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Old August 8, 2011, 02:50 PM   #1
PTS1
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If I could do it all over......

Ok, here is one to think about. Going through all my clutter the other day got me thinking, if I could go back I would not have got this, I would have got that or done this, etc.... So if you could do it all over what would you change? Would you have bought less rifles and gone on more hunts? Would you have hunted differently? Used different/more/less equipment? Taken more/less people along? What has life taught you that you wished you knew then?
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Old August 8, 2011, 02:56 PM   #2
rickyrick
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I would have not bought the hog squeeler......and bought more molasses.



And I woulda learnt to sing and learnt to be a doctor....And bought alot of netflix stock.

Thanks buddy now I am depressed
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Old August 8, 2011, 03:35 PM   #3
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If I could do it all over again? Probably make the same mistakes, I made what I thought were the "right decisions" back then. But in hindsight, I would have bought that house in California that was sold just a few years later for 5X what it cost, I would have held onto my Boss 302 and Mach 1 Mustangs for a few more years, and I would have taken that job in Saudi Arabia training their military (it paid a fantastic amount of money!). I also would have bought more Colt revolvers and Winchester Model 70s back in the day, and would have learned more about computers when they were in their infancy. And I would have built an Amway business.
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Old August 8, 2011, 08:07 PM   #4
highvel
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Everything is supposed to be a learning experience.
I don't think I would change a thing, you become a better hunter by learning from mistakes and I've learned a lot!
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Old August 8, 2011, 08:23 PM   #5
BUFF
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I wouldn't have burned up all my vacation, spent hundreds of dollars and driven 1000 miles for last year's whitetail rifle season, just to come up empty....like my freezer. I've never eaten so much chicken in my life as I have this year.

I could have done so much more with the time and money I wasted.
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Old August 8, 2011, 11:26 PM   #6
Buzzcook
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Skip the .30-06 and started out with a 6.5 Swede.

Skip the first wife and start out with the second.
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Old August 8, 2011, 11:59 PM   #7
Crankylove
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Quote:
Skip the first wife and start out with the second.
I am with ya on that one
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Old August 11, 2011, 12:21 AM   #8
mdd
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Buzzcook for the win. Still married to my first. Except for my son, I sure wish I could have the last ten years of my life back.
As pertinent to this forum, I'd have skipped all the crap scopes & waited till I had the money for the good ones.
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Old August 11, 2011, 12:55 AM   #9
Hog Buster
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I wouldn’t change a damn thing. I’ve had 73 years, most of it hunting and fishing or some such, of about the best life I could stand..... I hope it continues for a while too.....

What has that life taught me?... 90% of everything is BS and the other 10% doesn’t matter....
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Old August 11, 2011, 01:17 AM   #10
BIG P
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Should of started hunting like a sniper a lot sooner,miles & miles of stomping around in the MTS. & SWAMPS shootin spooked deer on the run callin it fun.
When a little scouting & finding a advantage point to shoot from has been alot more productive & enjoyable not to mention alot less work.Now days I let the rifle do the work.
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Old August 11, 2011, 02:48 AM   #11
FrankenMauser
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Quote:
As pertinent to this forum, I'd have skipped all the crap scopes & waited till I had the money for the good ones.
Absolutely. Once you see the light, there's no going back.


I know it's a really odd thing for a hunter to say....
If I were to do it over again, I would have let a few more big game animals walk away. Sometimes it feels better to know I had them, and let them live. And, sometimes, the shot should not have been taken, under the conditions that existed. (But I did learn a lot from those mistakes.)


And...
I think would own fewer centerfire rifles. My beloved .270 gets neglected, now. It has too many friends in the gun safe, that get their share of the fun. If those friends hadn't shown up, it would be used far more frequently (and I'd be perfectly happy).
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Old August 11, 2011, 05:18 AM   #12
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I would of paid a lot closer attention to my father when he was teaching me to shoot. Doesn't sound like a big thing but that inattention lead in one way or another to quite a few hours of fruitless searching and most depressingly more than a few hours or remorse at the unnecessary harm I had caused a animal.

Kind of makes the point of how little things done wrong lead to bigger bad outcomes.

Now as to the mentioned "wife" issues............I got lucky there.....in over 30 years haven't seen any reason to even consider a trade. Of course I'm not so sure she hasn't had cause to think about trading me in........
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Old August 11, 2011, 05:52 AM   #13
TheNatureBoy
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I wouldn't change a thing. Straight across the board its (hunting/target shooting/reloading) has been a whole lotta fun.
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Old August 11, 2011, 10:18 AM   #14
603Country
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I'm in my early 60's, and I don't think there's much I'd change in my past. Made some mistakes, and like I've heard it said: "We learn from our mistakes and the worse the mistake the more we learn". Read that to mean that I've leaned a lot. As for marriage, I got that right. Been married for 40-something years to the same freckled redhead, and it's been 3 of the best years of my life (She hates when I say that).

I wouldn't have sold the Marlin 336T in 35 Rem that my Dad gave me when I turned 15. Even today I can't understand why I sold that rifle.
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Old August 11, 2011, 11:09 AM   #15
chewie146
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I'm on the low end of this, but every time I think about what I did wrong or may have done differently in hunting, buying guns, etc, I think of what I've learned since then. One thing I would have done is more research on firearms and less impulse buying. I would have had a plan for my arsenal and a plan for the guns. Other than that, I never owned a gun I didn't enjoy shooting, aside from the scandium/titanium .357 smith J frame.
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Old August 11, 2011, 12:13 PM   #16
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Quote:
What has life taught you that you wished you knew then?
PATIENCE!

The older I've got the more I've learned the importance of patience in hunting as well as in many life situations.
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Old August 11, 2011, 12:28 PM   #17
JACK308
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I would NOT of married the woman......... I did! but now I'm divorced!
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Old August 11, 2011, 04:15 PM   #18
Major Dave (retired)
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I bought a matching set of 20 ga and 12 ga SXS shotguns

for my freckled red head bride and I to use on a dove hunt during our honeymoon, 45 years ago.

Then I did a dumb thing - I posted her at the edge of a stock tank, then left and went about 300 yards upslope to shoot doves as they funneled in to the waterhole. After about an hour of fast and furious shooting (the doves were coming in wave after wave of 12 to 15 birds per flock), I realized my bride hadn't fired a shot.

I went to her, and as soon as I saw the look on her face I realized I had forever lost any chance to make her my "hunting buddy". She felt abandoned, and excluded.

I should have stayed with her, intercepted the flights of doves at the water tank, put my arms around her, helped her touch off her shots, and kissed her sweet lips with every downed bird.

"Of all sad words
of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these,
It might have been."

Maude Muller

P. S. We celebrate our 45th Anniversary, Sept 3 (third day of dove season),and we are going to the beach at Galveston, TX. No plans for a dove hunt! Alone, or otherwise. I sold both the SXS'es years ago.
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Last edited by Major Dave (retired); August 11, 2011 at 04:21 PM.
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Old August 11, 2011, 04:43 PM   #19
Outlaw81
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+1 on rickyrick. That hog squealer comment cracked me up. There's no changing anything. Its called life and learning.
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Old August 15, 2011, 05:14 PM   #20
publius
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I would have never gotten married and would have never sold any of my guns. I'll never do either again.
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Old August 15, 2011, 05:29 PM   #21
ZeroJunk
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I think I would have kept my first rifle, a Win Model 70 30-06 and just hunted with it for the duration. Probably kept my first pistol, a S&W Model 57, and bought a couple of more pistols for concealed carry.

I would have skipped the few hundred other guns I have bought and sold and bought stock in Apple.
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Old August 15, 2011, 08:40 PM   #22
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I've sold or traded a few weapons that I have at times regretted, including my first Python and a 6" nickel, .22lr Diamondback. But the one I would like to have back was a Smith & Wesson 3913 with a serial number XXX1234. Every gun show around my area I always look for that little piece.
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Old August 18, 2011, 11:20 AM   #23
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I would have bought A LOT less stuff on a whim, and definitely used my free time more to do things like hunting & fishing, rather than just sit at home watching TV. Then again, it's easy to say that now, when I'm not so tired, instead of back then, when I was in school and working 3 part time jobs & exhausted 24/7.

Oh, and definitely would have paid more attention to what makes for a good girlfriend / wife. Yes, a big change on that...
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Old August 18, 2011, 12:05 PM   #24
TX Hunter
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looking back

I wouldnt change a thing, my hunting career has been a fantastic adventure. I just hate that life is so short!!
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Old August 18, 2011, 12:43 PM   #25
Wild Bill Bucks
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Should have married my 3rd wife first, and saved myself a ton of cash.
Should have never sold my Hex barreled, pump action 22 my grandfather left me. ( It was a gun that the carnivals used to have at their shooting gallery, and worth a fortune now. I got $100.00 for it. Can you say Dumb A--.)
Shouldn't have pulled both triggers at once on grandads old 10 gauge shotgun on my 8th birthday that resulted in my first broken nose.
Should have listened to the wife about 2 years ago about selling all my old camo and hunting equipment because I thought I had entirely to much stuff.
I learned that you can never have to much stuff.
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