Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Hello, I'm Mike from the Franconia community near Ft Belvoir, VA. Just getting back into hunting after a long time away from it. Looking to do some turkey and squirrel huntin this spring and summer. Maybe some ducks, geese and deer in the Fall/Winter. Have a small arsenal of hunting grade weapons, nothing that is a collectors item, just something a country boy could appreciate:

Remington 700 30-06 with 4X weaver (killed one deer with it, pathetic...... I know)
Remington Fieldmaster 22 auto with 3-9X scope (plugged many a squirrel with this one, Christmas gift from a beloved grandfather in law
Montgomery Ward (Savage/Stevens?) 410 bolt action (my very first gun as a boy like so many of you I suspect)
Savage 24 over/under (22 LR / 20 ga mag) belonged to my grandfather, about to use it this Spring for the first time. A family heirloom in the making.
Remington 1100 12 ga 30 in full choke (another squirrel and sometimes duck bagging machine)

Main thing is I need to find some friends that would like to hunt together, much more fun as a group, hard to lie to myself..eaiser if someone else is around...

Just like many of you I'm sure, my grandpa taught me to hunt when I was very young. Every time I go into the woods with a gun, he is with me. Hunting is a family tradition and we all have some very fond memories of family get togethers when I was a kid down Louisiana way. Wouldn't trade em for a gold monkey (Paw always said that.. he also used to say "faster than a spotted ape"...now I never figured out just why he knew a spotted ape was so fast....until he asked me if I ever saw one....I guess that's pretty fast huh...)

Glad to meet ya'll, looking forward to creating some huntin trip memories with each of you. May all of you have a great hunting season this year.

Mike

to the forum Mike!





Feel like the night watchman round here...

Welcome aboard, Mike!
(from night watchman #2)

to VGOF Mike. Springfield here and very familiar with Franconia area...good to have you on the board.

to the forum

Nice, interesting post, Mike. Good ta' see ya'.

to VGOF.

Howdy Mike

Welcome to VGOF, Mike

Welcome

thanks guys, you make me feel right at home. Do ya mind if I take my shoes off and put my feet up on your coffee table? And how about an ice cold Yeungling lager beer and some chips if you have any in the kitchen....

Mike

Mike

to VGOF

to VGOF from Sterling.

Any idea where in VA you will be hunting this year?

Hello and to VGOF!

thanks for sharing that and welcome welcome!!

DRat wrote: to VGOF from Sterling.

Any idea where in VA you will be hunting this year?

At the moment, I am depending on the good graces of a member of this forum to let me hunt with him on his property a couple times this spring/summer. Beyond that I have no location figured out. I've been hindered from getting back into hunting due to the lack of places I could go now and then. I'm open to suggestions and invitations, without which, i doubt I'd be doing much hunting in VA. A shame really,

When I lived in Louisiana, there were ample public lands to hunt on, but the really big help was the that lumber company lands were open to hunting. I also was part of a family that owned about 40 aches of prime hunting land surrounded by many relatives and family friends that let each other hunt on their land. I didn't realize how hard it can be to find a place to hunt..safely....till I moved to Virginia in 1990.

I used to take friends hunting on those lands long ago, I understand just how generous such an offer is and I have learned that there is such generosity here in VA too. My thanks to all of you private land owner/hunters, without your consideration, well, there just wouldn't be much of an opportunity to hunt around here..safely.... I know what it's like to be sitting in a well scouted out deer stand on opening morning...only to see other hunters walking in the treeline in front of me and I know what a bullet flying overhead and nearby sounds like...I can get by without experiencing that again.... And to me, hunting or fishing without camaraderie, is just missing something..

Mike

I purchased my first firearm at Alexandria Arms many, many years ago. Are they still there?

Catch! Bottle opener's on a string tied tot he table leg.

MikeVictor wrote:thanks guys, you make me feel right at home. Do ya mind if I take my shoes off and put my feet up on your coffee table? And how about an ice cold Yeungling lager beer and some chips if you have any in the kitchen....

Mike

Hey Mike I suggest that you try and hook up with DK as you seem to live close to him and next time he come's on down to shoot or squirrel hunt at my place you are welcome to join him.
And welcome aboard.
Bill

KaosDad wrote: I purchased my first firearm at Alexandria Arms many, many years ago. Are they still there?

Catch! Bottle opener's on a string tied tot he table leg.

Thanks for the beer!!! Let's see now, which table leg would that be ....

I've never been to their place, but when I googled them, this showed up:

http://www.alexanderarms.com/

Looks like they may still be around, and they sound like a high end arms manufacturing and retail shop. What did you buy back then, a Weatherby 270?....

I did a little mule deer hunting in New Mexico some time back with my Remington 700 30-06. 270's were real popular out there due to the long shots you have to take.

Mike