A Long Shot or So I'm Told

I shot her from about 150 yards (the other half thinks it was closer to 200 yards) with my rifle. I saw her leap up and kick when I fired, which usually means a hit, although we couldn't tell where I hit. We blood-trailed her about 40 yards into the woods and at first there wasn't too much blood but eventually we started seeing tons of blood and there she was laying on the ground in a small clearing. Towards the end of the trail we saw a lot of frothy blood, which is from her lungs that she coughed up. I got her pretty good in the lungs -- aimed for the pocket right behind the shoulder and got her about 2" below that. I did have a stick to put my rifle on to steady it. I was going to get her on Thursday or Friday but we were worried that some other dude was going to be in the line of fire so I had to hold off, although I think I could've gotten her free-handing the shot, just that I was more likely to gut-shoot her than heart/lung shoot her.

Some Additional Sources of Inspiration...

In other news, Shadowhawk is moving along at a pretty good clip thanks to random dead moments and having my pen & notebook nearby. I still have no idea how certain plot elements will play out, but I'm having way too much fun with some of the characters, especially Tindariel, who not only runs around administering Frontier Justice but also goes into Rebel Yell mode.

Feuer Frei (Fire Free! or Fire at Will!) -- More of just a fun one to watch with the pyrotechnics. If I only had orthodontic devices like that when I had to wear orthodontic braces!

Adios -- Actually I think it already did influence a bit of my writing. I'll let you figure out how/where.

Nebel (Fog) -- One of my all-around favorite "soft" songs. I think the translation is pretty self-explanatory about how it might influence certain things in this current Morgenstern/Shadowhawk epic.

Leave Me Alone, I'm Dead!

No kills this weekend but saw a really beautiful rat-snake. It was a rather large one, probably about 4 feet long. At first we thought it was dead because it was laying there on the road despite the threat of a truck turning it into rat-snake jelly. Then we saw it stick its tongue out a handful of times after we stepped away and it slithered off to mind its business. I can imagine what's going on the snake's mind...

Rat-Snake: Oh crap! *plays dead*
Me: Wonder if it's alive... *approach it*
Rat-Snake: I'm dead! I won't taste very good!
R: Poke it with the barrel of your gun, it's harmless.
Me: *pokes the tail with barrel*
Rat-Snake: Seriously, I'm dead! See the rigor mortis?
Me: Still pretty. *takes pictures, flash goes off*
Rat-Snake: I'm really dead! *tongue goes in and out with each flash* See?
*R and I get back in the truck and leave. We see the snake slither off in our mirrors.*

Belated Pictures from the Suwannee

Pictures courtesy of Dr. Stein. This was from the Suwannee canoeing trip that cost me the first weekend of hunting season. It was very much worth it though. Yikes, got some serious guttage going in that picture, but that was from some intestinal inflation from too many granola bars.



In other randomness, I've acquired a taste for a band called Eisbrecher... here's some samples of their songs:
Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-Me-Not)
Schwarze Witwe (Black Widow)

I've got a real soft spot for the German language it seems.

Odd Little Hog

I think the pictures will explain why this hog was really odd. I may post more when I have a few more brain cells to rub together. For now, enjoy!

Two More FITA Field Pics

Courtesy of fellow archer, B. Jones the official FAA photographer it seems. He certainly carries a very nice camera with me and isn't afraid to use it!

FITA Field

I survived my first FITA Field round at Central FL Archers. I didn't shoot a particularly good score, but heck, it was quite a learning curve with half of the targets being unknown distances ranging anywhere from about 5 to 50 meters... and trying to correct for wind with arrows most people saw as massive flu-flu arrows! It was just a blast shooting with a fun-loving group of guys who have a different set of insights on shooting without sights or other funny gadgets. Now if I can get me a deer (or two) this season! As always, click on the title for the photo album.

Half Field/Hunter Round

As usual, click on the title for the rest of the pictures. I shot the little 42ish lb @ 28", 58" hunting recurve that Robert made after he bugged me quite some time for it. For shooting a 400+ grain arrow through this thing and only having 2 days to really prepare, I think I did VERY well with a 215/560. It was a gorgeous day with the perfect temperature, courtesy of a passing cold front. For comparison, I had a 224/560 and a 186/560 for field and hunter rounds respectively with the Chek-Mate Crusader under some really nasty conditions (rain, heat, humidity... oh and more rain). It's hard to compare my performances given the radically different conditions but what I can say is that under 35 yards, I did better with the little shorty, but past about 55 yards, the Crusader really shines. Overall though I still prefer my Crusader -- absolutely love the grip on it and so far, there's been no beating it. Now if Robert can make me a 45ish lb, 64-66" longbow with a low wrist grip without the handle-forwardness he likes, I think I'd be in great shape for these shoots!