Wednesday marks the mid-point of the working week and the run into the weekend and it seems the perfect time to stop and think. #whatsupwednesday is a snapshot of what's been going on, or will be, in my week based on a little thought and reflection.
Follow up
Some of you may be pleased to know I didn't die after my recent operation. That's right, you're stuck with me on the blockchain for a little while longer. I'm not quite recovered as yet, that'll take a few months, but the pain is going away and it seems things are now progressing well with a good prognosis for a full, if not miraculous, recovery in the next 3-6 months; I'll have to be a little careful with it, but otherwise it's all good.
Today I had a follow up appointment at the hospital with my surgeon who did a full ultrasound of the area that was operated on and she declared it a success - She's the best in the business apparently so I'm sure she'd know. I walked away feeling pretty good and despite some residual pain I've been given permission to resume hiking which has made me very happy. I'll not be able to tackle anything super-strenuous or steep however she told me I can get some hiking done, just no running yet, and I'm content with that.
Hiking
It's been a couple of weeks since I've hiked so I'm pleased to be able to get into the outdoors again. I'll be going for a hike tonight of course but considering it'll happen in the dark I'll be a little careful; Falling over wouldn't be good for me right now but I'll have a headlight on illuminating the way I guess so I'll be fine. No pain no gain? Dumb saying!
I'm planning on ramping the hike-length and difficulty up over the next week or so and judging by the way I feel now I think after that I'll be good to go on my normal hikes up and down the mountain which I'm really looking forward to. It keeps me [mostly] sane.
Working on the farm
I took a phone call from the owner of the cattle farm on which I cull feral pests asking where I've been; A gentle hint to indicate I haven't been there!
It seems his property is being overrun with kangaroos and he's none too pleased. Of course he pulled his head in a little once I told him I'd had an operation although he pushed me on when I'll get back and resume shooting operations because the situation ism costing money which he generally can't recover as the market will only pay so much for beef cattle.
I'm going this week, is what I told him. In fact I'll go tomorrow night and see what I see. By all accounts I'll see a lot of kangaroos so will need to take care of a few with the rifle I guess. Poor buggers; If only they didn't jump the fences onto the property; But they do.
I'll probably not be able to hike up to my most-favoured hides due to my operation-scenario although there's a few positions I think will work fine for me to settle in and shoot prone - It's been bucketing down up there too so these will be a little drier.
I don't mind having to use these less-desirable locations though as the range I'll be shooting at is actually greater than from where I would typically set up, some 450m - 550m which will make for some interesting shots. I'm a long range shooter after all. There's places I can shoot at far greater range but I tend not to when culling as I need to make head shots and kangaroos heads aren't very big.
I did some quick calculations today and I'll be using about 2.8 - 3.1 MRAD of elevation to make shots at 550m and a couple of other factors will come into play as well. For an explanation of what MRAD is please refer to this small post on the topic.
At 550m, with the rifle-system I will be using, the bullet will be in-flight for 0.73 of a second, so about 3/4 of a second, which is enough time for the animal to move away from the shot. Considering it's a requirement to make head shots when culling kangaroos I will have to take some extra care when taking my shots. I am all about dispatching the animal in a quick, humane manner of course.
I've done this enough times to know [generally] how a kangaroo will behave though so I'll just need to take a little extra care to study the animal a little to make sure I take the shot at the most opportune moment. I'll not shoot if I feel there is a chance of not impacting my point of aim.
As a comparison, at half that range, 275m, the projectile flight-time is 0.33 of a second so about half the time making the shot much easier as the animal is less likely to have the chance to move. The drop in energy imparted at the target is significant too: 863ft-lbf at 550m as opposed to 1277ft-lbf at 275m. Of course, that's still more than enough energy to transfer into the animal for a humane kill, or I wouldn't take the shot.
I'm looking forward to getting back out there as it's been about three weeks now - There's something pretty cool about being the only human for miles and I always find it peaceful, except for when the shots ring out. I find solace out there, my mind is quieter and I have time to think, or not, as I deem necessary.
So that's a wrap on this week's #whatsupwednesday - Nothing too exciting I guess, but getting the clearance to hike again made my hump-day happy! How about y'all? Drop a comment and let me know what's up this Wednesday or do your own post on it.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
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