'Possum Whisperer

Around here, seeing oppossums is not an uncommon thing. We have a ton of them, in all varieties of color and size. From jet black to snow white. Another not uncommon thing is for one of us (father or I) to go grab us one and hold him up for Mrs. Karee to see. But the other night a little oppossum came up to the porch, and I thought it would be fun to catch the little fella'. So I sneaked out there, but he saw me. He ran into the corner and trapped himself! All that was left was to grab his tail from behind. But he was wagging his tail, so it took a few tries to get a hold on the tail. Once I got it, I thought he would not be able to climb up and grab me (all the other bigger opposums could not). I waited while my dad took the picture, but my oppossum grabbed his tail and pulled himself up, causing me to drop him. He hit the ground with a thud but was unharmed. Thats a night around here!

No Squirrels, No Nap

I've been wanting to go out to my grandfather's camp and look around for some time, but it's been deer season. Now that it ended we decided to go out and look around, while doing a little squirrel hunting. So we packed our stuff, and headed over to the camp.

We took advantage of our time out to test a new magnesium alloy frame .38 special. It was a very fun little gun, though slightly hard to hit with, having a ultralight frame, and virtually no barrel. And we checked our Savage .17, and at one point we sighted it in and got a 4 shot group all touching. Needless to say, that is a very accurate round. So after all that, we decided to go on and hunt.


Once we got there we split up, me going to the left, my dad to the right. We were looking for deer, turkey, or squirrel sign. We were hunting a very well wooded area, with a creek running through it. As I was walking, I kept seeing a lot of scrapes, tracks, and trails. On every sand bank I came on, I saw it just covered in deer and opossum tracks. I saw some rubs on several trees, and I saw a large Broadhead Skink, which was kind of cool. My dad found an old deer bone that had been chewed on by mice and rats. The only thing I never saw was a squirrel, which was what I was actually hunting for.

I saw a deer trail coming down a big hill, so I decided to follow it up, to see if I saw something interesting. I saw some more scrapes, but that was about it. So after looking around a while, I decided to head back down, and I didn't feel like walking down it, so I sat down and slid down the hill, where I met up with my dad.


After we left the woods we put all our stuff in the car, and got ready to leave. I was tired and my dad was tired, so I tried to make him drive, but he made me.
He said that I had been able to take naps in the car for fifteen years, so he was taking the next fifteen.

Of Mice and Teen-agers

I was outside and saw my cat acting very weird. I called my dad out, and we went to see what was going on. The cat was chasing a small mouse. I scared the cat off and tried to catch the mouse, which was hard. I took a few dives, but he kept slipping out of my hand. Then my dad came out with a Maglight so I could see him.

I finally chased it up our cleaning table and let it calm down, to where I could grab it. I put my hands in front of him, and he hopped right on. He climbed up my arm, and nestled into my neck. Then I started walking back inside, with him sitting in my hair.

I took him inside so we could look at him and check him for wounds. We didn't see any, but we did notice that he is a deer mouse. I personally think it's a very cool mouse, and I don't see them much. You can tell what they are by their large eyes, and big ears.

We took the pictures and I played with him some. He is amazingly tamed down! What a cool animal. A wild mouse that lets me hold him in my hand, and now he's a star!

www.danahersoutdoors.com

Now I Can Drive!

I've been ready to get my learner's permit for a while now. Because when I get my permit, that means I'm only 6 months from being able to drive on my own. I've also been wanting it because I love driving. I've been racing around on go-karts and 4-wheelers for years, and a car was always the step up. I turned fifteen on Friday, and as soon as school was out, I headed to the Highway Patrol office.

As we pulled up, I could not help but think that I had forgotten all the stuff I had looked over. We walked in and I started feeling calmer. I grabbed my number and walked up to the only person that was open. I filled out all the stuff and the lady told me to go to station 5, and to take my time answering the questions. I got in there, nervous at the time, and picked up the phone. I listened to my first question... and I answered it right. I was thinking, "Hey I know this stuff!". So I just kept popping off answers, and I had no clue on three of them.

I got everything right, except three, and I skipped one. When I came out, I gave my mom a worried look, like I had failed it. She looked back at me, looking worried too. Then I broke out a big ole grin! I had passed my test, first try! I was so glad to have it finally over as I walked up to the lady at the desk. I talked to her for a bit, while I filled out my papers. Then I went over to the camera, got my picture taken, and got my card printed out. On the way home, I drove on the interstate, which was..... interesting? I really don't like 18-wheelers.

I got home safe and sound. I didn't wreck or even come close. Well, that was my experience of the day I got my permit!

Casting Your Own Bullets

My dad and I like to target shoot.... a lot. We generally shoot a Ruger GP100 with .38 wad-cutters in it, but we also sight in other guns. And since we already reload most of what we shoot, we decided to go ahead and cast our own wad-cutters.

We started out by getting a bucket of old wheel weights from a friend who owns a tire shop close by. Then we melted them down and cleaned out the dirt from them. That was kind of cool, because the lead looks like water. It's so thin you can move the ladle through it like water, literally. Also, the little aluminum clips will float in the lead once it melts. Then we poured the clean lead into an old muffin pan, making perfect muffin sized ingots. These muffins probably don't taste so good though....

Once they cool, we stack them up and use them as we need them. When we start getting low, we grab a few ingots and melt them down. Then we get a lead ladle, and clean out any more impurities we find. Then we pour the hot lead into a wad-cutter mold. It takes a few tries to get the mold warm, but then we get perfect bullets almost every time. The first couple have gaps or don't even fill up all the way. But after that it runs very smoothly. In a short time, we made enough bullets for a year or two. I really like making our own bullets, because at that point it's less than a few cents a shot. It's actually cheaper than shooting a .22!

Casting bullets can be very complex, we just keep it simple and cheap since we're only using them for shooting practice.

Just be careful. The lead is hot and will burn you. Wear glasses to protect your eyes and long
gloves to protect your hands and make sure you do this with your dad or another adult.

www.danahersoutdoors.com