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Everything posted by Spaulding Smails
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Surly official camping and backpacking thread
Spaulding Smails replied to Chuychanga's topic in Hobbies
@Anton Chigurh @Biff Tannen thank you for the recs. I haven't even ventured online or to REI yet. I figured I would check here first. I'll be traveling with my 11 year old son. Just the two of us. I wish we could bring our lab, but it seems like Big Bend frowns upon that. Regardless, I like the idea of a larger pack and larger tent. Especially when my daughter gets older and is able to join us. My son will just have his daypack and hydration pack, so I'll be carrying the tent, sleeping pads, food, jet boil, etc. I'll probably put some stuff in his pack, but I'd rather him be light and nimble to enjoy the trip. Keep the recs coming. -
Big Bend - Alpine - Marfa - Fort Davis
Spaulding Smails replied to AnonymousInternetPoster's topic in Food and Travel
Planning a three-day hiking trip with primitive camping over Spring Break with my son (11 years old). At first glance, I'm thinking of doing the outer loop. Any recommendations on that or other trails? We can stretch it to a four day trip if needed. What are priorities to see / do? Go for one loop, or break it up into other individual trips? -
Surly official camping and backpacking thread
Spaulding Smails replied to Chuychanga's topic in Hobbies
Starting to get set up for our primitive camping / hiking trip to Big Bend over Spring Break. Looking for a recommendations on a good multi-day backpacking pack and 2-man backpack tent. I should have everything else for the trip, but need to upgrade both of those. Our hiking has been limited to day hikes thus far. I have an inexpensive dome tent and day pack, but both are due for upgrades, so this is as good of an opportunity as any. Budget is $600 or so for both together. We're planning on doing a three day trip around the outer loop. I'll ask for more details about the trip specifically in the Big Bend thread, but if anyone has any recommendations on gear lists for a three-day hike, it wouldn't hurt to double check my inventory. -
That's the exact question I'd expect from your avatar.
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Agreed. I think he was trying to save meat, but that doesn't do any good when you don't find the animal.
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Damn. I never thought about that. We have a kiddie pool, and I just empty it once a week down the back hill. Never dawned on me to put it in the garden. Thanks for the idea.
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That's well said. And thanks for the illustration. I agree on neck shots as well. I'm fine with them, and to your point, it's an easier target than the head. I guess my stance is there's a justification for heart / lungs, front shoulder, neck, and head. And each depends on the weapon, the shot and the shooter. I shot a nice 10 point 15 or so years ago and HAD to shoot him in the neck because I couldn't get him to stop as he meandered through the brush. Then, I HAD to shoot the largest buck I've ever shot (11 point, scored in the low 150s) in the chest because I had to shoot him right handed and didn't trust myself on a smaller target.
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This exact topic came up this past weekend. My dad and I own the property (my dad owns majority), and he pretty much asked for two rules to be followed. 1) Don't drive off the existing dirt roads. 2) Shoot your deer in the shoulder. I didn't give the second rule much thought, and honestly I'd shoot a doe or spike in the head without pause. My BIL was out at our place this weekend. He's shot a few pigs there this year (we just bought it in January), but hadn't harvested a deer yet. He's very cognizant and respectful towards my dad. He had a big axis doe come out Saturday morning. I was texting with him from another stand and gave him the green light to shoot it. He shoots an AR platform 6.5 Creedmoor. Nice Vortex scope. Great rifle. Shoots straight and fast. Well, he shoots her right behind the shoulder. He said she dropped a bit then ran off. We let her sit for an hour. Got down. Found bright red blood, so we're thinking lung shot. We followed it for 100 yds, saw where she probably stopped for a second (pool of blood the size of a coaster), then nothing. We searched the area for a few more hours and couldn't find where the trail picked back up. The stand he was in is probably 400 yds from the back fence line and the blood trail was heading that way, so there's a chance she hopped the fence onto the neighbor's property. We have his number and tried to call but no answer (older guy, lives in San Angelo). The best we can figure, the shot went straight through. My BIL was kicking himself for not shooting her in the head (<100 yd shot). After a few beers, my dad started ribbing him for not shooting a "man's rifle". He shoots a 30/30 or a 30-06. It was all in good fun, but it sucks to lose an animal for sure. I'm of the opinion that every shot is different, and as a shooter, you should take the shot that makes the most sense and can take the animal down quickly and efficiently. If you're comfortable with a head shot, then take it. If not, aim for the front shoulders and live with a little less meat. I think the loss of an animal like that did give my dad pause and understand that a shoulder shot isn't always the right shot.
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Dude. That is very nice. You went all out. R panel roof and masonry flatwork? Seriously. Nice job.
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That's damn near the exact same one I built earlier this year for my sister and then a second for my mom. Same finish and everything. Yours looks great. Nice job.
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So, we officially cancelled our goose trip that was scheduled for next week. I talked to our guide, and he hasn't seen a goose from El Campo to Port Lavaca in the last two weeks. He said this has been the worst goose season he's ever seen (been hunting there for 30+ years).
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@crimsonlonghorn I like that setup. Especially if you're moving it around. How much does it weigh?
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I did build it myself. And I thought I could get it done in one weekend. WRONG. Three weekends later and several trips to the hardware store, and I finally finished. I spent about double what I was planning too. It was actually a lot of fun, though. I did access panels in the back so you don't need to go into the coop to get the eggs. All cedar with a screw-down galvanized metal roof. Should be good to go for many moons.
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Check out Hal Higdon's programs if you haven't already. Great for race prep, but also nice if you just want some variety in your routine while maintaining a consistent program. I'm not training for anything in particular right now (which is why I need to lose about 15 lbs and I'm slower than I've been in 10 years), but I still mix in tempo runs, hill work and intervals. I've found that the variety helps a ton mentally and keeps me at a respectable pace even though I'm only running 3-4 times/week. https://www.halhigdon.com
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I believe the dark brown egg is from the maran. I'll have to check with my son. He's the one that checks for eggs and seems to know who's laying what and where. She seems to be our most consistent layer. The americanas were slow to lay, but I love the blue eggs. Those lights were some cheap battery-powered LED lights. Three strands at like $15/ea. Perfect ambiance. They have a little remote, so when you walk out to the coop at night, you just take the remote with you from the house and hit it as you're walking up. Makes counting chickens much easier.
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Here's our setup. It was our first go-round with chickens, but my wife and kids absolutely love it. For the most part, ours stay put, and they head back to the coop after dusk. Really low maintenance. The coop is varmint-tight. Buried metal flashing 12" below grade to keep critters from digging under. Our only real threat is something during the day while they browse or if we forget to close the door to the coop. We started with a dozen pullets and two straight-run ducks this spring. The ten chickens and two ducks came from Callahan's, and they were great. We lost one chick to pasty butt early on. The other two chickens we got from Triple S Feed here in Dripping. They were in the pullet cage, but seeing that we ended up with two roosters, they were obviously straight run. They were our two favorites (Brahma and blue laced red wyandotte), but we had to give them away. No roosters allowed in our neighborhood. Kept both ducks though we ended up with one hen and one drake. My lab got two more chickens (one buff orpington, one maran). So, we're down to seven chickens and two ducks. Duck eggs are awesome, BTW. Other than the ducks, we still have two salmon faverolles, one Jersey giant, one maran, one buff orpington, and two americanas). it's interesting to watch their personalities. Some are passive. Others aggressive. Heck, the buff orpington will jump in your lap if you feed her dried mealworms. We'll be getting 6-8 more this spring. The eggs are so damn good. Hard to go back to store bought after having fresh eggs in the backyard.
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Where in South Texas? I hunted down there for 10+ years and shot a few like this. But, this one is more straight-up than I've seen. Very strange. My uncle still hunts in that area (Live Oak / Duval border). He shot this guy earlier this year. They aged him at 5.5. Nickname was "Super Freak".
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<50 lb, and I'm going full poacher's quarter. >50 lb, and I'm dragging it into the woods to feed the buzzards. We killed two little sows (35 lb each) right before Christmas. Those were some of the most tender backstraps I've ever had. My entire family loved them, including my wife who usually steers away from wild game. Conversely, I shot a 100 lb boar at the start of deer season and his ass was nasty. Covered in ticks and I could smell him from 20 ft away. I wasn't about to touch that meat.
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Depends on the set up of the ranch. If they're just dropping you in a blind, then I would hope they have been watching movements or have some idea of location, etc. Pigs get wise and get nocturnal if you whack em under the feeder hunt after hunt. From my experience, even when they're not nocturnal, they're moving right at first light and last light. Get in the blind plenty early in the morning and stay plenty late in the evening. If you're shooting a semi-automatic rifle, take dead aim on the first one, but see if you can pop a few more once they start to run. Also, eat steaks and drink whiskey and have fun.
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We had a pretty awesome week last week. Headed out to the ranch late Christmas Day. We're just getting everything buttoned up, so it was the first time I took my wife and all three kids to stay the night. My mom and dad came up as well and brought my 85 year old grandmother. She grew up in Knippa on a ranch, so she loved being out there. It was nice to not work our asses off and actually sit back and enjoy the place. My dad hunted Christmas evening and saw a cull buck that we've had our eye on. So, my son and I went to that stand Wednesday morning. He came out to the feeder shortly after the timer went off. We watched him for a bit with another small buck. It took him a while to clear the feeder and the other deer, but my son put a decent shot on him. He pulled it a bit and missed the vitals, but I knew he hit him solidly. He limped back into the brush and we watched him just stand there for a good 30 min. He started to move and was walking towards the back fence line, so I decided to hop out of the blind and head around his flank in the hopes of pushing him back away from the fence line. The strategy worked, and he moved back behind the feeder. I lost sight of him, so I headed back to the feeder. My son did a great job of keeping the binoculars on him and saw him tucked back in a little clearing at about 150 yds. He put a good shot on him that time and dropped him. It's his first buck and the first deer taken on our new ranch. Nothing special, but a good cull buck for a 10 year old. About 140 lb on the hoof and we aged him at 3.5 years. He was stoked. We enjoyed the morning together skinning and quartering him, ate a big late breakfast, then went out and popped a few dove that afternoon. Just a damn fine day. Followed that up with my annual duck hunt this weekend. Much slower than in years past. We think it was the fact that there's so many ponds full right now. One bird shy of two 5-man limits, but those took two hours instead of 30 minutes. Had to work harder than in years past and had some long shots on occasion, but we made it work. Also didn't have the variety that we've had in the past. Lots of teal, a few gadwall and widgeon, and too many ring necks. But, it was still a blast. We're just spoiled.
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That dude had been scrapping this year! Love wide racks that don't kick back in at the end of the main beam. Nice job!
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The all encompassing mid century modern appreciation thread
Spaulding Smails replied to Patricio Swayze's topic in Hobbies
My company seems to work on a ton of projects that fit into this motif from an architectural standpoint. It's one of the styles (along with true modern) that I don't care for personally, but have a true appreciation of from a stylistic and craftsmanship perspective. It's so simple, sleek and elegant, but hard to pull off properly. It accentuates space and compliments it instead of dominating it. Really a tough design concept to do well, but when done so properly, it makes a space. And, it's a really great feeling to see the true MCM architecture complimented by true MCM furnishings. -
Depends on how you are going to hunt. If from dry land and someone else is putting out decoys and retrieving dead ducks, then just warm clothes and gloves. If you and boy will be getting in the water, then waders will be needed. Other than that, a facemask, license, waterfowl stamp, steel shotgun shells and your shotgun. This is exactly right. When I duck hunt with a guide, it's pretty simple. Be warm, have license / stamp, shotgun / shells. If I'm hunting for myself, my list grows by 3X. 5X if you factor in my dog and his stuff. We're headed out tomorrow, and my buddy has decoys galore. It's going to be chilly, so my list for the blind is as follows: Waders + boots, long johns, wool socks, base layer, fleece shirt, heavy jacket, gloves with removable fingers, camo beanie with built-in headlamp, face mask, neoprene shell belt, duck straps, shotgun, 3" #4 steel shot, ziplock bags, game shears, knife, calls, dog's neoprene vest, eCollar and a big thermos for coffee
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Great point. Totally different ballgame if I had a little one or my dog in the truck. Funny enough, I talked to my uncle last night and told him the story. He said the same damn thing happened at his ranch about a month ago. Except it was raining and cold and he's 60 and his truck has 150,000 miles, so it took him 45 minutes of screwing with the door before he decided to break a back window with a piece of angle iron.
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Echoing what others have said, Fine Lumber and Dakota are the best for finish grade plywood and lumber in Austin. Houston Hardwoods and Mason's Mill in H-Town are legit. We actually buy a ton from Mason's Mill and have it shipped in for larger projects. They're cheaper even when factoring in delivery on larger orders, plus they have more knifing capabilities than most.
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