Gil Hale

For each and every person that graciously responded to my intorductory post, thank you. I have always felt the shooting community is a large support group, and Lynda (wife) and I do all we can to help newbies in the handgun, rifle and shotgun arenas. We just did it again this afternoon, carving out the better part of a day to bring a young lady into the experience (she just got a CCW, no training, we heard about it and stepped up - it is all good). It sounds like this extends to the hunting aspect of that community. I am very encouraged. That said, I still want to do the guided safari in Richfield Springs in late October before looking for more experiened hunters to go into the field with. But, I am not one to pass up an opportunity to learn from (and share with) others. Bring it on! As for the weight loss, I just got tired of dragging around all that extra weight. The trick was to cut out all carbs and any flavored beverages whether artificially sweetened or not. Yep, no sodas, no fruit juices. No alcohol (frank very very little anyway, but now it is a total stoppage as the biological alcohol to sugar conversion also feeds fat cells. I moved to lots of veggies, no potatos, and very little fruit and melon (fructose sugar feeds fat cells, just like other sweeteners), and no ketsup! I moved from beef to natural grilled chicken, wild caught or natural (no farm raised/Atlantic) salmon, club soda (filtered water with carbonation), and black coffee. I do indulge in a nice lean steak once in a while (2 times in 4 months), but it is Angus or other natural beef. I would be fine with venison. Brown rice is fine, but not white rice, and no gravy, butter or other stuff on it. Salads are eaten with no dressing of any kind. It took me about 2 weeks to get into the new mode of eating, but the weight came off surprisingly fast. Staying on track is easy. I am down to 222, and by the end of August I anticipate being under 220, and still losing. My target is 200, or a tad lower. At 210 I will buy my hunting clothing!

For me the take away re: the Rodney King riot was not just the refusal of LAPD to respond - although that was very telling unto itself. It was that the Korean community armed themselves, and were able to hold off looters and rioters. They had to, there was no choice other than to become victims in a dangerous and obviously lawless situation. It did not take long for the bad guys to figure out the Koreans were both armed, and able & willing to use their firearms to defend themselves. The bad guys went elsewhere, seeking softer targets. 'nuff said, eh? The media (intentionally) did a very poor job of bringing that situation to the foreground as it would have (re)proven our point re: an armed citizen is less likely to be scewed with, and an armed society will have less crime, in comparison to a disarmed person or society.

Like several other folks posting on this thread, I know several LEOs and respect these fine folks who have a real tough job to do. But it is precisely because LEOs are not everywhere necessary to prevent, much less "required" intervene and stop a crime, that I always carry concealed. I know what it feels like to be held up at gun point, and not being able to respond in kind. Cops took over 15 minutes to get on the scene, took minimal information (LAPD, SoCal), and nothing ever came of the incident. Never, ever again. Sorry, I am getting a bit political, and irritated... Ok, not so much sorry in an apologetic way. Sorry things like this happen, yet our right to defend ourselves is under constant pressure.

I had an insulated keg instead of a 6 pack, at least until this past April. I went on a serious diet in preparation for my first foray into hunting in the upcoming coyote season. I have lost 50 pounds so far, and want to drop another 15 - 20. So the keg is gone, but no 6 pack yet. More working at the exercise routine.

Reading over some of the posts there is indeed a lively exchange between folks. heh heh

Greetings All! I have been around firearms all my life (military upbringing, veteran US Army 1974 -1977), have a nice array of handguns, rifles and shotguns, and at the late age of 58 decided I needed to get off my dead arse and see what all this hunting fever is about. A lot of my friends are hunters, and for whatever reason I just never carved out the time to look into the sport. Likely because I did not want to bug anyone as a newbie learning at the expense of someone missing a great shot opportunity because of something I foul up in the field. Anyway, I am interested in coyote, fox and feral swine if I wind up east of Syracuse, as game at the outset. One of my rifles is a .308 (S&W AR-10), so if I get caught up in all the excitement it won't take much to push me over into the deer hunting arena. I did manage to pass the hunter safety course and picked up a Sportsman license the other day. I have been pulling together equipment like crazy, shed 50 pounds since late April, and in a few weeks I will be ready to purchase hunting clothing. I already got the boots, insulated Rocky Gore-Tex, and am wearing them while tromping around at the gun clubs I am a memer of to get me or them broken in well before I take to the field. So far they are comfortable with the thin cushined wool socks. I am going to try to not bug other members of HuntingNY.com too much. But I am hopeful I am not tormented to an unreasonable degree if I ask a fool arsed question or two <g>... In an effort to get a jump start I did sign up for a guided coyote hunt in late October. I intend to cut my teeth there before romping around in public and/or private hunting grounds. Ciao!