Self-Reliance: How do you?
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processhead said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
calldoctoday said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
processhead It just about aught to be a requirement for hunting. How can you possibly understand your weapon & be familiar with it so that you can take the best shots possible in the field, without at least some practice on the range, if not extensive practice. All you could rely on otherwise is luck & me & luck have never got along too well apparently.
In Nebraska, and maybe elsewhere, you can’t get a hunting license unless you have had hunter education. There is an exemption for older adults, but at least it is getting the kids started out on the right foot.
I believe Wisconsin is the same unless there’s been a recent change. I went through it, my three sons have and so will the grandkids one day. Absolutely essential. Everyone should, even if you don’t hunt or are thinking about personal protection.
PapaSop kids under 12 can hunt with a mentor as long as only one gun is in your possession. Once you hit 12 years old, you have to have hunters ed. Thought behind it was to get kids hooked on hunting before the commitment of taking a class.
hey vegetarians, my food poops on your food!
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PapaSop kids under 12 can hunt with a mentor as long as only one gun is in your possession. Once you hit 12 years old, you have to have hunters ed. Thought behind it was to get kids hooked on hunting before the commitment of taking a class.
kyle said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
PapaSop kids under 12 can hunt with a mentor as long as only one gun is in your possession. Once you hit 12 years old, you have to have hunters ed. Thought behind it was to get kids hooked on hunting before the commitment of taking a class.
Same here. Really a good idea to have them out with a responsible adult anyway when just starting out.
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bocephus I have found the women are better at it with a little practice than we are. Excellent point on the .22 as well.
calldoctoday seeing many shooters in my military career I completely agree that women are better marksmen when trained as a whole in a range environment, but unfortunately their weakness becomes very apparent in the fast target acquisition and kill shots of close quarters combat.
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calldoctoday seeing many shooters in my military career I completely agree that women are better marksmen when trained as a whole in a range environment, but unfortunately their weakness becomes very apparent in the fast target acquisition and kill shots of close quarters combat.
mrobisr said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
calldoctoday seeing many shooters in my military career I completely agree that women are better marksmen when trained as a whole in a range environment, but unfortunately their weakness becomes very apparent in the fast target acquisition and kill shots of close quarters combat.
Any theories on your observations of CQC
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Jonathon Man, you shot Flint Oaks for your first clay-shoot! That’s a heck of a place. I shot sporting clays, trap and skeet in college. Went to nationals on a couple occasions outside of San Antonio. Flint Oaks is a crazy nice facility! I can relate to the not having a place to shoot, that one thing that has kept me from buying a long-range rifle. I’ve got some short range targets set up at my place now, can at least plink and check zero’s at 100 yrds. Shooting has gotten very expensive and ammo is still hard to come by, much harder than it should be. I didn’t dove hunt this year because of how difficult 12 gauge shells are to find.
RafterW Did you ever shoot the Grand when it was held in Dayton/Vandalia Ohio?
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Ridley Acres Agree with you there. It was interesting to watch the bees. The crazy cost of the bees as they became trendy to do is nuts. Our hives would take a beating every year. The late winter storms and cold, wet springs would do in at least half of our hives that made it through the winter. Finally gave it up after 10+ years, maybe will re-attack after a break.
YooperDog Ridley Acres keeping that balance is huge. We were lucky enough to meet a gent who is 80 years old, a retired electrical engineer and been a bee keeper for most of his life. Here is the kicker, he raises the bees to keep the local bee genetics intact in hopes of keeping the bee population healthier. He is posterboy of the term “bee whisperer”. My oldest son travels across the state helping him with the hive maintenance on his hives, which is about 70 hives throughout the state. He is the person who taught us how to trap local hives. Both of our current hives were trapped and I plan on never buying a package again. Its great that there are people like him more interested in the bees, than pulling honey. I have to admit, I’m in it for the honey and the pollination on my property, but meeting this guy definitely gave me a different view on how I manage our hives. The honey isn’t my priority anymore. Beekeeping can definitely “bee” frustrating at times. A friend and coworker got me started keeping bees. In reference to swarming and the overall experience, he warned me early on by saying “at the end of the day, they are insects and will do what they want”.
I have attached a link for a YouTube video from the Ohio State Bee Keeper’s Association of our mentor and friend Dwight.
https://youtu.be/z97joaP6TTo“You never really die until you end up on the wall at a Cracker Barrel”
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YooperDog Ridley Acres keeping that balance is huge. We were lucky enough to meet a gent who is 80 years old, a retired electrical engineer and been a bee keeper for most of his life. Here is the kicker, he raises the bees to keep the local bee genetics intact in hopes of keeping the bee population healthier. He is posterboy of the term “bee whisperer”. My oldest son travels across the state helping him with the hive maintenance on his hives, which is about 70 hives throughout the state. He is the person who taught us how to trap local hives. Both of our current hives were trapped and I plan on never buying a package again. Its great that there are people like him more interested in the bees, than pulling honey. I have to admit, I’m in it for the honey and the pollination on my property, but meeting this guy definitely gave me a different view on how I manage our hives. The honey isn’t my priority anymore. Beekeeping can definitely “bee” frustrating at times. A friend and coworker got me started keeping bees. In reference to swarming and the overall experience, he warned me early on by saying “at the end of the day, they are insects and will do what they want”.
I have attached a link for a YouTube video from the Ohio State Bee Keeper’s Association of our mentor and friend Dwight.
https://youtu.be/z97joaP6TToGWG8541 Agree. We did it for the same, honey, pollination and trying to keep the population viable in the area. The cost of buying nuc’s, and such started getting crazy and we started trapping. My wife has gotten some health issues which made things difficult. We had some great mentors and still remain in contact and may some day re-attack. We did the same and paid it forward with a family who wanted to get started with bee keeping and they are having a blast., Lots of questions and enjoying their new hobby. The crazy thing is that we have more honey bees now than we have ever seen, don’t know where they are coming from, but glad to see them.
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mrobisr said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
calldoctoday seeing many shooters in my military career I completely agree that women are better marksmen when trained as a whole in a range environment, but unfortunately their weakness becomes very apparent in the fast target acquisition and kill shots of close quarters combat.
Any theories on your observations of CQC
processhead processhead men typically have the ability to laser focus on a specific task and women can help but think about a hundred other things they need to do. The exact reason my wife can run the home so efficiently all while cooking, clothes washing and drying, putting up groceries, and then helping all three kids and this is all within a thirty second time span.
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RafterW It is hard to explain, but the property the Grand was done on, was Dayton Airport property, which is annexed land north of the city of Dayton in a town called Vandalia. Well the city in its infinite wisdom started passing anti gun laws, so they moved west to Sparta, Ill in 2005. They official reason given was for expansion of the airport. Nothing like government bureaucracy to ruin a good thing. It was in Dayton from 1924 to 2005.
“You never really die until you end up on the wall at a Cracker Barrel”
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RafterW It is hard to explain, but the property the Grand was done on, was Dayton Airport property, which is annexed land north of the city of Dayton in a town called Vandalia. Well the city in its infinite wisdom started passing anti gun laws, so they moved west to Sparta, Ill in 2005. They official reason given was for expansion of the airport. Nothing like government bureaucracy to ruin a good thing. It was in Dayton from 1924 to 2005.
GWG8541 lol man that is crazy. You said it best about bureaucracy. Literally no one in attendance from 1924 to 2005 had ill intent using their firearms.
Probably had an excellent track record for safety as well. -
RafterW It is hard to explain, but the property the Grand was done on, was Dayton Airport property, which is annexed land north of the city of Dayton in a town called Vandalia. Well the city in its infinite wisdom started passing anti gun laws, so they moved west to Sparta, Ill in 2005. They official reason given was for expansion of the airport. Nothing like government bureaucracy to ruin a good thing. It was in Dayton from 1924 to 2005.
GWG8541 said in Self-Reliance: How do you?:
RafterW It is hard to explain, but the property the Grand was done on, was Dayton Airport property, which is annexed land north of the city of Dayton in a town called Vandalia. Well the city in its infinite wisdom started passing anti gun laws, so they moved west to Sparta, Ill in 2005. They official reason given was for expansion of the airport. Nothing like government bureaucracy to ruin a good thing. It was in Dayton from 1924 to 2005.
Agenda might be a better term than bureaucracy…
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Checked another to-do off of my list on property maintenance/improvements. I wired in a generator plug into our service panel. I have a 10KW generator that I can now hook into the house, when necessary. It runs the water well, HVAC blower, lighting, two refrigerators and two freezers.
The microwave operated well on it, as well as our range/oven.
It’s not quite big enough to serve all the household power demands, the dryer really bogged it down, but didn’t trip a breaker or kill it. All in all, a nice peace-of-mind improvement for the time being. Solar/battery backup is definitely on my mind, long-term.
Matt W.
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Checked another to-do off of my list on property maintenance/improvements. I wired in a generator plug into our service panel. I have a 10KW generator that I can now hook into the house, when necessary. It runs the water well, HVAC blower, lighting, two refrigerators and two freezers.
The microwave operated well on it, as well as our range/oven.
It’s not quite big enough to serve all the household power demands, the dryer really bogged it down, but didn’t trip a breaker or kill it. All in all, a nice peace-of-mind improvement for the time being. Solar/battery backup is definitely on my mind, long-term.
RafterW You don’t need a dryer, you need a clothes line, so I wouldn’t even sweat that. I did see a solar generator/battery bank setup the other day for I think $2,500-3K. I don’t remember the name of the company off of the top of my head, but it sounded like it should handle the major things, and was expandable.
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Tex_77 yeah the dryer was more of a functionality test for the generator to see if there was a load in the house that I could put on it that will trip the kill switch. We inherited the generator, it’s a portable unit. Gasoline consumption is definitely the weak point. Water well, lighting and furnace blower were my main concerns, that should run it at about 50% or less capacity so I should get about 10 hrs a tank on it. Damn thing is noisy though. It will also run my little welder that I can throw on a trailer with it to have a portable welding unit. Thanks, that is interesting on the solar setup. I’ve got a bathroom remodel to finish and I want to get a wood stove put in our living room after the bathroom project. Solar is behind those two items at the moment.
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Checked another to-do off of my list on property maintenance/improvements. I wired in a generator plug into our service panel. I have a 10KW generator that I can now hook into the house, when necessary. It runs the water well, HVAC blower, lighting, two refrigerators and two freezers.
The microwave operated well on it, as well as our range/oven.
It’s not quite big enough to serve all the household power demands, the dryer really bogged it down, but didn’t trip a breaker or kill it. All in all, a nice peace-of-mind improvement for the time being. Solar/battery backup is definitely on my mind, long-term.
RafterW This is a great idea. I have a detached garage which has 10-3 run out to it. Was there when we moved in. Running my table saw, dust collector, lights, and radio nearly exceed this. The pole with the transformer from the power company is within feet of the breaker box in the garage, so I have wanted to add a separate service out there and use the existing 10-3 to act as the supply coming from a generator similar to a switch like you have for some essential services.
I would have a note with the steps below:
- Flip all breakers off
- Switch source load from grid to generator
- Switch essential breakers on in order of importance (and give each breaker a priority number in case you need to back off the load a family member can do so without needing to think too hard)
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RafterW , As you probably already know, most emergency generators see very little use and therefore tend to get little maintenance.
Every emergency generator should be exercised periodically to make sure it is fit for duty when the time comes that it is needed.
Also, replacing the gas every 6 months or so is a good idea since gasoline definitely has a shelf life.
Back when I was still working, we and emergency generators at our remote communication sites. Those generators were programmed to automatically rune every other week. If they didn’t run, we got a remote alarm and were dispatched out to find out why.
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Ridley Acres you are correct in your steps. I have a 3 way switch right under my meter for my primary service. On top is service from the pole, middle is off, and down is service from a generator. From here, the load goes to a panel on the other side of the pole with the primary breakers, I have the waterwell, shop #1, shop #2, and primary service to the house leaving from there where it then goes into the house panel with all the smaller individual breakers. I need to do some more labeling though so I know what is what.
I turned the pole service off and tripped all the primary breakers at the pole. Powered on generator, turned off the automatic idle control and then started to reset the individual breakers. It worked well.
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processhead yes, that is certainly a concern of mine. I don’t get around to starting it once/week but do so once a month. I don’t store it with too much gasoline in the tank either and I stabilize it and store it with the fuel switch turned to off. I let it run with the fuel turned off, to keep the carb empty before putting it back up. If I’m working with some saws or powertools outside, I sometimes get that generator out to run them, rather than running from a shop outlet, to give it some exercise.
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I’m going to go out on a limb and assume many of you are like-minded to myself in that you not only find enjoyment in meat processing as a hobby but also the connection to a sense of self-reliance that the skills we’ve developed and equipment we have obtained brings to us and our families. It’s a good feeling to know that you are working toward a life that is less reliant on other people, services and the status quo of modern day living.
Some may call it prepping, I wouldn’t consider myself a prepper….but I’m not living in an ignorant bliss of unawareness either. You may call it self-reliance or homesteading. Whatever you call it and wherever you land on the spectrum, I wanted to share with you what I’ve been working toward for my family and friend circle and am looking for others to share their ideas and methods if there is interest.
In the last year, my family has moved from a town of 200, previously had lived in a town of 7K-ish to a 12 acre piece of land of our own. It’s mixed vegetation of grassland and wood lot about 50/50. There is a spring fed pond and our place is at the dead-end of a dirt road. We got lucky, really lucky. A PA owned the place with plans that fell through but that’s another story in itself.
House was a mess and a lot of work to get it to where it is today, with more to go. Anyway I like the idea of working toward self-reliance. We keep a well stocked pantry, we harvest game, we buy family beef and have plenty for each year. I have a well and septic system and most appliances are electric with a few propane exceptions. Working toward adding a fireplace and wood burning stove. Solar is on my mind as well. Maybe not full capability but a supplemental system that could run a select few circuits would be nice if a fully sized system was too expensive. This spring I got a few ducks that we collect eggs from daily, the pond has some panfish and carp in it so far that I’ve caught. There is an abundance of wildlife and foraging resources (several mushroom species, sandhill plumb, prickly pair fruit. We broke ground for a garden but I think it is too shaded. It has not done very well. Planning on changes there.
I’d like to add a small orchard with some
Apple trees, a grape vine or two, black berries, blueberries and the wife wants a peach tree even though winters are hard on peaches here.I have an un insulated shop next to the house as well and have been hitting up auctions to fill it will items that help me to be more self-reliant. An old welder, drill press, chop saw and some carpentry tools are where I’ve started. We have an ATV that we inherited. In the shop I am planning to partition off a corner and insulate it and finish it out. It will be my home processing plant/hobby kitchen. I hope to start that this fall when I finish an ongoing bathroom remodel that I’m working on for my wife.
I love to travel as well and want to work toward a lifestyle that allows for more travel experiences with my growing family. My wife and I are very much in the working class, I hope we are able to inspire others who are wanting to build a similar path.
I’d like this thread to serve as a resource to share what we’ve implemented/experienced and learned along the way for those who may be working toward or who may have achieved a higher level of self reliance.
RafterW Just saw your post. I live in a town of 117. Try to do alot of what you’re doing. I would say, go ahead with the peach tree. I’m north of you and have had one producing for about 7 years. It’s coming to the end of it’s productive years so need to start another one. It has survived our winters so far. The life expectancy is only about 15 years for a peach tree here. A neighbor has a pear tree that’s much older and still producing.
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