Yep, another newbie looking forward to learning the craft

[Gil Hale]

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!

[shawnhu]

Bug away, most of the folks on here have nothing better to do but bicker so you'll be doing them a favor.

Welcome to the site!

Edited August 25, 2013 by shawnhu

[Gil Hale]

Bug away, most of the folks on here have nothing better to do but bicker so you'll be doing them a favor. Welcome to the site!

 

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

 

[F-150]

welcome to the forum and the sport of hunting, nothing like the outdoors to help forget about the other things of life !!!

Edited August 25, 2013 by F-150

[Elmo]

Welcome to the forum. You're wrong about other hunters being "bothered" to show you around. There are some of us that actually enjoy sharing our passions. Too bad you don't live near me but I tell all my friends if they are ever willing to take the class and buy a license, I would take them out a couple of times to get their feet wet.

[shawnhu]

Welcome to the forum. You're wrong about other hunters being "bothered" to show you around. There are some of us that actually enjoy sharing our passions. Too bad you don't live near me but I tell all my friends if they are ever willing to take the class and buy a license, I would take them out a couple of times to get their feet wet.

I agree. I've introduced 3 new hunters to the sport and have personally sat in the Hunter Safety course with them to ensure they were not in this alone. We've also organized small group hunts each year to show newbies around and how to be safe with their firearms as well. Not all hunters are me, me, me, but a lot are.

[Deerthug]

Welcome! I am actually going to be mentoring my son and his best friend this fall. Got my brother into hunting too.

[Nomad]

Welcome from Webster ! Lots from this area on here.

Good job on losing the weight btw.

[GreeneHunter]

Welcome Brother Veteran ..... Good Site , Good People , Good Information !!!

[sits in trees]

Go for it and don't be afraid to make mistakes, that's half the fun. Try different things and keep an open mind.

[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!