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solamente73

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Everything posted by solamente73

  1. After all the holiday food, we wanted to switch it up with a mushroom pasta dish. Sautéed chicken, baby belllas, onion (felt shallot would be too mild for this dish), minced garlic, basil, oregano, pepper, salt. Reduced two cans of chicken stock and added heavy whipping cream for the sauce - left out the wine this time going for a more earthy flavor profile. Fresh linguini. Shredded Parmesan. Italian parsley. Simple but welcome after the onslaught of holiday standards.
  2. @cactusflinthead You’ve helped in the past, hope you can provide some guidance here. We have this photinia that was planted by the previous owners, and, over the past 15 years, it has grown fairly large. Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed sections dying. Yesterday, I just walked up and pulled an entire branch off with almost no effort. I did some additional pruning, but not much yet. Here is what we are looking at (pics don’t do the damage justice): It provides needed privacy in addition to a pleasant view, so I’d like it to live. Interwebs say that late winter is prime for pruning; do I just prune away the dead stuff in February? Or is it in a known lifecycle death spiral? FYI, there seems to be new growth from the “trunk.” We are in the DFW area. TIA!
  3. Thread title includes “a lot of ducks.” I wish. For 12 years our group has been duck hunting Port O’Connor. We’ve slayed everything from teal to pintails to buffleheads to redheads and more… plus Ross and specklebelly geese. We hunt with family who live there and guide for a living. Last weekend (re-opening weekend) was the first time NOT A SINGLE SHOT WAS FIRED. Not one. Nothing was flying. Going to and fro we’d scare up some rafting redheads and buffleheads, but that was it. From the blinds, we counted ~30 flying ducks all weekend, AM and PM. Our guide said he’d seen more birds on Sunday AM than he’d seen in all of November. We looked back over time, and this has been the trend. We’ve decided to push our annual re-opening weekend trip to January to see if we can get more birds. So, next duck trip will be January 2026 (wow, it’s weird to type that). Fishing was good, though, as we were prepared to cast with the blast. Reds and trout. Everyone hooked up. Some pics. It’s a reminder - a day at the coast, no matter the haul, is better than a day just about anywhere else.
  4. Seconded on the 10mm. At my farm, I used to carry a Sig Scorpion 1911 in .45 until twice I ran into sounders at night and it just wasn’t enough to make a dent in them - not enough firepower, no light, not enough capacity. Even finishing off big rifle-wounded pigs, the .45 just didn’t quite do it. So, I procured this G20 10mm and never looked back. It’s a glock, so I don’t care about mud, water, dirt, or corrosion like I did with the 1911. 15 rounds of 200gr Federal Fusion (though I might switch to the new 200gr Federal Solid Core). Streamlight TLR-7A is compact but illuminates entire fields. One Tigris nylon holster adjusts to fit the G20 plus light and doesn’t care about sweat or elements. Old ass leather belt completes the rig. Once used to it, it’s not too heavy to open carry on the farm all day long, and I wear it all the time. I’ve used it to finish off one hog and kill another - one shot each. The FN 510 is a great gun, and CHIEF Jr. will love it. Put a micro red dot on it, suppress it, and have some real fun!
  5. I’m watching the game for the first time… on your point about not being a pussy today, on his pass to Gunnar to go up 14… doesn’t he step up in the pocket and take a hit? I was like, whoa, right on. The coverage I have is inconclusive. ETA: great phrase: “Quinn had a fantastic game that wasn’t perfect.”
  6. I’m glad that worked out for you! I bought that same unit but have had a problem with the rifle platform, so I haven’t posted yet. The thermal exceeded my expectations, though, and Outdoor Legacy is solid IMO. Please feel free to post what you are using it for here - I’d love to see it!
  7. Tried a new butcher shop that recently opened up nearby. Quality meats at local grocery prices. Pre-made sides were spot-on. Fillets for the wife and kids, and they were excellent. The prime strip was very good but seemed to equate to what I can get at my favorite grocery butcher counter - but that’s OK. Looking forward to supporting this place.
  8. Family fillets. My 8 and 10 year old boys have NO IDEA how good they have it. As usual, with a hint of mesquite.
  9. Good luck, man! So happy for (jealous of) you. If you can, chronicle as you go. Can’t wait for pics!
  10. Y’all know I cook over fire. But up here, near my farm in NE Texas, my neighbor had me over for dinner last night, and thus made me appreciate cooking steak on a griddle: Hard to tell in that pic, but the steak was medium rare and seasoned to perfection. It was… incredible… So from a pure fire guy to y’all who griddle or sous vide or whatever… perfect your method and appreciate the results. There are many ways to get a great steak, and perhaps that is part of the greatness that is ‘STEAK.”
  11. @USCATX check out https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLateNightVisionShow and literally call Outdoor Legacy and Jason and/or Hans will hook you up. I haven’t posted about this yet, but I was looking for a thermal for a 6.5 Grendel pistol and I researched for months. Part of the research was watching that show. I called the shop, and Jason called me back in 5 minutes. We spent an hour OTP working through use cases I never thought about. He gave me solid options and actually saved me $ by me not choosing something that was overkill for my needs. I bought and I’m putting together the platform - hope to post soon. Regardless, at a minimum you get an opinion from those guys - zero sales pressure when you call. Good luck, and post results!
  12. Anyone know what's up with @deadshank? He's a quality poster on a lot of threads, but he hasn't logged in since June 6. Hunting season is upon us and we need to hear about his adventures at deer camp.
  13. The fam wanted to celebrate the end of the first week of school with some more meat butter finger food. A couple of CM prime strips over mesquite.
  14. ^That post is a tad borked. Edit time ran out. Apologies. To make amends:
  15. Masochist. ^This right here. All 12 trophies will be euro mounts (that's my style) and the hides will either be fur or leather product; I'm still working out what I'm going to have made (rifle cases, ammo carriers, wallets, etc.) vs. what will be "rugs." There are two additional "cull" animals that I'll use for leather product and for barware. Karoo Taxidermy out of Graaf-Reinet is doing the work. I toured their facility and it was an incredibly impressive operation. They seem to successfully scale volume, quality, and specialization. I had met the owner back in January and had communicated with staff prior to flying over, so I had pretty much made up my mind before the safari. Even then, I encountered no better option before, during, or after the trip. ___________________________ If y'all want to see what a South African taxidermy outfit looks like, here you go. I probably focused more on the skulls than the shoulder/full mounts because of my interest. Reminder - this is NOT my taxidermy, just my taxidermist. Spoilered for the pics: The spoilered above looks like chaos but every single item, no matter how large or small, is labled/tagged and tracked from receiving to shipping. The half-day was worth it to learn how it all worked.
  16. Sorry for the delay in updates, but life has been busy since getting back a month ago. Day 3 was a day of both success and disappointment. Spoilered for longcat. TL;DR: While continuing to search for the elusive bushbuck, I was fortunate to come across this gorgeous impala. 162 yards, DRT with a spinal shot. Capped off the day with a couple of “policeman’s coffees” around the camp fire. More to come…
  17. Treefiddy? For this mission, it could be 20-200 yards depending on where I walk up on them. Hence trying 6.5G on thermal - seems the right balance for what I encounter.
  18. The need for a thermo monocular should be stressed more often. I bought an ATN OTS-XLT 2-8x about 3 years ago, and it has served me very well as a supplement to my NV rig and just out and about at night on the farm. I have not considered an upgrade, possibly because I don't know any better? I'll check out the Nosler, though at first internet research glance, energy at distance might not work as well for pigs.
  19. How does that Grendel upper shoot, and using what ammo? I'm hoping to get ~1.5MOA using the Hornady 123gr SST for hunting. Will PM if I decide on a Pulsar.
  20. Re: lower and upper, you are going to be so disappointed in me. PSA for both, with the upper being 12” 6.5 Grendel. This is a playful experiment. I have a farm with a hog problem. Long story short, I’m looking for a lightweight, maneuverable thermal rig (suppressed) I can use when I spot and stalk… and otherwise keep near me when out and about at night. I already have a 308 digital NV rig for hunting feeders, and I need something more mobile and capable of CQB. Engagement is usually 20-200 yards when just milling about the property. Re: Thermals. @cabowabo will have a POV here. Max $4k. Short list: Pulsar Talions AGM Adders AGM Rattler TS35-640 2x-16 Infiray Bolt TL35 V2 Pulsar Thermion 2 XQ35 Pro The thermal I’m willing to invest good money in to last a long time (5yr). The rifle platform is an experiment. If I like the concept, I can do a quality build later if the PSA doesn’t hold up to moderate hunting. ETA: lightweight and maneuverable is key for this mission
  21. Strips have been missing for a while, so I grabbed a couple for finger food. I like these over mesquite. Beef butter.
  22. The lower just shipped. Upper ordered. Mags shipped today. Ammo identified. Thermal… I’m considering… options.
  23. I'll bite. Far be it from me to talk anyone out of buying a gun. That said, given the request, it's a $2200 rifle for hunting deer and yotes with a glorified, more expensive, and harder to find .243 cartridge? Or if precision distance shooting, it only has a 20" barrel and does not have a fully adjustable buttstock? I'm reaching here. Don't get me wrong, I love the Waypoint platform (and the Redline platform, too), and handling the long action variants at DSC earlier this year had me looking at them in 300WM. You could go Seekins Havak for $350 less but no carbon. What's the purpose of the rifle? I'm curious, because earlier this year, you suggested that I give the 6.5 PRC a hard look as a general purpose hunting rifle.
  24. An update to help with the summer doldrums… Day 2 of hunting the Eastern Cape of South Africa: Bushbuck and Kudu Bushbuck and kudu are two of the four spiral horn antelope sought after in South Africa. Together with nyala and eland, they complete the Spiral Horn Slam. I wasn’t going for the slam, per se, but I like spiral horns, and they are a tough hunt. If you ask a hunter about African plains game, they are most likely to mention kudu as the top prize. They are large (about elk-size), have magnificent horns and gorgeous hides, and are a very tough quarry as they have exceptional eyesight, hearing, and smell aligned against you. They are known as the “Grey Ghost of Africa” for their ability to remain elusive by silently disappearing into the African bush (insert joke here). As it turned out, Day 2 would be about kudu. If interested, here is how the hunt went down. Spoilered for longcat, and longcat because I think it’s a pretty cool story. TL;DR: The day brought a long hike with spectacular results: a monster Eastern Cape Kudu bull. 152 yards off sticks in heavy cover, one shot DRT. 48” horns. Kudu is on the bucket list for many hunters, and this one made mine. What a truly awesome experience, and the mount will have a place of honor in my home.
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