Tuesday July 26, 2022

[Dave]

damar posted a very good shot of a doe yesterday.

I also have a photo of a gentle wild creature; I took it early in the morning a couple of days ago, before full light. Because it was still rather dark, I was pleasantly surprised that it came out reasonably sharp and not too grainy...

   

I see rabbits on one street along my usual walking route fairly often, and I'm sure there are far more of them that I never see. I guess that's one reason we also have coyotes wandering in the neighborhood in both the early morning and the late afternoon.

[Don]

Good morning Dave and others who might show up later. Good low light shot of the rabbit. Don't see many around here - lots of squirrels though. I have heard of coyotes in the area but I have never seen any. I did see a fox thought, some time ago, on one of my walks. Again, some folks in the area have reported seeing foxes though. I haven't been walking as much lately as I used to.

[damar]

You did good with your available light, Dave!
Grainy (or high ISO) doesn't bother me at all.

We have been getting deer in the backyard in the early morning. I guess
they are keeping an eye on my garden (nope, sorry--no corn)

We have had coyote spotted in the neighborhood and reports of sightings + missing cats.
I have only seen one walking along the road once. Used to hear them at night.
They are welcome to go somewhere else. I have seen videos of them attacking peoples
dogs in their back yards.

Well digging way back to pocket point & shoot Nikon (early 2000s)
Me and my Ruger Mark II Target & Competition pistol (.22 caliber) 
(my other point and shoot--hahaha)
I equipped it with an accessory rail and a red dot sight. 
(which I find to be beyond ugly)


   

[Don]

Hi Patty - somebody else showed up!!!

Looks like you have a great place to shoot. I have a Ruger Mark II as well, but without the fancy sights. Back in the day, when we lived in the Birmingham area, I used to shoot competitively with a few others in our little town. We had both golf ball matches (used a 22 for that) and bowling pin matches (I used my 357 for those). Won a couple of trophies doing that but it got too expensive after a while, plus it took an entire Sunday afternoon so I gave it up. Haven't shot in years now. There is a local place here that has an indoor range that I keep saying I am going to check out, but so far I haven't made the time to do it.

[Quint]

Hi Don & Patty.
Wow! Your point and shoot sure brings back memories. I did quite a bit when younger, like Don. Ruger single action 22, 357, 44 mag. Later college and Navy shooting teams. I hardly ever pick one up now.
Don, I envy your motorcycle jaunts. I'm still reading motorcycle travel books on my Kindle. Right now one about a veteran from Texas riding solo uo into the Dakotas, Canada, Alaska, then back via the west coast. Good writer. I'm waiting for your book, Don.

[Don]

"I'm waiting for your book, Don."

I don't think I'll be writing a motorcycle travel book anytime soon.   I watch a lot of YT videos about motorcycles though, along with photography related stuff. Itchy Boots channel is a lady from the Netherlands who has been all over the world, traveling solo. Currently on a jaunt from way down in S. America to Alaska. I am behind on her videos but she is now supposed to be in the U.S. traveling north. Another good one is Got2Go, and a third that I watch is MotoPhoto adventures. At least that one kind of combines photography with motorcycle trips as all 3 guys are pro photographers as well as riders. There are more, but those are the ones I watch the most.

Who is the author of the solo veteran traveler? I might want to read that.  Navy shooting team - I'm impressed. I did earn the Navy Expert Pistol ribbon but never had a chance to shoot for the rifle ribbon. With you that makes 3 Navy vets on here, not bad. When were you in?

[damar]

Well! Good to be in sharpshooter company! (Don and Quint)
They don’t make the Mark II anymore so I don’t know if they are anything high value.
I had a lot of fun with it. .22 rounds got scarce in the mid 2000s and then came back
Outrageously priced. But man, we put a lot of lead in that bank. 

My first rifle was the Ruger 10/22. I have since upgraded from that, but I kept it. I just didn’t like the magazine for it. I bought a Henry .22 lever action and have only put 10 rounds through it.
(“Load on Sunday, shoot all week”)

We don’t practice like we used to. It’s gotten expensive and the county has gotten so built out and populated there’s no where to shoot anymore.

I avoid indoor ranges. Better to join a gun club with an outdoor range or go to a WMA.
I have see some real yahoos in the indoor ranges that shouldn’t be allowed to even pick up a firearm, no less waving it around.

The place where we used to shop did a bowling pin tournament once a month.

We used to save broken household items to use for outdoor targets..old clocks, old computer hard drives,
Plastic jugs filled with water, and cardboard boxes with reactive targets stuck on them.
Yes, we cleaned up the mess and picked up our brass.

Quint, you have an impressive shooting sports background.

I do have a Co2 single shot .22 pellet pistol that I can legally fire in the backyard, but it’s not as fun
due to low velocity halfway thru a Co2 cartridge.

Don, have you watched 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Way_Down
They did 2 trips and 2 separate movies. 
We enjoyed them both.
What a photo op these guys get.

[Quint]

Don, "Lights on the Water/ Impressions in the Sand" Jack Lyndon Thomas.
Yes, "Got2Go" Lea Reick. read her book too.
Especially enjoyed Lois Pryce's books. Lois on the Loose, Revolutionary Road, Red Tape and White Knuckles.
USN, 68-71
Patty, an old trusty favorite I used much as a youngster in the woods was a Savage 22/410 over and under. I still have it.

[Don]

I'll check out Lois Pryce and Jack Lyndon Thomas. Thanks. Have to check out Lea's book as well. Her YT channel is completely different from Noraly (Itchy Boots) but I enjoy them both. Strong, independent women, both of them.

This has been an interesting thread, hearing about other interests that folks in here have. I was active duty from 66-70, got out as AC2. Had to decide whether to become a civilian Air Traffic Controller or go to college on the GI Bill. I chose college. Sometime around 1982 I joined the Naval Reserve and stayed until I retired. Enjoyed just about every minute of that too.

I had a Savage 22/410 as well but it was lost in a house fire in 1966. Our house burned about 2 weeks before I graduated high school, lost everything except the clothes we were wearing. I have a German made Walther PPKS that I bought about 30 years ago, which is supposedly pretty rare now. I hadn't thought of the Ruger being valuable these days. I did price my S&W 357 recently and was surprised at what they go for now.

[damar]

Quint & Don…NICE on the savage O/U’s. Don’t be shy about posting photos…we can always say “well, until they all sunk with my boat a few years back”)
Hahah.
S&W is my never leave home without it choice.
It’s just a tool if I ever need it.

Same with the knife I carry.
(Ever try opening a charge cord package in the truck without one?)

It is really cool hearing what everyone does, has done and is going to do. Funny how similar we all are in many ways.

House fires are awful, we had one too but almost everything was ruined by the awful heating fuel oil smoke that had smoldered for hours. Kitchen was a total loss, everything else black with soot.