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Hunting and Bipolar

New spot. Chased foxy for about 100 yards until she posted up, allowing for a headshot. Then moved into greys deep timber habitat, and shot 3 out of the same shagbark hickory tree.

My daughter is fighting a head cold so she can’t tag along just yet, but when I got home she wanted to handle each animal and ask about a million questions, haha
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Nice work!

Enjoy the feast!
 
New spot. Chased foxy for about 100 yards until she posted up, allowing for a headshot. Then moved into greys deep timber habitat, and shot 3 out of the same shagbark hickory tree.

My daughter is fighting a head cold so she can’t tag along just yet, but when I got home she wanted to handle each animal and ask about a million questions, haha
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Google pneumonic plague.
 
…it was a symptom-filled day with low energy, low motivation, and brain fog.
Just found this thread. These symptoms cost me a job and the life I’d built in Montana. It can’t happen again.

I think it’s time I saw a doctor. Thanks, for having the courage to share, and for providing the push I need.
 
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Hung the third and final deer stand in the same spot as another one. This is my first time setting up 2 stands in the same spot to account for varying thermals and wind conditions.
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The west stand is uphill, and has a commanding view and multiple shooting lanes. I think it should be especially good for muzzleloader season (late Dec to early Jan), as the understory opens up by then, allowing 50+ yard shots in many directions. Vegetation is dominated by invasive bush honeysuckle, a tall shrub that doesn't lose it's leaves until around Christmas. The trouble with the west stand, which is why I've never hung one there before, is the wind needs to be just right to hunt it. No wind, and the thermals pull my scent down to the ravine and across the deer trails. When the thermals are going uphill (primarily S), any prevailing NW wind blows scent to all the trails S of the stand.

The east stand is where I've hung one the last 3 seasons, and scent is very well diverted from the shooting lanes where the deer will be. Does in the identified bedding areas move E to the feeding area in the evening. I've never seen a deer in the first hour of shooting from this spot; the evening is far more productive. During the rut bucks cruise N to SW and back, which is where the W stand gives me more options when there is a wonky wind.
 
Starting yet another new anxiety med tomorrow. The last one did not work out well at all. For several weeks now I’ve been up at 3:30-4:00 AM nearly every day as a med side effect. Then I nod off during the day and feel exhausted.

This evening I just wanted to go straight to bed when I got off work. I made myself go out and get some sunshine, exercise, and quality time with my daughter instead. Looking for small game but ended up seeing a bunch of grasshoppers and a rainbow instead. We also opened up milkweed pods and played with all the fluff.
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First time bore-sighting, got the lasers aligned at 33 yards. Newest deer weapon is ready for the range.
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I’m anticipating sticky extraction, so I have a stainless abrasive kit ready to use to put a mirror finish inside the cylinders if needed.
 
This one took hours and hours. I am unfamiliar with auto actions, so I probably took it apart and reassembled it at least a dozen times to get the parts installed the right way. I got stuck for a long time until I loaded sear spring correctly. Next is a range day to practice with the 3 new guns.
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Shotgun again or did the rimfire range session go well enough?
I need probably a half day at the range, so just out with the shotgun again having a couple hours to hunt this AM. I had a red-tailed hawk follow me around for a bit. It would perch on a branch and wait for the right moment to make a move on a squirrel. Repeated this on 2 more squirrels, and it eventually gave up since I was either getting the squirrels myself or scaring them away.
 
The newest medication has been disastrous so far. Might as well be a sugar pill. It could just be that I need to take it longer or need a higher dose, but in either case it’s a slow process to get there. It’s tempting to switch back to what I was taking before even with the problems that came along with it.

I had a really long stretch of managing self-control of my emotions, but without effective meds to keep anxiety and irritability in check, my behavior seems to jump ahead of my thoughts.

It was a rough day yesterday with conflict with my wife. If I look back on all our interactions, the common denominator is me perceiving a threat where there isn’t one d/t PTSD.

I had a half day at the gun range planned, but I ended up being delayed a couple hours as I needed to take the time to make repair with my wife and apologize to our kids as well. That’s one thing that our couples therapist has really emphasized is try to get back on the horse as quickly as you can even when the wounds are still fresh, and it does work.

Today so far is going much better. I also moved up my psychiatrist visit by 2 weeks to see what can be done to at least get me back to where I had progressed to recently.
 

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