Hog Hunt

So, I have just gotten back from my Hog Hunt in Oklahoma. In short, it was awesome. I had a great time.

I had the opportunity to shoot two Hogs and am glad to say I was able to kill both with one shot each. I avoided the pain and ridicule that comes with missing a shot. There was a lot that happened and I am excited to fill you in!

It started last Wednesday when we left for the trip. We all met up at a friends place, split up into two different vehicles and started the drive. We drove for about 16 hours before we finally got to the ranch we were hunting on. I would talk about the drive, but to be honest, it was really boring. we just drove, and slept and drove some more.

We arrived in Oklahoma in early afternoon and all eight of us were immediately thankful that we went on this trip. When we left home the temperature was about 10 degrees F, and when we got to our final destination, Oklahoma was having record highs around 80-85 degrees F. I live up North and I really don't like the cold. I can suffer through it, but it was such a relief to be out in warm weather again.

We got to stay in a pretty nice cabin that had four sets of bunk beds in two rooms. The rooms were a bit crowded because of this, but we didnt care. we would literally only be in there to sleep and eat. We did not need that much room. We took all of Thursday to rest and relax because something about driving just wears you out. We were told to meet the guides early in the morning in town.

I decided to bring my Tikka T3 in 30-06 and my Smith and Wesson 586 in .357 Magnum. I was really really hoping I could use my .357 to take down a hog. Can you imagine the bragging that I could do when I told people that I did that? But my hopes and dreams were almost immediately crushed from the time that we arrived.

The guides have obviously been doing this for a while and have seen just about everything there is to see when hunting these pigs. They went through everything from "Do not use Full Metal Jackets" to "you have to wear a harness when you are in a tree stand." They asked "What is the smallest caliber you have brought to kill a pig?" and strongly suggested that everyone use their rifles to shoot the pig.

Apparently, through all of the years that they have been doing this, they have only ever had one person successfully kill a hog with a hand gun. The guy was using a .454 casull revolver with a scope on it, and he shot it at 92 yards. Some folks might say "that was lucky" but I believe differently. In order to have enough confidence in yourself to drop a pig at almost 100 yds, you need to have a lot of time behind that gun. The trigger control required alone is enough deter most men. That shot takes a lot of guts and even more talent.

According to the guides, most of the time when someone uses a .357 to shoot a hog, all they do is wound it. it ends up running off, and joining the herd and you lose it forever until it bleeds out three days later and ends up dead some place. To avoid this, they put a rule in place. If you hit a pig, that is your pig. If there is blood, you better hope they can find that pig, because otherwise, you are leaving empty handed. The .357 does not have enough oomph to take down a pig in one shot unless you hit the 2" circle on their head.

I am not a bad shot. I will never claim to be a good shot, because everyone's definition is a bit different, but I know that I am not a bad shot. I am pretty confidant in my abilities to shoot, but there is no way that I am going to hit a 2" circle on a pigs head if I am any more than 10 yards away. They are always looking around and moving their heads. If you miss that 2" circle, they just get mad and either charge you, or run off. no kill. lost pig. empty hands.

All of this to say that I did not shoot a pig with my .357, and to be honest, I didn't really try to.

Anyhow, back to the story. We started off early in the morning and we were put in deer stands overlooking feeders for the morning feed. The hope is that when the feeder goes off, the pigs come for breakfast and you shoot one of them. That did not happen. for the first few hours that I was in a stand I saw exactly 0 pigs. I saw tons of other wildlife though. I saw ram, sheep and other goat like animals. They were kind of cool, but they were total dicks. They just came by and ate up all of the corn from the feeders and didn't leave any for the pigs. I kind of wanted to shoot one of them but that would be about a $3000-$4000 mistake, and I did not have that kind of cash.

After about 10am they brought us all down from the stands and it turns out that no one saw a damn thing that morning. It was absolutely sucky. but hey, it was only the first morning. We were doing this for two days. We would all have plenty of time to shoot two hogs.

The next part of the hunt was the stalking portion. Basically, all of the little piggies decided not to go to the market to eat, so we had to go find the piggies wherever they were hiding and shoot them. I was eager to get a pig, so I went with the first group and stalked with one of my friends. Because I had never shot pigs before and he had, he allowed me to hunt for my first pig while he just tried to stay quiet.

The guide we were with was really good at finding pigs and we ran across a few within the first five minutes or so, but I am so heavy footed, I pretty much scared them all away. Pigs though, did not like the heat, and apparently do not sweat, so they ran about 50 yards and laid back down under a different tree. It was not too long before we found a nice little herd of pigs to choose from, now it was just about getting a good shot.

Because this was my first hunt, I did not know how big a big hog was. I just wanted to shoot a pig. The guide was really cool about the entire hunt and made sure I liked the hog I was about to shoot. He said he didnt want to force me to shoot a hog if I didnt want to. Like I said, I didnt care about how big the hog was at the time, I just wanted to shoot a hog, and not miss.

After a good half hour of stalking, a pig finally gave me a decent shot through some light brush. I took the chance without hesitation and pounded it through the ribs. Technically my shot was a bit low, and a bit too far behind the front leg, but the pig went down quick and only ran about ten yards before finally laying down for its final rest. When I walked up, I knew it was pretty small, but I didnt realize how small until later. When I asked the guide "On a scale of 1- world record, where does this hog lay?" he decided to avoid the question and say "this is a good eating hog!" which is basically guide code for a tiny pig.

I could go into detail on my friends hunts as well, but this is going to be long enough as it is.

After getting back, I learned how to skin, gut, and clean my own hog (similar to a deer in most respects) and we put it in the freezer, and waited for the second half of our team to come back from their stalk.

Once everyone was back, and I saw the size of everyone else's hogs, I did get a bit jealous. I wasn't aiming for the biggest hog of the group, but I certainly didn't want the smallest hog. It turns out. that is what I had. After everyone else saw my hog, they pretty much said "as long as my hog is bigger than that, I wont be embarrassed" and they all shot hogs that were bigger than mine. Some might say that I performed a valuable service in giving people a benchmark for their pigs, but I just felt like I shot a small hog.

Now I got my first hog out of the way, and I wasn't skunked. Everyone elses hogs were bigger than mine and I was really starting to get a bit greedy. Now I really wanted a nice hog. I wanted one with tusks that I could mount and I definitely didn't want to get the smallest hog again. I decided to be more picky with the next hog that I shot.

Later, we were going for the night hunt. According to the guides, the night hunt was always the most active and they promised we would see a ton of hogs. They did not disappoint. We were going out to the deer stands again (in a completely different area than in the morning) and most of us saw a ton of hogs.

I sat there for about an hour or two before the feeders went off and once the hogs heard the feeders, the fun began. In no time, I started hearing shots around me and I knew that my group mates were getting their hogs. Soon, I saw a pig at the edge of the woods. then shortly after that. about ten hogs came out and started eating the corn under the feeders.

I studied the hogs through my scope. I told myself I was only going to shoot tonight if I saw tusks. I really wanted those tusks. I was told by everyone else that sometimes they have tusks but you just don't see them until after they are dead. I really wanted to be sure before I took my shot though, so I watched them while they ate and kept hoping to see tusks. I didnt see any on any pigs. that were out there, so I thought to be patient.

Soon about five more pigs came out to join the herd that was already feeding. Some of those pigs were a bit bigger than the pigs that were already there, so I studied them... still no tusks to be seen... I decided to be patient and wait... soon, three more pigs came out of the woods to join the others, and these three were the biggest so far. I watched and studied and I still did not see any tusks... I had nearly twenty hogs under my stand and none of them had visual tusks...

Then... all of a sudden.... BANG!!!! One of my friends in a stand about 200 yards to my right fired his gun! All of my piggies got scared and started to run toward the woods! Once they realize that none of them died or was running around squealing its freakin head off, they sorta slowed down... They were still hungry, after all... BANG!!!! A second shot from my friend on the right! Those pigs were not going to wait around for a third shot, and they disappeared into the woods...  Damn... I really wanted to wait it out a bit more...

I started texting another friend of mine about all the pigs I saw (he wasnt seeing any pigs, let along the 20 that I saw) and I was telling him how I passed on them because I didn't see any tusks... "YOU SHOULD HAVE SHOT!" he says! "If they are big, they are going to have tusks, they might just be hiding behind the fat lips!" I was of course, going to defend my position "nah, I wanted them to be big enough to see, and none of them were. Besides, if tomorrow nights hunt was as active as tonight's, I will have no problem settling for one of those larger pigs. And, what am I supposed to do tomorrow if everyone else is hunting? I want to be hunting too!"

Then the news came... "Joe, we aren't hunting tomorrow night! We have to be out of the Cabin by noon, and we wanted to be on the road early in the afternoon!"

Shit... Fuck... Shit... It hits me like a brick... There is no guarantee that I would even see a hog the next morning, let alone that it would be the tusk toting hog that I am looking for! My best chance at getting a hog with tusks was sitting right in front of me... 75 yds away... in the cross hairs of my rifle... This sinking feeling develops at the bottom of my stomach... I immediately think of the worst possible scenario and that is either not getting a pig at all, or ending up with another shrimp of a pig... I have done this to myself...

Well, the day is not over... There is still a few hours until sundown, and There is a small chance that I could still shoot a decent sized pig, if any more come back...

My prayers were answered an hour and a half later... about five hogs came out of the trees to start feeding on the corn that was left... They were all small... About the size of the first one I shot... There was no way I was going to settle that low... A few more hogs came out and one was a bit bigger, but nowhere near the size that I saw earlier... It was starting to get dark... I had to make a decision...

For the first time in my entire hunting career (which is not very long, but still) I got the shakes... At first it was nothing... I was just pissed that I passed up my chance... Then I was looking at all the pigs, and trying to figure out which one was the biggest, and I couldn't decide... When I finally made up my mind, I had it in my sights, and the safety off my gun... but I was worried that I was being impatient again... Should I really settle for THIS hog? There are bigger hogs in woods... I know there are... But This could be the best I get... Fine, I will shoot this hog... Then there was another pig behind it... I wasn't sure if my round was going to get all the way through the pig, so I waited... Looked at other pigs, and debated... Is that one bigger? maybe... nah... the first one was bigger... Finally, it was by itself... I am lined up... finger on the trigger... but how confident am I in my rifle? exactly how precise is my sight in? I have only had this rifle for a few months... I could be a few inches off... at this range that could be drastic... also, I am about fifteen feet up in the air... how does that affect bullet trajectory? should I aim high? low? fuck I am shaking... I just need to calm down.. otherwise I will miss this shot... I can't miss this shot... My friends would never let me live it down... Why am I shaking this much? okay.. Deep breaths... fuck... that didn't work... shit... there is another pig in the way... It is getting dark... I am running out of time... This might be my last chance... why wont that pig move out of the way... NO! dont go back into the middle of the herd... dammit! it is almost too dark to see... oh! he moved... wait... was that him... or was it that one... no it was that one... damn... another pig in the way... am I sure it wasnt this other one? wait... did that other pig move? fuck... I cant tell... is that two pigs or one? Why wont they move? fuck this shit... I can't shoot a pig... I missed my chance...

I got so much shit that night... It didn't help that a few of my group mates had shot at pigs and they possibly could have hit them, but because there was blood, and they couldn't find a dead pig, they counted... everyone who had two pigs talked about how nice it was going to be to sleep in... They recanted their tales of the shots and they complained about one thing or another... I had my chance and I didnt take it... I felt sick...

This is just how the Universe works... My resolve was tested, and as punishment for sticking to it, the Universe was going to screw me out of a nice pig... I knew it... I accepted it... I wasn't going to see a damn thing on the morning hunt... I was either going to get some puny hog on the stalk afterwards or I was going to leave with only one hog, and it was going to be the tiniest hog of the group... shit...

I went to bed early... woke up early... and got ready to go out and hunt once more... I didnt even care what kind of hog I got today... I didnt want it to be a small hog, but if that is all I got, then I would take it... no point in going home with just the smallest pig... I was ready to kill just about anything that I could aim my gun at... We were riding out in the side by side and getting dropped off at different stand locations... The guide kept lighting up the treeline with his flashlight as we drove, in hopes of seeing a hog. we drop off my first friend, who also only had one hog. we saw some tiny hogs later in a bush but they ran off before they could be shot...

The guide flashed some Elk that were on the land (we were not there to hunt elk) and they moved away from this hay barrel that was near the treeline, and the guide got excited. "Make sure your scope is turned all the way down, this is going to be a close shot" he whispered "Hogs really like to hide in hay piles when it is cool in the morning, and I definitely see one..." Now I am really excited... Maybe I will get a hog afterall! "I am not sure if it is two small ones or one big one, so when I light them up, you need to make your decision quick and take the shot if you want it."

We walked up to about ten yards or so from the hay bale and he shined the light on the hay pile next to it... the massive black spot was hard to miss so I immediately shouldered the rifle and took a look through the scope... I was relieved to see that it was a decent sized hog and decided not to hesitate any longer. I pulled the trigger and the shot landed perfectly!

It hit about three inches behind the left front shoulder, and drilled its way through to around the right front part of the chest. I hit just about every vital organ possible, and the hog squealed and flopped around. "Load another round!" I heard the guide say... I took this to mean "shoot again!" so I racked the action and took the shittiest shot ever... I missed, but thankfully, the first shot killed him... "I just wanted you to load another one" the guide told me afterwards "you didn't need to take that last shot... there is no need to damage the meat!"

yeah... so I omit that shot in my stories whenever I tell it live... It didn't need to happen and it didn't hit the pig anyhow... so no one has to know but you and I.

I finally got a good look at the pig and it was a really good pig... like... a really really good pig... It came in at over 200lbs... and... IT... HAD... TUSKS!!!!

I couldn't believe my luck! This was exactly the pig I wanted! We took it out of the woods, skinned it, gutted it and cleaned it. It turns out that one of the tusks broke off, so it only had three tusks, but the skull was massive, and I was told that any self respecting taxidermist should be able to rebuild the missing tusk with no issue.

After it was all said and done, it turns out that my last pig was the biggest pig of the group! That is right! what are the chances that I would get both the smallest, and the biggest pig of our entire group?!?!!?

One might say "Arent you glad you decided to wait the night before?" and I say "Hell no!"

I was stressing my fuckin balls off the night before! I should have just shot the biggest pig I saw and had gotten it over with! If I had shot my pig the night before, it would have been one of my group mates who got my pig! I got greedy and basically stole a great pig from one of my friends! Also, the Hog I shot was a massive stroke of luck! I should never have gotten that pig!

Anyhow... So I got the Hog that I wanted.... I found a taxidermist in town and they are going to do a European mount for me... it is going to look awesome. I had a great time on my hog hunt. If you get the chance to do something like this, I would totally recommend going. Everyone had a blast.

TL:DR

I went Hog Hunting... I shot the smallest hog of my group and the biggest hog of my group.

This is what I found entertaining. What do you think?

Rifle review - Tikka T3 Lite, Blued

Today, I would like to talk a bit about a rifle I recently picked up. Be prepared for a long winded background story about my decision making process, along with a short review.

I bought my Tikka T3 a few months ago, in September of 2015. I bought it in 30-06 and I bought it because I plan on going hog hunting next week. I did not think to buy this rifle at first and many readers who are familiar with firearms may agree. Why would anyone buy this rifle? I will explain...

It all started about a year ago. A bunch of my friends went hog hunting and came back with tons of meat and many many stories. I was not invited the first time around because they wanted to check it out first and see if the place was legitimate. They could have just not wanted me around for all I know, but that is what they told me...

Anyhow, they planned on going in a year, and they invited me, so I decided I needed a new gun. I did a ton of research on the best guns for hog hunting, and the best calibers and all that jazz... I had originally decided on the 458 SOCOM upper. It was going to be great! A massive round, with tons of knockdown power, almost specifically designed for pigs. Semi-auto rifle that still uses regular AR mags just seemed so easy. Just buy the upper receiver and plop it on your AR lower (of which I have two) and you got yourself one of the best hog guns around for about $500!

But then... of course... my buddies had words to say about it. They said things like "Joe, Ammo is so expensive... even if you reload, you are looking at tons of money" as well as "It is an uncommon ammunition type, and if you ever get in a jam, you are going to run out of ammo!" and the most logical "you are going to buy this upper and use it once a year... If that..."

Damn their logic... they were right... As much as I like the flashy, sexy sound of saying "I used a 458 SOCOM to go hog hunting," buying a gun for only one purpose is just not who I am... I need a gun that I could see myself using more often... even if I dont use it more often, I still wanna think I can...

So I had to start from scratch... What I really liked about the 458, besides how cool it was, was the fact that it was Semi-Auto. Since the 458 is off the table, the only other larger caliber Semi-Autos I could think of were thousands of dollars... so I set up requirements in my head... What did I NEED to have in this rifle...?

I needed it to be a larger caliber... something easy to find, plentiful, and will work on a variety of game. I needed it to be accurate. as accurate as possible. I needed it to cost less than $600. I needed to have a really nice trigger.

After it was all said and done, I figured I would need a bolt action rifle. Again, not my first choice, but the smartest one. So I started compiling all of the bolt action rifles I could find below $600. There are a lot of options, by the way. I looked at really basic rifles, like the Rugar American, and the Savage Axis, as well as a bit higher end rifles like the Browning A-Bolt.

I needed to settle on a caliber as well. Of all the common calibers, I was stuck between two... 30-06 and .308... I am a fan of both calibers, but I am already making an AR in 308, so to change things up, I went with 30-06.

so after trying a ton of bolt action rifles, I had to narrow down the features that I felt were important. One of the biggest things was the quality of the bolt. I dont want to fight with a bolt to get it open and closed. I want it to be as smooth as butter. I also found the shorter bolt throw to be more comfortable than a standard Mauser style bolt throw. the 60 degree throw of the A-Bolt felt fantastic, because my fingers didnt get smashed between the scope and the bolt handle. There are a bunch of other options as well that was at a 70 degree bolt throw which worked just as well.

another thing that I NEEEEEDED was a great trigger... There were quite a few contenders there too...  a lot of really good triggers have been made. you can adjust the Ruger American rifle's trigger and it becomes light, and crisp. the Weatherby Vanguard also had a great trigger and came highly recommended, but the issue with the Vanguard is it did not come with a detachable magazine. What self respecting rifle maker of the modern age decides not to put a detachable magazine in their rifles? I personally thought that was a deal breaker, but my buddies wanted me to keep an open mind.

Out of all of these rifles, a bunch of them claimed they were quite accurate, and a few even had guarantees that it was within 1 MOA. obviously accuracy was very important...

When I threw all of this information together, I had exactly no freakin clue what I was going to buy. I hadn't even heard of the Tikka yet. It was not even on my list. whenever I asked to look at one, the guy behind the counter always said "nah, what you want is this Sakko that costs twice as much!" thanks, but no thanks...

I was pondering my decision, and stopping by gun shops almost every day. I am pretty sure the salesman thought I was just window shopping, cause after a while, they seemed less interested in showing me guns. One day I stopped by Scheels and was looking around and the guy at Scheels had me take a look at it. The bolt on it was perfect. a short, 70 degree throw, that felt like it was riding on clouds as I cycled it... Guaranteed 1 MOA... perfect trigger, adjustable down to 2.5lbs... detachable box magazine... just barely under $600... but my mind was not made up...

Of course it fit the bill, but so did one or two other rifles... and I didn't know anything about Tikkas... How did I know if I could trust this gun or not? I needed to do more research!

Then... the universe forced my hand... my wife and I decided she no longer liked the pistol I gave her. There were too many ejecting issues, but that is a story for another post. so I was told to sell the pistol, and was given permission to use the money on my new rifle... I also had about $200 in Cabelas points from my Cabelas card, so there was a new variable in play now. I needed to be able to buy the gun from Cabelas, where I could sell the pistol, buy my rifle and use my points. so now I was down to two... the Ruger American and the Tikka both fit my needs... The ruger was much cheaper, but less accurate, and the bolt was not as good.

After another day or two of asking opinions and debating I came upon the realization that I was tired of having rifles that were "good enough." I have been getting second class guns for years now to save money. Before, it was all about how much bang I can get for my buck. The options I got were maybe not the best, but they were a good value. I was kind of tired of it. I didn't want my equipment to hold me back at all. This, of course, made my decision easy. I am going with the Tikka...

I said all of that, basically, to show you that I didnt buy this gun on a whim. I really really really put a lot of thought into this rifle before I bought it, and I have absolutely no regrets.

There are many gun owners in the world that would say things like "Why didnt you go with the Remington 700? Remington or bust!" or the also common "Bla bla bla, gross foreign gun.... bla bla bla... America is best... bla bla bla... shoulda bought an American gun!"

To those people I say... I feel sorry for you... If you would only open up your eyes and your mind, you would see that the entire world is filled with fantastic guns and equally fantastic gun companies. They are all out to make a great, safe product that people will want to buy. Some do it better than others, I admit, but just because you are not familiar with it, does not make it complete trash.

Tikka, if you didnt know, is actually owned by Beretta and gets imported by Beretta USA. Berettas are primarily made in Brazil now... What?!?!? This truely American company is outsourcing its work?!?!? The same gun company that made the M9 that many of our military still use to this day?!?!?! yes... it happens... there are so few gun companies that make things in America at all, let alone completely in America... So I had not qualms about buying this Finnish gun.

Now for the review:

Pros!

-Great trigger, adjustable.
-The best bolt I have ever felt. Smooth as butter
-70 degree bolt throw
-Guaranteed 1 MOA
-Detachable Magazine
-comes with 1" scope rings

Cons =[

-If a good stock is important to you, look elsewhere. This plastic stock is not bad, but it is not the greatest.
-plastic bolt shroud. I have heard they break often. Mine has never broken, but this is what I researched
-plastic magazine seems pretty fragile. Again, I have heard they break if you drop them.
-rail system is unique, which is not the best when it comes to finding accessories. not a standard Picatinny rail. comes with scope rings to fit, but it is not my favorite.
-Many people do not like how the magazine secures itself to the receiver. I have never had an issue with it coming off or breaking or anything, but any time there is plastic involved, people get nervous.
-Some people have complained that the safety isnt quite as snappy as they would like, and it is hard to actuate.

So with many of these Cons, there are ways to fix them. I have not done much to my rifle yet, but to have a better stock I plan on buying one from Boyds stocks. There are aftermarket aluminum bolt shrouds that at least one company makes. There is another company in Germany that makes a whole new magazine system for this guns as well. They take out the plastic trigger guard, the plastic mag well, and the plastic mags, and replace them all with metal parts, and a very simple (almost AK style) mag release. I ended up buying an extra mag and a full Picatinny rail directly from Beretta USA, but the rail was about $100 and the mag was about $50 for a five rounder. The last thing that tipped me toward the Tikka was they had a great deal when I bought it. Just for buying the Tikka, they gave me $150 in Beretta USA store credit, which is why I decided to get the rail and the extra mag. I didn't actually have to spend any more on it.  I don't see they are running that deal anymore, so that is why I am listing it as a Con, despite it not being an issue for me.

I also bought a sling for the gun, cause I thought that would be smart. I have shot the gun a few times now and I think it is fantastic. If I really concentrate, I can get 1 MOA on a sitting bench. I havent shot prone yet, although, I expect that to be easier to get that accurate. I do not claim to be a great shooter. I can hold my own, but I am not a competition shooter or anything. This is just all for fun.

I would personally greatly recommend the Tikka of any variation. They are great rifles and have definitely treated me well.

Coyote Hunting

This weekend I was invited Coyote hunting with some friends, which I instantly accepted. I dont hunt as much as I would like, so any chance I get to go I take it.

We drove out to an empty field of sorts. It still had dirt piles that were moved and dug up from maybe five years ago or so. We wanted to get the best vantage point on the coyotes so we perched on top of one of these dirt bluffs and laid in the snow.

Here is where I admit that I am not an experienced coyote hunter. I have gone only once before this time and neither time have we actually killed any coyotes. We also did not expect to kill anything today. In fact, we never kill anything when we go coyote hunting... Of the four of us, exactly zero of us have ever killed a coyote... so I am pretty sure we are doing it wrong... but that is not why we go hunting...

There are a few reasons that I like going hunting. I work at a desk job all week. As a man in the Midwest working at a desk job, I just don't ever feel accomplished... It pays the bills, and is relatively easy work, but who actually likes sitting at a desk for eight hours a day? seriously...?

So after a week of sitting on my ass in a warm chair staring at a computer, I needed some outdoors time. Even if that outdoor time means sitting in the snow with a rifle in my hands. I also got some snow camo for Christmas that I was eager to try out. The last time I went, I looked like I was duck hunting because all of my camo looked like reeds and grass... it is hard to blend in when you are the only colored thing in a field of white snow...

So it was actually a pretty warm day as far as we are concerned here. If any readers are from warmer climates, they may think I am nuts saying that it was warm out when we were laying in the snow at about 20 degrees F. I was wearing long johns designed for the cold as well as cold weather hunting boots, "bibs" (this is what I am told they are called... but I am not sure on that... they are like really fluffy overalls), duck hunting coat, and my snow camo poncho. My companions brought out their custom built AR-15s, as that is a standard rifle for this size of game. My AR-15 is currently missing the optic as all of my optics are on other rifles of mine, so I brought out my Tikka in 30-06 with one of my Nikon scopes on it.

So I am lying in snow about 20 yard away from anyone else. We have to stay prone because otherwise we stick out like sore thumbs. You can't move, because movement creates noise, and I am told that noise is bad. What do I know?

We have the coyote call going every once in a while with the sounds of baby coyotes in distress. There are many calls this machine can make and I always wonder how they get these sounds. I think one of them is dying raccoon... Did they kill a raccoon and just record the noises it made as it died? sounds kind of sadistic...

One thing that I think gets overlooked about hunting is how much waiting there is to do... Whether you are deer, duck, goose, or coyote hunting there is always a bunch of waiting. I dont know what it is about this kind of waiting, but it just makes you want to sleep... I have slept in swamps, in mud, on my feet, in a boat, and now in the dirt and snow when hunting. You would think this would be counter-intuitive to the hunting process, right? you are sleeping, and not paying any attention to your surroundings. How can you see if there is anything coming? However, I have found that sleeping is always the best way to get the wildlife to come to you.

When you are sleeping, you are still. you don't react to noise as much so anything that comes near you is not going to instantly see your head move in its direction, causing it to run off... Thankfully, when you are sleeping on the hunt, your ears are extra active. At least I like to think they are. It works with duck hunting... as you sleep you hear the flutter of duck wings as they are racing across the pond toward you, and you pop awake! You then frantically shoulder your gun and fire, hoping that you hit the damn thing and that your hunting partners wake up and shoot at it too.

Anyhow, back to coyotes that I have never successfully hunted... so I am sleeping in the snow, waking up every few minutes because I hear a rustling or the sound of the call, or something. when I am awake, Obviously I am watching for anything to move, but I really take in the beauty in my surroundings and the peacefulness of my situation. I dont have to think if I dont want to, but I do anyhow.

I think about a great many things in the hours of quite. I think about the possibility of a coyote coming into sight and into range enough to get a good shot at it. I think about how much my heart would be pumping at the opportunity to take a shot, and how I would steady my pulsing hands if the opportunity would arise. I think about the bragging I will do if I hit it, and the shame I will endure if I miss the shot. It gives me the motivation needed to take the right shot.

I think about the coyote and try to put myself in its place. Why would I be wandering? What am I looking for? Deer? Am I with a pack? Am I by myself? Do I go looking for trouble, or am I looking for an easy meal? How far can a coyote hear? How far can they smell?

Sometimes hunting like this reminds me of WWII movies. One of my favorites is Enemy at the Gates. It seems so fitting in my situation. it is cold and showy. a lone man with a rifle is hunting a dangerous predator. The only difference is that my predator doesn't shoot back. I am thankful of this because despite all of my efforts in being a manly man, I am sure that I would be frozen solid at the thought of someone I could not see trying to kill me. I am perfectly okay with the glory of slaying an animal. I have no interest in hunting man. We will leave that to much braver and more well trained men than I.

I normally have a song stuck in my head all day... I unfortunately do not get to choose the song. I pretty much wanted to vomit all day because yesterday was a Justin Bieber song... I tried getting other, better songs stuck in my head instead, but alas it was no use. I was haunted by a catchy melody paired juvenile lyricism...

Overall though this is a pleasant trip and even though we did not succeed in shooting a coyote it was a welcomed retreat from daily life. In a few weeks we are planning to hunt wild hogs a few states away. I should really get better about putting pictures up on this blog... The issue is that I pretty much exclusively write this blog at work... We will see what happens I suppose.

If you read this, I appreciate it. I know I am a bit long winded, but I hope it was at least slightly entertaining.

I Hate Yoga

I really hate yoga.... but dont stop reading there...

I don't hate yoga because I am a man and I like to hate things that seem feminine. That is not it at all. I actually hate yoga for a completely sensible reason.

Around the new year everyone is having some sort of sale on anything that stores think they can get people to buy. History tells us that the most widespread new years resolution is that people want to work out more. They want to get skinnier or join a gym or some crap like that.

Under normal circumstances I just judge those types of people for being insecure and move on, but this year was a bit different. My friends and I are planning to hunt hogs this year and I was told that it is some grueling work. I am not old, and I was active at one point in my life, but I have gotten a bit fat after marriage so I decided to make an effort to work out, so that when I go hog hunting it is I who is hunting the hogs, and not the hogs hunting me...

So I looked around and found that Amazon had a deal on the P90X thing. I would like to assume that everyone knows what that is, but just in case, P90X is an extreme home workout. they provide a bunch of different DVDs and you watch them and follow along. It is basically guaranteed to give you a heart attack the moment you touch the box, no matter what fitness level you are at...My wife and I, of course, are only into one kind of fitness... fitness food in our mouths... so we were pretty sure we were going to die immediately, and we did...

Anyhow, to the point of my story... One of the videos is yoga. This is my least favorite video that we have done so far for a few different reasons... The first, is because I cant seriously tell my friends I am doing yoga without getting some weird looks... but that is the least of my worries... the real reason I hate yoga is because it is hard... especially when you are fat...

This is the longest video of all of the ones we have seen so far at an hour and a half. most workouts are 45 minutes to an hour with the ab rippers being a super intense 15 minute workout...

When I was 18, I could do 30 pushups without a second thought, and could probably pump out 50 good ones before my form became crap. I was a basketball player and a pole vaulter in high school. I was 5'9" and no matter how much I ate, I could not get over 135 lbs. since then, I got married and have gained 90-100lbs, putting me in around 225 depending on what day I weighed myself.

My muscles, joints, and tendons are not used to having an extra 100lbs to push around actively. When you add in the crazy positions they put you in, and how long you have to hold those poses... There is no way I can continue to do that...

They make us do a position called the twisting triangle pose... basically you do warrior 2 and then straighten your front leg, put your back hand on the floor next to your front foot and put your other hand up in the air... My belly rolls literally act like a wedge and I cannot squish them enough to get around far enough to do this position correctly...

Then they do things like the plow, which sounds like it would be an awesome sex position, but it is, again, impossible to do when you are fat. you basically do a shoulder stand, except instead of your feet going straight in the air, you continue to drop them behind you... They make it look so easy in the video that they can just bend their knees and straighten their arms... they have to be contortionists or something...

slightly less difficult, but still just as annoying is the balance poses... As I mentioned, I have gotten a bit fat... It is really hard to keep this much mass centered over one foot for very long, and when you ask me to get into a superman sort of pose as well... I get a bit wobbly... I also never realized how much muscle it takes to keep balanced... the arches on my fee really really hurt...

anyhow! TL:DR summary... Yoga is a fantastic way to exercise... If you are skinny already! I dont care if you are a man, woman, both, or neither, yoga is fricking tough!

New thing getting started

Hello possible viewers,

As my first post, I feel obligated to tell you a bit about myself.

I will start off by saying that the title of this blog was spelled incorrectly on purpose. Shaked, being the incorrect past tense of shake. I enjoyed the play on words, and I was running out of clever ideas for a blog name. It doesn't have anything to do with Elvis, unfortunately.

My name is Joe, and I live in the Midwest. I am happily married to a woman I met my freshman year of college. I have not yet finished college. I went for six years and figured out that I literally hated everything I was doing and decided to stop wasting money on it.

I am generally not a fan of blogs. I always felt like they were written by people who were too conceited to realize that nobody cared what they thought. Recently, I realized that I didn't really care if anyone read this, but it is a good place to put my thoughts and ramblings where I can just assume everyone agrees with me.

I don't know that I am going to have any sort of theme to this blog. I am sure I will talk about everything from video games, to firearms, to whatever it was that pissed me off that day. I may be rude or disrespectful to some people and if you ever feel offended while reading this, I just need you to remember... I don't really care... If you feel the need to argue with me about something, please do. I love a good debate and I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong or when I lack the knowledge.

I hope I provide something interesting to read.