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

Doe Fever

I was hunting at my grandfather's deer camp. On a food plot, on the top of a ridge. Good day, little chilly, nice breeze; Great afternoon to bust a deer. I went out pretty early, so I could get the most time out there possible. I had everything set up perfect, I could get a clean shot off with out making any noise. I was set.

It started getting darker and I could just feel it; a big deer was going to walk out. Sure enough it did! I got down on the rifle, so as to make the best possible shot. I was about to shoot when..... I jerked. She acted like I had maybe hit her. My dad and I started searching the plot for blood a little while later. Where I thought she was, no blood or anything. So we started searching around.... and we found a huge gush of it! I was so happy... until I started thinking. My deer was much further back. So we looked around a little more and we found a blood trail. We followed it a short way, to the edge of the plot. There, we found a pile of deer guts. Someone apparently field dressed his deer, and left the guts there. NICE..... So I officially missed the deer. Oh well, Ill get it next time.