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Old 10-15-2014, 09:12 PM   #1
Ron S
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Speaking of hawks...

This guy made breakfast out of one of the cotton tails that has been grazing on the grass in my back yard this morning. Very cool.
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Old 10-15-2014, 11:18 PM   #2
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

Everybody's gotta eat!

Nice picture!
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Old 10-16-2014, 12:31 PM   #3
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

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Everybody's gotta eat!

Nice picture!
I felt bad though. I opened the sliding glass door a bit to take the photos and after a couple shots, the hawk got nervous and took off. He was carrying the rabbit, but dropped it in the yard. He then landed on my back fence neighbor's upstairs balcony and looked back at me. I closed up the house and hoped he'd come back for his meal, but he left. I hung the rabbit on the back fence, hoping he'd return, but after an hour it was still there so I tossed it.
Didn't mean to deprive the hawk of a hard earned meal.
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Old 10-16-2014, 01:18 PM   #4
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

I understand that. Sometimes our interaction with nature does not turn out the best. But it's not like you destroyed the balance of nature, however - there are millions of rabbits, and the hawk just found another meal. Life goes on.

It is kind of like when a fish tears off your spear - you feel bad about it, but in the grand scheme of things, it is meaningless.

You are part of the balance of nature, and after all, it was your back yard - so the hawk will have to learn to put up with you, or else hunt elsewhere.

Nice photograph.
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Old 10-17-2014, 07:42 PM   #5
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

See Max, it goes a little deeper than that. Let me explain. I love eating rabbit. Raised them as a kid. I really want to eat one of these cottontails, but when I go hunting, I never see one. That is, till I get home and trip over one on the front lawn. I can't shoot those though. Those are my wife's "yard bunnies", and I promised not to kill them. Oh I've had numerous opportunities. Had bunnies in the cross hairs of the pellet rifle, had the bow at full draw, but never killed on. A promise is a promise.
I just wanted this fellow hunter to enjoy this rabbit. I guess I wanted to live vicariously...
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Old 10-17-2014, 08:11 PM   #6
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

That's funny! My wife begs me to blast the things with the shotgun because they eat her landscape plants. I have gotten 4 this last summer, all to cheers and thanks from the wife. She even shot at one with her concealed carry gun (.38 special) and missed it. She was bummed about that. Guess we live in different worlds!
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Old 10-18-2014, 11:38 AM   #7
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

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That's funny! My wife begs me to blast the things with the shotgun because they eat her landscape plants. I have gotten 4 this last summer, all to cheers and thanks from the wife. She even shot at one with her concealed carry gun (.38 special) and missed it. She was bummed about that. Guess we live in different worlds!
I'm pretty sure I'd like your wife!
My wife and I agree on most things, but we have different upbringings. I grew up in the country. I was taught not to kill indiscriminately, but if a critter was after the garden or the chickens, it was dealt with. My wife was a city girl. Aside from fish, her family didn't kill anything. To this day, none of her siblings or their children hunt or even own guns.
My wife is coming around though. I can now kill ground squirrels on sight, and when the Douglas Tree Squirrels are tossing pine cones at us from high in the trees, my boys are allowed to return fire with their Airsoft rifles.
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Old 10-18-2014, 02:20 PM   #8
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

We were both raised in the country and grew up around guns, farm animals, and gardens. Like you, I raised rabbits to eat them. Her family had cattle and chickens. Everybody hunted.

I find that country folk have a balanced attitude about firearms and killing animals: Firearms are just a tool that are used only when needed, and are handled with a great deal of thoughtfulness and safety, and all animals are respected and valued and treated well, but they are not allowed to be destructive, and we don't have a problem with eating them. My kids learned all of those lessons growing up in the country.

I feel sorry for city folk who never had the privilege of experiencing those realities. I am glad your boys are learning to handle weapons from Dad. No better place to learn. Airsoft guns are good learning tools for gun handling and familiarity in populated areas.

I am glad the ground squirrels have a warrant out for their extermination on sight. They are really destructive.

It won't be long before the grandsons will be old enough to start learning to handle guns out here in the country when they come to visit, and hopefully the lessons will stick, even though they are being raised in the city. It seems that's where folks have to go to make a living these days.
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Old 10-18-2014, 04:25 PM   #9
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

My boys are pretty comfortable around guns. One of my sons is on the high school trap shooting team, and has his own shotgun. He really wants to hunt, but I need to get him into a hunter's safety course. The other son loves to shoot, but isn't too excited about hunting, which is OK. I'm going to put him through the safety course as well. He has his own .22 rifle. (Mainly because he's the only true lefty in the family, and right handed bolt actions were pretty awkward.)
Having been taught about guns at an early age, and being exposed to them all the time, there's no novelty or mystique to them. The boys just see them as tools. Very dangerous tools that have to be handled very carefully, but still just tools.
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Old 10-18-2014, 06:28 PM   #10
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

His high school has a trap shooting team? How cool is that?!! I thought schools were paranoid about guns - must be a private school?

Shooting trap is an incredibly fun thing to do. I can't count the cases of clay pigeons I and the boys went through when they were growing up.

And .22 rounds? Probably could build the great wall of china out of the spent casings. Lots of good memories!

Glad the boys are involved in the shooting sports. The discipline, the responsibility, and the focus required to shoot well will stand them in good stead and be useful across the board no matter what they do in life.

Hopefully they are learning to be spearo's too!
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Old 10-18-2014, 09:33 PM   #11
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

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His high school has a trap shooting team? How cool is that?!! I thought schools were paranoid about guns - must be a private school?
Hopefully they are learning to be spearo's too!
OK, I'm gonna have to take this opportunity to brag on my boys and our community.
No, they don't go to a private school. The public high school, AND the middle school, have trap shooting as a school sport. It's an outstanding program. Absolute zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol. If a member is found to be drinking or doing drugs anywhere or any time, they're off the team. No exceptions. Also, they're taught all the responsibility of gun ownership and use. As a result, they're an amazing group of kids.
Max, due to my profession, I carry a gun everywhere, all the time. The exception is at a trap tourney or practice. Even in Stockton, CA, an area with a well earned reputation for gang violence, I don't bother to carry. I feel so at ease with a couple hundred kids armed with shotguns around me, I see no reason to carry.

As to my boys as spearos...They're amazing! I got them into diving very gradually, but now my problem is reeling them in. We go to Bragg and I have to keep calling them in because they keep going farther out and deeper. As a dad, I'm a worrier.

This summer Zach hollered at me. He complained that his brother went down and on one breath he popped an 8" ab and shot a greenling. Came up with the fish on his spear and the ab stuck to his chest. Wasn't even out of breath.

My boys are amazing. My wife and I count our blessings every day.

OK I'll stop the bragging now...

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Old 10-19-2014, 12:13 AM   #12
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

Well, you have every reason to brag! That school must have some really quality people running it. With so many families falling apart and so many kids going astray, it is really good to see the connection you have with your kids and the way they are stepping up and becoming men.

If we had more parents like you and your wife, the prison system would go out of business, and the welfare system would disappear. Carry on. I am really glad for you both.

P.S. You might want to think about FRV's for the boys. I sure gained a lot of peace of mind when I got them for mine. Those youngsters sometimes don't know when to quit.

P.P.S. Every real dad is a worrier. It goes with the territory. It's a wonder any boy reaches adulthood alive. Grey hair is genetic - you get it from your kids!
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Old 10-19-2014, 11:17 AM   #13
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Re: Speaking of hawks...

Thanks for the kind words Max!

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