A 10 foot 200 pound cat? Dang!

 

Coug tails are longer or as long as their body in most cases, but still, that's a big kitty!

Lookin' good Trapper, kinda makes me wonder, though, will this scenario end with your next purchase being a .44 cal lever gun and revolver?

Just thinking that one caliber is easier to carry and stock than two........

 

whats the total weight of the roll..if your good with a lever gun then your back country set

 

Hey Baddoggs,
right now the bedroll weighs in at 30 lb.
Now that doesnt include the rifle, blackhawk revolver or water.
When I was in the Army Airborne, we did regular 8 mile walk/runs with 35lbs.
Of course I couldnt do that now.
Have carried upwards of 80 lb pack while in there, but it was slow going.
Will need to add a few more things also.
A change of clothes, like a pair of ****ies canvas pants, cotton long sleeve shirt, and a couple pairs of socks.
Will throw in a large amount of pepper, in case something picks up my scent and starts tracking me.
Throw the pepper behind me in my tracks to discourage them.

 

Have you been looking into the back of my truck. How about some wire of snares.

 

That be a good idea, do have 100 ft. of paracord in the roll,

 

Your Marlin .357 lever gun with an 18.5" barrel will produce a lot of energy, probably 35-40 % increase over the 5-6" revolver barrel, and if you feed it with hard-cast bullets it ought to be plenty for cats and black bears- approaching .30-30 power within 100 yards.

 

Now I have been eyeballing a new haven marlin 357 at the local gun shop.
He wants $570.00, only had 8 rds. put through it by the shop owner.
I think about it everyday, nice light short lever gun, would go good with my ruger blackhawk 357.
And could carry lots more ammo.

 

Yeah but he already has the .30-30 and 200 rounds of ammo for it. 30 lbs isn't much weight considering how well he's set up. That looks like a pretty great setup. Ya got me reconsidering my .30-30 as a go to gun instead of my pump 20 gauge. Now that I have my rabbit stick and considering how many rocks there are around where I live just begging to be thrown. Grrrr curse you MadTrapper! lol

 

Now I do love my 20 gauge also.
Add some rifled slugs, 3" mag, and birdshot, would do the trick.
would like having something for small game, rabbit stick will do the trick for sure.
scoped 22 pistol would be nice, throw in a 100 rds. of subsonic ammo.

 

I was thinking the same thing with a matching revolver and rifle.
So how to you pack and carry the roll, pic of it all packed and ready to go would be nice.

 

I will either carry it rolled, across my back with a belt through it.
Or attached to a small canvas hunting bag that I added straps to.

In the above pic I have a painters tarp rolled up over everything.
It would add a few more lbs. so I dropped it for the smaller 5x6 canvas piece.
Will probably use it as a leanto.
Heres a pic with the painters tarp, washed and treated.

 

Cats are not that tough, if you see one it probably wont stick around long enough to get a shot at anyway. It's the one you don't see, that you have to worry about.

Is it possible to forgo the canvas ( weighs a ton ) and go with modern day materials for the bedroll? Thinking of a proper temp rated bag for your area, and a bivy bag. I would also add a small water filter unit; if you haven't yet. You shouldn't just plan on boiling your drinking water. Sometimes you will not want to or can't take the time or risk a fire.

How far do you plan on covering to get home? The 30-30 is one of my favorites.:thumb:

 

Light camo tarp would be good, just have to make sure it can handle the load and not rip and tear, Ive got some camo tarps, but I dont know if they would hold up.
water filter definitely I will add, along with some iodine tabs.
To get home will be at least 30 miles highway, probably closer to 50 miles.
But that will differ with going across the mountains.

 

I picked up a copy of The Backwoodsman magazine today. There is an interesting article in it that deals with aa Whelen lean-to. It was designed and used by Colonel Townsen Whelen. He is reported to have stayed in one in temperatures down to 20 below! It looks interesting to me.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6898748_do-make-whelen-lean_to_.html

 

I like the whelen lean tos.
Backwoodsman mag sounds like a good mag.

 

Here is a good video by Dave Canterbury on making a pack with a wool blanket. Hope it's not stepping on your toes Trapper. I figured some people might not have seen it and might like a tutorial on one way to do it.

 

Here is a good video by Dave Canterbury on making a pack with a wool blanket. Hope it's not stepping on your toes Trapper. I figured some people might not have seen it and might like a tutorial on one way to do it.
Building a Discount Bushcraft Kit Part 7 (The Blanket Pack) - YouTube

Thats a good setup.
I just dont like my wool blanket on the outside.
Lots of rain in this area, if my blanket gets wet, I could be in trouble on a cold night.
Canvas works good on the outside covering everything.
could add a small tarp on the inside, 6x8 maybe, not much weight.

 

Hey I say if it's only 30 lbs stick with the canvas. Way more awesome and unique than some nylon tarp and it goes better with the set up.

 

Now I do know of people that bought a king size bed sheet set, Egyptian cotton, over 400 thread count, washed it in hot water, dried it on the hottest setting,(to shrink the thread tight) sewed leather squares in each corner of the sheet, and one in the center.
Perfect light weight shelter, plus a ground cloth with the mattress cover,and two pillow cases for carrying gear.

 

That's a cool idea but doesn't seem waterproof.

 

I didnt like the idea either, but they say it works.
I would want to spray it with waterproofing or something.
One guy said you have to reinforce the corners or they will tear.
sewing leather squares in each corner helps, sew leather on both sides.
Just doesnt seem like much covering to me, be afraid it would rip in the middle of the night with high winds
I know canvas is naturally waterproof, learned that in army basic training with the old canvas shelter halfs, as long as you dont touch it with your finger, then you get a drip.

 

Yeah I remember those things too. I still have a shelter half around somewhere too

 

Mad Trapper, have you ever considered adding one of these to the Marlin? I put a Williams peep on my Win 94. I hated the buckhorn sights, now it really shoots great.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/sights/66-receiver-peep.php

http://www.chuckhawks.com/williams_5D_sight.htm

 

Yes I have considered it, just never got around to it.
Those peep sights are good, thanks for posting.
These old tired eyes of mine just arent as good as they use to be.
Need all the help I can get.

 

Good setup, packable, and seems to cover most points well. BTW, wool will still keep you warm when wet, unlike cotton or the synthetics. Hollow fibers...

 

that is true.
Good reason to have some wool clothes,
Good pair of wool pants and long sleeve shirt will keep you alive in wet cold weather.

 

Forgot to mention, this 30-30 saved my life a couple winters ago.
8 Point Buck popped up in front of me, getting ready to charge, I walked up on him, about 50 yds.
Levered a rd, and put it between his antlers, just over his left eye, before he got a chance to stick his antlers in my gut.

He was delicious.

 

Nice buck.

 

Nice setup.

I would replace the canvas tarp or add a 5x7 Harbor Freight plastic camo tarp for weather proofing and low viz. They weigh next to nothing and are quite strong.

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-ft-11-inch-x-5-ft-6-inch-camouflage-tarp-46410.html

 

How good is that tarp for $5? I would worry about the quality at that price?

 

Great looking kit/system. seems to cover your basses. Maybe a better way of carrying the ammo, cardboard boxes aren't very flexible.

T

 

i love your set up, a little on the heavy side , but still pretty sweet, i carry a hawk and puma bowie myself when im out in the woods, one thing i do to is go down to the local thrift store and find a used rain suit, the realy light waight ones made out of nylon for a couple of bucks, bring it home and scottsguard it, there super light waight, but ugly as hell, a carry it with me to keep me dry but mostly so if it get,s real cold i can put these over my cloths and stuff leaves and stuff between them to keep worm,

 

Well I got out the wifes food scale and did some weighing.

100 rd. 30-30 - 5 lb. 7 oz.

100 rd. 357 mag. - 3 lb. 8 oz.

Difference of - 1 lb. 15 oz.

Basically a 2 lb. difference between 100 rd of 30-30 and 100 rd of 357 mag.

 

So if I want to carry 200 rds of ammo,

30-30 would weigh in at 10 lbs. 14 oz. of ammo, about 11 lbs.

200 rds of 357 mag would be 7 lbs.

Difference of 4 lbs in ammo weight.

So the more ammo you carry, the bigger the difference in weight savings.

This could add up with large amounts of ammo being carried.
Not that big a difference with 100 rds.

If I was going out for a very long time, maybe a few years, 357 may be the way to go.

 

A New Haven marlin 357 may be the best way to go.
Dont trust the remington marlins with what Ive been hearing.
Uberti clone 1873 would be nice, but they weigh more then the marlin
Dont like the Henry, cant reload while in action.
Carry 38 special for small game.
357 up close may do enough damage to large game to discourage them.
30-30 is a better cartridge, but depending on your situation, long term, with little chance of resupply,best choice would be 357.
Short term, get home , 30-30 would suffice, with limited ammo.

 

I have 3 marlins one that is a little bit older than me it belonged to my daddy before I was born . They have taken a lot of deer between the 3 of them and have never given me a seconds worth of problem and I mean never. One of the most reliable firearms ever as far as I know. What kinds of things have you heard? By the way I am going to be 50 this Aug

 

I just won a .30-30 at a gun raffle so this is giving me all sorts of great ideas.

Thanks!!

 

mm.. looks like a good setup.. only thing i would add would be a water canteen.. something plastic to carry some water..

 

try one of those flat collabsable water blatters. the lay flat and can be rolled up. you can fit several in yopur back pocket. they will be perfect in a bed roll

this is my 357 lever and my ruger gp100. this was my go-to pairing. recently i switched out the gp for a taurus ported 4 inch that hold 8 rounds of 357 instead.

with my home rolled 158 grn sjsp, i can knock down anything in the state of florida. including the bears.

 

Got a couple of canteens.