I know from experience that having a good compass can perhaps save your life. I once did a fly in drop camp hunt in Alaska for caribou. First day I made camp and did some scouting. Second day hiked to a distant mountain on a beautiful clear day and shot a nice bull. At the kill site I could see my camp in the far distance, so I took a bearing on my compass. 330 degrees. I quartered my animal and began backpacking it back to my camp--perhaps 2 miles. On the next day I hiked back to the kill site and loaded my last pack when the fog rolled in so thick I could not see more than perhaps 30 yards, nor could I see any landmarks or my camp. I took out my compass and took a reading on a tree, exactly 330 degrees and walked to the tree, took another 330 bearing to another tree and so on. In about an hour, I walked right into my camp. Perfect navigation in thick fog, I thought. Its easy to get turned around anytime, so I always carry my compass when hunting.

I use them quite often and I would say the report is only slightly louder than my air pellet gun.

Writers and speakers often quote Professor Valerius Geist’s opening lines of Chapter 8 in his 1990 book “Mule Deer Country,” where he warned: “For all its current abundance, the mule deer, so different, so uniquely American, so young and promising, is nevertheless a species marked for extinction.” As I recall the reasons for his dire predictions were loss of habitat, diseases, parasites, over predation, competition and cross breeding with white tailed deer and yes, harsh winters (which are not supposed to be happening due to global warming). If his predictions are accurate, we may see the end of mule deer hunting like we saw the end of bison hunting. That would be disastrous. I recently read another article about the decline of Shiras moose populations in the Rocky Mountain west and wildlife biologists are scrambling to find reasons for moose population declines as state wildlife agencies cut numbers of hunting opportunity tags dramatically.

What advantage, if any, is there in the tipped TSX versus the TSX with no tip?

I am an avid fan of Weatherby cartridges and their rifles, but I have a fascination for unusual cartridges like the 8mm Rem Mag. Not because of its ballistic performance but because of the imaginary mystique it has over me.  I purchased a Rem model 700 in that caliber in 1977 when they were first introduced but gave it away to a family member who at the time needed it more than I did. He has since passed that gift onto his grandson who took his first elk with it this fall.  I always thought I would eventually buy another one, just to own it. Ofcourse that caliber is now obsolete, but I still think I should own one for nostalgia. Anyone else out there afflicted with odd caliber nostalgia?

A tale from the wild, wild West ...
"An old woman walked up and tied her old mule to the hitching post.
As she stood there, brushing some of the dust from her face and clothes, a young gunslinger stepped out of the saloon with a gun in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other.
He looked at the woman and laughed,
"Hey old woman, have you ever danced?"
The woman looked up at the gunslinger and said, "No ... I never did dance ... Never really wanted to"
A crowd has gathered as the young gunslinger grinned and said, "Well you old bag, you're gonna dance now!", and started shooting at the old woman's feet.
The old woman prospector - not wanting to have her toes blown off- started hopping around. Many were laughing.
When his last bullet was fired, the gunslinger, still laughing, holstered his gun and turned around to go back into the saloon.
The old woman turned to her pack mule, pulled out a double-barrelled shotgun and cocked both hammers. The loud clicks carried clearly through the desert air, and the crowd immediately stopped laughing.
The gunslinger heard the sounds too, and turned around very slowly. The silence was almost deafening. The crowd watched tensely as he stared at the woman and the large gaping holes of those twin barrels.
The barrels of the shotgun never wavered in her hands as she quietly said, "Son, have you ever kissed a mule's ass?"
The gunslinger swallowed hard and said, "No m'am, but I've always wanted too"
 THERE ARE FIVE LESSONS HERE FOR ALL OF US:
1 - Never be arrogant.
2 - Don't waste ammunition.
3 - Whiskey makes you think you're smarter than you are.
4 - Always make sure you know who has the power.
5 - Don't mess with old people; they didn't get old by being stupid."

Sierra Bullets acquired Barnes bullets from Remington bankruptcy sale. Amazing, isn't it?

Right now, the Ukrainian people are locked in a desperate struggle against Russian invaders. Their courage in the face of Russia’s brutal onslaught is inspiring the world. Please encourage your Congressional representatives to support the Ukrainian people with more javelin and stinger weapons. And if you can, please donate to help the people of Ukraine, there are several ways to do that. Google it.