I know most of my posts on this list have not been particularly useful to anyone, and that's a large part of why I've been trying to stay off the list for the past few months. But I learned something today that some of you might find helpful, and I thought I'd share it to try to pay some of you back for the help you've given me.
I'm a flat-lander from Kansas living in Colorado, and not entirely by choice. When you shoot something out in the wide open prairie, you can usually just keep your eye on your fallen prey and walk in pretty much a straight line to it to retrieve it. Or at least, that's how it usually worked for me as a boy.
That's not necessarily how it works out here in Colorado. You can't always walk in a straight line to your prey. We have these big, bumpy things called "mountains" out here that so many people seem to love, and they kind of get in the way sometimes. Personally, I'm not that wild about them.
You can't always walk in a straight line here, and you usually can't even keep your eye on your fallen prey because you have to look down occasionally to see where to step, or you'll fall down these big bumpy things. And that hurts! Not only that, but the rocks and other terrain doesn't even look the same up top as it does from down below, and vice versa. So, it can be a real challenge to find your prey here.
On top of that, I shoot primarily at chip monks. They're small, and they blend in real well with their surroundings, whether it's open ground or rocky areas.
Anyway, I shot a chip monk this afternoon. I watched the thing flopping all around, and kept it in sight the whole time until it stopped. As I was about to get up, I had the thought, "Now, wait a minute. Just stay put for a second. Stay right where you are, and lay your shooting stick down in a straight line pointing straight at the fallen critter." I did that, and I left it there.
I climbed the mountain to where I thought the chip monk was. I thought I'd walked in pretty much a straight line, and kept my eye on it as much as I could; but I couldn't find it. Then I looked down at my shooting stick and could see that I was off a little to one side. I brought myself in alignment with it, looked at the ground in a straight line between it and me, and sure enough, there was a chip monk there on the ground, dead as a doornail, minus some brains.
That shooting stick worked as a real nice pointer. I suppose you could use your rifle to do the same thing. Personally, I tend to take it with me. I don't like leaving things like that laying around, even if there is no one else around here for miles.
It seems kind of obvious, but I thought this might help some of you.
Saint John Chrysostom said once that whenever God reveals something spiritual to us, we should always share it with others. If we do that, He will be more inclined to share with us greater spiritual revelations. And I've found that to be true, within my limited knowledge of such things.
Well, this isn't exactly what I would call a spiritual matter; but I think it came from Him, not the devil, so I thought I'd share it with you to see if it works with earthly matters, too ... because I sure could use all the help I can get from Him, and not just with pest eradication.
I hope this helps someone.
I think it's a useful tip.
Thank you for all of the help and kindness you've shown me.
God bless you all.
Cordially,
+Peter, hieromonk
I'm a flat-lander from Kansas living in Colorado, and not entirely by choice. When you shoot something out in the wide open prairie, you can usually just keep your eye on your fallen prey and walk in pretty much a straight line to it to retrieve it. Or at least, that's how it usually worked for me as a boy.
That's not necessarily how it works out here in Colorado. You can't always walk in a straight line to your prey. We have these big, bumpy things called "mountains" out here that so many people seem to love, and they kind of get in the way sometimes. Personally, I'm not that wild about them.
You can't always walk in a straight line here, and you usually can't even keep your eye on your fallen prey because you have to look down occasionally to see where to step, or you'll fall down these big bumpy things. And that hurts! Not only that, but the rocks and other terrain doesn't even look the same up top as it does from down below, and vice versa. So, it can be a real challenge to find your prey here.
On top of that, I shoot primarily at chip monks. They're small, and they blend in real well with their surroundings, whether it's open ground or rocky areas.
Anyway, I shot a chip monk this afternoon. I watched the thing flopping all around, and kept it in sight the whole time until it stopped. As I was about to get up, I had the thought, "Now, wait a minute. Just stay put for a second. Stay right where you are, and lay your shooting stick down in a straight line pointing straight at the fallen critter." I did that, and I left it there.
I climbed the mountain to where I thought the chip monk was. I thought I'd walked in pretty much a straight line, and kept my eye on it as much as I could; but I couldn't find it. Then I looked down at my shooting stick and could see that I was off a little to one side. I brought myself in alignment with it, looked at the ground in a straight line between it and me, and sure enough, there was a chip monk there on the ground, dead as a doornail, minus some brains.
That shooting stick worked as a real nice pointer. I suppose you could use your rifle to do the same thing. Personally, I tend to take it with me. I don't like leaving things like that laying around, even if there is no one else around here for miles.
It seems kind of obvious, but I thought this might help some of you.
Saint John Chrysostom said once that whenever God reveals something spiritual to us, we should always share it with others. If we do that, He will be more inclined to share with us greater spiritual revelations. And I've found that to be true, within my limited knowledge of such things.
Well, this isn't exactly what I would call a spiritual matter; but I think it came from Him, not the devil, so I thought I'd share it with you to see if it works with earthly matters, too ... because I sure could use all the help I can get from Him, and not just with pest eradication.
I hope this helps someone.
I think it's a useful tip.
Thank you for all of the help and kindness you've shown me.
God bless you all.
Cordially,
+Peter, hieromonk
