HARPERC
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LOL! I figured those of those of us following the thread were old enough to remember who he was. Those old character actors made a lot of stars look good, and classics out of low budget movies.
Getting Old
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LOL! I figured those of those of us following the thread were old enough to remember who he was. Those old character actors made a lot of stars look good, and classics out of low budget movies.
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
Well speaking of failing faculties-I intended this quote to go with my prior post. I do find I'm repeating myself these day.
Old teacher
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If the animal was obviously very ill, you would be right to take it out of the population. It may carry something that would spread to other species, and may have been suffering. It certainly sounds like it would be. In highly human populated areas, coyotes need to be strictly controlled. They kill thousands of small pets every year, countless young livestock, and occasionally small children. In farming country, most farmers do not want you to kill coyotes because they control other vermin that damage crops. We hunted one ranch in WA for years where we had to sign a form swearing that we would not kill any coyotes.
Skunks are another matter. Skunks carry rabies more than any other animal. In the decade of the 1880's in the Midwest, more people died from rabid skunk bites than all other reasons combined. Skunk populations need to be strictly controlled for health reasons and to protect your pets, chickens, rabbits, and any other small animal or fowl you may keep.
I had an interesting experience with a coyote one time. My partner and I were on our way home from a hunt and far away from any human habitation. We rounded a curve, and a coyote was sitting along side the road. He was a big dog and in perfect health and a beautiful animal. We stopped, and he just sat there. I got out of the truck and he retreated a few steps, but did not run away. I got out a loaf of bread and "frisbeed" the slices in his direction. When I ran out, he carefully stacked up all the slices and away he went with a meal of sandwiches! He definitely was not sick. His coat was in prime condition and he was in good weight. The only thing I could think of that made him so tame is that he may have been a pet at one time, and someone got tired of him and took him out in the boonies and left him. He was obviously doing fine on his own, but was not above taking a handout. I hope no one shot him.
Skunks are another matter. Skunks carry rabies more than any other animal. In the decade of the 1880's in the Midwest, more people died from rabid skunk bites than all other reasons combined. Skunk populations need to be strictly controlled for health reasons and to protect your pets, chickens, rabbits, and any other small animal or fowl you may keep.
I had an interesting experience with a coyote one time. My partner and I were on our way home from a hunt and far away from any human habitation. We rounded a curve, and a coyote was sitting along side the road. He was a big dog and in perfect health and a beautiful animal. We stopped, and he just sat there. I got out of the truck and he retreated a few steps, but did not run away. I got out a loaf of bread and "frisbeed" the slices in his direction. When I ran out, he carefully stacked up all the slices and away he went with a meal of sandwiches! He definitely was not sick. His coat was in prime condition and he was in good weight. The only thing I could think of that made him so tame is that he may have been a pet at one time, and someone got tired of him and took him out in the boonies and left him. He was obviously doing fine on his own, but was not above taking a handout. I hope no one shot him.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Yesterday Jim and I loaded enough stuff to keep us alive for 4 days and headed to Medicine Lodge for a 1 day drive around and calling set day of enjoyment. Jim has harvested many coyotes and 8 bobcats over the years in this area. This was my first trip there.
Round trip was only 260 miles. 160 miles of it was to and from the area. Welcome to the west.
Took from 0530 to 1900. 3 hours of which were spend digging out of snow banks until we got smart enough to chain up.
Saw over 60 elk. Two of which were spikes. Also saw a golden eagle. Haven't seen one in ages.
Made one calling set.
Parked the truck and headed to where we could see into the valley. We immediately saw a yote going up the other side a little better than 500 yards to our left. Saw another making two. Eased over to a somewhat hidden calling spot. Watched yotes for several minutes. No out of normal actions on their part.
Jim breaks out his favorite call and gives it ago. About the time the sound would reach the dogs without even glancing around up the other side the they head. Then a third one appears. WTH? Over a period of minutes calling simply drove them further away. As they were headed up the hill the big one took a dump. The third one (a female) then went to the spot and took a leak on the dump. Hmmm, my wife would "never" do that.
The was more or less in their favor than ours when we first saw them but wonder if it were really a factor?
At about 760 yards they came across in front of us. I gave a couple of howls. They turned to come across our field of view alternately meandering and sitting and looking in our direction.
Seeing has how we were already busted I stood up and moved around. No visible difference in the yote's activities. They must have been comfortable way out there. Which is specifically why I have the 270 AM. I was carrying a Sig 556 and Jim a 220 Swift. The truck was only a short walk behind us. I could have fairly quickly retrieved the AM.
7000 feet elevation, enough ice crystals falling (7* F) that it was easy to read the 5-6 MPH wind.
When considering the lives of those three coyotes, the vastness of the area and lack of rabbit tracks I got to feeling that there were only 3 coyotes instead of 5 or 6 due to the hard life up there. Just couldn't get up the energy to get the LRH rig. I guess I am old.
I think its nice being old.
Medicine Lodge peak on the left, I think?
Round trip was only 260 miles. 160 miles of it was to and from the area. Welcome to the west.
Took from 0530 to 1900. 3 hours of which were spend digging out of snow banks until we got smart enough to chain up.
Saw over 60 elk. Two of which were spikes. Also saw a golden eagle. Haven't seen one in ages.
Made one calling set.
Parked the truck and headed to where we could see into the valley. We immediately saw a yote going up the other side a little better than 500 yards to our left. Saw another making two. Eased over to a somewhat hidden calling spot. Watched yotes for several minutes. No out of normal actions on their part.
Jim breaks out his favorite call and gives it ago. About the time the sound would reach the dogs without even glancing around up the other side the they head. Then a third one appears. WTH? Over a period of minutes calling simply drove them further away. As they were headed up the hill the big one took a dump. The third one (a female) then went to the spot and took a leak on the dump. Hmmm, my wife would "never" do that.
The was more or less in their favor than ours when we first saw them but wonder if it were really a factor?
At about 760 yards they came across in front of us. I gave a couple of howls. They turned to come across our field of view alternately meandering and sitting and looking in our direction.
Seeing has how we were already busted I stood up and moved around. No visible difference in the yote's activities. They must have been comfortable way out there. Which is specifically why I have the 270 AM. I was carrying a Sig 556 and Jim a 220 Swift. The truck was only a short walk behind us. I could have fairly quickly retrieved the AM.
7000 feet elevation, enough ice crystals falling (7* F) that it was easy to read the 5-6 MPH wind.
When considering the lives of those three coyotes, the vastness of the area and lack of rabbit tracks I got to feeling that there were only 3 coyotes instead of 5 or 6 due to the hard life up there. Just couldn't get up the energy to get the LRH rig. I guess I am old.
I think its nice being old.
Medicine Lodge peak on the left, I think?
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41mag
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You folks and your gettin old.......LOL
Heck I'm just a punk kid up against some of you all at 48, but I feel a decade older at times. In fact I was tellin my boss if I had know I was going to make 40 I SURE would not have done a LOT of things I did when I was younger. LOL
That said, there isn't any shame in watching the critters once in a while. That is part of the wonder we all enjoy in being out there. This past Monday I sat on a 10 acre plot my wife and I purchased a few years back. The oldest of three grandsons and I had sat out there Friday Saturday and Sunday in hopes of catching one of the bucks working the umpteen scrapes they have along and through the middle of the little place. Never saw hide nor hair. However I got there no Monday set up just beside a tree nothing else, and watch 5 shooter bucks walk within 30yds of me and never raised my gun. I watched them work one scrape after another up the hill and out of sight and it was TOO COOL to say the least. One was at least an 18" wide 10, and then a VERY nice 8 and the others were mixed down to a spike, but all were wider than the 15" imposed limit.
It's just neat to observe things in a relaxed manner once in a while knowing what you could do if you wanted, but having total satisfaction in the fact you didn't. Tag soup don't bother me either in fact I usually don't even bother with the deer unless it is something that just is a total freak. It is simply nice to take in the scenery once in a while, and enjoy what God has put out there for us to see.
Now had a hog come along, well I would have been all over it like a duck on a June bug. LOL Hogs are ugly, stinky, and tear up more trees and pastures than the deer do, besides there's more meat on them bones anyway.
Heck I'm just a punk kid up against some of you all at 48, but I feel a decade older at times. In fact I was tellin my boss if I had know I was going to make 40 I SURE would not have done a LOT of things I did when I was younger. LOL
That said, there isn't any shame in watching the critters once in a while. That is part of the wonder we all enjoy in being out there. This past Monday I sat on a 10 acre plot my wife and I purchased a few years back. The oldest of three grandsons and I had sat out there Friday Saturday and Sunday in hopes of catching one of the bucks working the umpteen scrapes they have along and through the middle of the little place. Never saw hide nor hair. However I got there no Monday set up just beside a tree nothing else, and watch 5 shooter bucks walk within 30yds of me and never raised my gun. I watched them work one scrape after another up the hill and out of sight and it was TOO COOL to say the least. One was at least an 18" wide 10, and then a VERY nice 8 and the others were mixed down to a spike, but all were wider than the 15" imposed limit.
It's just neat to observe things in a relaxed manner once in a while knowing what you could do if you wanted, but having total satisfaction in the fact you didn't. Tag soup don't bother me either in fact I usually don't even bother with the deer unless it is something that just is a total freak. It is simply nice to take in the scenery once in a while, and enjoy what God has put out there for us to see.
Now had a hog come along, well I would have been all over it like a duck on a June bug. LOL Hogs are ugly, stinky, and tear up more trees and pastures than the deer do, besides there's more meat on them bones anyway.
Old teacher
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My partner and I used to hunt about 60 acres of brushland on one of the San Juan islands in the Pacific Northwest. Sixty acres doesn't sound like much, but the estimated population of this island was 11,000 deer. The problem is that it is heavily human populated, and hunters are not popular, for some good reasons. It is shotgun only, but sabots make that kind of a moot point in brush. I personally knew folks with bullet holes in their refrigerators. We just happened to work with a guy who owned the 60 acres and we were they only people he would let on. The myth about island deer being small is just that, a myth. We hunted there for eight years until a 115 mph windstorm leveled the entire area. But in those eight years, we took sixteen bucks. Two things were interesting about hunting there. There are no natural deer predators to control the population, and a lot of inbreeding takes place. The first year we shot bucks with the most screwed up looking horns imaginable. But as the years went by, the quality of the deer increased as did the difficulty in hunting them. We were the "introduced" predators that took out the weak and deformed the first couple years, allowing the good bucks to do more breeding. By the time we had to stop hunting there, we were shooting beautiful deer with perfectly formed antlers, but it was tough to find them. It was Darwinism in action. What was also interesting was that if you chose a good spot on a good run, and stayed very still and very patient, the whole quiet woods just came to life. I had birds land on my shoulders, squirrels running up my legs to get to their favorite tree, and all sorts of wildlife that stayed hidden and silent if we moved through the area stalking deer. It was fascinating and very rewarding. I actually (and this is a true story, I swear) had a doe step over my legs as she went down the run. As soon as she smelled me, she exploded. We were in all camo gear since we were the only ones there. The biggest deer I shot there was a nice 3 point blacktail that dressed 150, and 150 is a nice blacktail. I missed a nice 4 point because I fell asleep, and when I woke up, he was just standing there, 20 yards away. I total blew it and probably missed him by ten yards. They are not very big deer. That was some of the most fun I ever had deer hunting, and only ten miles and a ten minute ferry ride from home.
RMulhern
Well-Known Member
I hunted in Medicine Lodge, Kansas for 3 days back about 3 weeks ago; saw numerous bucks and some that would have been shot on sight by most hunters here where I live in north Louisiana but I had set a goal of at least a 160+ buck or better and I didn't see anything in that category so I just watched the game and enjoyed the show. Been hunting these dudes since 1950 and taken many. Needless to say....I don't kill many deer these days! I guess I'm already old!!
Live and worked on a ranch 5000 plus acres of land in central Idaho saw many animals.
We were feeding 780 head of cattle daily, and would watch the coyotes catch mice and
play while we were working......
I was going to shoot one one day and thought of all the mice that they ate and other pests
put my sights just under his rear tail and pulled the trigger watch him jump spin 360 and
run off ( did not shoot him) that was the last time I shot at a coyote just went back to watching them mouse.
I was in my early thirty's then........Well I guess the story told by a friend "Life doesn't
begin at 40 for those of us that did 60 at 20"....
Still enjoy nature and the many gifts that are there for those who just set still and allow her to be.......
We were feeding 780 head of cattle daily, and would watch the coyotes catch mice and
play while we were working......
I was going to shoot one one day and thought of all the mice that they ate and other pests
put my sights just under his rear tail and pulled the trigger watch him jump spin 360 and
run off ( did not shoot him) that was the last time I shot at a coyote just went back to watching them mouse.
I was in my early thirty's then........Well I guess the story told by a friend "Life doesn't
begin at 40 for those of us that did 60 at 20"....
Still enjoy nature and the many gifts that are there for those who just set still and allow her to be.......
Old teacher
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RMilhern: you are not getting old, you have just become a selective hunter who does not believe that you are less of a man if you do not punch your ticket every year. Congratulations!
As a side note here, since the incomprehensible slaughter of the 27 children and adults at Sandy Hook school, we are going to be facing the most insidious threats imaginable to our second amendment rights in the next year or more with all the familiar names leading the charge. At the moment, they are after high capacity magazines and secondarily, all "assault" weapons. But none of us needs to be naïve enough to believe that it will end there. Wayne La Pierre finally came out of his closet with a televised statement calling for armed guards in schools, but he is not a good public speaker and did, in my opinion as a former speech teacher, a poor job of making his point. Although I agree with putting armed police officers in schools, they should definitely not be the hodge-podge of people he recommended, i.e. retired policeman, retired military, and a host of others. They should be active duty policeman who have been psychologically evaluated to relate to the level of students at the particular school where they will be assigned. Just tossing a police officer into a school without this kind of careful consideration could be disastrous. For example, an officer assigned to an elementary school should be a man or woman who loves small children and will present an image of a loving, caring, nurturing adult that will make small children relate to police officers as surrogate "parents" instead of being afraid of anybody in a uniform, which many small children are. Policeman assigned to high schools need to be friends with the students, but they need to project a no nonsense approach to their duty in the school. I, personally, taught high school for 31 years , loved the job, loved the kids, they loved me, voted me teacher of the year and bought me a very expensive retirement gift. But put me in an elementary school, and I would be insane in a week. I just don't relate well to large groups of little kids. The police officers assigned to schools need to be evaluated just as teachers are and placed where they fit the best so the children will respect and trust them as their friends and protectors.
Also, you will be contacted by the NRA asking for donations to fight the good fight which is most assuredly in our future. I have already donated, as I always do, and I hope all of you will do the same.
I am not sure if this kind of message is appropriate for this forum, and I apologize if I have broken protocol by posting it. I just felt it was something I had to say, and forum editors can remove it if it is not appropriate.
If it remains, thank you all for reading it and I will look forward to any opinions/counter opinions from other members.
Denny Brune, Concrete, WA
One post script: Mr. La Pierre did an excellent job dealing with two hecklers by remaining absolutely quiet while security dealt with them, then continuing his speech without comment about the heckling.
As a side note here, since the incomprehensible slaughter of the 27 children and adults at Sandy Hook school, we are going to be facing the most insidious threats imaginable to our second amendment rights in the next year or more with all the familiar names leading the charge. At the moment, they are after high capacity magazines and secondarily, all "assault" weapons. But none of us needs to be naïve enough to believe that it will end there. Wayne La Pierre finally came out of his closet with a televised statement calling for armed guards in schools, but he is not a good public speaker and did, in my opinion as a former speech teacher, a poor job of making his point. Although I agree with putting armed police officers in schools, they should definitely not be the hodge-podge of people he recommended, i.e. retired policeman, retired military, and a host of others. They should be active duty policeman who have been psychologically evaluated to relate to the level of students at the particular school where they will be assigned. Just tossing a police officer into a school without this kind of careful consideration could be disastrous. For example, an officer assigned to an elementary school should be a man or woman who loves small children and will present an image of a loving, caring, nurturing adult that will make small children relate to police officers as surrogate "parents" instead of being afraid of anybody in a uniform, which many small children are. Policeman assigned to high schools need to be friends with the students, but they need to project a no nonsense approach to their duty in the school. I, personally, taught high school for 31 years , loved the job, loved the kids, they loved me, voted me teacher of the year and bought me a very expensive retirement gift. But put me in an elementary school, and I would be insane in a week. I just don't relate well to large groups of little kids. The police officers assigned to schools need to be evaluated just as teachers are and placed where they fit the best so the children will respect and trust them as their friends and protectors.
Also, you will be contacted by the NRA asking for donations to fight the good fight which is most assuredly in our future. I have already donated, as I always do, and I hope all of you will do the same.
I am not sure if this kind of message is appropriate for this forum, and I apologize if I have broken protocol by posting it. I just felt it was something I had to say, and forum editors can remove it if it is not appropriate.
If it remains, thank you all for reading it and I will look forward to any opinions/counter opinions from other members.
Denny Brune, Concrete, WA
One post script: Mr. La Pierre did an excellent job dealing with two hecklers by remaining absolutely quiet while security dealt with them, then continuing his speech without comment about the heckling.
I dont think age has a lot to do with getting old...I think the 22 years I did in the military added 30 years to me at times. Eyes are bad....Hearing is nonexistent without the implant I got and the sound processor magnet stuck to my skull. I have iron poisoning (Hemochromatosis) caused by hundreds of bits of shrapnel still in me as they slowly dissolve.
I got legs of a 25 year old from the knees up.....There isnt much left from the knee's down. If I kneel on a pad I can still lift 300 pounds chest high...If I stand....Hell I'm lucky if I can stand...Forget the weight!
I'm 52 now.....It's just gonna get worse I guess!
We all get old...some of us faster than others!
I got legs of a 25 year old from the knees up.....There isnt much left from the knee's down. If I kneel on a pad I can still lift 300 pounds chest high...If I stand....Hell I'm lucky if I can stand...Forget the weight!
I'm 52 now.....It's just gonna get worse I guess!
We all get old...some of us faster than others!
Old teacher
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Arty: I agree wholeheartedly that age in years does not necessarily make you old. Much of the aging process that we observe and feel is due to how we treated our bodies when we were younger. I was a cocky, know-it-all kid who grew up in the era of Detroit muscle cars, and I had one bad hotrod. I was also in twelve serious car wrecks resulting in injuries that never completely heal. i.e. compressed vertebrae. One of the 20 subjects I taught in my career was weightlifting and powerlifting, and the lack of following proper warm-up protocol cost me both of my knees. I am currently recovering from a total rebuild of my right, and will then have my left fixed. I am not complaining in any way...everybody makes their own choices in life and we all have to live with the outcomes. I am just infinitely grateful that modern medical science now allows the surgery I am having to give me two new knees that will make me as good as new. I am also grateful for a country that has a program like medicare that is paying for the bulk of this. I am also infinitely grateful to you, Arty, for the service and sacrifices that you have given for this country, and I am truly sorry that you have to suffer so much for that service. Hang in there, and do the best you can. My father-in-law was a tank commander for Patton and was one of his personal friends. I have the greatest respect for all of our military, police and other service veterans who keep us safe and free.
Old teacher
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Re: legislation
Sorry to switch topics again, but this is serious. I am sure that all of you have read about the legislation passed in New York yesterday. This is the most restrictive legislation ever actually passed anywhere, anytime in this country. New York has been a battleground for years, but this latest violation of our 2nd amendment rights is far and away more serious than any of their most previous attempts to take all guns away from all people. I have no AK's , no AR's, or anything made of black plastic, but that is just because I don't like the way they look. But I totally support your right to own them and to attach 50 cartridge clips to them if you so desire. If you think that this is the end of this issue, you have your head in a really dark place. Fortunately, on the same day, Colorado issued a statement that they would not make enforcement of federal guns laws a priority (I hope I read that right!). I am certain that the NRA will become involved in this and that NY's new attempts to target us will end up in the federal courts, hopefully the Supreme Court before Obama gets the opportunity to change the current one vote edge we have there. I am sure that all of you are NRA members, but if you are not, please consider joining; if you are a member, be sure to add your wife and age eligible children to their roles. And when they come asking for money, please send what you can, because the next couple of years are going to be very expensive. As a side note, even though I have a relatively high number of guns, and most of them are not old, but they are of traditional styles, but NY's new laws would require me to , sooner or later, dispose of nearly half of them. Their new laws limit magazines to SEVEN. M-1's hold eight. Say goodbye to your grandfather's or father's, or even your treasured Garand. Also, have some time on your hands if you go in to buy a box of shells, because that now requires the same background check as buying a gun.
The "anti's have no clue what they have started. We have a local dealer who is currently selling 75 to 100 AR's a DAY! The anti-gun establishment has, in a month, been responsible for putting more "assault" weapons on the streets of America than any incident or action in US history. They are incredibly shortsighted and just plain FUBAR beyond belief.
Sorry to switch topics again, but this is serious. I am sure that all of you have read about the legislation passed in New York yesterday. This is the most restrictive legislation ever actually passed anywhere, anytime in this country. New York has been a battleground for years, but this latest violation of our 2nd amendment rights is far and away more serious than any of their most previous attempts to take all guns away from all people. I have no AK's , no AR's, or anything made of black plastic, but that is just because I don't like the way they look. But I totally support your right to own them and to attach 50 cartridge clips to them if you so desire. If you think that this is the end of this issue, you have your head in a really dark place. Fortunately, on the same day, Colorado issued a statement that they would not make enforcement of federal guns laws a priority (I hope I read that right!). I am certain that the NRA will become involved in this and that NY's new attempts to target us will end up in the federal courts, hopefully the Supreme Court before Obama gets the opportunity to change the current one vote edge we have there. I am sure that all of you are NRA members, but if you are not, please consider joining; if you are a member, be sure to add your wife and age eligible children to their roles. And when they come asking for money, please send what you can, because the next couple of years are going to be very expensive. As a side note, even though I have a relatively high number of guns, and most of them are not old, but they are of traditional styles, but NY's new laws would require me to , sooner or later, dispose of nearly half of them. Their new laws limit magazines to SEVEN. M-1's hold eight. Say goodbye to your grandfather's or father's, or even your treasured Garand. Also, have some time on your hands if you go in to buy a box of shells, because that now requires the same background check as buying a gun.
The "anti's have no clue what they have started. We have a local dealer who is currently selling 75 to 100 AR's a DAY! The anti-gun establishment has, in a month, been responsible for putting more "assault" weapons on the streets of America than any incident or action in US history. They are incredibly shortsighted and just plain FUBAR beyond belief.
joe0121
Well-Known Member
I agree I spent little over 5 years active duty and I honestly think it aged me 15 years. I'm 27 and have arthritis in my shoulders, My knees sound like popcorn when I walk. When the weather gets cold my back aches. My VA claim has been sitting in limbo for over two years.
Old teacher
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Joe: You are having all these problems at age 27 and the VA is giving you the run around? How soon they forget when you no longer are of practical use to them. If I can write any letters, make any phone calls, or do anything else to let the VA know that I , as a military protected citizen, am not happy with how our vets are being treated, I would be happy to do that. Just let me know who to contact and I will unload 66 years of freedom I would like to remind them of.
