Gave up hunting years ago. Was squirrel hunting and someone who was fortunately a bad shot thought I was a deer even though I was covered in bright orange. Hit the tree about 5 feet over my head.
I do any hunting that I get a chance too. Usually a few deer/hog hunts a year with my father-in-law. A few dove hunts, and at the house we have rabbits coming out our ears. Most of the meat we eat over the year, comes from hunting.
@PappyJoe that's scary. I have a friend who took a round while elk hunting, luckily it didn't kill him.
@PipeProfessor LOL, so what, you make your students hunt or they fail?
@Abreathawayfromglory that's awesome, I brought my oldest son grouse hunting last year and he loved it. I had to force him to go, which in itself was a battle, but one he got out there, he's hooked now.
@thewanderingdude nice gear mate. Especially like that monogramed jacket. What brand is that? Do you bring a dog with you? I have a Labrador Retriever, she's great.
@drac2485 I bring the pipe with me. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to save the pipe for after the hunt with any large game. I smoke like a chimney when I'm doing upland/water fowl. We get good hauls every year, so I'd say the hunting is great.
@Daemon that's great, I've been hog hunting. Is it pretty awesome? What do you hunt the hog with?
@mhajec I never have to ask my son to go its a given if I go hunting fishing or just four wheeling he is right there and now that he is 18 it includes Smoking cigars and pipes
@Abreathawayfromglory Lol, you got lucky then. It took my friend and I having to damn near drag him to the truck. He complained all the way to the point where he got to shoot his first bird. I didn't hear complain after that, he was beaming from ear to ear. We went out 10 times last year after that and now he asks for gear and training materials for the dog. He bought his own set of chaps this summer even. He's excited for this year.
@mhajec I enjoy hog hunting. I use a .270, the best hunt so far was with my father-in-law and daughter. Since hogs are not a "game" animal here in Texas, its legal to hunt them after dark. About 11pm on a bright night we went out to a fence line and looked out to see if anything in the field and there were a few hogs out. Couldn't tell which end was which but we did our best and got a little lucky and dropped it where it stood.
All my children love to go, they argue over who's turn it is to go. My middle child had the craziest hunt with me, of my children.
To turn a long story short, we (me, my daughter, and my father-in-law) tracked a deer for about 3hr's, then got turned around in the brush (yes I forgot my GPS and my compass in the truck, tried following the stars till clouds came over and we couldn't see them) and got lost. The ranch owner came out and started honking the horn on the truck till we could find the way back. It was around midnight before we got back in the truck. As it turns out we were walking in big circles. I was worried that would have turned her off hunting, but she still loves it. Sorry its such a long post, but I get long winded when talking about hunting.
@mhajec Its Beretta field gear that my wife bought and had monogrammed for me years ago. The shotgun is from Mark Dehaan out of Rigby Idaho. My uncle has a German Shorthair Pointer that I love to hunt over whenever possible.
@Daemon there's no such as too long when it comes to hunting stories my friend. That's pretty funny about walking in circles, I'm glad she didn't get turned off by it (actually sounds like fun like to me). I've gotten geographically misplaced as well before too. Makes a long a long night, LOL.
@thewanderingdude nice man, I have cheap ass Stoeger Industries over/under. It does the job, but I can't seperate myself with 2000 dollars for a nice Browning
@drac2485 I live in Orange Grove but work in Corpus Christi. Its about an hour commute one way, but I'm happier in the country than in town. I own 3 acres that we are building our dream house on, so IMO its worth it.
@darmon - LOL. I was thinking more of either up or down the actual coastline. That land is flat but the further inland you are during a hurricane the better. I got sent to Corpus during Hurricane Allen in 1980. We drove into Corpus about 20 minutes before the eye hit land.
I am an airgun enthusiast. I hunt squirrels at Hobbs State Park (only park in Arkansas that allows squirrel hunting nearly ten months out of the year). I don't smoke while I'm in the woods. I usually shoot with a Gamo .177 rifle I have or with a pre-charged pneumatic .22 rifle. Using air rifles seems safer on a State Park with hikers wandering about (due to the low power and short range), plus they are a lot quieter and less likely to raise folks' anxiety and turn public opinion more against hunting.
On a side note, the Park Rangers love us squirrel hunters, because we walk all over the Park and are quick to report anything we find out of the ordinary.
@darmon - Here's a funny story - I had two other Coasties who worked for me along for the ride. We drove from New Orleans to Houston because we were told we would be on the first helos going in after the winds calmed down. We get to Houston and told to get a hotel room and be back at 5 am. We get there and are told there was a change of plans and we were to drive down to Corpus as fast as we could. Every time the wind and rain died down enough, we would push the speedometer to up around 90 mph. We only passed on other vehicle on the road and it was a Texas Ranger going the other direction. He flipped on his lights and did a u-turn to chase us down. I got out wearing my flight suit and stood by the back door which had a big Coast Guard Logo on it. He started to say something when he noticed the sign. Instead he just said that the road was all clear for the next 60 miles but to please try and hold it down to 70.
@pappyjoe funny how they want help to come but then give you a hard time for trying to get there promptly From what I've been told Allen wasn't too bad, Celia was the BIGGIE. My grandfather rode out Celia at the yacht club on the T-heads. He used to tell us how the wind gauge broke at 120MPH and when the storm surge sucked all the water out of the bay, all the boats in harbor where sitting on the bottom of the bay. He said it was an exciting time. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.
@darmon - compared to some other Hurricanes I either worked or after I retired, Allen wasn't that big of a deal. I was stationed on the Gulf Coast for 6 years and in Miami for 3. Worked around 14 hurricanes during that time. Now if a hurricane is heading towards land I make sure I'm not anywhere near it.
@pappyjoe I'm with you on that one. They give you enough warning ahead of time, that I'll deal with material things when I get back. I'm taking my family and getting out before any damage is done.
@thewanderingdude yeah, mine is a little weighty compared to some of my friend's tools of choice. But like I said, I have a hard time even thinking about separating myself from a thousand or two dollars for a stick that I only shoot about 200 times a year
@mhajec Many firearms in the budget range shoot just as well if not better than some costing 10 times as much. I personally would prefer to spend the money on quality optics. When it comes to shooting I consider myself the weakest link in any combination unless their is something completely wrong with the setup.
@tomatobodhi air rifles I find to be very versital and one of the few things I can shoot in city limits with out arrosing the neighbors. Now I want to get my Diana RWS in .177 out for some target practice. Also being low recoil and single shot they work well when teaching youth shooters to respect firearms and realize they need to make each shot count, not just spray and pray type shooting.
The firearms that cost 10 times as much (at least as far as o/u are concerned) are noticeably lighter though. Mine weighs a ton and I've gotten used to it, but definitely notice a difference when using my buddies
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@mhajec I enjoy hog hunting. I use a .270, the best hunt so far was with my father-in-law and daughter. Since hogs are not a "game" animal here in Texas, its legal to hunt them after dark. About 11pm on a bright night we went out to a fence line and looked out to see if anything in the field and there were a few hogs out. Couldn't tell which end was which but we did our best and got a little lucky and dropped it where it stood.
All my children love to go, they argue over who's turn it is to go. My middle child had the craziest hunt with me, of my children.
To turn a long story short, we (me, my daughter, and my father-in-law) tracked a deer for about 3hr's, then got turned around in the brush (yes I forgot my GPS and my compass in the truck, tried following the stars till clouds came over and we couldn't see them) and got lost. The ranch owner came out and started honking the horn on the truck till we could find the way back. It was around midnight before we got back in the truck. As it turns out we were walking in big circles. I was worried that would have turned her off hunting, but she still loves it. Sorry its such a long post, but I get long winded when talking about hunting.
On a side note, the Park Rangers love us squirrel hunters, because we walk all over the Park and are quick to report anything we find out of the ordinary.
@tomatobodhi air rifles I find to be very versital and one of the few things I can shoot in city limits with out arrosing the neighbors. Now I want to get my Diana RWS in .177 out for some target practice. Also being low recoil and single shot they work well when teaching youth shooters to respect firearms and realize they need to make each shot count, not just spray and pray type shooting.