[aeronut]

in reply to: Hunting Binoculars #158302

For the timber I hunt the small monoculars are just fine for me.  I travel light and like the shirt pocket size.

Since I had retina surgery back in 2006 I have split vision which is corrected by my glasses.  I have never liked looking through binoculars while wearing my glasses because it restricts the field of view and without my glasses I have to look through just one optic at a time.

That said, I do own a pair of Nikon Monarch M511, 10×42 5.5*.  The clarity is great and the objective lenses have individual covers so I can look through either side individually.  To me they are too heavy to pack around all day.  I bought these cheap at an estate auction or I would not own them.  I can’t make myself spend the large amount of cash wanted for binoculars that I may use once a year.

As for spotting scopes I have a Bushnell Spacemaster 25x that I have owned for decades now.  It is too heavy to pack around.  I have a BSA Down Range rifle scope that is 8-32×44.  I modified a rail mount to fit a tripod and it is a lightweight package and the clarity is very good on it.  I have packed it in the hills of southern Arizona on border watch ops.  I bought this scope at a gun show for a very cheap price and am very pleased with it.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #158283

Had another follow-up appointment with the Dr today.  They took some x-rays and he said everything was looking good on the fusion.  Now I am waiting for my throat to get better so I can swallow better.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #158087

My shoulders are still achy but not much more than usual.  The tingling in my right shoulder and arm and the heavy feeling on my shoulders hasn’t come back which is a great improvement.  The bad part is I still have a hard time swallowing any solid food.  Unless I can chew it up to a liquefied state  it doesn’t go down with a lot of trouble.

It’s been five weeks and right now I would rather be able to eat normally and just put up with the shoulder pain.  They keep saying that will improve but I’m not too sure.

My last appoi8ntment was two weeks ago.  We could have done that over the phone and saved me a 58 mile one way trip.  My next appointment is March 2 which is my birthday.  They said they are going to schedule another xray and MRI to check the progress.

The Dr also prescribed a bone growth stimulator.  According to the manufacturer it emits magnetic fields to make bones grow.  ??  I have been an electrician all my working life and the last 19 years before retirement I worked as a substation journeyman.  I was exposed to magnetic fields from everything from 13kv to 138kv.  I should have bones growing out of every part of my body.

I told them unless the stimulator was free don’t send it.  It is far from being free.

Otherwise I am doing fine.  I just had a session on my Bowflex and am now going to stare at all the snow we got last night.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #158043

Well the bottom fell out of the thermometer last night.  I saw a high temperature of 71* here yesterday.  This morning it was 18* when I got up.

When I was working construction back in the 90’s we were building the Cessna plant in Independence, KS.  We had a 63* temperature drop in an 8 hour period one day at work.  Some of the travelers didn’t watch the weather forecast and showed up wearing T-shirts and didn’t bring any cold weather gear.  I sure got tired of listening to them moan and groan.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #157961

Woke up around 5:30 this morning and I could see a thin layer of ice on things.  Then it started raining and the wind started howling.  Now there is about 1″ of snow on everything and the wind is still blowing.  I think the only outside journey I’ll take today is to get the mail if any shows up.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #157780

The storm hit here last night and is still threatening 3-5″ of snow.  We are on the south edge of it and got a skim of ice and about 1/2″ of snow so far.  That’s enough.

My surgery follow-up appointment was this morning.  Didn’t really want to travel 50+ miles to the dr’s office in this so they rescheduled me for next Monday.

Right now I wish the wind would die down to a gale force.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatch Got Going 2022 #157690

I’ll give a short update on my happenings.

Two things I hope will pass by soon.  The Dr said it would be hard to swallow bread.  Yes, it is, along with other foods.  That is getting a little better but not soon enough.

Second is the shoulder and neck cramps.  My incision doesn’t bother me at all.  They pull your arms up and back so they can get to their work easier.  The incision is at the front of your neck, not the back.  It feels like they tied my arms in a knot.

I went out to feed the dog and do my driveway walk a while ago.  While out I spotted a duck setting its wings and landing in the crop field across the road.  I could see a lot of movement in the field without any problems.  It is nice to live in the country and have a front row seat to nature.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #156368

I finally had my MRI done yesterday.  Laid inside of the machine and listened to it buzz and beep for fifteen minutes and for the rest of the day my upper teeth/jaw hurt.  You can’t have any metal in there but does it affect teeth fillings?

I spent last week in Tulsa, Ok at the ABABMX (American Bicycle Association Bicycle Moto Cross) Grand National races watching my youngest daughter race.  This is her 11th year.  Saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones too.

She is riding as a team member of Bombshell Bicycles and her points standing is high in her class so they traded her old bike out for a new one free of charge.

She qualified for Wednesday’s Race of Champions and did pretty good in her class.

3711 riders had pre-signed for the Race of Champions and there was a long line at the registration trailer signing up that morning.  I don’t know what the rider count for the Grands event that started on Thursday and finished late Sunday evening.

I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #156056

When I was younger we used to go out to our river bottoms in the evenings and watch the ducks and geese fly to the fields to eat by the tens of thousands.  The flyways have changed over the years and now it’s just smaller bunches we see.  I sure miss that.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #155990

I’ll look that up Ray.  Sounds interesting for sure.

My bone spur is still there.  The insurance apparently knows more about medicine than the Dr. so they denied any MRI and told me I had to go through physical therapy for six weeks first.  The therapist put me in traction twice a week for three weeks with no relief from the spur and told me to go back to the Dr.  Now the Dr. is trying to get the insurance to approve the MRI since I didn’t go through the full six weeks.  Three weeks cost me $240 in copay.  I’m thankful I’m not on the govt healthcare plan anymore or I would be paying full price of $1200.  I hope I get something done in the next year…….or two…..or….

On another note I went out for a woods walk and changed the cards in my trail cameras.  Found a few rubs and a couple of scrapes.  As much as I want to I won’t be hunting this year.  Dragging out a deer would not be possible with this bone spur.  Dragging out the doe I shot last year was an excruciating ordeal and I wound up taking the tailgate off my truck and using it as a ramp to finally load her up.  I’ve devised a winch set up to load deer now but still won’t be able to drag one out of the woods.  Looks like my weapon will be my Nikon this year.

The bucks are starting to chase the does here.  I had several videos of them.  Here’s a frame grab from one of the trail camera videos.  Two does bickering over a choice Bur Oak acorn.

I need to take some lens cleaner next time out.  These cameras have been hanging for 3-4 years now.  I’m surprised they still work.

Here’s another shot of a rub with my Remington Model 41 .22.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Whatcha Got Going 2021 #155573

It doesn’t look like I’ll be bowhunting this year.

I worked for the electric company and retired as a substation journeyman.  Doing that job I was the lead man on the crew and spent most of the time on the ground looking up at the others up in the buckets.  About three years before I retired (six years ago now) I would get the feeling that four or five people were standing on my shoulders.  It didn’t happen often, just enough to be annoying.  Some stretching and head rolling would relieve this feeling after ten or fifteen minutes.  I called it my baby elephant wanting a piggyback ride.

A year ago last June the baby elephant jumped on and would not go away.  A trip to the health clinic and then a prescription for muscle relaxers and pain pills didn’t relieve it much  A trip to the chiropractor finally unpinched the nerve in my neck and got the elephant to get off.

Recently I have had the baby elephant try to climb aboard along with tingling in my right shoulder and forearm.  Yesterday a trip to an orthopedic doctor and x-rays revealed a bone spur on my vertebrae and they are scheduling an MRI to do some further investigation to plan the course of action.

My muscles in my right arm have been cramped up long enough that shooting my bows does cause some irritation so I have decided to do my hunting with either my Nikon or possibly my flintlock.  We shall see what the future holds.

 

[aeronut]

in reply to: Killed Three So Far #155572

It’s still skeeter weather here in SE Ks and the river bottom timber I hunt you can kill more than three with one swat.

[aeronut]

in reply to: Almost …………………. #155571

My cousin up by St. Joe, Missouri said the sky was full of ducks and geese headed south yesterday.  Haven’t seen them here in SE Ks yet.

[aeronut]

in reply to: :-) #154571

Years ago I helped a friend teach kids rifle and shotgun.  He was all about form.  At the time I was shooting trap competitively and took a lot of pictures of people’s shooting form and set up a slide show during one of the class sessions.  There were seldom any shooters who had the ‘proper’ form that Richard was trying to teach the kids.  I told them ‘your form for shooting and hitting your target is the proper form for you”.

I have taken that through the years with archery and watch how others shoot their bows.  All are pretty similar but not exactly the same.  I point out a stance to the kids at OJAM that will give them full draw and tell them to start there and over time they will develop their own shooting style.

And yeah, I’ve waded into the weeds to retrieve a lot of arrows.  If you don’t want to hears snickering take your hearing aids out.  That cuts down a lot of it.  🙂

[aeronut]

in reply to: :-) #154548

Other than concentrating on a spot I don’t even think of drawing and shooting.

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