Or maybe it's just daylight savings time.

By the time it gets dark and I'm through working around the house, shower and eat dinner, it's 9 o'clock. Just time to watch the news and go to bed. Not much time for reloading.

Hard to find a time to go to the range without sweating, getting eaten up by mosquitoes unless you want to fight at least a 20 mph wind. Gets sweat on your gun and it never cools. Miserable. If you go in the mornings, by 9 AM when the range opens, there might not be any wind but the humidity is 100% and it's like shooting in a sauna.

'nuff whining, feel better. If it weren't for wading in chest deep green tides and catching speckled trout during the summer, I'd go crazy!


Without guns we are subjects (or victims), with guns we are citizens

Then you should move to northern Wisconsin we have summer for a whole 2 or 3 days a year.

Naw we might get a few weeks of it,

Woods,
I certainly agree. I live in north central Georgia and it's akin to miserable after about 10:00 AM. Thankfully, I belong to two private clubs, so I can shoot whenever. I go around daylight, done by 9:00 AM before it gets too vulgar.

That being said the yellow flies have been rough lately. Last Sunday while sighting the scope on my BAR .338 I literally got in the Jeep and drove downrange to check the targets (again, private range, usually the only one there that time of the morning).

Come on October.
Jason

Relocate to Fernley, Nevada. I am surrounded by literally thousands upon thousands upon thousands of empty acres of public (BLM) land. There are no fences, no "No Trespassing" signs, no "No Hunting" signs, et cetera. A man can shoot just about anywhere it's safe to do so and there are no houses too close by to bitch about the noise. Reno and Sparks are just 30 minutes away and there are multiple avenues to employment there. Nevada is the fastest growing state in the Union and has been for seven years. Lyon County is the fastest growing county in Nevada; I guess that makes Lyon County the fastest growing county in America? We have no state income tax here, but each county has its own sales tax rate. Gasoline is expensive; food is expensive; the price of houses has exploded around here (I wonder why...?) but if you want to shoot, hunt, ride dirt bikes or ATVs, go skiing, kayak, hike, mountain bike or engage in any number of outdoor activities, northern Nevada is it. I moved here from Winchester, Virginia to get away from the insufferable humidity of the northern Shenandoah Valley; from the crappy roads of the east coast; from the toll roads that create so much logbook trouble for us truckers; from the sloppy winters and rainy summers; from the crowded truckstops; from having to go into cities like Philadelphia, Boston and Atlanta, and from having to make deliveries into metro NJ and NYC at 7 in the morning. I wanted a place to shoot my guns-- a place where owning rifles with pistol grips, bayonet lugs, collapsing stocks, detachable box magazines and muzzle brakes was not frowned upon, but rather went unnoticed. I found it in Fernley, Nevada and I love it here. A high-humidity day is 25 percent RH. It rains very little, but it is dusty here and tends to be windy. All in all, I think I've found my place in the sun (and we have alot of that here, too).

Woods,

I feel your pain, of course our "winter" isn't all that bad. The way I figure, we need to migrate north for the summer!

Sounds like you're doing all right, Rootbeer. Hope it lasts a while for you before all the other fed-up East Coasters spoil the amibiance. Parts of Florida and South Texas used to be much the same but time and snowbirds have changed the landscape. Maybe we gun nuts can be put on the endangered list and Nevavda can be designated critical habitat !

Woods,

You could try our neck of the "woods", if we don't like the weather we just wait five minutes and it will change. Serously though hot and humid doesn't sound like a good day for the range. But look at the bright side when was the last time you dodged hail?

Summer is not my fovorite season either too hot, spring and fall are my favorite seasons. Don't know about you but I live in a rural setting and I can SMELL fall and know its hunting season.

Funny I usually get a lot of reloading done during the summer ( accurately defined as July and August in Northern Idaho), my reloading setup is in my basement, its cool downstairs so
disappearing down to the cool suits me just fine.

Oh yeah, I hate summer and all it brings: scantily clad women, short shorts,tank tops, swimming pools,vacation...

One thing I forgot to mention about northern Nevada... We have alot of Californians coming in. They are causing the price of housing to go up here because they sell their two-bedroom, 1200 square foot, tarpaper shack in Cali for 3.6 million dollars, come here, build a 10,000 square foot place on a hillside overlooking Reno for $500,000 and pocket the difference. Not really, but you get the idea... I just hope the people coming from Cali are coming to escape the tightly-controlled way of life there and not to bring the same here.

Same thing is happening in N. Idaho, I don't care if they come I just would keep their whacky ideas behind. They have been pressuring the F&G to reduce access to elk habitate for hunters ( closing areas ) and stop the use of dogs on Mt Lion and Bear. They have been defeated on both counts but you can beat it will come up again in a year or so.

One advantage we have over you is the Californians don't handle our winters well, a lot of them leave after a couple of years, either that or assimilate. One my new next door neighbor is from California and he either didn't have all the baggage or left it behind. Although last winter was mild, it presented them a a lot of new challenges.

Woods I dont know where you shoot at,but you made no mention of wasp,bees and fire ants.My biggest summertime shooting gripe is the sweat getting in my eyes.

Today's weather in Houston:

June 18
Partly Cloudy
High: 96° F
Low: 73° F
Humidity: 52%


woods,

It's not surprising that fellow Houstonians chimed in on your topic! "I feel your pain!"

-Bob F.

Summer here in Colorado means PRAIRIE DOGS! Great time to be out shooting.
A lot of those Kalifornians have moved here. We also have the Peoples Republic of Boulder here.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
...Hard to find a time to go to the range without sweating, getting eaten up by mosquitoes unless you want to fight at least a 20 mph wind. Gets sweat on your gun and it never cools. Miserable. If you go in the mornings, by 9 AM when the range opens, there might not be any wind but the humidity is 100% and it's like shooting in a sauna....

Hey woods, In the South Carolina Low Country, Deer Season normally opens on 15Aug(as EVERYONE KNOWS - 57 days and counting) unless that is a Sunday and then it opens 14Aug. Some of the Openers I've hunted have pushed 110deg and the Humidity really was 80%-90%. So, if you want to be properly prepared for it, the weather you described is what I "enjoy" practicing in too.

Generally do the Gun buying, trading and swapping during Jan and Feb.
Scope shuffling or buying in March.
April is the month for Load testing using the (never improved upon) Creighton Audette Method.
May allows for Fine Tuning the Load as it begins to warm.
June and July is Final Practice with little actual time on the Bench.

Toss in Stand Maintenance, Trail Trimming, Varmint Ventilating and BBQ eating, and you darn near need a few extra months.

If you dont like Heat,humidity,bugs,sweat etc then mowe to Iceland! We dont have any mosquitoes, 10-25.C in the summer, no humidity to talk about and no people whining about you hunting or shooting.
plus you can shoot 24/7 in the summertime as the sun doesnt go down for 3 months!

Then there is winter!

Regards
Ben
Iceland

Yep, heat, humidity and bugs the next few months here in the Low Country. No worries-I'll shoot anytime and be happy.
Hot Core--used to do the "countdown" when I hunted Jasper cty a long time ago. Know what ya mean about openers being brutal hot/humid. Along with severe T-storms.
Sako

I do alright in the heat. I lived in Phoenix for 14 years, and 90 degrees in any kind of humidity up here is pretty bearable compared to a dry 115.

I'm with you on Daylight time. I want to die in Winter (or in Arizona, which doesn't participate), so as not to be cheated out of an hour of my life.

H. C.

quote:

Originally posted by SakoL61R:
Yep, heat, humidity and bugs the next few months here in the Low Country. No worries-I'll shoot anytime and be happy.
Hot Core--used to do the "countdown" when I hunted Jasper cty a long time ago. Know what ya mean about openers being brutal hot/humid. Along with severe T-storms. Sako

Hey Sako, Used to start "The Countdown" on 2Jan of each year since the last day of the Season is 1Jan. Really helped keep things in perspective about how little time there was to get all the other things done.

That Lowcountry weather is what makes me appreciate the slower rusting qualities of Stainless for my firearms. Nothing like carrying a rifle through the day and come in to find the sweat from your hands left nice "impressions" in the Blue. Even tried 26 coats of car wax once long ago on a 7mmRemMag and it did right well until the DEET hit it, just like a democrat going through Taxes.

Ah yes, soak the Boonie Hat in the cooler's ice water and it sure feels fine for five minutes or so.

My old buddy Don even carries one of the small battery fans to the Stand with him in the early part of the Season. He claims it doesn't cool him as much as it makes the approach and landings more difficult for the Skeeters, No-See-Ums and Flying Teeth(Sand Fleas).

Absolutely LOVE Savannah. Have spent some memorable times there. Seems like the folks know how to "celebrate" events right well.

My wife is from Maine and would like us to go there to live, but I tell her that they have only two seasons there: ice and bugs.

The worst part about living here is that the my preferred shooting area was just declared a "wind resource area". I believe that means the wind blows above 20 mph at least half the time.

Spring is the worst. When the snow finally melts, the wind is blowing continuously through July, and then it is too hot to shoot.

I want to get rich, and build a 300 meter shooting tunnel..... JMO, Dutch.

Let's see, put a couple hundred miles on the bike Saturday and spent Sunday playing on the boat. It's not November but I'll take it.

Jeff

Guys

Try living in North Yorkshire, England, Summer was on a Sunday this year and was followed late in the day by flash floods and thunder storms, putting down a whole month's supply of heavy rain in just over 2 hours, much of the county went under water and peoples houses even floated away with the ensuing current.

I tried shooting on Sunday morning and my barrel is still hot today, fortunately for the remaining 364 days we have just grey miserable days, often cold, global warming just doesn't seem the right term !

JT

Riding down the freeway today at 4 PM my rearview mirror thermometer read 106 degrees, exited and the feeder was a little cooler at 104 degrees.

Last year we had the wettest June in history with 18" of rain, this year the dryest in history .08". Still get the humidity from the Gulf, stays about 65%.

Still picked about 40 pounds of tomatoes though.


Without guns we are subjects (or victims), with guns we are citizens

quote:

Originally posted by woods:

I hate summer.

Yep. I just used that exact phrase today talking to the wife. She loves summer. To me, the only good thing about summer is her in a 2 piece bathing suit. That always makes my day.

However, if you look at a nice hunting schedule, like the one I'm planning this year beginning in August, you really don't have to wait too long for the next season.

Aug 15, if brave enough, hunt SC for velvet buck. Aug 20, Nebraska archery antelope. Sept, back to NB for archery bear (12-17th), Wyoming antelope, if drawn, Sept 25-30, Oct 1st, archery opener here in Ohio. Kentucky will already be open in Sept. November, Missouri rifle deer, BC whitetail, mulie, wolf combo, December, Kansas whitetail. January, Alberta wolf, Feb, Mountain lion (not sure where yet), 3rd week of May, NB bear, 4th week of May, Alberta bear, 1st week of June, BC bear. Then it's back to SC opener. See, that's not so bad.

C'mon up to Idaho, thats just south of the North Pole, it gets dark here about 10:30 these days...I like summer, after freezing all winter, then I like winter after sweating all summer, damn hard to please huh?

you sound like me. But I can honestly say, I never look forward to summer. It gets so hot, my grass burns up and the water bill gets outrageous. My only solution is keeping it wet.

I don't like walking outside and being drenched in sweat 30 seconds after I get in my truck.

I can always layer up for cold. You can't take enough clothes off for summer.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
Still picked about 40 pounds of tomatoes though. ...

Weii, Thanks A LOT!!! Tomatoes being picked now - grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Back in March I was all ready to begin planting tomatoes in KY. Neighbor got to laughing and said we had a LOT more frost and freezes ahead of us. Haven't lived in KY for about 40 years, so I'd forgotten.

April rolls around - same story.

May finally gets here and the neighbor says to wait until "after" the Derby. Good info because it was still lightly frosting.

The day after Derby Day, tomatoes went in the ground and they are doing well. Some of the Cherry Tomatoes are now between chin and eyeball high(5.5'-6') with lots and lots of green tomatoes. Not sure when they will be ready, but I'm ready for them.
---

Hey Doc, Looks like a great schedule. Best of luck on it.

Thanks!

I know what you mean the snowmobiling is'nt as
good in july and august

quote:

Tomatoes being picked now

ROTFLMAO! I am pulling my wilting, burned up plants this weekend after a good crop. They lasted longer than most, but I was picking culls/cooking sized ones for the last month.

Summer's been here for 2 months now! Thank God for fishing and living on the coast!

Wanna fight mosquitos?? Try going to SE Arkansas anytime between May and Nov. No sense in bringing bug juice... doesn't phase them at all.

Hey Y'all, With a bit of luck and if the neighbors dog Lady keeps her eyes peeled to repell any bird attacks on the back 40, I may soon be the proud parent of a beautiful Better Boy Tomato Went out to water them and noticed " 1 " has shifted into the slightly Pink mode.

Got enough Banana Peppers to feed the town.

Hotcore, I'm with you. Eastern Missouri is one of the worst places in the world during summer. I'm retired, not much money but lots of time,for what ! I can't go out in the extreme heat. My tomatoes just dried up and died.
Currently 97 heat index 108 !

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
Hey Y'all, With a bit of luck and if the neighbors dog Lady keeps her eyes peeled to repell any bird attacks on the back 40, I may soon be the proud parent of a beautiful Better Boy Tomato Went out to water them and noticed " 1 " has shifted into the slightly Pink mode.

Got enough Banana Peppers to feed the town.

That's your problem, you picked the wrong caliber - shoulda planted CELEBRITY tomatoes. My brother came over this morning and I let him clean out the patch - he picked 3 of those grocery store plastic sacks full. I just picked yesterday so I had plenty. Only pick the big ones for our use.

My wife is a labor and delivery nurse and when I put the points of my thumbs together and tried to match up my index fingers around a tomato (couldn't quite get there), she said that was 8 sononmeters or something like that. Lost my appetite.




Without guns we are subjects or victims, with guns we are citizens

quote:

Originally posted by hard luck:
Hotcore, I'm with you. ...Currently 97 heat index 108 !

Hey Hard Luck, Sounds like the typical South Carolina Lowcountry Opener on 15Aug. Sure does make good old Ice Water go down well - and a bit over the top too.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:

Hey Woods, Meant to say you could "shoot some" off the vines. That way we now have the Thread back on track.

WILL IT EVER END??!!

Last Thursday & Friday worked my &#@ off boarding windows, getting everything in, storing water, filling containers with gas, getting ready for the hurricane. Spent Saturday and Sunday taking all the plywood down, taking everything back out, picking up limbs, and watering the grass since we only got 1/2" of rain.

Last 3 days we have broken the record for heat by at least 3 to 5 degrees everyday, not a cloud in the sky or a breeze. The thermometer on my truck rear view mirror read 106* today driving down the road at 70 mph!!!

At least I had no damage and never lost electricity.

Hey Woods, Supposed to be 86deg in KY today(28Sep), but a high of 65deg for 29Sep and dip to about 45deg at sunrise on 30Sep. Only problem is the local weather folks have an extremely difficult time figuring out what will happen even 4 hours later. The Ohio Valley is a tough place for them to predict the weather.

Had "Blossom End Rot" on the Better Boy Tomatoes. Researched it and I need to add some Lime Dust to the ground when I turn it under for the Winter. Cherry Tomatoes did great. Had enough to keep all the neighbors loaded. Had an Aunt give me a Yellow Pear Tomato and the Rabbits ate it off just above the ground. Kept watering it and it somehow survived to become HUGE. Interesting tomatoes. I'll remember your recommendation about the Celebrity Tomatoes this next year.

Beginning to hear of a few Archery kills from Coastal NC and of course the Lowcountry of SC has had the Gun Season wide open since 15Aug. Hearing some fine Deer Stories from a lot of youngsters that I got to see make their first few kills. Still can see those full size grins as they relate these Hunts.
---

Sounded like you were well prepared for Rita. Sure glad that it didn't tear your place up.

Hey Woods, I've got the furnace running this morning.

Had a guy stop by yesterday and tell me he needed a bunch of Deer killed off his property. Said he has Stands already set-up, plenty of water on the property and just needs someone to help with the killing.

Here in Maryland we had a very hot and dry September.
Some days the temperature was into the 90s. We has almost no rain at all for the entire month.

Today (October 8) it has been raining since yesterday afternoon, and it looks like the rain may continue into tomorrow. This should change the soil and flora conditions a lot, and make for a more luxuriant fall.

You wouldn't hate summer at all if you lived in Idaho...you spend all winter praying for it to get summer.