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Good to see work on Dutch Fork Lake proceeding
In the spring, my wife Eileen and I would catch early season trout from these waters. Summer would find us either working the shoreline for bass, or sitting in a lawn chair drowning dough balls and hoping for a carp to come along.
Dutch Fork always had something to offer that was missing in Canonsburg Lake, the rural atmosphere.
Instead of looking at houses and hearing cars go by, you see trees and hears geese calling.
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At the time of the draining of the lake, I did a lot of protesting the loss of this water and still believe it was totally unnecessary.
Perhaps, I will, after all, fish Dutch Fork Lake again.
• Did anyone notice that two of the Pennsylvania Game Comission's Board of Commissioners are reaching the end of their terms?
One is opposed to the comission's deer program, stating publicly that we are harvesting too many deer and that numbers are very low. The other, on the other hand, says we should stay with the high harvest program and stabilize or lower deer populations.
Interestingly the one who thinks deer numbers are low represents a more rural area of the state, while the commissioner who thinks there are too many deer is from a heavily populated part of the state.
Speaking of commissioners, I attended a meeting where one of them didn't know that a crossbow could utilize a scope sight. This despite the fact the crossbow and its use were high on the meeting's agenda.
• "Coyote" Bob of Greene county along with Joe and John Dino of Canonsburg fished Lake Erie last week and landed big walleye.
Among the fish was a 101/2-pounder caught using a Dipsy Diver. A walleye over 10 pounds is a good fish no matter where it was caught. Friends told Bobby that his boat wouldn't be christened until he landed a big walleye. Now it is.
• I have been doing a lot of shooting lately. It's been kind of hot of late and maybe too hot to sit in a sunny groundhog field. But the bench rest at the local club is shaded and it isn't to strenous to shoot a rifle.
We are never too old to learn or relearn old lessons that may have drifted to that unused part of the brain.
My first centerfire groundhog rifle was a .222, and I moved from that limited-range cartridge to bigger and faster rifles. This summer, I find myself reverting back to this little varmint round.
Before you chuckle at my seemingly backward move, let me remind you that there was a time when the .222 was the round of choice by the benchrest clan.
Benchrest shooters were happy with the .222 until the PPC cartridges came on the scene. Incidentally, there are some of us who still think the .222 will shoot right with these bench favorites.
Nonetheless, the PPC rounds took over the shooting scene. Today one rarely sees a .222 being shot despite its pedigree. I found myself shooting one for a variey of reasons.
Accuracy was one of my top priorities. I love to shoot those tiny one hole groups that accuracy buffs carry around in their wallets.
Another reason is the .222 is gentle to shoot. It just doesn't kick.
Also, the noise is low and doesn't disturb the neighborhood.
Another good reason for shooting this little round is cost. Since it burns around 20 grains of powder per shot, a one pound can lasts a while in comparison to some larger rounds, which use almost a whole pound for as little as 100 rounds.
Often overlooked is such a small charge of powder means the barrel doesn't heat as quickly on those hot summer days. On top of every thing else, the barrel lasts much longer than a barrel chambered for rounds like the .22-250 or the Swift.
It is safe to say it is difficult to shoot out a barrel chambered for the .222.
There are other cartridges that offer similar advantages, such as the PPC's and .223. The former are rarely chambered in standard factory rifles and the .223, while popular, is just not as accurate a round as the smaller .222.
I have never heard of a .223 winning a benchrest match. I enjoy the bigger faster rounds in the hunting fields but for just shooting on the bench make mine the old reliable .222.
George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter
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