Spaulding Smails

Omar's a decent enough guy. I didn't like the shenanigans he pulled to get into the PGA a few years back, and I'm sure he's got a bit of a Napoleon complex, but he's very approachable and just does his thing. We've chatted a few times, and he's never come across as anything more than just a guy that likes to play golf. I was hitting next to him on the range a few weeks ago, and his iron accuracy is still amazing.

Our ranch in Kimble County looked like the surface of the moon in late May. We got two rounds of 2+" between June and July. Small shoots of green have popped up, but it's still pretty bleak.

Booked a quick weekend getaway for the family to the JW in San Antonio in two weeks. Figured I'd try to snag a tee time as a single as early as possible that Saturday. Oaks was booked until 10:30. Canyons had a spot at 7:18. Perfect. Then, the pro shop informed me that all the bunkers are under repair... and one hole is closed... and the green fee was going to be $275. I politely declined. As a capitalist, I love this. Supply and demand at its finest. But, damn. That's robbery for that course.

Subscribed. We're going to look for something along the coast some time in the next five years. Similar strategy, @GlenFromTheMailRoom. Hoping to use it a dozen times a year, have it break even, be able to let friends / family use it, and build some equity. We also have a strategy in place at our primary residence. We purchased seven acres, built a 1900 SF / 4-BR / 3.5 BA lodge at the front of the property, moved into it in early June, and will move into the main house at the back of the property early next year. Once we're settled, we'll start renting the lodge. We're right across from a big wedding venue with limited lodging available in the area, so I'm optimistic it'll generate some nice income. For those of you with STR on the same property as your homestead, how are you handling property taxes, etc? I think I have a pretty good grasp on the management side, but I'm struggling with the financial / tax and risk side. I'd love some high level input from someone with experience to help figure out: -Setting up a separate entity to "own" the property -How to minimize tax implications, leverage homestead, etc -How to reduce risk through the proper insurance policies

We have a guy at my office that does something similar. He gets the phrase right... but misses a critical word. We call him "Biff". Last week, he said, "we need to quit sending such an exuberant amount of time on invoicing."

Snagged my scope today. Went with the Swarovski Z5(i) 5-25x52P. Going to mount it tomorrow, so should be ready to start dialing it in over the weekend. Bout damn time!

Great update @solamente73. You're light years ahead of me. I've been slammed with work and just getting my head above water. Hoping the next month lets me catch up some. Scope is first. That's GOING to happen this week. Assuming I find something in stock and don't get one shipped, I'm going to mount it and take it to the ranch this weekend. I don't have any permanent targets set up, nor do I have a big pasture, but there's a few lanes where I can shoot to 400 yds or so. I've got to start stretching it out. Purchases needed after the scope: sling (thanks for the suggestion), boots, clothes (any thoughts between Kuiu and Sitka?). My buddy and I are planning on quartering there, and bringing back to Texas for processing. He takes his to a place in Houston. I'll process my own. I'm debating on whether or not we tow one of my trailers. I have two Yeti 125s. Thinking of adding a 160. I have an 8' bed on my truck with a toolbox. We can probably fit everything in there. I like the idea of maybe rigging a second level somehow. Let me know if you figure out a strategy there. Thanks again for the post. Getting me off high center. 3 months out!

I think the revamped ASG structure is actually something that MLB got right (or at least got better). And, though I'd love to see more of the big names participate in the HRD, I get why some of them decline the invite. Not sure of the stats, but anecdotally it does seem like there have been guys enter slumps immediately after participating. That being said, imagine a derby with Stanton, Judge, Trout, Yordan, Alonso and Goldschmidt. And, I think Yordan, JV and Tucker are locks. Not sure we get anyone in past that.

I did the same thing as a kid. Always shot a RH bolt action. Actually got pretty quick at reaching over the scope to pull back the bolt and rechamber a round with my left hand without ever taking my eye off the scope. In the grand scheme of things, it's really only an issue if you're firing multiple rounds from a rifle or shooting a semi-auto shotgun. Other than that, it's just preference. That being said, I may try to snag one of these in the next few years. Just having trouble justifying $6K for a pistol. https://cabotguns.com/left-hand-1911s/

This comment opened up an old wound. I was in RF with my son at that game. We were in row 3. The fan that interfered was about 8 seats down from us. Damn you Joe West.

Exactly this. I've always heard that lefties are 10% of the population. I'm guessing left-handed firearms are significantly less than 10% of the market. I had hell trying to find my LH bolt-action 300 Win Mag earlier this year. Took a buddy stumbling on it in Houston before I found one.

About three years ago, I took my son out for a shotgun lesson with an instructor who shoots professionally. After about a half dozen shots, he said, "Hey kid. I'm going to show you something. It's going to suck for about a year, but it'll be worth it in the long run." He's a lefty and was shooting lefty, and I guess I never checked for eye dominance with him. The instructor switched him to shooting right-handed. He struggled that day, but came back for a few more lessons and improved tremendously. He now shoots rifle, pistol and shotgun right-handed. Shoots all of them pretty damn well. Totally worth it.

Friend of mine took his wife and kids to Port Royale in Port Aransas years ago. His son was maybe 4 at the time. He was sitting by the pool nursing a beer when his son came up to him and said he had to pee. He didn't want to get up, so he told him to just pee in the pool. His kid ran off towards the pool. A few minutes later, he glanced over, and sees his kid standing on the coping of the pool, pants around his ankles, pissing into the pool. Gotta be more detailed with directions.

When I was 15 and a sophomore in HS, I went to a party with a few friends from my baseball team. There were four of us. Me, two juniors and a senior. The senior drove. All three of them got hammered, and I didn't drink at all. Not a drop. We left around midnight, and I realized that all three of the licensed drivers were too drunk to get behind the wheel. So, being a responsible young man with a learner's permit, I deduced that, as long as the 18 year old was in the passenger seat, and I was driving, I wasn't breaking any laws. Which was kind of true, I suppose. About half way through the 30 min drive back to my buddy's house, the senior buddy of mine had to piss. He said he couldn't make it to the convenience store let alone all the way home. So, I turned into a brand new neighborhood that was under construction. He piled out, walked about 20 yards and took a piss. Ten seconds later, red and blue lights are flashing in my rearview mirror. Fuck. Cop shines his spotlight on the car then on my buddy. Cop: "Son, what are you doing?" Buddy: "I'm taking a piss, Officer." Cop: "Why aren't you using the restroom?" Buddy: "Sorry, Officer. I couldn't make it to the store." Cop: "But why aren't you using the restroom?" Buddy: "Excuse me. I guess I don't understand..." Cop <shifts his spotlight to the portable toilet 10 feet to the right>: "Son, you're pissing right next to a port-a-potty. Why didn't you piss in there instead of pissing on the ground?" He asked us all a few questions and asked for my ID. I gave him my learner's permit and told him the story. He never doubted it for a minute. He actually thanked me but said next time someone should call a parent to pick us up. I told him where we were headed, and he let us go on about our way home.

It wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibilities. And, I left out the part where they were broken into twice at the end of the lease by a thief who only stole the panties of all four roommates. And the raccoon that ended up in the kitchen via a hole in the floor behind the cabinets.

When I was a senior on the 40 acres, my GF (now wife) lived in a shitty old house that was duplex converted to a 4-bedroom house in West Campus. The pier and beam house was so out of level that, if you picked up your feet when you were sitting in a rolling chair, you'd start to roll downhill across the room. I was sitting on the couch one day when her roommate walked through the living room towards the kitchen. At the perfect moment in time, the globe from the wobbly-ass ceiling fan fell and hit her square in the head. You could've tried to plan it for a week and never achieved that level of synchrony. It shattered, and a Dorito-sized shard of glass was sticking out of the crown of her head perfectly vertically. She wasn't hurt... just shell-shocked and a bit disoriented. I was laughing so hard that I physically couldn't help her. I sat there for five minutes laughing my ass off until my sides hurt. I see her every few years or so, and that story comes up every damn time. Physics makes for some excellent humor occasionally.

After 4+ years of jokingly referring to my yard as my "fourth child", we sold our house last summer. I miss having a yard. Big time. Been following this guy on IG. Worth a follow. Pretty impressive. https://www.instagram.com/lawndadofficial/?hl=en

<CSB> Gary Plouche worked for my dad at the time this shit went down. <CSB>

I'm in the exact same boat. Planning on a quick trip to the ranch in the next few weeks to night hunt piggies and sight in the new rifle. 110* temps be damned.

Got it. Thanks. I've seen his ads in a lot of DU / CCA stuff. Seems to be the frontrunner at this point.

Can you share which outfitter you went with? My son has three buddies who are all going into their freshman year of HS in the fall, and all four dads have already been talking about taking the boys down to Argentina when they graduate from high school. Probably going to start planning in a year or two. Appreciate the write up and info on cost.

I think this is the recipe we used last year. Scroll to the bottom to skip the reminiscent stories of sister Linda and Aunt Marge and eating jars of pickles while summering in Vermont or whatever these bloggers talk about. https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/homemade-claussen-knock-off-pickles/ Pretty easy and turned out great.

If my maths are correct, that means nearly 5% of the county's population got arrested all at once.

Love the exterior lines and the color. Where is she located? Post some details on size, power, etc.

I've been crazy busy with work and our new house for the last several months. Barely hunted this fall but my son and I took a doe each for the freezer. Two weeks ago, I had to head to Kerrville to pick up a new BBQ pit and decided to stay the night at the ranch. It was incredibly dry and the 1" of rain we received last week up there was the first measurable rainfall since October. We have two cisterns on the property, so at least they're getting some water. We try to feed alfalfa during the spring as well, and we've ramped that up some. But, it was sad looking. Not a wildflower in site. Looked like the dead of winter. The whitetail I saw seemed frail and lethargic. We've seen more hogs than usual on the game cam, so I figured I'd climb in a stand and see what I could see for an evening hunt, then head out early the next morning back to work. About 7:30, this donkey walked out. Tipped out full velvet. 32" main beams and 15" brow tines. Thicc mass at the bases. 180 lbs with his snout resting in the gravel... my A-frame wasn't tall enough to get him completely off the ground. I was so ill-prepared. I didn't have an ice chest with me. Gutted and hung him in the walk-in cooler overnight then flung him in the bed of the truck first thing the next morning with two bags of ice in the body cavity. Ended up skinning and quartering him when I got home the next morning. Meat on ice and hide to the taxidermist by 11 AM. Not the morning I had planned, but made it work. Should be a really cool mount.