So the wife twisted her ankle a few months ago on a hike, and she has been mostly fine until this past week. She keeps telling me to go, so I am going to day hunt from the house. I was lucky enough to draw a unit in New Mexico near my house, so I am going to camp at the house. So hopefully the hunt will go on.

I ordered a new rifle a few months ago, it finally got in and it has been shooting fine until today. The firing pin will only hit the primer hard enough to ignite the round 50% of the time.

So the back up rifle it is, all 15 pounds of it.

I have not shot it in a few weeks, was dialed in for 100 yards with known drops to 800, but no known data as I am out of the primer, powder and projectile to make more. I have 10 boxes of Hornady ELD-X, that it likes but I am going to have to sight it in. I don't know the difference in data between the two.

So I am shooting in the morning at the range tomorrow and then driving to the unit. I have plenty of ammo for the 2nd choice, just don't know anything about where it groups.

Noticed bottom sling stud is missing, and the bipod on the rifle was broke.

Noticing a trend here?

3rd rifle is at the gunsmiths for a new barrel. So this is out.

So I am spending opening day at the range. Not my idea of a good time.

Did I mention our 6 year old has contracted Covid from a classmate? I had it a month ago, and have both Phizer vaccinations.

Might as well give it hell, got nothing to be but sunshine and rainbows!

you might surprise yourself.
I picked up a rifle from my smith and realized I only had 4 rounds of ammo for it.
1 at 50 1 at 100, called it good took it up and got my buck about 30 minutes after noon.

Some times when then sky darkens.

A sudden ray of light appears making the day perfect.

The way things seem to be going, I might tend to avoid handling guns & driving.

I think Id find a hole and cover myself up in it until New Years at least!! but sight it in a couple of inches high and go hunt, that still works 99.9% of the time!!

Had two good days of hunting, saw about 20 does total and two spikes and a big forkie that had warp speed. Saw about 20 turkeys, and at least 3 elk, including a hockey stick looking broken bull.

I had a great time, but the kids infected me and I don't think I will hunt tomorrow. Feel pretty ill.

Accessed as many different parts of the unit as I could get to. A lot of areas I was surprised to be able to use county roads. A lot of them they had locked down. Learned a lot and had a good time.

First day put me on a great big shooter forkie, and it would have been a good one, but he was on warp speed.
2nd Day was good too, saw a ton of does and two little spikers.

Had a strange situation, at first it pissed me off and then I ended up just helping the people.

I was sitting a big meadow with my truck last night watching does come by, and there was about 3 does and 3-4 fawns feeding in the meadow in front of me. 50-80 yards out.

Two side by sides come through, and we talked and they moved on. One guy had an elk tag, the other guy had a deer tag, he wanted to sit the meadow but said I got there first.

Then about 20-30 minutes later right before prime time two dads and their two teen age sons come through. I was sitting there waiting for a buck to come down the track and feed with the does.

This kid gets out of the truck and says there's a buck, and I grab my rifle and see that it is a non-legal spiker (binoculars were in the truck 30-40 yards away).

I got kind of pissed about them intruding, and then I remembered that this might be his first deer. So I ask him if this was his first deer an hunt and he said it was his first time ever. So I tell him to head up to the top of the hill and see if there is another buck up there.

I figure, it's public land and if he can get a forky it will mean more to him than me shooting it for the pot.

So he takes off and comes back about 30 minutes later and says he couldn't find another buck.

Eventually they leave and, I leave and come back around the corner and there is another spiker. I get set up with the rifle (because I can't see at 8x56 with the binos) and he's not legal either so he got a pass.

Pulled out and headed home in the dark.

Woke up this morning and was sick enough thanks to my kids having the FLU or Covid or whatever it is (colds?).

Had to do a bunch of daddy do errands, the washing machine pooped it itself so we had to go to home depot for a new one. I got it installed and have the other one dropped at the dump.

World keeps spinning.

What would you do?

I had a good time, and had a near reward of a really nice looking and down right tame coyote at the dump. Never have a rifle in my hands when I see a coyote anymore. Not sure what the deal is with that.

I had a similar doings about 20 years ago.

Big battle with the then wife about going.

"I'm going anyway damn it!"

Put new tires on the camp trailer. Very next
morning every tire on the trailer and truck
including spares had been slashed. I know she
and or, she had the grand kid do it.

Fk it, went to the c/u and borrowed enough to put all new tires on to save what I had on hand
for the other expenses that always pop up.

Day later headed out and got across town and 2
miles south when the transmission failed.

I threw in the towel and sent the tag back to
Co/DoW for a refund.

Sometimes it's just too costly to continue the
battle no matter how much we wish to.

Best of luck in the future to you.

George

Tis what it tis!! REal hunts arn't always positive, it they were, hunting would just be work, not fun..

Sounds like my November so far minus the hunting. Wife called me at work and said the Fridge was out. I've repaired it multiple times so I decided it's on it's way down the road. Go to Lowes and Home Depot but neither one had a model in store and it would be some time in Dec to get one delivered. Well one that wasn't $5k. Went to best buy and found one but it was going to be a few days and $1000 more than I wanted to pay so we ended up putting what we could in the coolers and toss the rest.
Then the wife comes down with Covid and both my Son and I were fine. I've been working nights so with the wife down and out I had to take him to school in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon, help him with his home work, make his dinner, and I would get to sleep around 7PM or so. This starts wearing me down and as the wife gets better now I have Covid.
Wife tried making biscuits and then informed me the oven is acting up.
Just what I wanted to hear. Trying to recover from the cost of the fridge and now I get to drop at least another grand on a oven. Can't do that until I have the strength and no longer have Covid.