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686

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Everything posted by 686

  1. Ive had to step back from the war for a little while so I’m not as dialed in on the F-16 issue currently. What is the lack of political will based on if it’s not actively wanting Putin to win or pure isolationism/not wanting to allocate the resources? I guess I could see door number three as being bad press if some get shot down, but there’s an equally plausible chance at this point that the Ukrainians use them to good effect, like they have with everything else we’ve sent them. And yeah some will get shot down, it’s war. Patriot batteries haven’t had this much press since 1991. It’s like a reunion tour.
  2. Keeping the Russians in Bakhmut also is buying the Ukrainians a lot of invaluable time to train, equip, supply, organize, etc.; somewhat like Travis did for Houston. I’m sure the Ukrainians wish more material would get there faster so they could get more troops trained up on it, but at some point you’re just going to have to go and rely on the late arriving gear (Abrams, F16s, etc.) to be your reinforcements/second wave. My gut feels they need to go in May/early June.
  3. Let slip the dogs of war Prigzohin video link
  4. I’m sure this has already been posted but Prigozhin basically lays out the entire Russian political and military systemic issue here like he’s quoting One Soldier’s War, and there are some great translations: Joint Chiefs of Stuff should be a reggae band. He cracks off a bunch of one liners like the second one (colon just makes it better) likes he’s been taking pages from Girkin.
  5. 686

    Shit My Kid Says

    10yr old to 13yr old: “shut your pot hole”
  6. I mean, taking Houston is going to require about an order of magnitude more troops/coordination that taking San Marcos. Big Cities are hard to subdue unless you incinerate them. The funniest part is that Bakmut isn’t big, AND the Russians have shelled it to smoldering ruins, and they still can’t fucking take it. I mean WTF. The thought experiment I’m thinking about is: if you had transported 1-2 Corps of the 1812 Napoleonic Grande Armee to the Russian side 6-9 months ago, I feel like they might have accomplished more than the Russians have.
  7. Your takes are extremely grating in one way because you present shit like this as unquestioned fact/obvious inference, when it it not. The Iraqis and Ukrainians had about the same size army and about the same number of T-72 vintage tanks. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/iraq-iraqs-prewar-military-capabilities https://www.statista.com/statistics/1296573/russia-ukraine-military-comparison/ A big difference maker is that over the last ~50 years the NATO countries and western Defense companies have developed tech that is comically effective at destroying T-72s and all other Russian shit, while the Russian Army/defense industry funding has been diverted to palaces and mega yachts, where, admittedly, the Russians have shown to be a dominant international power.
  8. Old man physique. He was 65 I think in that photo, which is gotta be like 75-80 today.
  9. Look at this uncouth SOB that wouldn’t even put on a tie, much less his full dress uni, to meet an Emperor. Zelensky is communicating that he has no time for pomp and flair; his people are dying and he’s working tirelessly to help them.
  10. Yes, no rules on pigs. Wild pig breakfast sausage is my favorite.
  11. Tikka T3 in stainless steel for deer rifle and maybe T3 in a light chambering or T1 (rimfire)for small game. They are great actions, and can be upgraded when they’re older if they want (prefit aftermarket barrels, stocks, chassis, etc.). I follow hunting rifle trends and the Tikka T3 is basically displacing the Remington 700 as the “high quality bolt action that shoots great out of the box, and can be easily modified/customized easily later if so desired”. A vintage Remington 1100 or 870 in left hand used to be a great shotgun option, but the used market on them has gone up a bunch (like over $1k) since Remington has been screwing around / going bankrupt and people are snatching up / investing in the good older guns.
  12. My elk hunting partner came up to my folks place this weekend and we put a good stalk / calling session in on this Tom today. Also chrono’ed his elk rifle and did some long range shooting (for us) 450-650 yds. We were both rusty so it was good to get the practice in. The accuracy was ok but it was physically taxing (different muscles, etc). This bird had some nice spurs.
  13. Good for him! It’s hard to predict what will happen with point creep, state laws, hunting demand, etc.; but the only way to have a chance at a tag is to get in the game. As an update on my personal situation, I was just notified by Colorado I was unsuccessful in my bighorn sheep application and was granted a preference point in exchange for $110. Now only 19 years to go! Randy Newberg (a CPA in his professional life) has a good YouTube segment where he goes into a full elk tag application strategy for guys with short term and long term states, etc. that would be a good watch for your son (if elk is a priority for him):
  14. Girkin’s line about the Russian air force is pretty good, but he should have left the date off to make it even more esoteric. Seems to be getting more combative and pissed after his arrest warrant or whatever was issued.
  15. My 7th grade girl plays tennis and we went down for the matches last Saturday. It was really nice, I’d never been to the tennis center. Malaika and Khirin were down early and rallied to win, it was fun to watch. Walked to the co-op and picked up some merch, did a little tour of campus along the way, saw an albino squirrel on the way back. Kiddo said she’s going to play for UT, lol.
  16. Protest video from inside a russian pit where they put the guys they beat the hell out of. This is straight out of One Soldier’s War.
  17. Another protest video from a mobik saying he/they are tired of this front line shit when they’re supposed to be in the rear; and they’re not getting combat pay.
  18. Trench clearing like straight out of Call of Duty. Interesting footage.
  19. I don’t know if I can stomach it over there, but over the last 15 years I learned a fair amount on/from The High Road, Texas Bowhunter, Eastman’s, Petersen’s, Rokslide, etc. Luckily for me I was at a point where I was ready to take advantage of the opportunity when an acquaintance was nice enough to extend an invite. That was the sticking point for me - having someone I trust giving me some first hand information on where good hunting spots would be, etc., so I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time. Hopefully Huntin’ Fool will be helpful like that for me in other states, and OnX makes things easier now as well.
  20. I’m posting this as somewhat of a journal entry for myself but also as a help/conversation starter for anybody considering trying to draw tags for western public land hunting. A summary of where I’m at in my journey: (TLDR: out of state public land hunting is complicated, figuring out how you want to do it can be complicated, there is help available) Last week I turned in my Colorado tag application and also decided to start building points in more western states for elk, and will be putting in for Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona for the foreseeable future. In addition, I will continue to build points for Moose and Big Horn Sheep with my Colorado applications where I usually draw an elk or mule deer tag. After thought and conversation with kids, I’ll be putting in for points for them as well. They are 10 and 13, and should be drawing decent tags in their late teens. Youth stuff is a whole other topic I’ll save for another time. New Mexico and Alaska don’t do points, and Idaho is a little different with costs, so I’m saving those for later consideration. For some of the in-demand tags, the average time to draw is over a decade (even for elk), and approaches 20 years for some species/units. One of the reasons I’ve put off point building is the fact that it’s so foreign to me to plan/spend money for hunts a decade+ out. After 5-6 years of research and some experience, I think I’ve finally figured out a plan for myself, based on what my capabilities and limitations are. Here’s a list FYI: Limitations: 1. I really lose interest looking at monster state game agency annuals trying to figure out where to hunt and where/how to apply, and all the little esoteric state-by-state rules. They evolve over time as well. 2. I have a hard time keeping up with all the due dates for applications. They aren’t consistent and also can change over time. And I believe with some states, if you miss a year of applying, you lose your points. (Big disincentive for me.) 3. I don’t have hunting connections all over the west. I have had connections in NM and CO, which were invaluable to getting me hunting there. 4. I’m 45. Already too old (by most guide’s recommendations) to start applying for sheep tags that have a ~20 year average draw time. 5. There is the potential for rules to change or for “point creep” to continue to lessen my chances at drawing tags in great hunting areas, but I’m ok with that. 6. I really enjoy a hot shower, hot meal, and cold beverage at the end of the day. Climbing into a sleeping bag without a hot shower is a low point for me and I typically don’t sleep well like that. This has limited me to hunting from places where I stay in lodging and walk/drive in and out of the hunting area. In order to get further back I will need to tent camp; an area for improvement. Capabilities: 1. I have a decent “public land” hunting budget. I usually spend about $800 for a tag in Colorado. Tags for most other states will probably trend higher, up to a few grand, which I can swing. I usually spend probably double that every year in ammo and gear. And then at least a couple grand in fuel, lodging, processing, tanning/taxidermy work. Building these points will cost about $700 per year. Not that much per se, but a shift from my Texas hunting experience. The costs are somewhat spread out over the year, so you aren’t getting a $5k+ bill all at once. 2. My wife and I will get into some arguments on the time I spend away, but we get through it. She is generally “supportive”; I.e. doesn’t overtly fight me on hunting topics, takes care of things while I’m gone, and is happy to cook/eat venison. 3. I’ve become a “decent” public land elk hunter; it’s a totally different thing than Texas whitetail hunting and took me awhile to adapt, and I’m obviously still drinking from the fire hose. This includes: A. Being in physical shape enough to go ~10 miles per day up and down grades at 7-10k feet elevation, with 20-70lb+ pack. B. Being able to read the situation and adapt the daily plan to the conditions; what the weather, animals, competing hunters, and your partner(s) are doing/wanting to do. C. Taking marksmanship, prep, and gear seriously. I make investments in my gear and have it sorted out and ready. Always being able to reliably shoot at distance when the hunt starts. It is a buzz kill on a hunt when someone doesn’t have themselves or their gear ready/reliable. D. I can “embrace the suck”; work through type 2 fun/no fun at all/tough situations without panicking / going negative / giving up. Dudes that can’t handle inconveniently timed hard work and adversity won’t make it in public land western hunting IMO. This will be something to work on with the kids. E. I am fairly patient and optimistic; can do all-day sits, multi-days hunts without seeing animals without letting my attitude sag, I’m in for the whole experience, not just the kill. Also, if I tag out early; I’m all in for scouting/pushing game or packing out for others. With all this in mind, I’m going to use a tag application service to help me with managing points/tags. I’ve looked at several services, but I ended up using Huntin’ Fool. They will cost me all-in about $500/yr. They have hunt planner types to help me with unit selection, guides, etc. if needed down the road. They have been helpful on the phone to this point and their website was good as well. Additionally, they will turn in applications for my kids for free in states where they are managing my applications, which is a huge benefit. I will probably spend more time with them on managing my kid’s applications than on my own for a few years.
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