chartruse and with willow leaf blades in silver and gold. I may mix in a few buzz baits for running on the surface. When the grass is not too heavy or when targeting open structure use a trailer hook setup. I always use the Side-Striker trailer hook. With this trailer hook all the fish has to do is just look at the bait and it's caught. I'll end up here today and continue later with more on crank baits and top water selections next time.  Good fishing and be safe.