Yeh we have done guiding for generations now ,my Dad & Uncles have backed off now ,so we are lucky enough to have had a 'closed book' client list for the last 5 years .I have been finishing off our Ranch build & getting our side of the Cattle running properly & putting a good crew together , so have been focusing on the Long Range 'Alpine' hunting & rafting Hunting /AdvX expeditions .
We may look at opening the books up again in 2 years times, if my brother decided to quit work & sell his place & concentrate on guiding.I love diving & spear fishing so plan to get back into doing those trips as well as soon as everything is settled, but for now we have more than enough on our books .
If you have something specific in mind l would be more than happy to make recommendations if you want.I have been lucky enough to have Hunted & Fished all over the world so have got to know some great operators ,but more importantly the truly great hunting areas.
I put them in a comment with some info ,hope it works for you.
No, like all animals (even fowl) when butchering you take a bit of extra care & remove the glands & you have no problems.All game animals are just like farm animals if you treated the finest bred cow you wanted Wagyu steak off by sticking it with a blunt knife 1/2 a dozen times ,then left it ungutted while you bounced it around in the back of a pick up in the sun & then spilt its gut content all over it by not caring how you butchered it ,it would taste just like the tough,gamey meat people complain about .
On our Ranch we home kill or what Ranchers call Over Landing (from the old settler days) all our own Beef & have our own cool rooms to hang & store it, so since l am guessing l was 10 yrs old, butchering large beasts has just been what you learned to do.Game animals are simply the free range ,organic meat people pay a premium for in a shop ,just some have no idea how to treat & prepare it properly.
You would like it on the Ranch,this is what we call our Montana Patriotic Red ,White & Blue on show every day in my 'office' -
That is one of the things l loved about my time in Argentina, the home grown 'Grappa' wine they serve at the big traditional meals is fantastic .I never really liked red wine that much before that, but enjoy it now & as you say the care & tradition that goes with them making it is both fascinating & great to see.
Unfortunately many Americans do not appreciate what we have on offer ,l worked hard & risked my life to get we are now, with 6 years fighting overseas & then over 2 years contracting ,but it gave me the opportunity & means to own our own Ranch Homestead smack in the middle of our 380 Ac & have only really known working for myself & being my own boss since
Yep l have a old copper hog scalding bath l picked up at a farm yard sale years ago one side comes up to your Hip to stop scalding yourself , it came with its own plumbed copper mini wood hot water system l now use at my hunting shack for showers .I converted the scalder to gas for our use & old skinning knives getting worn down, are much prized to be honed down into a hog shaver still,l still prefer scalding to using the modern blow torch method .
Cherish those old films you are lucky to have them & a great memory of your families traditional times spent together ,that forges great people from them,l now really admire the woman from them times they must have been fantastic people ,tough,smart & beautiful.
Nope, Boars are what you want for Salami,l specifically tracked & picked him out of a mob over 2 weeks just for it & shot him through the left eye at 50 yards so the Bullet would not waste any meat .That whole was boned out & minced for our Salami's & added to our aged venison we had specially stored in our freezer just for it.
I am lucky as my Vietnam War Veteran Uncle, (who was a Armourer with the Army Marksmanship Unit) has a fully equipped work shop where we have made many custom guns together over the years .This is a custom we built off a commercial Mauser action that was selling off cheap a few years ago, without the triggers to trade,my Uncle laps & trues the actions, we fitted & bedded a Lilja Precision Rifle barrel cut back & threaded to 16 inch (my preferred length for 308 with Suppressor ) & a worked Timney trigger .
Rifle shoots 3/4 MOA with my hunting hand loads for it,any Game that is hunted for meat l try for head shots for instant death & then bled on the spot ,that hog was taken at 50 yards head on as l was waiting for him after tracking him for a while ,shot took him through the eye & int the neck to minimize damage to the meat & instant dirt nap so meat is at a premium condition.
As to getting the stamps for your suppressors IMO the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) SNAFU themselves as they tried to make it so there was a heap of stupid paperwork & Tax to go though to get one ,but guess what most people are that mad that once they have got through all the Bull Shit for the first one they say to themselves well hell l may as well just get some more now as l have the paper work all worked out.
I love hunting with Suppressors now & me & my Uncle are both bitten by the Long Range hunting bug & building custom long Range rifles, so use them on our builds .Having been lucky enough that the only thing l came out of Iraq & Afghanistan with was Tinnitus from shooting inside buildings & worn out knees from humping loads up mountains in Afghanistan, so Suppressors really do help me any way .I even just fitted one to a custom 338 Lapua Magnum we just built,but that will be the last of the Magnum Suppressors l buy as the good stuff is getting real expensive as demand grows ,hopefully in the future you will be able to build your own with out a mountain of paper work.
Salami is one of the things l have truly grown to love as l got older,l think partly because l know the laughs & family time that went into making ours ,l now find it really relaxing to sit on the back deck with a beer & just some salami & cheese etc ,it has more or less become my comfort food l guess.
That is our home cured bacon,my wife is a gun at curing the Bacon now & has her own secret recipe l have never been able to tickle out of her .
I posted some info with the end product pics but ask any questions you want,my family were among the original Settlers & Ranchers of Montana & we still run Ranch's now so we like keeping American Ranch traditions alive .
When my Grand Father got back from WWII he started a Guiding business on his Ranch, as it was good Elk country & they needed the extra money coming in to rebuild the Ranch due to no men being around to do major works (like fencing etc ) during the war .
Then when my Dad & his brothers got back from Vietnam & Korea they expanded on it to all around the World after all their traveling, so we have always had access to a lot of different Game to eat & taken pride in preparing & cooking it properly,but also having Guides from foreign countries working for us in those foreign lands mean we got to taste delicious ways various countries traditionally cooked them & learnt how to do it . My biggest learning curve in cooking was spending time each year in Argentina hunting,they are the best cooks in some of the best hunting grounds in the world as well as some of the best people & even my wife admits the woman are out of this world .
Properly prepared Wild Hog is better than farm raised if butchered & cooked properly,we own a Ranch we would raise our own if it wasn't.This Boar came out of a mob that had been smashing a farmers corn fields so they are great eating quality ,but if you ever get a chance to eat wild hog that has been feeding in a nut plantation etc ,that pork is like no other & l could live on it .
Venison & Pork Organic & Free Range Ranch products .Every one who hunts should learn to do this as well as reload for every firearm they own, not only does it make you truly self sufficient the satisfaction & enjoyment it brings is its own reward .
We own & run our own Cattle Ranch as my family has done for generations ,but we also do Hunting,Fishing ,Diving & AdvX Guiding so l would estimate my family eat around 60% game meat .Properly prepared & cooked game meat is as good as any meat.
All up 110lbs of Sausages & 75 Salamis, with a Homestead full of family took 4 days of eating ,drinking & being merry ,with many lies told around a BBQ each night .It is now one of my favorite family Christmas Traditions ,we do another big family cook up the first week of December where we make Game Hamburgers as well as butcher our larger Christmas cuts.
Venison & Pork Sausages -
https://i.imgur.com/FACCcSF.jpg
These are a few of my "Special " cold smoked Salami l am luck enough to do a couple of trips a year to hunt my favorite game animal the Himalayan Tahr,l have found the meat of the Bull Tahr a fantastic addition to the Pork & Venison meat mix in Salami -
https://i.imgur.com/qxR3Y2xh.jpg
Some of our Salami & Bacon we had
Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed in action Oct. 22, while deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Wheeler died from enemy gunfire while in combat near Hawijah, Iraq.
https://www.leadthewayfund.org/master-sgt-joshua-l-wheeler/
Sgt. Maj. Thomas Payne Will Be 1st Living Delta Force Member to Receive Medal of Honor
Also remember Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler died leading his Delta Force team that day.
Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler died leading his Delta Force team on the primary assault into an Islamic State compound in Iraq on Oct. 22 2015 the night raid was on a prison run by militants affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. American and Kurdish forces freed 70 hostages that were held by ISIS militants near the town of Hawija, about 30 miles south of Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk.Six helicopters participated in the mission, including three CH-47 Chinooks and three UH-60 Black Hawks,
Actual footage of the raid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDjMfTC0nUY&feature=youtu.be
Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed in action Oct. 22, while deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Wheeler died from enemy gunfire while in combat near Hawijah, Iraq.
https://www.leadthewayfund.org/master-sgt-joshua-l-wheeler/
Sgt. Maj. Thomas Payne Will Be 1st Living Delta Force Member to Receive Medal of Honor
Also remember Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler died leading his Delta Force team that day.
Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler died leading his Delta Force team on the primary assault into an Islamic State compound in Iraq on Oct. 22 2015 the night raid was on a prison run by militants affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. American and Kurdish forces freed 70 hostages that were held by ISIS militants near the town of Hawija, about 30 miles south of Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk.Six helicopters participated in the mission, including three CH-47 Chinooks and three UH-60 Black Hawks,
Actual footage of the raid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDjMfTC0nUY&feature=youtu.be
Joe Hidin is just waiting for his puppet masters to put up a response for him to read out.
That FAL Para is a good lesson in finding a good supplier & building a relationship,l got that years ago after one of the Obama panic buying clusterfucks.I have posted on this a few times on T_D to give people a heads up ,but what always happens after these moronic episodes, is the market is flooded with high quality weapons when buyers regret sets in & all of a sudden the wife asks where did that money go or they actually shoot them & find it scares /hurts /they can not handle etc.
I had a dealer ring up said they had a guy needed to unload this ASAP & get the cash after taking it out & shooting it for the first time & being scared of it & l got it for what a S&W M&P 15 was going for,it is one of my favorite Hog & Ranch Truck guns .
So my advice is if you are contemplating purchasing anything high end just hold off for a few months as the morons who panic brought something they were told they needed off a internet forum/media are the sold at bargain prices when they find they can not handle it or as in most cases they need the cash urgent & that goes or everything from Optics to guns.
If you ever need any help or advice just ask,if l can help l will.
Any of the long established M-Spec brand names will give good service ,l have ran the relatively cheap Sightmark Mini Shot M-Spec FMS on my rigs for a while now & have been very happy with them .But have a soft spot for Aimpoint gear after never having it let me down in the Military, so l have used the the Micro & Acro a lot ,also the Triji RMR series .
Here is my old model Sightmark Mini Shot l used OS, l took the scope off & ran it on my FN FAL Rifle Para (folding stock) for when we did a Hog eradication shoot down in Florida in a old over grown plantation ,where we knew due to it being like a jungle 100 yards would be a long shot. Also once again a lot of the Euro gear is very good because they have been using the same set ups for their Driven hunts for decades ,so the gear has all been thoroughly tested in the field .
https://sightmark.com/products/2382/sightmark-mini-shot-m-spec-fms/
I just spat my coffee all over the keyboard
Keep them coming OP .
Someone with the skills needs to set the burning Anqueefa video to the Bootleg fireworks Lord Jee-zuss, Get The Water Nigguhh video -
I was never happy with the various ACOG/RMR type set ups we had in the military as IMO they are just a accountants answer to door kickers problems .As soon as you lose cheek weld you are done in combat situations,you have given the advantage to the guy trying to kill you.I used the 45deg mount extensively while in combat & it was the only way l would run the combo when my life depended on it ,the ability to transition with a firm cheek weld with a simple twist of your wrist is unbeatable & then the ability as l said to go from for example engaging at 25 yards with the Red Dot & then using it to quickly locate a target at 400 yards & transition by rolling your wrist to bring up your scope on target at10x all with proper cheek weld & sending lead at the same time is the difference to how your flight home goes.
One of the great things with high end gear is the manufacturer backing the product ,l sent the 1960's Khales scope my dad handed down to me for my first hunting rifle in for a full service a few years ago ,they went over it from top to bottom replaced seals even though it passed water proof /fog tests etc & they only charged me for return freight .I do a bit of guiding & one of the guys dropped his gun 200ft into a ravine trying to retrieve a clients Thar,Nightforce replaced the 4 year old scope no questions asked .
Obviously do not want to give to much away but if you look at dealers who cater to Military/LEA etc & look at their sites they normally have a "hidden section" for what they call Police Trade-Ins where they buy in bulk Department equipment that is being swapped out for latest models or the purchasing guy had his palm greased.If you take your time you will find NIB & safe queen gear for crazy prices as the dealers need to turn them over.One of my favorite bargain buys is to look at high end gear of all sorts, understand that LEA fire ridiculously low amounts to re-up/qualify each year, unless they are door kickers,then look for gear that is scuffed up from being carted around in vehicles all its life & less appealing to collectors or those with limited knowledge,you can get some ridiculously cheap gear.
The main thing l have found is get a good dealer (we do a lot with Dragonman firearms in Colorado as my Uncle has dealt with him since he started out after he got back from Vietnam ) & build a relationship with them.As a good example while everyone has been panic buying what ever black gun they can get their hands on ,a dealer we have known for a decade rung & asked if l was interested in a couple of bargain safe queens people were looking to get cash for in a hurry that l snapped up, including a very hard to get Beretta 1301one of the best 3 Gun Competition shotguns l have used & a perfect ranch /home defense gun at $50 above 1/2 price & l got the 45/70 for less than 1/2 price.
Dealers are that flat out they have all their funds tied up in buying what ever guns & ammo is available & do not have time for staff to sort through Trade ins so bargains are there for the taking.
Henry 45/70 Color Case Hardened - Octagon Barrel LTD Edition
I really enjoy the challenge of Spear fishing ,it is really like hunting underwater .Thanks you to