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A lot happens in 14 days

chuckiechan said:
I tried to get California Fish & Game to let me buy a full hunting license and deer tag to hunt deer with a paint ball gun. I'm still waiting for an answer.

I'm not a vegan, it's just that cellophane and bloodless meat has pushed venison off the dinner table unless I want to eat it all msyself!
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Do you plan to just make the deer angry and bruised?
 
Chomsky said:
True story:

On a lark, my wife and I left early one Saturday morning for a small town rural weekend getaway one state over. No plans, just grabbed some cash and the credit card, hopped in the car and headed out. We drove several hours to a resort area, had lunch at a mediocre diner, and drove around the area exploring the roads and places, eventually looking for a hotel or motel. We weren't really thrilled with our options there either, but found a passable place to stay even though it was pretty crappy.

Darkness was falling, and we decided to find some dinner as we considered if we should stay at the crappy motel. The options for dinner looked no better than our not so great lunch options had been. Actually everything was closed or closing, except fast food in other areas miles away.My wife lamented about not having access to her favorite Thai joint back in the city, and I mentioned I had a taste for ribs. Well before long I told her with it getting dark and the roads getting empty, I could really hit it to get back to the city by 1:30 or 2:00a, and with one of our favorite rib joints seating and serving until 5:00a on weekends - we could be eating in just a few hours!

That was all it took! We were off, flying through the dark down the interstate at extra-hyper speeds, heading back to the city! We got back in the wee hours of the night with the city still buzzing, and thoroughly enjoyed our ribs while she kicked back a few glasses of wine, and we slept in our comfortable bed in the pleasant air-conditioned house we spent decades getting just the way we like it.

This was several years ago, and we haven't gone rural since. She's now planning a London trip to visit old friends.
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Ribs at 5 am? WTH? I used to do some fully self supported cycle touring. At one point I went 250 miles out and back. Sleeping in a tent by your self in a strange woods is invigorating!
 
Slingshot Bob said:
I have taken two rabbits with a slingshot, for dinner, not fun. See my user name? :)
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Back in the day I got a few birds, and a squirrel or two, with my Wrist Rocket using ball bearings. I used to replace the standard tubing with stronger surgical tubing from a nearby medical supply house, ironically where we used to hunt in the prairies.

Stronger tubing + ball bearings made it pretty damn deadly! Put a folded cloth on your arm under the bar that wrests on your arm, and you can comfortably pull it back even further!


l2002-a.jpg
 
Slingshot Bob said:
Ribs at 5 am? WTH? I used to do some fully self supported cycle touring. At one point I went 250 miles out and back. Sleeping in a tent by your self in a strange woods is invigorating!
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Yep, and bar service until close!

4:00a on weekdays.

Millers Pub
 
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Chomsky said:
Back in the day I got a few birds, and a squirrel or two, with my Wrist Rocket using ball bearings. I used to replace the standard tubing with stronger surgical tubing from a nearby medical supply house, ironically where we used to hunt in the prairies.

Stronger tubing + ball bearings made it pretty damn deadly! Put a folded cloth on your arm under the bar that wrests on your arm, and you can comfortably pull it back even further!


View attachment 67220793
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I make my own slingshots and bands, I cut the leather from a boot tounge and punch the holes with a empty 22 case and hammer. Much like a bow, draw weight is nothing without draw length (force applied VS duration of acceleration)

I don't use a brace, lighter bands and more draw length do the same thing and tend to be more accurate. Slingshot crossbows and slingbows are cool. I should make a thread on them!
 
chuckiechan said:
I tried to get California Fish & Game to let me buy a full hunting license and deer tag to hunt deer with a paint ball gun. I'm still waiting for an answer.

I'm not a vegan, it's just that cellophane and bloodless meat has pushed venison off the dinner table unless I want to eat it all msyself!
Click to expand...

Ha! :)

The thing is, I get the appeal of hunting. Even sport hunting. Being out in nature, and the thrill of the hunt. Tracking, and stealth and not knowing if you will be successful or not. But I found something that gives me all of that without the whole "killing the animal" part. And I can do it year round without a license.

Wildlife photography.

Here are two of my favorite "trophies". I got them on safari in Zimbabwe. I almost got a lion, but she kept disappearing behind trees.

hippo.jpg

elephant.jpg

If that elephant looks angry it is because he was. Seconds after snapping that shot he charged me. Fortunately there was a large fallen tree I was able to put between us. I can't imagine that taking their lives would have made the experience any more enjoyable.
 
Slingshot Bob said:
I make my own slingshots and bands, I cut the leather from a boot tounge and punch the holes with a empty 22 case and hammer. Much like a bow, draw weight is nothing without draw length (force applied VS duration of acceleration)

I don't use a brace, lighter bands and more draw length do the same thing and tend to be more accurate. Slingshot crossbows and slingbows are cool. I should make a thread on them!
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That makes sense, plus you get a longer 'sight radius" of sorts too, I suppose.

BTW - I added a link to my 5:00a ribs reply above.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Ha! :)

The thing is, I get the appeal of hunting. Even sport hunting. Being out in nature, and the thrill of the hunt. Tracking, and stealth and not knowing if you will be successful or not. But I found something that gives me all of that without the whole "killing the animal" part. And I can do it year round without a license.

Wildlife photography.

Here are two of my favorite "trophies". I got them on safari in Zimbabwe. I almost got a lion, but she kept disappearing behind trees.

View attachment 67220794

View attachment 67220795

If that elephant looks angry it is because he was. Seconds after snapping that shot he charged me. Fortunately there was a large fallen tree I was able to put between us. I can't imagine that taking their lives would have made the experience any more enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Do you carry a firearm for protection, or does anyone in your party?

(and great work!)
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Ha! :)

The thing is, I get the appeal of hunting. Even sport hunting. Being out in nature, and the thrill of the hunt. Tracking, and stealth and not knowing if you will be successful or not. But I found something that gives me all of that without the whole "killing the animal" part. And I can do it year round without a license.

Wildlife photography.

Here are two of my favorite "trophies". I got them on safari in Zimbabwe. I almost got a lion, but she kept disappearing behind trees.

View attachment 67220794

View attachment 67220795

If that elephant looks angry it is because he was. Seconds after snapping that shot he charged me. Fortunately there was a large fallen tree I was able to put between us. I can't imagine that taking their lives would have made the experience any more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Anyone that's shoots an elephant deserves the bullet to ricochet and kill them!
 
Chomsky said:
That makes sense, plus you get a longer 'sight radius" of sorts too, I suppose.

BTW - I added a link to my 5:00a ribs reply above.
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You oghta see a david sling in action, a 3 ounce rock at 100 mph makes a strong slingshot look like red rider. I never "aim" with a slingshot, as I raise and draw, I let go as soon as I reach full draw, in one fluid motion. One does not aim a slingshot.

Used properly a set of bands can get about 700 shots, the same bands used improperly might get 200. It is all instinctive shooting.
 
Chomsky said:
Do you carry a firearm for protection, or does anyone in your party?

(and great work!)
Click to expand...

Thanks. On this safari it was me, a colleague, and a guide. The guide carried a rifle just in case. I looked over at the guide when the elephant had me cornered behind the tree and the rifle was still slung over his shoulder. He was laughing. I guess he didn't find my situation as precarious as I did. :)

In the states I usually have a sidearm on me when permitted.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
Ha! :)

The thing is, I get the appeal of hunting. Even sport hunting. Being out in nature, and the thrill of the hunt. Tracking, and stealth and not knowing if you will be successful or not. But I found something that gives me all of that without the whole "killing the animal" part. And I can do it year round without a license.

Wildlife photography.

Here are two of my favorite "trophies". I got them on safari in Zimbabwe. I almost got a lion, but she kept disappearing behind trees.

View attachment 67220794

View attachment 67220795

If that elephant looks angry it is because he was. Seconds after snapping that shot he charged me. Fortunately there was a large fallen tree I was able to put between us. I can't imagine that taking their lives would have made the experience any more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

In Masai Mara, a lion evaded me as well. Saw elephants, giraffes, zebras and the others, even a cheetah. When we found the cheetah, she was chillin' so I stuck my torso out the window, sitting on the door. My local Masai guide (picked him up at the village near the gate after smoking together) said, forcefully but not loud, "get back in". I did and asked, "'sup". He said "she could have got you". I was doubtful, "for real?". "Yes, from that distance [10m, probably less] she could leap and grab you before you could get back fully into the vehicle".

My main guide (a Masai from the college I work with, we stay'd with his parents while en route to the park, hitch-hiked from Nairobi to Narok), the taxi driver (a toyota from Narok was sufficient as it was the dry season, he'd never been in the park) and the village Masai rolled smoke in newspaper and cruised/stopped all day in the park. I went local all the way, not a tourist company involved at all.
 
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Skeptic Bob said:
Thanks. On this safari it was me, a colleague, and a guide. The guide carried a rifle just in case. I looked over at the guide when the elephant had me cornered behind the tree and the rifle was still slung over his shoulder. He was laughing. I guess he didn't find my situation as precarious as I did. :)

In the states I usually have a sidearm on me when permitted.
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I'd carry a pocket full of mice. Just throw them at the elephant and he'll run like hell!
 
ecofarm said:
In Masai Mara, a lion evaded me as well. Saw elephants, giraffes, zebras and the others, even a cheetah. When we found the cheetah, she was chillin' so I stuck my torso out the window, sitting on the door. My Masai guide (picked him up at the village near the gate after smoking together) said, forcefully but not loud, "get back in". I did and asked, "'sup". He said "she could have got you". I was doubtful, "for real?". "Yes, from that distance [10m, probably less] she could leap and grab you before you could get back fully into the vehicle".

My local guide (a Masai from the college I work with, we stay'd with his parents while en route to the park, hitch-hiked from Nairobi to Narok), the taxi driver (a toyota from Narok was sufficient as it was the dry season, he'd never been in the park) and the village Masai rolled smoke in newspaper and cruised/stopped all day in the park. I went local all the way, not a tourist company involved at all.
Click to expand...

A cheetah would have been awesome. When we were stalking the lion we left the vehicle. We were walking through the trees slowly and we kept seeing part of her body pass through a distance up until we didn't see her anymore. At point I got this fear that maybe she was hunting us instead of the other way around.

The shot of the hippo was taken from a canoe. A flimsy thing, really. I'll never forget the safety briefing my guide gave me.

Guide: "When we get flipped, what you do depends on what flipped us. If it is a croc that flips us then hold onto the canoe and try to make your silhouette blend in with the canoe as much as possible and be still. If it is a hippo that flips us, swim to shore as fast as you can."

Me: "IF we get flipped, right? You mean IF we get flipped."

Guide:" ... "

When you are in places like that you are reminded that without all our fancy toys, humans are pretty fragile animals.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
A cheetah would have been awesome. When we were stalking the lion we left the vehicle. We were walking through the trees slowly and we kept seeing part of her body pass through a distance up until we didn't see her anymore. At point I got this fear that maybe she was hunting us instead of the other way around.

The shot of the hippo was taken from a canoe. A flimsy thing, really. I'll never forget the safety briefing my guide gave me.

Guide: "When we get flipped, what you do depends on what flipped us. If it is a croc that flips us then hold onto the canoe and try to make your silhouette blend in with the canoe as much as possible and be still. If it is a hippo that flips us, swim to shore as fast as you can."

Me: "IF we get flipped, right? You mean IF we get flipped."

Guide:" ... "

When you are in places like that you are reminded that without all our fancy toys, humans are pretty fragile animals.
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A pyro vet said, humans are just spam wrapped on sticks. We are but another mammal.
 
chuckiechan said:
I'd carry a pocket full of mice. Just throw them at the elephant and he'll run like hell!
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There are elephants, seasonally, in the Mt. Kenya forest. The village I research and work with is at the edge of the forest. We know when elephants are around, and don't go into the forest if they might be around (they're deadly and inescapable). Once we were going into the forest when there was a slight possibility that a herd was around. One of my friends asked, "what do we do if we see an elephant". I said "I kick you in the knee and run like hell". They really didn't think that was funny. I was like, "come on, guys, you know me, I was joking". They were "we know you were joking, it's not funny".

I still think it's funny, but I won't say it to them again.
 
ecofarm said:
There are elephants, seasonally, in the Mt. Kenya forest. The village I research and work with is at the edge of the forest. We know when elephants are around, and don't go into the forest if they might be around (they're deadly and inescapable). Once we were going into the forest when there was a slight possibility that a herd was around. One of my friends asked, "what do we do if we see an elephant". I said "I kick you in the knee and run like hell". They really didn't think that was funny. I was like, "come on, guys, you know me, I was joking". They were "we know you were joking, it's not funny".

I still think it's funny, but I won't say it to them again.
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Fl woods have enough natural hazards. Got an all expense paid safari to Africa you want to give away? No thanks, e mail me the pics!
 
Slingshot Bob said:
Fl woods have enough natural hazards. Got an all expense paid safari to Africa you want to give away? No thanks, e mail me the pics!
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I plan to settle there in about 2 years. A ~$1200 round trip ticket and ~400 a month, and you'll live like a king. Visa is purchasable upon arriving in Kenya, it's 3 months renewable for another 3 months. I stay there longer on research permits. I got housing and security (no police, no hospital, so gotta be pretty serious about security) taken care of. We can go to Masai Mara, hitch-hike and local help all the way.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
So I decided I needed to decompress. I grabbed a tent and some camping supplied and disappeared into Monongahela National Forest for 14 days. Just me. No communication with the outside. Not even a single AM radio station.

During that time Spicer was fired, Priebus was fired, and Scaramucci was hired and then fired. It was kind of a lot to take in when I got back. But I have to admit, 14 days with absolutely zero politics was kind of nice. I highly recommend it if you get the chance.
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Good on you.

Yeah, I'm kinda taking a break from the forum here as well, and endeavor to not let the complete ridiculousness of DC (congress primarily - campaigning on something for 7 years and then not pass it? WTF?) have a greater impact on my life than it deserves.
 
Expatriate eh? Sounds interesting but I get nervous leaving the Fl line. Keep posting here so I can live vicariously thru you. If you are interested in learning the art of the sling, I will mail you one (just give me your word you would practice) I wonder if a bullwhip could back up those critters? I would not go a walking without a good semi auto. Maybe a few grenades!

Serious about the sling.
 
Slingshot Bob said:
Expatriate eh? Sounds interesting but I get nervous leaving the Fl line. Keep posting here so I can live vicariously thru you. If you are interested in learning the art of the sling, I will mail you one (just give me your word you would practice) I wonder if a bullwhip could back up those critters? I would not go a walking without a good semi auto. Maybe a few grenades!

Serious about the sling.
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I posted here (not often but occasionally) while there for 2 years, 2010-2012. The main market in the village has an 'internet tower' (wifi), and the college (closer to Nairobi) has wifi.

Kenya experienced what is called a "technological leapfrog" in regard to phones. Before land lines were developed beyond cities, cell phones became a reality. Everyone has a cell phone. Of course, internet access comes with phone coverage.

I might take you up on the sling. I've thought about having one, especially there, before.
 
ecofarm said:
I posted here (not often but occasionally) while there for 2 years, 2010-2012. The main market in the village has an 'internet tower' (wifi), and the college (closer to Nairobi) has wifi.

Kenya experienced what is called a "technological leapfrog" in regard to phones. Before land lines were developed beyond cities, cell phones became a reality. Everyone has a cell phone. Of course, internet access comes with phone coverage.

I might take you up on the sling. I've thought about having one, especially there, before.
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May I ask why you would consider living there?
 
ecofarm said:
I plan to settle there in about 2 years. A ~$1200 round trip ticket and ~400 a month, and you'll live like a king. Visa is purchasable upon arriving in Kenya, it's 3 months renewable for another 3 months. I stay there longer on research permits. I got housing and security (no police, no hospital, so gotta be pretty serious about security) taken care of. We can go to Masai Mara, hitch-hike and local help all the way.
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Wow that sounds like fun. Ive lived the expat life for a little over 20 years now and plan to retire permanently overseas. Africa is one continent Ive never been to but perhaps in the future I would like to visit. Have you visited Kenya already?

EDIT: Oops I should have read your previous replies, you have! Well, good luck to you and tell us how it goes!
 
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PoS said:
Wow that sounds like fun. Ive lived the expat life for a little over 20 years now and plan to retire permanently overseas. Africa is one continent Ive never been to but perhaps in the future I would like to visit. Have you visited Kenya already?
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I'll be happy if someone from here comes to visit. I was there in 2003 (MSc thesis research), 2006 (independent credit research) and 2010-2012 (dissertation research). All the research combines to my dissertation, a longitudinal research project about ag development (same village over a long period of time). I've many good friends, some friendships began way back in 2003.
 
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