OK

quote:

Let's just let this thing die. I vented my spleen and see no further use kicking someone when they are down. I'm going to not lose faith in people. I'd do the same thing all over, btw... but next time I'll try to lead better.... and maybe Russell has learned something from all of this.

Have to agree with the Judge. It would appear we could be penalized for "piling" on.

I agree. Even a miss is still part of the hunting experience and I always learn from the reports of others.
Frank

back on the 2nd page 1115 says he will answer any pms on the hunt. If I had donated money I would pm him. The ones who know are being gentlemen.
Dean

I can’t believe how many people chipped into this hunt for Russell in the first place. I think most did so not because of Russell the person but Russell the serving soldier. While honorable on the donator’s parts they certainly could have found a more deserving person.

I for one will never forget the way Russell has behaved on this and other forums and the total lack of respect he has displayed not only for his fellow Americans but his fellow human beings. Don’t forget this is the person who returned from Iraq (where he claimed to see first hand all the problems there) not to mention all the real problems in the world and all he could do was whine about going to the mall and seeing girls with orange hair and boys with earrings.

I will never forget that Russell is the asshole who emailed death threats to a well respected poster on this and other forums simply because said poster inadvertently misspelled his name!

Why are people surprised by his behavior? He has shown his true colors numerous times.

And people still show restraint despite the fact he typed a whole page about his trip, will really just a few sentences about the trip, most was woe is me whining about life in general, and all he can say is “Anyway, that's it. I had a good time. I think that's what you wonderful folks wanted me to have and that's what I had.†That’s it! No thank you? Well we do know our Russell don’t we?

I did regard Russ as a, respectful and honest man. I never had any information pointing in other directions, and I guess I had not been listening to gossip (even if I thought I usually did). I am appalled of what I have been reading here and on other threads on this subject. JudgeG have asked us to let this tread die, and he took a big part of the burden and deserves our respect.

Still it might it reasonable for those who contributed to want to learn the details. But I think a public post would only be desirable if there really is something to learn from it for serious hunters. If not, I think this deserves to stay in private PMs. Nothing becomes any better by us revelling in this FUBAR.

I am very sorry for all of you who got involved in this. I understand that you must feel very, very dissapointed to say the least.

Regards,
Martin

(edited to avoid misunderstandings)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Howard:
I will never forget that Russell is the asshole who emailed death threats to a well respected poster on this and other forums simply because said poster inadvertently misspelled his name!

Howard: You have a PM. jorge

answered

Mrlexma was a bit diplomatic in his response, but he did touch a few of the low points lightly.

A frigging captain or major or whatever he is in the Army and he leaves to go on a nearly free safari in a foreign land with $130 in his pocket. Words fail.

He wounds a buffalo (at least), without being told to shoot by the PH, shooting a gun he can't shoot (obviously), that he shouldn't have had with him in the first place and he comes back after stiffing the PH and the Judge and goes to Gunsight. Words fail.

To paraphrase the old Indian Chief, I will go from this thread and comment no more forever. God damn, I've shot dogs that had more sense than this frigging idiot.

Originally posted by Russell,

quote:

I will be taking what I consider to be an INSANE amount of cash

Sorry I just couldn't pass this one up.

I think you'd agree that it is INSANE to leave the country, for any reason, with only $130.00 in your pocket.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:
Originally posted by Russell,

quote:

I will be taking what I consider to be an INSANE amount of cash

Sorry I just couldn't pass this one up.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
... A frigging captain or major or whatever he is in the Army ... this frigging idiot.

Did the Lt.Col. get busted in rank because of his conduct unbecoming an officer?

Where's that "beating a dead horse" emoticon???
And how about "We'll shoot this dog if you don't stop posting on this thread!"

Base pay for A.D LTC with over 16 yrs of service is $6431.10 a month, base pay for a E-4 with 6yrs $1957.00. Just to let you guys know

quote:

Originally posted by 323:
Base pay for A.D LTC with over 16 yrs of service is $6431.10 a month, base pay for a E-4 with 6yrs $1957.00. Just to let you guys know

Which illustrates two things:

1. An E4 should have gone
2. All service members are underpaid. Even 7K a month is deal for an O5 -most engineers with 10 years experience make more than that.

I think it is fair to say that Russ would do some things differently if faced with the choices today.

If he understood that he would face a grilling over averything done and said for the past few years, he might have told Ray "no thanks". We have the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, we just can't set the wayback machine for the past and do it differently, at least I can't. YMMV...good luck on the trip..

Originally posted by dogcat,

quote:

Seems he has pulled everyone's pants off on this. Send him packing back to Iraq.

Dogcat,
Just a fair question for you. Have you ever served in the military??

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod:
Originally posted by dogcat,

quote:

Seems he has pulled everyone's pants off on this. Send him packing back to Iraq.

Dogcat,
Just a fair question for you. Have you ever served in the military??

Thanks for saying that Jarrod. Regardless of whether Dogcat served, the world is full of people who did/do their best to avoid conflict but have no problem asking others to go. One name in particular comes to mind, but I guess that would take this discussion to another forum...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mikeh416Rigby:
I think you'd agree that it is INSANE to leave the country, for any reason, with only $130.00 in your pocket.



[QUOTE]

Actually, .416, going to Europe or Japan with no cash at all is no big deal if you have an ATM card, a phone card, and a few credit cards. I have done it a lot - just get cash out of the ATM when you get there.

I'm probably going to piss a few of you off here and the ones that it will actually piss off well I dont care if it does.
Ok so Russell made some mistakes and I myself honestly believe that he should pay the judge back every cent and interest on top.

quote:

Regardless of whether dogcat served, the world is full of people who did/do their best to avoid conflict but have no problem asking others to go.

Very well said. The reason why the chicken shit cowards are this way is because they don't have the balls to go themselves.
So for those of you who want to say send Russell packing back to Iraq grow some balls and go yourself if not shut the hell up.

Regardless of the small details of what actually happened, I would personally like to say to the Judge that you are a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. You auctioned off one of your rifles to pay for a Zebra for Russell; you paid money out of your pocket while in country for Russel; and worse, you had to part with your WR DR after the fact.

JudgeG, you have a heart of gold, my friend. You did a very honorable thing and got mud thrown in your face. For that, I am very sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by 577NitroExpress:
Regardless of the small details of what actually happened, I would personally like to say to the Judge that you a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. You auctioned off one of your rifles to pay for a Zebra for Russell; you paid money out of your pocket while in country for Russel; and worse, you had to part with your WR DR after the fact.

JudgeG, you have a heart of gold, my friend. You did a very honorable thing and got mud thrown in your face. For that, I am very sorry.

JudgeG:

I donated to Hunts of Lifetime this year. good way to give something away.

Guys,
Base pay is not the same as gross pay. Add to that qtrs, VHA, etc. Not to mention the fact that much of the earnings while in the AOR is tax free. Been there/done that. The amount posted is a good bit low. Coming to you from hurricane central. Bob

The base pay was taking from this years paychart and BAH and BAS were not counted.
This is what a LTC with 17 yrs for pay would make in IA this include BAS and BAH monthly $8,267.97 and yearly $99,215.64

quote:

This is what a LTC with 17 yrs for pay would make in IA this include BAS and BAH monthly $8,267.97 and yearly $99,215.64

Makes me wonder why the heck I went in for killing trees!

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

Originally posted by Canuck:

quote:

This is what a LTC with 17 yrs for pay would make in IA this include BAS and BAH monthly $8,267.97 and yearly $99,215.64

Makes me wonder why the heck I went in for killing trees!

Cheers,
Canuck

No it doesn't.

It turns out that Russ is in the army reserve and was sent to Iraq by a private company to operate a computer for that company...That is not the impression I had when he returned and I thought he had been in the muck of it...He shot a female Zebra and thinks its a big secret, hell everybody shoots female Zebra in Tanzania, the game scouts tell;em its a stalion!!!!

God bless each and every one of you for your good intentions, you were great, and in the big picture, thats all that counts....

For some reason a paragraph didn't get printed...It basically said:

Russ pretty much had everyone in camp ticked off most of the time, and his behavior was less than acceptable without going into detail...I personally know everyone in that camp and they are very easy to get along with, and if anyone of them told me the sun was not coming up tomorrow, I"D BRING A LATERN TO WORK!!!

Ray, thanks for the update. It was my understanding the Russell stated here on AR that he was being deployed to Iraq not going over as a hired employee to run computers.
Its just a real shame that things turned out the way they did and that this free gift did not go to someone more deserving.

Nothing wrong with shooting a zebra mare. It is actually better than a stallion as a new stallion will kill the foals of the previous one. Shot two stallions and a mare to date.

***

I remember being given the impression Russell Taylor was sent over to Iraq as a serving officer so it would be disappointing if this was not the case. PLUS if you are a contracted private employee in Iraq the salary and benefits and NOT insignificant. One could EASILY afford a safari from such a posting.

quote:

It turns out that Russ is in the army reserve and was sent to Iraq by a private company to operate a computer for that company...

Are you guys actually saying that a hunt intended to honor and thank the US troops for their service in Iraq, was accepted by someone that was not one of those troops????

How does that jive with the big deal about the fellow that lost his life serving in Iraq, and Russ' intention to dedicate his buffalo to him (or something like that). Did I make an incorrect assumption that they served together?

What about all those care packages and supplies that people here sent over to Russ when he was "deployed" in Iraq? I understood that he was serving with the troops that needed those extra pistol magazines, supplies, and entertainment.

Man, I can sort of understand if a guy's ego won't allow him to admit blunders, bad shooting, that kind of thing...but I can't respect anyone that misrepresents themself. I hope Russ will clear this up if there is some misunderstanding here.

Canuck

ps: I shot a mare zebra on my first trip. The PH was sure it was a young stallion. I really wanted to shoot a stallion and was disappointed when it turned out to be a mare, but I didn't realize that it was a big enough deal that I should hide that fact.

I wonder if Russell, "the doer of unpleasant deeds" has big enough cajones to come and answer these charges.

It would be a crime if it is true that he was not a soldier. There are plenty of real ones on this forum that probably can't afford a Safari.

Is he really a Lt. Col.? Or is that BS.

Folks:

For your information, face to face, Russell told me that he was serving in a Reserve unit that was called up and was a major at the time. He told me he had been promoted (not just on the list) and was now a Lt.Colonel.

He said he went (first to Germany where he was in charge of handgun training for his unit.. the Beretta M92 or whatever the military calls it). Maybe that's where the request for magazines came from. He said that no one had magazines but him and the rest of the folks in his unit carried 9mm ammo in baggies when they went in country???? I asked several times about this and he affirmed that the Berettas had no magazines... I guess you had a "one-shooter"??? I don't know how long that condition existed.

He said he entered Iraq about two weeks after the initial invasion in an air-conditioned SUV pulling a trailer. I got the impression that he spent close to a year in Iraq, but I may have been assuming some of that. He definitely said he spent an extended period in Iraq.

He said he acted as a supply officer and was at a former Iraqi airforce base and billeted in a former BOQ there and even had A/C the last of his stay. He said they were attacked by rockets or other indirect fire over 300 times. He never alluded to any direct contact with any enemy force, but said he had volunteered for missions that would have probably resulted in the same, but was denied.

His day job is as a GS-12 directly employed by the Dept. of the Army (not a civilian contracter), (he explained) and he is an Information Management specialist (a computer guy). He works at an Army Ordanance depot in what I took to be West or Southwest Illinois and lives not to far from the facility. He said he owns a small house without a mortgage.

I have no direct reason to disbelieve any of what he told me concerning Iraq (or his civilian life, for that matter), and if true, Russell did his duty. Not everyone is John Wayne and those who make sure the bullets and beans (and magazines?) go where they are supposed to go deserve credit, too. He did say that his primary MOS was as a tank officer, but being fair, when you start getting senior (major or Light Colonel) in the Reserves, you go where you can find a "slot", regardless of the job.

Any complaints that I may have about Russell are in no way related to Russell's reported military service, and if what he told me is correct, and I've seen no evidence to the contrary (but I ain't looking, either), he did what was called upon him to do...

I know where Ray is coming from, btw, but I'm ready to move on. If the stuff I was told about the military was not true (and again, I have no basis to disbelieve), what the heck could I do about it anyway. It wouldn't make my character any better, just my curiosity more intense, and I have better things to do.

Let's do that. Move on. Nothing good will come to anyone by further inquiry or accusation....

..and I'd suggest that female Zebras get killed by mistake often.. and I believe it is not illegal in Tanzania if they are not gravid or nursing??? I hope no one is trying to "get back" at someone (most particularly a PH) who never did anything but try to give away a good safari... now that would be pretty damn rotten to the core.

Anyone flying on the "torture" bus from Atlanta on the 26th of Feb?

So where is the infamous "russel" in all this it seems he has evaporated off the forum, post hunt!

Ann (Aspen Hill) , has in the past stated that this character is a friend of hers. Perhaps she can help....
Having a very high regard for members of the US Army, I would be relieved to hear this guy is not a member of their organisation.

After being away from the hunt forums for some time, I was surprised when I returned to see that russell was having civil exchanges with persons on the hunt sites. I presumed that participants had not forgotten the many exchanges in which he had threatened people, exhibited remarkable combinations of ignorance and arrogance, and appeared to be a blowhard and wannabe. I was not aware of his skills in the area of interpersonal finance but I respected him for his high standards with regard to spelling and punctuation. Although I tried, I was never able to meet his standards in those areas.

At least part of the truth is out - the guy is a phony of the top order. Civilians that are in Iraq are paid an enviable amount of money (base pay plus danger pay plus plus plus). He did not need to squeeze the big hearted people on this forum for $$$. The guy is too much of a coward to tell who he really is and that is just a liar and a lowlife.

dogcat: While I'll not get into this dicussion, the man went over there on ACTIVE DUTY as a reserve major and not as a contractor. He had a valid military email address because he sent me a couple while he was over there. jorge

Jorge,
The information I quoted came from Ray -

It turns out that Russ is in the army reserve and was sent to Iraq by a private company to operate a computer for that company...That is not the impression I had when he returned and I thought he had been in the muck of it...He shot a female Zebra and thinks its a big secret, hell everybody shoots female Zebra in Tanzania, the game scouts tell;em its a stalion!!!!


I assume that Ray knows what he is talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by Vinny:
Previous posts seem to back up what catdog is saying. JudgeG has a different view. Not sure what the truth is, but it is a mess.

Does not really matter because for the most part it is irrelevant to his behavior as it leave much to be desired anyway.

I roomed (or lived and worked in extremely close confines) with Russ during his year in Kuwait/Iraq. I will verify that he is a) at times abrasive. b) truly a nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. and c) he is indeed currently a Reserve LTC, and was a Reserve Major, deployed to first Germany, then Kuwait, then Iraq, where he (and I, by implication) were rocketed, mortared, or otherwise shot at every day and/or night for nearly a year. We lived in abandoned concrete buildings on our bases' perimeter, with no protection from the heat, insect and wildlife until the last couple of months, when we all got windows and finally air conditioning. Just in time to turn the buildings over to another unit and got to live in old, torn-up Arab tents.

I make no representations about Russ' hunts. I am a shooter, not a hunter, but I will vouch for his service, which was admirable, and his attitude throughout the war, which was much better than my own. (He wasn't lying about volunteering to go on multiple missions and being turned down.)

I don't follow his posts here, but I know for a fact that he behaved like an officer in Iraq, and several times subbed for enlisted during holidays, etc., on guard duty and watch, in addition to his other duties in a command center.

Russ' job involved knowing, intimately, what US forces were doing operationally throughout Iraq, so I do not doubt he had a very good idea of what was going on there.

While I have no problem with AR members discussing technical and ethical points of Russ' or anyone elses hunting, I hope those who are speaking of things they do not know would refrain from doing so.

Thank you.