steve1

I'll bet mink are tough on chickens. We had some skunks get into the chicken house when I was a kid. They'd bite one chicken in the head, then go get another one. We lost about 12 in a single night. Had to trap them to get rid of them. A 20 guage has mild recoil. An automatic has less kick than a pump or a single shot. We always had trouble with automatics not working well in cold weather. I swear by a pump. I bought my daughter a 20 guage, Remington Express model. They are a quality gun that is very reasonably priced. It also fits a kid well. Quite compact. Ammo is easy to find also.....

The older shotguns may not be able to shoot the modern steel shot. I was told that my old 16 guage wouldn't work for that. It did shoot 2 3/4 inch shells though.....

It's hard to find a 16 guage these days. It's probably even harder to find ammo. I grew up shooting a Winchester Model 12, 16 guage, pump. It had a hard plastic recoil pad on it, and yes it did kick. After a weekend of duck hunting I'd go to school on Monday and show all my friends the dandy bruise I had on my right shoulder. That gun was almost as long as I was tall. I loved it. I tried a slip on recoil pad. This made the gun too long. Finally I cut it down, and put on a quality recoil pad. I think it was a pacmire recoil pad. That helped a lot. A friend and I were out hunting ducks, by ourselves, when we were about 12. Both of us shot 16 guage pumps. Yes, that was a long time ago. One morning we pedalled our bikes down a dirt road that led to the river. Our shotguns were almost taller than we were. Just as it was getting light, we spotted a nice flock of ducks sitting on a slew. We parked our bikes and spent about 25 minutes crawling up to the edge of that water. Two excited faces peaked over the bank. Yep, they were still there. We slowly peaked our barrels over the edge and had a "ready aim fire". Before any of them could fly, we cut loose. When they were in the air we each banged away, a couple more times. I can't recall how many ducks we ended up with that morning, but there was a bunch. Ducks were laying everywhere. We tied the feathery critters all over our bikes and pedalled back to town. Those were the days! That was back when Men were Men, and boys were boys, and the sheep and the ducks were all scared in Montana.

I remember packing student static line rigs, back in the early 70's this way. IF I REMEMBER RIGHT??? we used one of the inner strands (of 550 cord) per cone. The end of the static line was tied to the pilot chute with another strand. Never had a problem. I also jumped with the National Guard in the early 70's. Things were pretty loose to say the least back then. Sometimes I'd wear my frenchies and do a standup under a T-10 (instead of a PLF). Of course, this was a big "no, no". Nothing big ever came of it though. Most ranking sargents and officers had a ton of respect for anyone who was also a skydiver. I'd never try a stunt like that in the regular army though.....

Seenyore Beell, he did it again!......

reply] Just because a judge orders them to go and they do does not mean they learned anything.reply] I agree. Sometimes the courts will sentence some real violent types to this kind of treatment, and then they will feel good about it....As if the problem is solved, when in reality a time bomb is still cooking. Take for example someone who is beating the hell out of their wife. Are a few weeks or even months of anger management classes really going to make any difference? The outcome can be a disaster.....

Anger management is a popular idea these days. Take a few classes and the problem is solved. The courts sentence people to it. The schools teach it. Juvenile detention facilities use it. The million dollar question is, does it work? There is little research out there to support it. I truly believe that not all anger management is B.S. though. It does help some people. One has to be committed to change if it is going to help. Many people want to control their anger when they are calm. They may know all the latest techniques forward and backward. Then when they go into a fit of rage they use none of it. I know some of it would work, if people would just do it. Some techniques are better than others. I've taught this stuff for years. I have trouble using it myself, when I am truly angry....

It seems like yesterday when Jerry Bird was on top. I remember when Jerry Bird's All Stars were setting world records. I saw them jump when they came to Montana in around 73 to jump at our jump meet. Hod Sander's still talks about Jerry Bird when he was on their team with B.J. Was that Mirror Image? Wasn't there a Jerry Bird, pop top reserve at one time? I hope Jerry Bird is still getting the respect he deserves. I've heard there were some health problems in his immediate family. Hod said he was driving a taxi for a while, in Florida, to make ends meet. Jerry Bird is still my hero!

It's interesting to note that the most at risk group for suicide is an elderly white male. Usually the most at risk race for suicide is White. Not always, though. In some locations Indian populations are very at risk. I heard that something like ten Kids died on the Wind River Reservation, in Wyoming, in a very short time. What really bothers me is when young people want to kill themselves. I work in a middle school on an Indian Reservation. I've been in this school a very long time. Many of these kids are very troubled. Suicide has never been a problem until the last few years. We lost a student the summer before last to suicide. We lost another one this winter. Both of them hanged themselves. We now have a large number of students who have suicidal thoughts dancing in their head. Suicide can be contagious, and it is happening in our school. There has been more than one attempt since the last girl died in December. This morning there was a clinical psychologist who called. Three more girls tried to hang themselves last night. Two of these girls I have in a group with the psychologist who called. Yesterday they were laughing and having fun in school. I don't know all the details, but one of them can barely talk today. Her neck is that sore from the rope she was trying to kill herself with. It makes me sick. They have so much to live for. It's hard not to blame yourself when this sort of thing happens. The good news is that they are still alive. One of them nearly died a month ago, when her sister found her passed out with a scarf around her neck. She wasn't breathing when she was found. What a close call! Then she tries again, last night. I don't think most people realize how screwed up Indian Reservations are. There are so many problems here. The system is truly broke. Most parents here are alcoholics or have drug addiction problems. Violence is unbelieveable. There are burned out homes all over town. I'm not exaggerating, nor am I being predjudice. I think this is an accurate description. Even many Native people are moving out of town. It's that bad. Many have lost hope. I've been working on this one for 25 years. I live off of the Reservation in a little town where my family is safe. I think the worst problem is the tribal courts. You can turn in an abusive, neglectful family to social services or law enforcement. Usually absolutely nothing is done. If a child is removed from their home, they are traumatized by all that, and then they are put in another home that is just as dysfunctional as the one they came out of. Even the Native people, who live here, are fed up. It's really hard to keep working as a counselor in such a place. What keeps me going is knowing I am helping some kids cope and survive another day in hell. All the money that our government poors into Reservations is not helping. It is usually wasted on things that aren't even needed. Little is spent on kids who need a home. Sorry I'm so negative tonight. I need to vent!....

If someone was suffering badly enough. If there was no hope of recovery. If a close friend or relative begged you to. It would be hard to say no. As a therapist, you are supposed to hospitalize anyone who is a high risk for suicide. That would include even someone who is terminally ill. If someone came to you and said they had a short time to live, that there was no hope, and that they wanted to die with dignity. Would you lock them up in a mental ward till they changed their mind. I don't think I could. I don't think that suicide is always wrong. I knew an old cowboy once whose body was shot. There was no hope of recovery. He had terminal cancer. The end would have meant suffering in a hospital bed for all his family to watch. It would also mean losing all his land and real estate holdings. That could have gone to his family. He had no health insurance. His land would have gone just to pay his damn hospital bills. So, he shot himself. I have a lot of respect for someone like that. It took balls to do something like that. Was he thinking irrationally? I think not. Was this a selfish act? I don't think so. He wanted to leave his family something other than the memories of his laying in a bed suffering. Another person might say he didn't have a right to make a decision like that. That it was up to God and not his decision to make. I couldn't disagree more....

I think you are right. These new valves are different than the old ones. I'll try a different tank. Thanks!...

It's interesting to note that many many people who commit suicide are under the influence of alcohol when they do it. Maybe more than half. Many would still be alive if they hadn't drank that night. It is often the next morning when they are coming down off of a drunk, that the suicide takes place. This is something a Therapist could be held liable for, if they don't warn their client. Alcohol and depression can be a deadly combination. When you first start getting drunk, the alcohol can put you into an uplifted state. When it starts to wear off, depression levels can really drop. You are not thinking clearly. You are also more impulsive, you would do things you would normally never do. This might include killing yourself. But then again, I've read research that states that alcohol may help people cope with their depression. I recall one article that stated that getting drunk may even keep many people from completing suicide. So, it sounds like there are two sides to this. The same goes for medication. If you quit many anti-depressants cold turkey, that too can put you into a very depressed state. If you go off of an anti-depressant, do so under a doctor's recommendation. I know I might sound like a know it all on here. I don't mean to sound that way. Many people don't know all this. Some of it can save your life. I want to help.....

I think we got ours at Target. There's nothing better than deep fried turkey! I'm having a lot of trouble with the propane burners though. I've got two of them, that I use for various things, even taxidermy projects. Both of them don't get hot enough. It's like they are on a low setting all the time. You can't get them to throw out the heat you need. Is there something I am doing wrong. Do, I need to take a big hammer to them? Thanks for your help!

................................................................. I listened to a teacher once who worked with troubled kids. He confidently said that depression is a choice. He was teaching a new program that the school had adopted. He was inferring that all you need to do is think positive, think happy thoughts, and you wouldn't be depressed any more. What an Idiot! Brain scans truly are changing what we know about the human brain. PTSD clients often have problems with depression. They weren't born that way, but they have depression problems later. This can show up in a brain scan. Brain chemistry can change over time. I think Airtwardo brought that up. Brain imaging can also show memory problems. People exposed to high levels of trauma can have an actual change in their brain chemistry. Trauma is the cause. I'm no expert on any of this, but my take is that cortisol (a brain hormone) is released when people are exposed to high levels of trauma, anger, or even depression. Sleep patterns are often affected. Cortisol actually starts eroding receptors in the brain. Memory problems start to occur. Short term memory lapses are common. Does high levels of Cortisol cause depression??? I'd like to learn more on this. Please jump in, if you can add to this. Brain imaging can show much of this. This is particularly acute in some people who are bi-polar and others with more serious emotional problems. Taking your medication can offset this deterioration of your brain. I sometimes wonder if one reason I have so much trouble with memory today. I grew up in a home from hell. It was similiar to a battle zone. Sometimes I have trouble remembering even simple stuff, like my own birthday, names of friends, etc. I am an old fart, but there may very well be more to it than that. If you look in the DSM IV. there really isn't a label that fits extended trauma over time. PTSD might come close, but that really isn't it. I heard that in the DSM V. there will be a new label called complex trauma. So, if I were to diagnose myself, that would be my pick.....

Nataly, Depression is nothing to be ashamed of. There are litterally millions of us out there. It's probably smart not to tell most people, because they don't have much knowledge on the subject and some will hold it against you. So what is mental illness? For many it is a very normal reaction to a really crappy situation. Child abuse and neglect screws up millions of kids every year. Some are able to bounce back but many are scarred for life. It's not there fault. A soldier who sees his best friends killed in front of him may not be the same after. He may be haunted with that for the rest of his life. Depression is probably going to be part of his future. It's not his fault he is like that. If you have a chemical imbalance, it is something you are born with. It's not your fault. We do our best to hide it, but others can still see something isn't right. Sometimes it's too hard to hide. At any rate, you deserve a better life. You don't have to continue living in the darkness. Even a medical doctor can prescribe an anti-depressant. Tell him you are very stressed out, and want to try an SSRI medication. You may not experience any serious side affects. Some people take anti-depressants for other reasons than depression. If that doesn't work try a different medication. There is a way out of the hole you are in now....

I heard of one guy driving a piece of rebar down with a hammer in various spots till he hit concrete. This would work if it isn't too deep. My tank is only about a foot below the surface. You'd think the sewer line would freeze up. No problems so far. It's been thirty years, and I live in Montana. The metal detector sounds like the best way to find a tank....

Nataly, You sound a lot like my daughter. She was valedictorian of her senior class, a real achiever. She is beautiful. She has everything going for her. At times she feels the world would be better off without her. She now needs medication to stay alive. I know I'm not being a very good listener right now, by spouting advice. But There is a way out of the dark place you are in now. Don't give up. One thing that helps me is knowing that somehow, some way, things are going to get better. There may not be a lot you can do about your present situation, that you have not already done. If there isn't anything further you can do to change things, it's important to rely on hope, and don't discount support from family and friends. I would try a medication. Be good to yourself, you deserve that. I didn't know Deuce very well. He seemed like a great guy on these forums. There were times when I could sense his depression. I'm sure it was eating him alive from the inside out. I read where he too was Valedictorian of his senior class. He too was probably a perfectionist. Don't let this take your life, like it did his!....

Some people, particularly mental health professionals are down on self help books. I'm not sure why. There are some good self help books out there. Some are better than others. Some are written by clinical psychologists. Find what might work for you. An important thing to remember is that there are few quick fixes in mental health work. Particularly if you are trying to do this on your own. There are many books geared for professional therapists on the market. Many have too many big words. Find one you can read and understand. There are entire sections in book stores now devoted to self help. There are many relaxation, and visualization techniques that can learn. You don't have to pay someone a hundred dollars an hour to teach you these. They aren't the total answer. I know this is an over simplication for what ails you, but most therapists I know, subscribe to these when needed. They can help a lot when battling depression or anger. But, if your life is in danger....Please don't go the self help route! It's kind of like putting a bandaid on a serious wound. There's a good chance it isn't going to be enough to save your life....

I've heard that drain fields aren't expected to last much over thirty years or so. I'm not sure if that is true or not. I've been pumping our septic tank out every ten years or so. Maybe it isn't needed. Our septic system is about 30 years old. It still works fine. You flush the toilet and it all goes down. When I worked as a plumbers apprentice....I was told there is two important things to remember in that profession. One is shit flows down hill. Two is that payday is on Friday. That is about all I can remember from way back then.

Watermelon....

There is something lower than a leg. When I started basic at Ft. Polk, they called us "worms"....with an assortment of four letter words thrown in for effect. Not all "Legs" are bad. My mother is a leg.

Mountain country usually is snowy and cold in the winter. You can always take up skiing. There's nothing better than summer in the mountains. Teaching is a really tough profession these days. Once you are in a school district for a while you can move up on the pay scale. Having your summers off is a great plus. There is usually job security in teaching. This tough economy is even hitting the schools now. I'd think Colorado would be a great place to live. I've lived in Montana all my life. I too am beginning to hate winter. Maybe that is because I live a long way from any ski run.....

I've seen threads like this before on this forum. Things usually end up with those who are depressed tryinging to explain their pain. Other's write in and say they don't get it, and that the best thing to do is just suck it up... (which is impossible). Anger starts flying both ways, and then the thread ends. So, before that happens, I thought I'd throw in a few thoughts. If you are depressed, don't just sit back and let this kill you. There are things you can do. You need to be proactive. Don't give up on medication. For some people this is the difference between life and death. They all have side affects, and I agree some of these are terrible side affects. You may have to live with this. Look for a better medication. If none is available you may have to return to what you were taking. My daughter was so depressed that she couldn't even get out of bed. She took her medication for a while, and we could see a big difference. She stopped taking her medication for almost a year. She was miserable. After a close call, she is back taking her medicine and doing better. Depression is much more common in women. Usually males are more likely to complete suicide. Therapy is available that can help depression. I know this can be expensive. There are a lot of crappy therapists out there. Don't give up on this. The big thing for me is hanging on to hope. If you lose that you are lost. Have a plan and fight. You are fighting for your life. Don't give up. Wallowing in your pain with someone else who is suicidal may make things worse. Usually suicidal people are not put into a group with others who are suicidal. I know what it is like to feel that pain. I have plenty of issues from the past. Talking to an understanding therapist can help. Just my two cents worth.....

....................................................................... I've been out since 1976. There's been a lot of changes since then. Soldiers from all over the world could be found at JFK Center for Special Warfare. It was mainly for Army Special Forces, but I recall seeing many Vietnamese and Israeli soldiers there in 1970. There was a jungle school in Panama at one time. I think that has been disbanded....

External frames are still made. Most of the ones I've seen are heavy duty Freighter models. There's nothing better for packing meat or other large ackward loads. It's hard to fit a half a deer into a bag or maybe a big set of elk horns. Sometimes a load like that is messy too. It's handy to just tie on a load with rope. You can use pins to put your bag back on, or take it off. For all around back packing the internal frame sounds like the way to go. There is enough physical pain to back packing. The internal frame pack is no doubt more comfortable......