The Independent-News, Volume 104, Number 14, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 7 September 1978 — Page 2

SEPTEMBER 7. 1978 - THE INDEPENDENT NEWS

WILDLIFE TODAY By Jim New Wildlife Biologist Indiana Division of Fish A Wildlife The Indiana Division of Fish and HAPPY ADS THANK YOU Doll’s Service Station And Starke County Co-op For Purchasing My 4-H Hogs At The LaPorte Co. Fair Also thanks to Plymouth Agri Iraders for their support, and all those others who came as bidders. Without our bidders we wouldn't have much of a sale. THANKS AGAIN TODD ANDERSON Johnson Twp. Pioneers 4-H Club Happy Anniversary September 10 MOM & DAD Love MASHELLE. MONIQUE AND WESLEY Happy Birthday JIM Love ALNI SUI A IN(LF 808 Come To The FLEA MARKET FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 8 10:00 a.m. • 8:00 p.m. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 9 10:00 a.m. 4 (X) p.m. At the American Legion Home, Walkerton Articles for sale include, stained glass; macrame; quilts, orchids and plants; Florida crafts; hand sewn crafts; Avon bottles; collectors items; plus lots of misc. items on display as Mini Garage Sales”! Come see, come browse, have a sandwich and a cup of coffee Sponsored Bv The AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY

Wildlife has announced that .12 gauge shotgun shells loaded with steel shot will be required in 1978 for hunting migratory waterfowl in designated areas of Indiana. The areas designated for steel shot are listed in the Indiana hunting regulations. In areas designated for steel, hunters using 10, lb or 20 gauge shotguns may continue to use lead shot loads, as steel shot loads are not currently available in these gauges. There has been considerable misunderstanding surrounding the capabilities and limitations of steel shot ammunition. Although similar in many ways to shot shells loaded with lead shot, steel shot loads require specially produced shot, special wads and special powders. SHOT — Steel shot is made bycutting low carbon, soft steel wire into short lengths which arc formed and ground to the proper size. The pellets are then annealed and coated with a rust inhibitor. This process. similar to that used in the manufacture of ball bearings, is much more expensive than the tower drop method used for most lead shot. The steel pellets are both hard and light. For example, the hardness of lead shot measured by the Diamond Pyramid Hardness (DPH) test seldom exceeds 30 DPD, while that of steel shot is about 90 DPH. By comparison, air rifle shot (BB's) are about 150 DPH and ball bearings are about 2'o DPH. A steel pellet weighs about 30% less than a lead pellet of similar size. By virtue of their lighter weight, more steel pellets are required per unit of weight than lead pellets. For example, about 134 lead No. 4 pellets weigh one ounce; the same weight of steel shot contains approximately 192 pellets. Perhaps most important, the more numerous steel pellets also occupy a greater volume per unit of weight. At present, steel shot is being made in standard sizes. The most common sizes of steel shot arc No. 1. 2 and 4. although larger sizes have been loaded experimentally. Smaller sizes of steel shot arc not presently being considered. WADS — Lead shot wads are molded of flexible, low density polyethylene plastic. They usually incorporate a cushion section in the bottom which collapses on firing to reduce the number of deformed pellets in the shot charge. In addition. such wads generally feature a shot pouch which prevents the pellets form scrubbing on the bore surface. Steel shot wads are molded of stiff high density polyethylene plastic and do not incorporate a cushion section on the bottom. Although such a cushion is ballistically desirable, the space is badly needed because of the greater volume occupied by the steel pellets. The hardness of the steel pellets helps prevent undesireable pellet deformation on firing. Steel shot wads must be much thicker than lead shot wads to prevent the pellets from contaction the bore surface. This is absolutely necessary to prevent barrel scratching and to eliminate or minimize choke expansion previously associated with steel shot loads. Such wads are more expensive to manufacture than plastic lead shot wads. POWDER — Large charges of special smokeless powders must be used to provide the required per tormance for steel shot ammunition. I his raises the cost of such loads and creates additional ballistic problems. For example, such heavy charges of powder must compete for space in an already crowded load. As a result, a tradeoff must be made between shot charge volume and powder charge volume to achieve a balanced load SELECTION AND PERFORM AN( F Steel shot shells should not be judged by lead shot criteria A 12 gauge 2 ‘4' shell containing a 3% dram equivalent (D.E.) loading with 1 1 4 oz of lead shot is a popu-

lar waterfowl loading; and equivalent steel shot load is a 3% dram equivalent with a 1 18 oz. shot charge. Although the steel load has a lighter shot charge, the number of pellets per shell is actually higher. The 3% D.E. 1 % oz. lead load has a muzzle velocity of about 1330 fps. By contrast. 3% D.E. I 1 8 oz. steel load has a higher muzzle velocity of about 1365 fps. When switching from lead to steel, larger shot sizes should be selected. For example, if you use No. 6 lead shot, use No. 4 steel shot. If you prefer No. 4 lead, use No. 2 steel. This will provide adequate downrange pellet energy. For example, a No. 5 lead pellet from the 3% D.E. 1% oz. load mentioned above retains about 2.1 fl lbs. of energy at 40 yards. The No. 4 steel pellet from the 3% D.E. 11 8 oz. load above retains 2.4 ft lbs. of energy . Performance of steel shot loads is adequate for most types of waterfowl hunting. Although steel pellets lack the mass and therefore the downrange velocity, energy, and penetration of lead pellets, there are a number of compensating factors. First, in using larger shot sizes when switching from lead to steel, much of this is overcome. Second, the muzzle velocity of steel is higher than the equivalent lead load. This helps performance of the steel loads considerably. Third, the hard steel pellets do not deform on firing which results in denser patterns with fewer strav pellets than lead shot. Thus, steel shot shells have a number of plus factors to improve performance in addition to a number of inherent drawbacks. Still, steel shot is not as effective as lead shot at extreme ranges. Steel shot ammunition costs more than lead shot ammunition because of the increased cost of the special shot, wads and powders necessary. At the present time, steel shot ammunition costs about the same as 12 gauge 3” magnum 1 8 oz. shells. In the broad view, however, the cost of ammunition is still a very small percentage of the total cost of a hunt. A good many people enjoy hunting and many make their plans for trips or vacations early. Since hunting success depends on the availability of the game, 1 w ill try to give a forecast for this hunting season.

"TOMCAT" Prowls The Skies if , ' r • * Ww MH* : Shown above is America’s ultimate air-comhu w.-a^ns system. the KM Tomcat IX signed by (.rumman Aerospace < orporation for the U.S Navy it is the most ad vanced air superiority fighter in the world The a(1 ‘ combines the speed and maneuverability „f a dog fighter ^ith'''"’ ™^^^ OmC ■' l, control system which can track 24 enemy f rLs m a wra P° ns ferent threats at varied altitudes and d,stan.es Th! Kf'?' dif ' air missile has intercepted targets at distances of over 1(M) I™• * h <M ‘ n * x a » r toing from 50 feet to over 80,(MM) feet. In NATO mock T* S a,V altltud ‘‘ s successfully intercepted and “destroyed” 89 of 91 ^4 i liY' 1 "- < ‘ X(rc ! B< ’ s ' th<> 14 '—l forces The other two raid St X-in"r^ ?! '"T" '"T'' Many initial intercepts took place in excess of HM) mil. ' r th< 7 a,r w,nR The Tomcat represents the Ix-st air defense acainst * a,rcn, H carrier a leading candidate for the North American or 2 1 * |X ? | U ‘ n , t,a ‘'‘pressor and is and the Canadian Armed Forces. ‘ sense roll of th<* U.S. Air Forex-

THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS Robert E. Urbin, Editor Susan R. Urbin, Assistant Editor INDEPENDENT-NEWS CO., INC., Publisher 601-03 Roosevelt Road, Walkerton, Indiana 46574 Telephone (219) 586-3139 PUBLICATION TIME: Thursday of Each Week Second Class Postage Paid At Walkerton, Indiana 46574 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 15c Per Copy; $4.00 Per Year (50c Extra If Mailed Out Os State)

Squirrel season is presently open. I have had the opportunity to talk to some hunters and do some hunting myself, and this squirrel season will be so-so. Last year was very poor, so this year will be better, but not much better. Rabbit: As with squirrel, better than last year but nothing to get excited about. The hunting should be fair. Quail: Poor. The present population is the lowest in at least 15 years. Pheasant: Poor. We finished our brood counts last week and they were the worst in 15 years. Many routes showed no birds at all. To give you some perspective of the problem, one of my route in southern Newton County showed 211 birds in 1975. this year I saw one adult bird. Don’t waste your time traveling to the pheasant country of west-central Indiana, the birds just are not there.

Welcome To A □ litton Microwave COOKING SCHOOL MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 9:00 p.m. Karn TV & Appliance 616 Roosevelt Rd., Walkerton 586-2592 Demonstrator: Janet Consigney, from Citton I (ome In And Taste A Microwave Cooking Demonstration

Deer: Looks very good. Local counts indicate about 10% more bucks than last year. Waterfowl: Mallard numbers will be down from last year. Almost all other duck pouplations are up. If we get an early duck season and do not get freezing weather during the season. 1978 will be very good. Woodcock: Looks very gotxi. Snipe and Rail: Looks good. Trapping: Fox. raccoon and mink populations are down from last year. Muskrats should be plentiful. The poor small gane hunting this year is the direct result of the worst winter in this area in recorded history. This year there is more wildlife cover thanks to the farm ground set-aside program. If the winter brings less snow than last year, we should really be in good shape for the next hunting season.