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Author Topic: Bunch Of Young GIs Get An Education  (Read 445 times)

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Offline Sourdough

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Bunch Of Young GIs Get An Education
« on: March 17, 2012, 08:53:37 AM »
posted this on the wrong site so I am posting it here where I intended to post it in the first place.
 
A bunch of young GIs from Eielson AFB are learning what is good for back home is not up to the job in Alaska.  Last week several young men went up the haul road looking for predators.  They were carrying .17 Remingtons, 204s and .223s.  One young man carried a 30-06, and he was laughed at when they left.  They thought they were set with those hot little .17s, 204s, and .223s.  I told one when he asked me about it the week before to take a minimum of a 25-06, he did not listen.  He had just bought a .17 Fireball.

Well they came back very unhappy.  The only thing they brought back was several little Arctic Foxes and one Big Wolf.  Guess who shot the Wolf, not the guys with the .17s, 204s, and 223s.  The old 30-06 got the job done.  The fellows with the little guns did get several shots at Wolves.  They said they shot one Wolf several times and swear they hit it.  But the Wolf showed no effect of being hit and ran off.  They found spots of blood, and tracked it for quite a ways.  They lost it when it circled back and decided to run the road leaving no tracks.  Their complaints were the size of the animals, and distance.  First an Alaskan Wolf is not a small animal, close to a Coyote in size.  They are bigger than the average Whitetail.  The one brought back weighed over 200lbs.  And they just could not get close enough for a good shot without being seen.  The fact that the animals were always moving, and not in a straight line, did not help their cause either.  When a Wolf is moving at a seemingly casual trot, that animal is covering some ground.  Wolves can run on top of the crusted snow, humans can not.

My Partner has told them repeatedly you can not stalk Wolves.  When you see them, they in most cases have already seen you, and it is time to shoot.  40 Yards, 100 yards, 300 yards, out to 700 yards, take the shot from where you are.  Getting closer is usually not an option.  These boys have a lot to learn.  One of them is my Partner's Nephew.  He is the one that did not listen about the 25-06.  Think we may have his attention now.  This is the second time he has not listened and got burned.
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Offline Dinny

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Re: Bunch Of Young GIs Get An Education
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2012, 11:59:59 AM »
They sound just like my soldiers! Senseless and unwilling to listen to those in-the-know. Reading the title, I thought this story was going to have a bad ending for the soldiers, I'm glad it didn't. I'm thankful they didn't have a "better idea" like climbing Mt McKinley with shorts on to prove they're tough. ::)


Thanks, Dinny
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Offline magooch

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Re: Bunch Of Young GIs Get An Education
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2012, 03:51:49 AM »
The main lesson about being out in the wild in Alaska that I learned was don't drink the water out of those mountain streams.  Beaver fever (dysentery) is not a fun thing.  Oh yeah, another lesson we learned was don't layout your sleeping bag on a nice sandbar next to a mountain stream when it is raining up in those mountains. 
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Bunch Of Young GIs Get An Education
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2012, 06:42:51 AM »
magooch:  Right you are on that.  Make sure you are above the Beaver before taking water from a stream.  Always camp above the high water mark.  Even on sunny days.  The sun melts the glaciers and the causes the water to come up.  If you are close to the glacier it comes up during the day and is highest in the afternoon and evening.  but if you are down stream far enough it will come up during the night.
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Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
What Is A Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.
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