valites.net

Today I left work at lunch to head home for an afternoon appointment. As I was traveling west on the 290, I passed the Paddock Chevrolet golf dome. Just to the west of it is a driving range, followed by a small knoll that runs parallel to the 290 for a couple hundred yards. Much to my surprise, today I saw a decent sized coyote walking the length of the knoll! He was about 3/4s of the way to the top and had a bushy tale. As he walked, his front paw broke through the snow, but he seemed completely unconcerned about the passing traffic.

It surprised me quite a bit to see him in this area, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen one in the Northtowns - the day before Valentine’s Day this year, I was arriving to work at the north campus at the University of Buffalo, just prior to 8:30 (I was actually on time that day!). The end of my route to work ends with the 990 UB exit, which runs into the outer traffic loop surrounding the campus. Where the two roads meet is a small triangular bowl, formed by the outer loop and the entrance and exit to the 990. Much to my surprise that day, a very big coyote was making his way through the area. I’ve seen plenty of deer & turkey in the area, so it made sense there’d be a coyote, but it was still hard to believe one would be so close to campus. I was going pretty slow around the entrance and was able to get a very good look at the coyote, but had there been no one behind me, I would have stopped to see where he went.

Two years ago, shortly after I moved back to Buffalo & the day before I started my current job, a good friend of mine puts two gun raffle tickets in front of me and tells me to “pick one”. I choose the losing one & he wins a Remington semi-auto 30-06 with the other one.

Two weeks ago, I get an email from the same friend - “here’s two numbers for the gun raffle, pick one”. I write him back telling him I remembered how this worked last time & don’t like playing that game.

Well, this year the tables turned - this weekend I won a Remington Model Seven .243 bolt action
rifle with a laminated stock from the same (Tonawanda Sportsman Club) raffle:

I picked it up last night & absolutely love the gun. It took some digging, but I found out the “CDL” stands for “Classic Deluxe”. The stock is gorgeous & the bolt is has a sharp looking checkered stainless steel pattern on it. I’d shot a lower end Remington bolt action .243 this past summer & was very impressed with the way it shot, especially compared to the 30-06 my friend won previously.

I’ll have to pick up a scope and shoulder strap for this one, but other than that, it will make one fine deer hunting rifle. Lucky for me, the two counties I primarily hunt in New York (Allegheny & Cattaraugus) both in the past couple years started allowing rifles to be used during deer season.

Remington lists an MSRP of $929 for the rifle. Street price is ~$725. Either way, I payed $20.