Guns and hunting discussion (split-off)

[Grandpa Frank]

What you learn from family and friends can have an impact on animal treatment. Maine is a hunting state and I was taught to shoot things at age 5. It started with frogs , birds and snakes with a BB gun. At age 7 I got a .22 and moved up to squirrels , rabbits and partridge. At 14 I got a 30-30 rifle and moved up to deer and bear and moose. Everything I killed bought me praise as a good shot and good hunter. I don't think I began to feel guilt until my early 30's about all my killing. Now in my 70's I look back in horror at what I did , but those who raised me share a lot of the guilt. People talk a lot about the "Rainbow Bridge" and being reunited with their former pets. I have visions of being attacked there by all the animals I killed for no good reason. I find now days that I care much more for animal life than some humans.

 

[salyavin]

If you are a meat eater as so many of us are then hunting is a more honest way of getting one's free range organic meat, the animals had a happier life too. My parents even shot and ate squirrels (including brains) back in the day. In Louisiana at least they eat frog legs while I know some of my family did I did not hear about my parents shooting and eating frogs.

One odd gun problem is my father is 78 and is still heavily armed and is coming down with dementia. He is no longer in the countryside. He has been caught opening the back door and shooting something, probably remembering his young days. This may cause him a problem in the city, so far people have not called police and he has not hurt anyone but this can escalate quickly. Over the last week we have been talking with office of ageing social workers on what to do about it and there is not much we can do unless he is deemed incompetent, he is not far enough gone yet for that. He wants to be remain well armed to keep people from taking him to an "old folks home". He also started screaming at random times, barks, yells and bangs things thankfully he lives in a 55+ community so they are being more forgiving. He will not see a doctor and does not understand his waves of incoherence are happening. My Japanese wife is all worried about family embarrasement if he hurts someone (he is not threatening to do that BTW).

 

[Grandpa Frank]

As a gun collector , I've had the conversation with my wife on handling cognitive function decline. I have a family friend who will take my collection and then make payments towards keeping it. One issue is dealing with ammunition as well as the guns. No dealer will buy it due to several issues. It's not something you can really burn. My friend knows there are no reloads , only factory ammo , old but still good. He will take that as well as the guns. Knowing when to give up guns is like knowing when to give up driving , not an easy topic to deal with , so the sooner the better. Over the years , I took in guns from hunting buddies who died or went into a nursing home. Most of these deals were made ahead of time so the wife knew what to do. Another way to go for larger collections is using an auction house that deals in guns. Money wise , you can sometimes get more money that way. Anyway you look at it , it's a difficult situation to deal with if you don't preplan.

 

[salyavin]

It is hard as he wants to keep guns to shoot people who want to take him to a nursing home.

The way you are doing it is much better.

I also agree on drivers license, the way our cities are often set it it is very hard to go anywhere without a car. When to give it up is a tough one because without it you can do so little.

 

[mdchachi]

If you are a meat eater as so many of us are then hunting is a more honest way of getting one's free range organic meat, the animals had a happier life too. My parents even shot and ate squirrels (including brains) back in the day. In Louisiana at least they eat frog legs while I know some of my family did I did not hear about my parents shooting and eating frogs.

One odd gun problem is my father is 78 and is still heavily armed and is coming down with dementia. He is no longer in the countryside. He has been caught opening the back door and shooting something, probably remembering his young days. This may cause him a problem in the city, so far people have not called police and he has not hurt anyone but this can escalate quickly. Over the last week we have been talking with office of ageing social workers on what to do about it and there is not much we can do unless he is deemed incompetent, he is not far enough gone yet for that. He wants to be remain well armed to keep people from taking him to an "old folks home". He also started screaming at random times, barks, yells and bangs things thankfully he lives in a 55+ community so they are being more forgiving. He will not see a doctor and does not understand his waves of incoherence are happening. My Japanese wife is all worried about family embarrassment if he hurts someone (he is not threatening to do that BTW).

Wow, that's a whole new aspect similar to taking away the car keys. Is his memory going? My mom is in worrisome decline but she knows it. When you can't remember something from day to day it's hard to ignore. Even more worriedly it's been a rapid decline this past year so you just don't know... will it become full-fledged dementia? Very scary.

As a gun collector , I've had the conversation with my wife on handling cognitive function decline. I have a family friend who will take my collection and then make payments towards keeping it. One issue is dealing with ammunition as well as the guns. No dealer will buy it due to several issues. It's not something you can really burn. My friend knows there are no reloads , only factory ammo , old but still good. He will take that as well as the guns. Knowing when to give up guns is like knowing when to give up driving , not an easy topic to deal with , so the sooner the better. Over the years , I took in guns from hunting buddies who died or went into a nursing home. Most of these deals were made ahead of time so the wife knew what to do. Another way to go for larger collections is using an auction house that deals in guns. Money wise , you can sometimes get more money that way. Anyway you look at it , it's a difficult situation to deal with if you don't preplan.

The obvious solution is to shoot more. Why save up all that ammo for somebody else to get cheap? Or sell it now to some preppers. You can't have enough ammo in the bunker.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

When the furnace guy comes once a year , he always comments on my 35 ammo boxes in the cellar. Good thing he can't see the other 15 boxes loaded with 30 round magazines in my bedroom. Before my arthritis got bad , I would spend a week at camp shooting 4 to 6 hours a day and use up a ton of ammo. Now unless we have a zombie attack , it will go to my friend. It used to be my local Walmart had tons of ammo at really good prices and I picked up 3 or 4 boxes every week. Much of my ammo is 15 to 20 years old because I always used the new stuff. When I was in the automotive business , I ran the wholesale division and a customer would give me ammo in exchange for parts(my family business so it was OK). They say ammo in a good ammo box is safe in a fire , but I think I'll still run for my life if there's a fire.I got into gun collection around when I was 15 and the old timers in my hunting club died off and left their guns to me. My father had a habit of buying guns from the VFW guys and American Legion guys when they were hard up for money. Over my lifetime , I've had at least 500 different guns and so far , none of them have shot anyone. When I went to renew my gun permit , I commented to the police officer it might be my last one(had it since 1973) and he said the guy in before me was 93 and still sharp as a tack. Hope I stay the same , LOL. After marriage , my collection has been whittled down to just 13 guns now.

 

[mdchachi]

When the furnace guy comes once a year , he always comments on my 35 ammo boxes in the cellar. Good thing he can't see the other 15 boxes loaded with 30 round magazines in my bedroom. Before my arthritis got bad , I would spend a week at camp shooting 4 to 6 hours a day and use up a ton of ammo. Now unless we have a zombie attack , it will go to my friend. It used to be my local Walmart had tons of ammo at really good prices and I picked up 3 or 4 boxes every week. Much of my ammo is 15 to 20 years old because I always used the new stuff. When I was in the automotive business , I ran the wholesale division and a customer would give me ammo in exchange for parts(my family business so it was OK). They say ammo in a good ammo box is safe in a fire , but I think I'll still run for my life if there's a fire.I got into gun collection around when I was 15 and the old timers in my hunting club died off and left their guns to me. My father had a habit of buying guns from the VFW guys and American Legion guys when they were hard up for money. Over my lifetime , I've had at least 500 different guns and so far , none of them have shot anyone. When I went to renew my gun permit , I commented to the police officer it might be my last one(had it since 1973) and he said the guy in before me was 93 and still sharp as a tack. Hope I stay the same , LOL. After marriage , my collection has been whittled down to just 13 guns now.

13 is quite modest by modern gun nut -- er collector -- standards. The only question I have is, why wouldn't you rotate the ammo (ie use the older stuff first)?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I always tried to shoot up the full metal Jacket stuff first and leave the hollow point an +P+ alone. I use the HP for my carry guns and backup and I do rotate that every 6 months to new ammo. I usually carry 4 or 5 extra magazines in my pockets so I have 32 to 36 rounds extra depending on which gun I carry. I've always favored a .45 auto but now switch off to a 9MM with less recoil. If I'm forced to wear a suitcoat & tie , I wear a .357 in a shoulder rig. I think I was brainwashed by Boy Scouts and their "be prepared" motto , LOL. It seems to be a habit I can't break. I know , I know , way too much info , LOL. As far as "old" ammo , I have stuff 25 years old and it never fails to fire so I don't worry about a old stuff too much. When people ask why do you need 30 round magazines , for me it a time saver when shooting. I'd rather spend time at the sandpit in the hot sun shooting and not reloading. Unless you have a fancy magazine reloader , it seems to take forever to load 30 rounds in. I do some shooting at night using laser grips which is nice. When you dial them in , you don't need to look at the small regular sights. My eyesight in not what it used to be , so when you can put a bright green light on the target and know the bullet will hit right on the dot , it's kind of cool. Accessories like scopes and lights and red dots cost a fortune now. Crimson Trace gun grips run $300 to $400 each. I haven't been able to go to camp now for 3 or 4 years , but I just found an old friend who will take me this summer , so really looking forward to that .

 

[thomas]

I have created this new thread for the gun and hunting discussion to keep the original thread focused on animal welfare.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Reminds me of the good ol days when we had tons of posts. We tried to keep threads & posts related to Japan and were pretty strong about posts staying on the thread topic. I used to think it was lightweight censorship , but was needed. I felt guilty I dragged this thread off topic , so I'm glad to see it split. I have no one to talk gun stuff with , so I tend to go overboard. Sorry about that.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever cleaned a deer after shooting it. My first time , I had read a book on what to do. It took me about an hour and it sure was a lot more difficult then the book said. I never had the urge to shoot another one. As a side note , they ran a big power line through our hunting area and a few tears later a big gas line along side the power line. Within a year coyotes moved in and deer , moose and all small game basically vanished. Something about the 100 yard wide path they cleared through the woods seemed to have changed everything. The younger people don't seem to be into guns and hunting like it was in the 60's & 70's. We used to have around 15 hunters in camp in November hunting season. My last trip to camp a few years back , there were only 3 of us. When I was stationed in Fukuoka , I joined a Japanese hunting club. They used Korean made air powered shotguns that fired tiny birdshot. They would get me to talk about guns & hunting in Maine (in English) and another member would translate. When I left Japan , they gave me a real nice set of cufflinks I still have. When I left Japan , the Navy sent me to Adak, Alaska , a hunting & fishing paradise. I was saving money to go back to Japan , so I couldn't afford to hunt or fish , LOL.

 

[salyavin]

No but my father did, I too was never interested. Also I have a Japanese American friend who is in his lower 60s who still hunts in Japan when he can. Covid put a stop on that for now so he is hunting around here various things. This guy is that Boken Adventure youtube channel, guy on right here He was Navy (officer) and hunted boar in Japan still has a lot of elderly hunting buddies. He is mostly retired now sometimes still makes teeth (yes teeth) for dentists but trying to turn all his hunting adventures into a way for him to get outdoor stuff and make a little which makes sense as he does stuff not as many do. He works out hard, I really started working out due to covid and improving a lot but not his level yet. The blonde "Steph" is his wife from Iceland he married while stationed there. I bet you'd love him if you were local.

 

[johnnyG]

Local magazine (now a couple years gone) focused on restaurant and food, various themes/locations each month. One issue I remember was on area restaurants with ジビエ offerings. Chefs/owners as hunters, and then their menus.

 

[mdchachi]

I have no one to talk gun stuff with , so I tend to go overboard. Sorry about that.

How is that possible? There are plenty of forums to talk about that stuff, especially if you frequent conservative forums.

Just wondering if anyone here has ever cleaned a deer after shooting it. My first time , I had read a book on what to do. It took me about an hour and it sure was a lot more difficult then the book said. I never had the urge to shoot another one. As a side note , they ran a big power line through our hunting area and a few tears later a big gas line along side the power line. Within a year coyotes moved in and deer , moose and all small game basically vanished. Something about the 100 yard wide path they cleared through the woods seemed to have changed everything. The younger people don't seem to be into guns and hunting like it was in the 60's & 70's. We used to have around 15 hunters in camp in November hunting season. My last trip to camp a few years back , there were only 3 of us. When I was stationed in Fukuoka , I joined a Japanese hunting club. They used Korean made air powered shotguns that fired tiny birdshot. They would get me to talk about guns & hunting in Maine (in English) and another member would translate. When I left Japan , they gave me a real nice set of cufflinks I still have. When I left Japan , the Navy sent me to Adak, Alaska , a hunting & fishing paradise. I was saving money to go back to Japan , so I couldn't afford to hunt or fish , LOL.

I don't think I've ever killed an animal with a gun. All my shooting has been at targets. I suppose it's possible I killed something with a bb gun when I was a kid but if so I don't remember it.
I think most people find it's a heck of a lot easier to haul their deer to a processor that does all that for them.
My father-in-law used to hunt in Japan before he got too feeble. His house was full of dusty taxidermy specimens of pheasant and other small game. And his freezer contained highly unappealing pieces of frozen meats.