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Reagan1k

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Reagan1k

  1. With all of you on that. I've made the choice never to tell any sponsee or friend in the program that I am "proud" of them. I just say that I am happy for them, and that's the truth. Doesn't bother me one bit for someone to say it to me, but as stated, it can come off as odd and could perhaps lead someone prone to people-pleasing to view their actions in sobriety as being for someone else's approval rather than for their own wellbeing. Especially for someone new in sobriety, I think it is preferable to reinforce that you are happy for them, and not come off as patting them on the head and saying "Good Boy" ....even if that isn't the intent.
  2. For that matter, if you are not shooting cross-mountain and won't need a lot of energy out past 300-400 yard, a .270 could also be in the mix. Granted, it's on the lighter end for elk, but perfect for mulies and white tail if those are the primary goal. If you are proficient with it, there is no question that it is enough with a well placed shot at reasonable ranges. With the proper bullet selection and staying within its limits, the .270 was good enough for Jack O'Conner so it's good enough for me. I think anyone who has ever guided professionally or assisted guests/new hunters would agree that a hunter who is comfortable with and accurate using a lighter caliber is preferable over someone with a belted magnum or too much gun that they don't shoot well.
  3. You wouldn’t go wrong with a 7mag. Maybe a .300 win mag, as another consideration. However, if you want 180 degrees from exotic, then a 30-06 would still be the universal caliber to consider. I’m not an ‘06 guy, but have a couple older guns chambered in it. I honestly can’t recall ever killing big game with one, but I do recognize it as a premier, do-all lower 48 caliber when it comes to load selection, ammo “typically” being everywhere, and appropriate for elk/moose down to white tail.
  4. 6.8 Western by Winchester / Browning is now officially on the market (or at least is being marketed.....no idea if it is actually available anywhere) And go...........
  5. Yep, you don't see that gray on the back and shoulder too often.
  6. About two months after I stopped drinking, out of the blue my assistant commented that my signature had changed and I had decent handwriting - She asked if I was working on it - As if I had a Big Chief tablet and pencil out every night doing handwriting exercises. She didn't know I'd stopped at that point, but it was a pretty clear reminder that when I was drinking those 6-8 dry hours every day at the office were a disaster. I'm thrilled for your partner and for you that he's doing well, and I hope he continues to do what got him to this point. I've got a friend in the program and he always tells me to keep doing what I'm doing and not doing what I'm not doing. Serenity and sobriety are sustainable, but are not continuous without effort.
  7. And those deer hold tight in that corn. I hunted in Pike County one year and the outfitter stressed to me that if I see a combine start to work my field that my hunt wasn't over, but just beginning. Bedded deer would emerge from the stalks ahead of it and then circle back behind to feed. Other deer would come out of the timber and into the field when they heard the combine start......like they rang a dinner bell. I get tickled at midwestern hunters who look down their nose at a Texas corn feeder.
  8. Yeah - He got caught napping and didn't hear the combine coming.
  9. More than you'd want I'm sure....especially if the GW was having a bad day. S-S-S or let mother nature handle it as it appears he won't suffer much longer. Yotes will have him in a week or so. The compassionate thing would be to shot him on sight regardless of season, but the law doesn't always provide for that discretion. On a related matter, nature is resilient. Two years ago I saw an decent Aoudad whose left rear leg was hanging on by a thread above the knee joint. Basically all he had was a ham and a loose appendage dangling. I couldn't figure out what had happened. I was going to shoot him but a bigger ram pushed him away. Fast forward to this year and I see that ram on camera in a feeder pen. I was mildly surprised to see that he'd survived but then realized he was in the pen. That SOB was strong enough to jump in and out over the 4' panel on one rear leg. Not saying that little buck will make it, but sometimes it'll shock you what does and doesn't survive once the injury and infections heal.
  10. They don't need a subpoena; the Feds placed the ad on facebook. Joking...maybe I'm not. These aren't the old oil can filters. These are stainless or titanium in line filters and the ads are not even creatively veiled to pretend to be for fuel There is a case where a guy whose business is tricking out 4x4's got a visit from LEO's because of his purchases of legitimate stainless in-line filters. He documented it and shared it with some media. I seem to recall he was former military and a gun buff, so he figured out exactly what the problem was. Most of these shipments are coming out of china, so there isn't a manufacturer they can raid, but they can figure out who's making the transactions.
  11. I have had good experience with Freedom prior to the market implosion.
  12. We don't shoot spikes unless they are obviously a mature deer. If there is one iota of doubt, we let it walk. We can always shoot it the following year, and it prevents us from shooting yearling spikes. For example, the picture above would be a shoot-on-site. The guidance from our biologist was that since the doe's genetics (not identifiable) are a significant factor in offspring's antler development, "culling" very young bucks was not an efficient management tool - As long as the herd vs. range population was in check. If the pasture is overrun with deer, then reducing the total number is the primary goal, and in doing so you can chose the "inferior" young bucks, but only as part of the process of getting the population to an optimum level. Once bucks get to 3 or 4 years, we can see the obvious bucks that are never going to develop and we try to take the scraggly ones to lessen their impact; primarily on the available food for more desirable deer, but also to remove some of those genetics from the heard as a secondary goal - But, the primary goal is always to get a mouth off the range competing for food. We have witnessed that if we have enough bucks reach 5-6 years AND have adequate food and water, that mother nature takes care of itself with regard to antler development. If, however, the range cannot support the aggregate number of mouths, then no amount of selective culling is going to be effective until the population comes into balance. We strive for (in this order) 1) overall population numbers 2) buck/doe ratio 3) selective "culling" - which unless #1 and #2 are address, does not seem to have any benefit. It kills me when I see a picture of a 2 year old 6-8 point and someone calls it a cull as if that's improving their genetics. Unless they are in a closed environment and have numerous other bucks from the same breeding year with which to compare it, to me that's not a cull; it's just one less buck you'll have reaching maturity and its true potential.
  13. Testing out some GreenGo 800lb feeders for the coming year. Our crew put out two with 6 more to go. If all goes well, we'll likely replace all of out barrel / crank feeders with them or similar. Seem to be a good compromise between durability and ease of transport/positioning. Good info above on Texas Wildlife Supply. Ran a count on hogs confirmed killed from 10/1/20 through 1/10/21 and we were at 93. Wish it was more. Will probably try to bring in some traps this spring or call in an airstrike from Puff the Magic Dragon. We're by no means overrun, but are also conscious of the damage their doing long term.
  14. Agreed, but it was her dish and I wasn't eating it. Not my circus.......
  15. This weekend, my wife wanted to bake a few casseroles for some families who are sick. Needed a lot of garlic and didn't want to chop it. She sent me to the store with a list that included "Minced Garlic - Jar". I got everything she needed and sat down to watch one of the games, and then this ensues; Her - "Babe - I wanted the garlic in plastic squeeze bottle!" Me - "You literally wrote the word JAR on the list". Her - "Well, for future reference, if I say jar, I want the the plastic squeeze bottle."
  16. Looks good. Anchoring looks sound. Never underestimate Mother Nature’s ability to derail your hunt with some wind. I have a huge tower blind we got from Bode Feed 15-20 years ago. All steel framed and Hardie Board siding / roof. Big stairs up to a landing.... weighed something ungodly. It’ll be there forever. Legs were set on concrete pads with a big stainless chain deadman positioned like that. One weekend we drive in and noticed some trees damaged by wind. Drove by the blind and happened to stop to piss. The blind had been picked up and moved off the concrete pads- all four legs and stairs had moved about a foot. Fortunately it was still straight as the shift was equal. I have no idea if it was straight line winds or a small twister, but had they not installed that deadman, it would have been on its side for sure.
  17. Scope preferences vary so much depending on the originator of the opinion. Let's take the average Texas whitetail hunter spending 10-15 days a year in a stand hunting over a corn feeder from 150 yards in. Vortex (Rudolph, even Riton) will cover +95% of their needs and do it quite well. In fact, if they're used to a 20 year old Bushnell, they'll think it's a huge improvement. Same scope(s) in the hands of someone used to hunting long range, needing superior light gathering for that once in a lifetime shot opportunity will see the flaws and shortcomings. Neither is right or wrong. It's just their perception. Match the tool to the task if you want to maximize the value received based on the monetary outlay.
  18. Thanks for sharing that. I need to use that more often. Those would be great speedbumps to prevent me from stumbling into trouble of my own making. I've also heard....."Is true? Is it loving? Is it kind? Is it necessary?" Damn it....... if I'd just filter all the crap that wants to go from my head to my mouth through these, I'd have a lot less to worry about. About six months into sobriety my sponsor asked me to show him my credentials as the Chief of the Global Parking Lot Police. That stung a bit, but made a huge difference. I didn't realize how many times I sabotaged my own day by being a dick to a stranger over something that was insignificant to me.
  19. Yeah- it’s nothing more than a resentment waiting to happen. Like me drinking poison wanting the opposing party to die from it.
  20. A guy I know who has an immense collection of some of the finest weapons you could imagine just bought that CP33 with the brace. He's in love with it. He's retired and said he felt like a kid again with his 1st .22, but better since he didn't have to reload as often. I offered to take some of his NFA automatics off his hands if he wouldn't be needing them any more but he said he was sure the infatuation would pass.
  21. In their pistols, I think so. However, sort of like Hi-Point, their carbine actions are pretty sound. I for one am a proud Hi-Point 10mm carbine owner and it couldn't be more reliable. It looks like this KelTec P50 was built much more like their pistol caliber carbines than their throw away handguns. Promising anyhow. Biggest downside is that a day at the range, considering current 5.7 prices, might make you wish for a jam to slow the money burn.
  22. Nice job counselor - so it could have been any minority, even a Smurf......but no mention of a caucasian? He might want to find a friend to run the statements past before he "helps" any more......and yes....I'm sure she does want to put this behind her. Consequences are a bitch aren't they?
  23. I'm so grateful that part of my recovering involved divorcing myself from "politics". I still have ideologies and principals, but I don't discuss them, engage others abut them, or argue with those who's differ. I used to spend evenings writing letters to politicians - I owe Teddy Kennedy an amends I guess. I'd listen to talk radio, elevate my blood pressure, and drunkenly plan my political platform. Gone - I cannot control those things so I leave them alone. Those political engagements may be luxuries others can afford and remain serene, but not this drunk. On nights such as this I am eternally grateful that all I feel is sadness for our collective society, and have no other emotional connection to either side.
  24. Agreed. I thought the same thing.
  25. KelTec has introduced a Model P50 pistol, which uses FN90 mags (50 rounds of 5.7x28). It's "interesting" to say the least....ugly but interesting. What's intriguing to me is that it appears the industry is looking at ways to use magazines in the horizontal position. If a stock could be fitted to make this an SBR, it would make sense to me as a carbine. I looks like they may have that planned; using some sort of a wire butt stock. The groves in front of the trigger guard "look" like an intentional design for an under-folder to lock in place.
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