Be Calm

[Daveboone]

My time in the woods /fields, etc. is my "mental toileting". Simply being quiet, enjoying all the creations and what HE sends to me to see, hear and feel. Enjoying and helping me to understand the circle of life.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I had the rifle made for me, as I mentioned, in 2020. I'm pretty particular about who the gun vs the firm or name that builds the gun. I met with the actioner(?) barrel maker and the other trades that would be working on it. I wanted simple rose and scroll / color case hardening, 13 #s. I had the gun fit as I do my shotguns. I want to be able to shoot a moving target with my eyes on the target vs the front sight. I know this may be too much information but the balance of the gun and printability is key. I still shoot box birds and Olympic Trap, so I guess I come from the fit side vs the decorative side.
I hope this makes sense.

Yes, perfect sense.

 

[Newboomer]

this is probably going to sound strange but...

hard work is what brings me the most calm...

I spent my younger years in much more physical professions.. the latter half of my career has mostly been spent behind a desk staring at spreadsheets, making phone calls, attending meetings, and sending emails.. I spend a ton of my time with my mind racing, trying to figure out simple solutions to complex problems, dealing with "people issues", or "customer issues", or "regulatory issues", etc..etc..

I find that getting away from all of that and working up a good sweat is wonderful for my soul and finding some inner peace sometimes..

nothing makes me feel more at peace than taking on hard physical tasks that require me to maintain focus, but dont really require me to "think" much.. like chopping firewood for the deer camp fire pit.. or clearing out shooting lanes between feed sites and stands with a machete in preparation for hunting season beginning.. or hauling a couple of thousand pounds of feed around and loading 50lb bags into feeders all day, etc..

I dont get into a rush.. and none of my typical pre-season hunting chores require much thought.. they just require a good bit of sweat (sometimes a little bit of blood), and a 4-8 hour window of time 3-4 times a year..

Ive got a "work party" planned this weekend at the place I most often deer hunt.. just me and 2 other guys that hunt there will be present.. camp, which normally hosts 15-20 people on any given weekend during deer season will largely be empty and pretty quiet during the day.. the plan is to head down friday afternoon after work, sit by the fire with a couple of good friends, enjoy a nice drink or two, then go to bed early... get up on Saturday at the crack of dawn and bust our asses physically all day long to prep camp for the season.. we've got some minor plumbing issues to fix, a few rotten boards on the lodge patio that need to be replaced, a ton of firewood to unload from a trailer and to chop, several feeders that need to be filled, several blinds that could use a little touch up paint, etc.. once we've busted our collective butts all day getting things ready, we'll have a nice dinner meal cooked over the camp fire, grab our rifles, and then see if we cant take a hog or two Saturday night.. we'll bed down in camp after that, wake up early on Sunday and head back home..

Ive been looking forward to this "work party" and all the back and leg pain I know its going to bring me with glee for the past 60 days that we have been planning it.. by Sunday my batteries will be recharged and I'll be ready to plug away at spreadsheets again..

I relate to the hard physical labor. I've been doing it all my life and have no desire to stop now. Started logging with my Dad at 5 years old and held up my end in a crew until I went into the military at 20. After active duty I spent 26 years in the reserves and working constructiion and logging on my own time.

What brings me contentment in today's screwed up world is a good chainsaw singing to me and the smell of fresh sawdust and the woods. I can forget everything but what I am doing, work up a good healthy sweat and go home exhausted from a productive day. The memories of logging are in my blood and I get the urge every year to cut my firewood. Most people thing I'm a little off level to be doing this at 83 but I can still outdo a lot of my friends who are 20-25 years younger. Good hard physical labor is the best medicine to keep you going.

I look forward each day to reading AH, absorbing the wisdom, chuckling at the stupidity of some posts and learning from the experiences of other hunters. It is my way of getting the straight scoop of what's happening in the world.

 

[Rare Breed]

These days there are so many reasons to feel anger, disappointment and frustration. I am not even going to list them, the object of this thread is not to get your blood up even more, but to give you some relief, as I have found. The biblical part of it is easy to read, but hard to get to grips with. It says ‘be still and know that I am God’.
Now to the practical side: the beautiful creation is I believe what He is talking about, and there is no better place than to find peace interacting with it with as little humanity involved as possible. For me that means hunting, preparing for a hunt, daydreaming about it, finally doing it, and then the memories. I find peace and joy in opening AH and reading wisdom and shared memories from you all. Finding anything about double rifles, especially with a few pictures thrown in calms me way down.
What is it about our sport that brings out the best of life for you?

My faith is the most important thing in my life giving me inmense peace. Double rifles, custom large bores and hunting Africa intensifies and prolongs that peace creating an enjoyment I have not experienced before

 

[Hunter-Habib]

For me; it‘s the entire process of going into the untamed wilds, killing/procuring my own meat in a thrilling (but humane) manner, processing it, cooking it and consuming it. Could any of God’s/ Allah’s creations ever be closer to nature than this ? I certainly think not.

When I hunted this reedbuck with the anticipation of having an excellent barbecue at camp in the evening, my white hunter couldn’t have described it better. He said “Jeder lebt. Aber nur ein Jäger lebt wirklich” (Everybody is alive. But only a hunter truly lives).

 

[Doug3006]

Service to others is the best way to release stress. There is no peace like doing good work for others.

 

[BourbonTrail]

+2 on the hard physical labor. I really destress cutting timber, digging irrigation lines, tilling ground by hand, moving heavy stuff, doing masonry, etc. Heck I still push mow sometimes, even when it takes 6 hours.

 

[WAB]

+2 on the hard physical labor. I really destress cutting timber, digging irrigation lines, tilling ground by hand, moving heavy stuff, doing masonry, etc. Heck I still push mow sometimes, even when it takes 6 hours.

Yep, nothing like a bit of chain saw therapy!

 

[Phil Giordano]

Well, I would say that hunting has become a mental aspect, a personal behaviour of my days, as I'm a hunter not only when I'm out in the wild, but every minute I live my life. I'm a "self made hunter", as no one in my family has ever been. Almost everything I know come from books and articles first, then personal experience.
I started early to realize my passion, and I spent whole hours dreaming on hunting catalogs, when I was a youngster full of projects. I still have all those catalogs, as I saved them all like treasures.
Well, I find very relaxing, enjoyable, and satisfying, give a look every now and then at some of this old catalogs - you did it (I told myself), you made it a reality....

For example, this is one I'm very fond of.
I was 14, in 1988...
To me it's an invaluable object, and definitely, makes me calm, and satisfied.

 

[Ravensview]

I find peace in working in the woods, watching my dogs on a retrieve, the silence of the first snowfall, the sound of my canoe moving through the water, the clean breeze off the lake, watching my grandkids playing and exploring, the peace that a campfire brings at night, sharing this journey of life with my wife, the awe inspiring light show of a summer lightning storm, the first sunny day after a week long winter storm, sitting in front of a warm wood stove on a cold winters night, too many more to write, great post Kevin.

 

[Hillcountry63]

@Kevin Peacocke ……I asked GOD for a word/life verse during a dark season a number of years ago after one of my Officers was murdered in the line of duty. Psalm 46:10 “be still and know that I am GOD” is what I heard. While I am far from perfect I offer that verse up each day and it fortifies my walk with hope as I seek Him and it allows me to see the good in the world and people as I deal with the worst that society has. Selah

 

[Corey0372]

These days there are so many reasons to feel anger, disappointment and frustration. I am not even going to list them, the object of this thread is not to get your blood up even more, but to give you some relief, as I have found. The biblical part of it is easy to read, but hard to get to grips with. It says ‘be still and know that I am God’.
Now to the practical side: the beautiful creation is I believe what He is talking about, and there is no better place than to find peace interacting with it with as little humanity involved as possible. For me that means hunting, preparing for a hunt, daydreaming about it, finally doing it, and then the memories. I find peace and joy in opening AH and reading wisdom and shared memories from you all. Finding anything about double rifles, especially with a few pictures thrown in calms me way down.
What is it about our sport that brings out the best of life for you?

Needed this brother! Thanks for the positivity

Growing up hunting whitetails on the east coast I really enjoyed being in the woods as the sun came up, the quiet grey cold of the morning is always somewhat magical.

Also grew up hunting deer with dogs, the feeling you get when you hear a pack of beagles heading your way along a swamp bottom, or coming through the woods working toward the part of a clearing you're watching is great. Especially when you've hear the other hunters over the radio and you know they're running a deer.

 

[Sideshow]

 

[Sideshow]

 

[Sideshow]

 

[Sideshow]

I like this photo most it feels to me like the opportunity of exploration is just around the next bend.
How’s that for pitting you in a calm place.
All taken just now in July SA

 

[gram2117]

Well, I would say that hunting has become a mental aspect, a personal behaviour of my days, as I'm a hunter not only when I'm out in the wild, but every minute I live my life. I'm a "self made hunter", as no one in my family has ever been. Almost everything I know come from books and articles first, then personal experience.
I started early to realize my passion, and I spent whole hours dreaming on hunting catalogs, when I was a youngster full of projects. I still have all those catalogs, as I saved them all like treasures.
Well, I find very relaxing, enjoyable, and satisfying, give a look every now and then at some of this old catalogs - you did it (I told myself), you made it a reality....
View attachment 556763
For example, this is one I'm very fond of.
I was 14, in 1988...
To me it's an invaluable object, and definitely, makes me calm, and satisfied.

Completely forgot about XI. Used to work on a few customers back in the day.

 

[Phil Giordano]

Completely forgot about XI. Used to work on a few customers back in the day.

I had two XI bows in the late early 90's.
They were good, high tec compounds for the time...
It's a shame that they closed, along some others good ones, like High Country, Pearson, Darton, Saco...

 

[bowjijohn]

I have no time for religion but ….

With out it, our world appears to have becoming an aggressive, shallow place full of fear and unkindness

I dislike even leaving the farm

I fear for where we are headed

J

 

[cls]

There is an inner peace that overcomes me while sitting in a willow blind waiting for the geese to come into the set, and God shows me his majesty