Funny military memes, B.S., and shotgun club!

my neighbor asked if I hunted, I just told him "not anybody around here"

 

Same here. No issue with others doing it, just don’t like doing it myself or seeing the kills. People have asked why I don’t, usually just say something to the effect of seeing enough dead things.

If they want a meaningful conversation about the psychology of why I think I don’t like it anymore, well I’ve gotten to be pretty open these days and figure that openness helps people understand vets better. Helps clear up the idea that PTSD leads to vets wanting to shoot everything. Or should I say doing it, as opposed to simply wanting to. Being open about it is something I wish I could’ve done 10-15 years ago.

 

Pallet cleanser...

One of my favorites

 

To me there is a huge difference between killing people and seeing dead bodies and killing animals to eat. The peace of being out in the woods, usually for days before making a kill (if I even do), really helps me deal with life. Putting my own hands to work to feed myself helps a lot as well.

 

Yeah I’ve heard that from others too. I agree that there should be a big difference, just for me there isn’t. Not sure why, just one of those dumb things where we all have similar but different issues.

Seems a lot of us drift towards making/fixing things (lots into crafts, DIY or woodwork) or being out in nature seems to be a big one too. The quiet with a select few or alone.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot more cooking. Even did French macrons for thanksgiving. Think my wife finds it pretty funny that I try to do fancy dinners or deserts.

For me- I see it like this. We each have our own container. It will only hold so much and every experience with death fills it a bit more. The rate it fills may vary for each of us based off our life’s, how we view the world, whatever reason. The main commonality is, once it’s full that’s where things get interesting. It will drain a little from time to time, at whatever rate it happens to for each of us. However, once it’s been filled, it empties much slower then it would’ve before being filled, and fills back to the top much faster then it would’ve prior to being filled.

Same could be said for stress and anxiety.

Might not be the same for everyone, but at least for me, that’s the best analogy I’ve come up with to explain it to people with no experience.

 

Thank you.

 

Im a mix bag, i like hunting but not wasting the animal. I like woodworking

 

the first time i used that line it was after my last time hunting

got hosted to one of those rich dude hunts, week-long in Nunavut Territory (the Arctic Circle) going for caribou. donated for wounded blokes. typical price tag $15k+
it was amazing, tundra, marsh, ice floes, a metric fuck-ton of trees, and miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.

the guides loved that we helped tote the heavy stuff, helped set-up and tear-down, and weren't snooty. we cooked, camped, and hunted and it was stellar

the herd we were... following. it was massive. quite literally hundreds of animals. i tried counting and just stopped when I reached 200, after that it was just estimating conservatively. lots of arctic wolves doing the same thing we were, but without tools. polar bear sign, saw a whale blowing (no idea what kind), glassed the shoreline from boats, waded ashore, walked in and hunted hard

when it was my turn... i just laid there looking at it. it was stunning and I enjoyed watching them and being there, and that was my time with them
then i simply told the guide I'm not touching one off, we can talk about it later

most of the other guides were pretty pissed for a while, "my" guide especially, right up until i tipped him $2500 and gave him a very nice skinner
two PPCLI dudes spoke up for me, and the guides shut up... at least in front of us. it was a little awkward after that

professional though, my guide never once broached the subject of shooting my tag

edit: but yeah, i've found that if you just explain what it is and what it isn't... it demystifies things for those new to the subject. then you can be treated like an almost normal person.

and that's really all i'm trying to accomplish

talking about shit? not the toughest thing i've done
setting aside my retarded ego? yeah, that took a while

i just don't want to be an old weirdo on a roof screaming about geeks in the wire when i'm 70.

 

i never hunted caribou. But i understand what you are saying. I took for granted the time i had in the woods, it took many years for me to realize how stressful city life is. Now we hunt and fish a lot. Still nice to see nature and harvest the bounty. Elk are top in my list.something majestic about this big animal, and how little noise they make going through the woods, how strong they are, how fast they can run. I enjoy my time in the woods

 

I have a buddy I’ll go out with sometimes who carries a really nice camera now instead of a rifle. He doesn’t like to kill anymore and prefers to take pictures of what we would have shot otherwise. He’ll still pitch in with all the post kill processing and hard work before and after but just doesn’t pull the trigger on his own anymore. I’ve thought many times about doing the same.

 

I’ve converted to spotting. Been really liking that in the fall. Hard to get pix, but once you do they crop really nice.

 

Very cool, i dont have good camera equipment for that. Its still tough to get a good camera shot also

 

That was actually before we got anything nice. It was a cheap Celestron with the phone lined up. I picked up a nice Vortex scope and Nikon p900. The camera has the equivalent of 2000mm zoom.

Got them last summer, but this fall we didn’t see anything in the park. We don’t do Yellowstone in the summer. Other places we just didn’t make out to this year yet. So the nice stuff still needs to get broken in.

 

hell yes, I use a phone skope on a 100mm spotting scope

 

My wife couldn’t get it to line up once so I got her the Nikon p900. She didn’t like it so guess I’ll use it and get her one of those crazy lenses for her d40. Either way, I got a nice spotting scope out of it. When my back heals up more, hope to take it semi back country. My 10+ mile trips are gone, but few miles back should lead to some good shots.

 

what mount do you have for the spotting scope to camera?

 

This one. Although it was easier for me to just hold and angle it. Wife wasn’t able to do either. I don’t think I have links anymore, but google digiscoping. It’s a whole thing and some scopes are better for phones or cameras then others.

$29 GOSKY Smartphone Adapter Mount Large Size - Compatible with Binoculars, Monoculars, Spotting Scopes, Telescope, Microscopes - Fits almost all Smartphones on the Market - Record Nature and The World

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01D5W0WES?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

That’s why I just got the super zoom camera. Basically an 83x lens.

This was our first scope, which was a decent buy and pretty clear for the zoom/cost.

$230 Celestron – Ultima 80 Angled Spotting Scope – 20-60x Zoom Eyepiece – Multi-coated Optics for Bird Watching, Wildlife, Scenery and Hunting – Waterproof and Fogproof – includes Soft Carrying Case

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002CTZ70?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

 

Hemingway said it best. Just sayin.

 

I thought you were Asian?

Or are you 1/1024th indian?

 

http://www.strangehistory.net/2017/09/24/ears-mongolian-ear-cutting/