Advanced Survival Guide.com

Preparedness News 5/18/2013

asgadmin — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:21:45 +0000

It looks like our region’s fruit farmers have dodged major frost damage this year. Last year, the Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan area were hit pretty hard by a late spring frost that drove fruit prices through the roof. Prices and availability should be OK this year. Here’s a local article: http://www.fox28.com/story/22239275/2013/05/13/fruit-looks-good-despite-frost

The stupidity of California legislators was spotlighted again this week when the state passed a 10% ammunition tax to pay for child mental health care and provide revenue to California city crime prevention.They’re hoping to steal another $92 million dollars from their residents with this new tax.

http://www.postnewsgroup.com/publishedcontent/2013/05/17/ammunition-tax-approved/

There’s still a couple weeks left to save 15% on your order at Surplus Planet. Just type “MAY15SALE” in the promotion box at checkout.

There’s a good article at the Living Ready blog about how Ham Operators got down to business after the Boston Marathon bombing caused cell phone outages.

http://www.livingreadyonline.com/gear-advice/cell-phone-outages-in-boston-highlight-ham-radio-use

Alabama Hunting

asgadmin — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:20:22 +0000

This is an advertisement provided by HunterCourse.com

Why Hunting in Alabama is Different: Laws & Regulations

Alabama hunting guidelines and laws vary considerably from the laws regulating various other states, and prior to making an application for an Alabama hunting license, you should definitely get familiar with the do’s and don’ts of hunting in the Yellowhammer State.

Safety Courses Are Required

Hunting in Alabama is managed, and prior to being allowed to pursue game, hunting enthusiasts are required to take 10 hour hunter education course specific to Alabama. Luckily, you can take the class online and breeze through it using services like HunterCourse.com. However, you will still need to take at least one field training course in the state to finalize your safety certification.

There are some exceptions to this rule: members of the National Guard, police force and military are exempt from the safety requirement.

Hunting in Alabama Can Be Expensive

Without taking into account your safety class, Alabama hunting is fairly cheap for residents compared to some other states. An all game hunting license costs $24, while a little game license is only $16. I’d suggest paying the extra because you don’t want to miss out on Alabama’s white-tailed deer and turkeys.

Sadly, this discounted rate is no good for non-residents. If you live close to the border, an Alabama hunting license costs $275 for the year. For those hoping to take a nice hunting vacation, a 10 day license runs $170, and a 3 day Alabama hunting license goes for $120. Do you think it would be so expensive if it wasn’t worth it?

Some Legal Facts

It’s really important to keep track of the various state hunting laws. For example, it’s important to keep track of hunting seasons and bagging limits. Utilizing fire and smoke to search is prohibited, as is hunting from a movie vehicle or pursuing wild turkeys with a dog. Connecting a laser sight to a weapon or hunting bow is also not allowed. For the complete list of regulations to watch out for, you should check out the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Marlin XL7 .270 Winchester: Initial Review

asgadmin — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:12:50 +0000

Here’s a quick review and our initial impressions of the Marlin XL7 bolt action hunting rifle. This rifle is equipped with a Realtree dipped synthetic stock and one piece Weaver style scope mount. The barrel is rifled with a twist of 1:10″. I picked this rifle up at a local shop recently as a replacement for another rifle (the replaced rifle will be the subject of another post in the near future). I had been eyeballing this Marlin for a few weeks and had read many good reviews online about it. I was holding out for a .243 but the shop didn’t have that caliber and these Marlins were selling fast. The .270 Win was my close second choice. The shop had a $399 price tag on it and I left there with the new Marlin after a little negotiating.

This rifle is very similar to our Stevens 200 and I plan to do a side-by-side comparison of the two rifles later this summer. the Marlin also comes standard with an adjustable trigger. In case you’re wondering, the barrel is not pressed and pinned like some of the other budget hunting rifles, it’s threaded like a Savage and appears to use the same barrel wrench. All in all it looks like an upgraded Stevens 200.

The other feature, or should I say “non-feature” that drew me to this rifle is the fixed magazine. I handled the new Ruger American and came very close to buying one but it’s magazine didn’t give me a confident feeling. All I could envision about it was losing the magazine out in the woods during a hunt.

As soon as it was unpacked and cleaned, I placed an order for the Warne 201M steel scope rings to fit the Bushnell Banner 3-9×40 illuminated scope that we had found on sale somewhere many months ago. I normally opt for Leupold or Burris mounts and rings but I was determined to keep this rifle on a budget and decided to keep the weaver mount.

The rings arrived 2 days later and the scope was mounted. I noticed that the scope mount screws had not been loc-tited nor torqued at the factory so that was taken care of as well.

The next day I was able to sneak out to a range that was located near a job site that I was working at. The first target was placed at 50 yards just to see if the scope was able to hit paper. The first two shots were touching each other but were about 3 inches low-right. The trigger felt almost perfect. 3 more rounds and a little adjusting brought the point of impact about 1 inch low and center so I moved to the 100 yard range. The next 3 rounds produced the group shown below. The squares on the target below are exactly 7/8″. The first two rounds were .75 MOA. The round farthest to the right is last one fired. I’d like to blame that flyer on the wind or a warm barrel but I’m sure it was the operator’s fault.

I ran out of time at the range and had to get back to work. This rifle will be taken as a back-up rifle on an upcoming hunt so I will tinker some more with it when we get to our destination. I am 100% positive that some tailored handloads will tighten the group. The loads used on this day were Winchester 150gr Power Points.

So to sum up this review:

The rifle is made in the USA
It came with an adjustable trigger, a camo stock and a one piece scope mount for under $400
It took 8 rounds to sight the scope in to an acceptable hunting accuracy
I like the fixed, blind 4 round magazine

I guess you could say that I am pleased with this rifle! We will be doing a more in-depth review on it later this summer.

Ben