Blog slowdown and anti-hunting logic

I apologize if there are any out there who wait with baited breath for the next interesting installment on this little site of ours. I have not felt inspired lately and thus the posts have been in short supply.

I figure the easiest way to rectify that is to circumvent my blogger block by stealing someone else's stuff which I found funny/interesting.

I found this one on another site. I'm re-typing the text from what appears to be an actual article or op-ed in a newspaper. If this type of logic is any indication of that publication's readership (or worse yet, it's staff writers) I think it probably exemplifies why that industry is going down in the tank. Here's the ad (emphasis mine):

"To all you hunters who kill animals for food, shame on you; you aught to go to the store and buy the meat that was made there, where no animals were harmed."

Ah yes, of course. The all-powerful supermarket that creates animal matter out of thin air... I bet it's healthy too.

What job?

This magazine has been sitting on my bed stand for months and I had never noticed this tag on the cover for an article.

Who was the cover editor on that one?  There are so many ridiculously offensive (and some humorous) ways that could be interpreted that I'm not even going to start....  ok, I changed my mind.

You know those folks who think that AIDS was invented by the white man to destroy the [fill in the ethnic group of your choice]?  Doesn't this title seem like an article in white supremacist magazine related that alleged plot?

Well, that was mine.  Not really funny, but the clip just hit me so I had to throw it on here.

Oh by the way, here's the full cover.  In context it does makes sense... but still.

Warning!!!

This post is not appropriate for vegans, pacifists, sensitive children and certain beloved older sisters!  Hunting-related (though not gratuitous) images will follow.

OK, I feel like I've done my part to give ample warning regarding the below content.  As many of you know, I hunted this weekend.  I had a great time and made good friends with Roman and his father Gregory.  They supplied all that I needed in the way of firearms and were very generous with anything else they felt I needed.  

These are 2 of the shotguns we used.  The over-under in the background is a handmade 12 gauge that probably cost a few shekels.  I didn't use that one at all and only used the side-by-side 16 gauge (pictured) for half the day Saturday - using an over-under 16 the rest of the time.  As you can see, this one has external hammers (a new thing for me) and both are uniquely and intricately engraved.

Here is Roman with his pheasant and the gun I used most of weekend.

You may be catching the pattern here...  Roman is awesome.  This is his male pheasant from today.  In all he took 2 rabbits and 3 pheasant in just under a day and a half.

This is me and Gregory hamming it up after I got my rabbit - I know you were all wondering if I was batting .000.  This was all I was able to get but I had a great time and was pleased with the results.

I don't want to be the guy who blames his failings on his equipment but I must explain that this both my first time with this style of shotgun and my first time hunting either of these species.  It was a lot for me to learn on the first try.  I had a horrible time getting my reflexes around the double trigger set-up.  I just couldn't transition from the first barrel to the second smoothly.  In fact, I never even attempted a follow-up shot.  I'd like to think that I would have made a better accounting of myself had I had the ol' 870 pumper with me on this one.

Thursday 13: Smorgasbord of updates

13 interesting things that have happened or we have planned in the past week.

1. Recently it's been nice and warm!  It's probably hit 50 degrees the last two days - A very welcome change.
2. Last night we were able to visit Andrey, the vocational student who was in South Africa - He seems well and in good spirits as he is studying to become a ships engineer.
3. We are coming to the end of our first week with the after-school program - We'll add a few new kids everyday and will max-out at about 30 after a few weeks.  We're still nailing down the schedule but the kids are great and we have a good time with them.
4. We are trying to potty train Campbell at the moment and it's going....  well, poorly.  Any thoughts or hints would be appreciated.  Our main issue is not that he doesn't let us know when he needs to go, it's that he refuses to sit on the toilet at all.
5. As mentioned in the previous semi-controversial post, I will be going rabbit and pheasant hunting this weekend with my new hunting buddy Roman.
6. Jenya and I plan to go to the northeastern city of Donetsk to see Shakhtar play Tottenham in the UEFA Cup on February 18th.  It'll be about a 3 day round trip by train and an absolutely memorable one.  My first professional game and it's my Ukrainian team and a decent English side in the second-highest European club competition.
7. At the end of March we will be going to Belarus to do a Hope Center style camp at an orphanage.  It should be a exciting time for our staff and we hope they let us back in this time.
8. For April and May we have our Bulgarian friend Kremena (from Sweden) visiting as an intern!  This is will overlap with our other friend Meghan who will come here on May 2nd after she finishes school in Egypt.  How fun and international we are!
9. Sarah went to the village of Bagerava to visit some of her favorite kids from camp last year.
10. I was in Bagerava earlier in the week to bring some much needed aid to a few families.  An apartment building in town burned down leaving many families without anything.  Further efforts may include providing beds for all the buildings former residents.
11. Sergey M. is back in town today after having been the MC at a concert in Kiev featuring Coldplay and the Ting Tings among others.  He's become kind of famous over here.  He will be here for a month helping out with the after-school program.
12. The grocery store still had diapers yesterday.  This was by no means assured so we were excited to get another week's supply.
13. Did I mention that I'm going hunting?

...and I'm back in the game!

Many of you know that one of major downsides to our time in Ukraine is that I miss hunting and all the camaraderie that comes from these trips.  As much as I love hunting, it's just one of the sacrifices that I've decided to make to be here.  Funny how the Lord blesses when we least expect it....

Right after we left in September the Hope Center hired Roman as a general handyman and for general awesomeness.  His father is the caretaker of Fort Totleben here in Kerch and a former Soviet officer.  Since returning I have also learned that they are both avid hunters.  This week we've been exchanging pictures and stories about our favorite experiences and I lent Roman a DVD of some bow hunts that I got as a free handout in MI.

Due to the type of land around here, he hunts rabbits, pheasant, ducks and geese (but will shoot a wild boar if he comes across one).  They are limited to mostly shotgunning by federal laws banning rifled weapons so they are VERY interested in my hunting of deer, elk and pronghorn.

So the big news is this...

This weekend Roman, his father and brother are taking me hunting!  We're going for pheasant on Saturday and rabbits on Sunday.  I am unbelievably excited.  This is really an amazing opportunity.  Hunting here is strictly regulated and limited to those who are officially recognized as being part of the exclusive hunting clubs.  

I hope to take a lot of pictures and share those early in the week.

Cam the hunter/d

Due to an overwhelmingly positive response to my posting the video of Cam being a deer, I decided to just bite the bullet (no pun intended) and stick the 2 clips up unedited.  I planned to put them together with some subtitles and labels but the format wouldn't allow it.  Here is the rough version of our new game (once again, no pun intended).

...and part 2....

It's not quite as funny as seeing it live or as it would have been if I could have fixed it up to look like a hunting channel spoof but, oh well.

Poll Question

I've been watching a lot of the Pursuit channel lately.  It's a low budget digital station that is split about 60-40 between hunting shows and paid programming.  I figure I should get a bit of hunting fix before I head overseas.

Cam's picked up on it and has made up a game whereby he hands me a toy bow and arrow and then wanders around waiting for me to "shoot" him (he insists that I do this).  When I do he runs crazily around before falling "dead" at my feet and demands that I pick his head up and show it to the camera - telling the audience what a great deer he is.

So here's the question....

Hypothetically, if I have video of this, is it tasteless to post it to the blog?  Answer at right....

This year's deer update

I already posted the photo of my first whitetail that I shot this fall in Nebraska....

...but this morning Timmy provided an unexpected surprise.  A game cam photo of my deer (unarguably the same animal) from earlier in the year when his rack was still mostly intact....

He was a beautiful animal - as we expected, a solid 10 point - and I am so glad that Timmy was able to find this photo for me.  Thanks, buddy!

My first whitetail

I now have pictures of my first whitetail deer (3rd deer overall) but unfortunately we don't have any of those pretty naturey types of pictures.  I took this deer in the southwest corner of Nebraska (along with Marshall's first whitetail) and I'm as pleased as can be with this animal.  It looks like it would be a 10-12 point buck were it not for the 5 busted tines on its heavily-abused rack.  Marshall's buck was big and also had a broken rack... an entire side.  Big Mike (Tim and Mikey's dad - he's like the Godfather of my hunting education) says that he thinks it's from a high buck/doe ratio which causes more fighting for mates.

We were in a hurry to get it into the truck and us out of town (if town is really the right term for where we were) so this is shot of it on the floor of Timmy's garage.

If you are anti-hunting or aren't particularly comfortable with a little blood (the same blood that comes out of the meat in your hamburgers and ham sandwiches) you may not want to scroll down.  It's not gruesome - just a small smear on the floor underneath him....

I also want to mention that my buddy Timmy is a great man.  Hunting is his passion and yet season after season he sacrificially gives me the best spots and all the opportunities to take an animal that I'd be proud of.  He helps us know where to hunt and even gives us access to areas he has personal permission to hunt.  He knew that this buck was in that river bottom, set up the situation that would give us a shot and then let me take the most likely shooting spot to take him.

He, Mikey and Big Mike have taught me nearly everything I know about hunting and have consistently loaned/given me the equipment that I needed but didn't own yet.  I deeply appreciate their generosity.  Thanks boys, I owe you.

Missionary or backwoods lunatic?

I just got back from a weekend of hunting in the ecological paradise known as Nebraska.  Though I did get my first whitetail, since I don't actually have a picture of that deer to post yet, I will save the update for tomorrow.

What is important at the moment is that last night when I returned, Sarah commented that my ever-present 'missionary beard' seemed to evolved into more of a 'redneck hunter/ backwoods lunatic beard'.  What do you guys think?  Have I crossed a line of sanity? 

It may be hard (since this shot was taken in my office... in front of my fake tree), but try to imagine running into this face in rural Kentucky or a Colorado mountain town.

All the KOR, different day

I just caught this note on the KOR Kast site...

Hey Everyone,
This Sunday Nov. 23 at 2:00 pm PST

We’re pre-recording some shows to air while I’m away for Thanksgiving and while I recoup from having eye surgery (removing scar tissue). Instead of recording off air we decided to let you all listen and watch live while we record. You can watch and listen (click on the photo where it says “Listen Live”), call in (888-321-RADIO), email (shout@korkast.com) and send in Instant Messages (screen name “KORKAST”). Hope to see you there and tell your friends.

Don’t forget that when you watch online you can send us messages in the viewing screen!!

See you on Sunday Nov. 23rd at 2:00 PM PST

I don't know why I was surprised by it... especially since I expect to be with Ryan and Marshall on Sunday when they go into the studio - on our way back from hunting whitetails in Nebraska.  I guess I just didn't know they were going live with it.  Anyway, check the boys out live on Sunday (SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!).

Thursday 13: Topics that don't involve the election

It's been so long since I've done a Thursday 13, I can barely remember how to count backwards from the number.  As a review for the newbies, this is just a format where you pick a topic and throw out a list of 13 (generally items that can't be posts on their own) and encourage commenters to add their 2 cents.  

In the past day or so, I've come across some extremely well written pieces regarding the election, it's aftermath and historical implications.  Fortunately that means that I am not obligated to do any of that.  Here are my top 13 topics of discussion which have nothing to do with the election:

13.  Since we're now past Halloween, we can start seeing and complaining about the presence of Christmas lights.

12.  In that same vein, this year commemorates two decades of trying to avoid the mall during the holidays.  It's a big anniversary.

11.  I've found a new blog I really like:  Jason at Meno - very thoughtful but easy to read and less long-winded than mine.

10.  Can Liverpool maintain their winning ways and give me good trophy in my first half-decade as a fan?

9.  Only 4 more days until the next KOR Kast.  Who's gonna be listening with me?

8.  Because she asked for it, I bought Sarah an iPod shuffle for her birthday.  It sounds nice but it was as an alternative to the iPod nano that I bought her as a gift previously.... which I monopolize constantly to listen to soccer podcasts.  I'm a bad husband.

7.  I have decided to spend less time at the office because, as Marshall put it, "I'm supposed to be sharing the organization with people and everyone at the office already knows."  My calls are forwarded to Panera...

6.  I decided to upgrade the RAM on my little MacBook...  increasing it 3X.  You know your computer needs a little help when it takes a while to CLOSE a program.

5.  Global Action has a new website.  Same address, new look and feel.  I like it.

4.  It's getting close to hunting season and as a carnivore, that makes my mouth water.  Yummy venison.

3.  For the first time in my life (that I can recall) I am going some place warm in the middle of winter.  Phoenix and Tucson in December should be just what the doctor ordered, even if only for 3 days.

Back to the holiday theme: with the economy being what it is (uh oh, I'm getting dangerously close to politics) let's think about how we are going to do better with our Christmas purchases.  Maybe foregoing gifts and...

2. ...giving the gift of water with Advent Conspiracy or... 

1. ...sending a Ukrainian orphan to summer camps (hehehehe).

Anyone else have something?

Good deal? I need your input!

For those of you who don't care a whit about firearms, their recreational and serious purposes and the tendency for males of our species to fixate on them, you can tune out now.... 3...2....1....

Ok, I need the help of the hunters/shooting enthusiasts out there.  I have this pistol....

It is the Beretta 92FS, better known as the M9 (more or less) to military folks.  It's one of the most successful handgun designs of all time and a quality piece of engineering by anyone's standards.  It is the make and model that I bought on my 21st birthday in 1999 and have owned in 2 incantations (my first was stolen in 2003 but soon replaced) ever since.  It's a lovely gun to shoot, easy to control and as reliable as any I have ever fired.  With a aircraft aluminum frame, it will last darn near forever.

That said, it is bulky, extremely heavy, underpowered (9mm) and somewhat dated.  For hunting I have been thinking about making the change to a .40 in one of the newer polymer-framed tactical designs but am obviously limited by price (missions work doesn't pay all that well).

That is until tonight when a buddy who is in the market for a 92 asked if I'd like to trade straight up for this....

This is a Smith and Wesson Sigma series 40 (SW40VE).  On it's face it is exactly the type I am looking for.  The Sigma is Smith's version of the popular (and very expensive) Glock pistols.  It is so close in design that they were forced to pay Glock for trademark violations.  It fits my hand very nicely, is lighter fully loaded than my Beretta is empty and seems to fit both my paddle and my tactical holsters.  The stainless slide and polymer frame make it a better all-weather weapon than my Beretta which is a huge plus when hunting.

The downsides....

Though it's newer, it retails at least $200 cheaper than my Beretta, which is still in very good if not excellent condition.  The reviews vary wildly from 'POS' (that's a quote) to 'best gun I've ever owned' and everywhere in between.  On police forums there are a lot of guys that have put thousands of rounds through them without a jam and another that said, and I quote, "It would only be good for an anchor but it's not even heavy enough for that."  The consensus is that whatever you think about the quality, it has a ridiculously heavy trigger (12 lbs) to compensate for its near total lack of a safety.

I am borrowing it for a few weeks (my buddy doesn't need it - he got it in a straight trade for a pop-up camper) and I plan to put in some quality range time 2 Fridays from today in Greeley but I was hoping to get some opinions from my resident gun nuts.  Ask around with any law enforcement friends or family members.  Anyone shot this weapon?

I'm counting on you guys.

Quick Hunt

Recently my good buddy Timmy asked me to join him this weekend on an pronghorn hunt in south central Wyoming.  I'm always up for trying to repay in some little way the hunting help and advice he has provided over the past 5 or 6 years so I came along as company and pack mule.  I was in the truck for over 5 hours on Friday to get up to south central Wyoming then out of the truck for 3 hours of hike, stalk, shoot, clean and pack out.... so that I could get back in the truck for the 5 hour return trip.  Other than Tim having forgot his range finder, it was easily the fastest and most according to plan hunt I have ever been a part of.  We had a tent and sleeping bags that never left the truck!

Anyway, here are the shots of Tim's buck.  Congrats Timmy!

Here is the requisite "I was there when this animal was shot but didn't have much to do with it" picture.  I really don't know why we hunters always have to do that.

Andrey in Colorado

By coincidence, at the very time that we were blocked from entering Ukraine last week, my friend and boss Andrey was in the process of coming to US for some meetings.  As part of my attempt to give him the overall western experience we decided to take him into the mountains to shoot some stuff.  This may not be a tradition for everyone but it certainly is for my friends.

I have discussed before my frustration with Ukrainian gun restrictions and as such I felt compelled to show Andrey the joys of as many firearms as I practically could.  We started him out with my 9mm Beretta 92 which he enjoyed greatly and quickly became competent and confident.  I actually have video evidence to show how well he handled it.

We then moved him to my dad's H&K USP compact 40 which he enjoyed even more - that doesn't hurt my feelings... I like his better too. 

Everyone that comes with us on their first shoot must take a pull on my chrome-plated, short barreled, pistol-gripped Winchester 1300 12 gauge.  The uniqueness makes it worth every penny.
It's always a fan-favorite
This one is an example of armory irony... A man born in the Soviet Union must go halfway around the planet to the mountains of Colorado to fire a Soviet-made SKS.  
... and the requisite gangster pose.
He also shot a nice over-under skeet gun, a S&W 9mm, Marshall's Springfield XD 40, Smith .357, Marlin 30-30 and his dad's Sig 40.  All in all, a successful day.

Thursday 13: Top things from home that I wish I had here

Since I have the time on this dreary Wednesday afternoon, I am really going to try to make this 13 as diverse and entertaining as possible.

The top 13 things from home (that I currently own; not counting people), that I want to have here:

13.  Since it's not too interesting to count all my guns individually, I will make my bird gun, shorty shotgun, 300WM, Beretta and SKS the same item... oh and throw in a set of cammies for good measure.

12.  An REI to return my worthless pair of Asolo boots to.

11.  A set of nice, big Air Force Academy Football stadium cups.  Hot days call for more than a shot-glass worth of water.

10.  My American digging and flat shovels.  They have a weird idea that reversible shovels (ie. the same angle on either side of the digging head) are a better design.  

9.  My faithful dog Diesel.  He would have to do a little behavioral training to get along with the guard dogs but he would love it.

8.  My bed complete with my pillow.  I don't really know what the current sleeping situation is lacking but it's just not the same.

7.  An Apple store (ok, I don't own that but I still want one).  I get tired of tech people not knowing how to open a window.

6.  Our entire photo library prior to coming here.  All lost in the great HD crash of '08.

5.  Bath tub.  That one is pretty much Sarah's.

4.  Venison.  This speaks for itself... one can only eat so much bologna.

3.  An oven.  Also Sarry...

2.  My truck!!!!  I miss it almost everyday... in which I do not buy gas.

and...

1.  Gold Bond Medicated powder.  If you don't know what this is, you better find out.  Like the swiss army knife of the hygiene isle.

You just never know...

This morning I was greeted with a double surprise!

1.  Kacie posted for the first time in a month, and

2.  She wrote about guns!

Check out her post as it is a great insight into a "non-gun person's" experience with handgun training and education.

Hunting update

I mentioned at the end of this post that I was tasked with keeping the camp relatively crow free with an underpowered Gamo pellet rifle.  In the meantime I've acquired another gun (also Gamo) and added a low power Bushnell scope.  After some sighting difficulties, I got it dialed-in and have been fairly pleased with its accuracy - it will consistently hit an 8 ounce juice bottle at 40-50 yards.

Whether it was the wind, temperature, barametric pressure or the phase of the moon, there were piles of crows flying around today so I thought I should give the new set-up a real test.  My main issue thus far has been getting within lethal range for my pop gun and today was no different.  I actually shot 5 of the 7 birds I stalked - with the first 2 hits squawking and flying away.  The last 3 were all in the same corner and I thought they were promising kills.  One dropped and to my disappointment quickly zoomed away, but 2 definitely hit the ground.  The first fluttered and landed behind someone else's wall but the last I salvaged (along with my pride and reputation as a hunter) and got photo evidence with my phone.

My next goal is to get one of the doves that hang around here occasionally.  I assume that they are the same Eurasian collared doves that are infesting the states and look forward to seeing how they taste.  They look like they are about the size of a parrot so at least they will have a bit more meat than our tiny version.

Congrats Timmy and Suzy!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our good friends Timmy and Suzy just had a little baby girl last Tuesday at 4:23PM.  Here is the first shot that I have gotten of beautiful Evie Marie Sherman posing with her daddy and her first rifle.  Of course I love it because she is clearly a cutie and she has nearly the exact rifle that I chose for myself! 

Ukraine's Gun Control and Hunting

I know of at least a handful of people who read this who are fellow hunters and/or gun enthusiasts so I thought I might inform you about what I've learned regarding these subjects since arriving in Ukraine.  From what I can tell, hunting in Europe is available, particularly in the more heavily forested nations.  The more common and (as you can imagine from the above photo) desirable game animal is the European Red Deer.  The species is sub-divided into eastern and western varieties, of which we supposedly have the larger, eastern type here in Crimea.  Apparently this is one of the larger deer species and actually rivals the elk in size.

Regarding gun laws, a pastor friend told me that everyone can legally own 2 smoothbore weapons, but I have not clarified whether this is a national law or one limited to Crimea which is a nearly autonomous region.  This means that one can own any variety of shotgun (or probably musket) which presumably precludes limitations such as barrel length, type of grip or even magazine capacity (if you are interested why this is surprising, check out the AK-styled Saiga shotguns).  I have to believe that in town it is uncommon to own firearms, but in the villages I can see them being fairly common.  With ownership of rifled firearms (ie. any modern pistol or rifle) being illegal, hunting is probably a challenge, particularly when the game is not as common as in North America.  None of this really affects me since as a foreigner so I'm sure I'm prohibited from owning any guns and if I could, I couldn't afford one anyway.  

The late-breaking news is that I will get a chance to do a little pest-control hunting as the camp is overrun with what I think are crows (they may be ravens; for clarification on the difference, ask Marshall) and I have been entrusted with at least 1 and maybe 2 pellet guns.  I expect this to be an interesting challenge as both crows and ravens are pretty clever, have good eyesight and my maximum range is less than 40 yards.  Tomorrow morning I will get geared up in my camo (yes, I brought some because they are rugged and warm) and out early; much in the same way I am for turkey.  So this is my hunting and will have to accept what I can get.