Lifestyle, Time, Money, the Southern, and Parker shotguns

[Scott Smith]

Learn to shoot left-handed. It’s not that difficult.

[Keith Sirmans]

Oh wow who had the shooting shirts there? I like the Yellow one

[Victor Wasylyna]

Originally Posted by Ian Civco

Okay, I’m jealous…

https://www.southernsidebyside.com/

How do you all do this? It’s a lifestyle, for sure.

The comraderie, meet good folks, hang out with old friends, handle nice shotguns, perhaps buy one or a few.

And it’s not just this event, but several throughout the year.

It seems to me it’s conducive to being retired after having a well above average income throughout one’s career.

The problems I have are good luck getting any appreciable time off from work these days, when you do, the wife won’t have fun at something like the southern, not to mention the costs of getting and staying there, and, being I’m still working, I’m probably younger than many on this forum and never experienced the appreciable wage growth of some of our older members.

Which means attending several events of the year is out of the question as is purchasing a handful of fine Parkers at these events.

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered: "Man! Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

- Victor

[24 grams]

I’m not a particularly good shot—a combination of too many hours at work and not enough time on the skeet field and being right handed and left eye dominant.

Look into a dot matrix made with a sharpie on the left lens. That is what a friend who is both an ophthalmologist and a Master class shooter does.

[Harold Pickens]

Andy and I share the same occupation, but at 71 I only work 2 days per week, and not because I need to.
I didn't go to the Southern either. It always falls during my birthday and my son Jeremy asked if we could go turkey hunting that day and then fishing after. Called in a big gobbler and Jeremy got him with my old 870 and load of TSS 9s. Most know that I'm a hunter more than a shooter, I have about 6 weeks of hunting trips already planned for this year God willing, and thinking about a Sept sharptail.hunt. Andy, I think I have 11 , 16 gauges, but now
kinda prefer 20s, been hunting for a Trojan 20 shooter.
My favorite shoot has always been Hausmann's, Ernie and I have know each other since the late 1980, but Mike's shoot is also a great time, hope to make both this year.

[Mike Franzen]

I’ll never forget visiting my uncle in the hospital while he was recovering from a stroke about 15 years ago. He was my hunting buddy from the time I was a very young boy. We were talking about hunting and he was asking me when I was going to go again. I started making the usual excuses about time and money. He looked at me and said, “ You better stop putting things off or you’re going to regret it.” I decided right then I was going to start saying YES instead of making excuses. Once I made that decision it seemed the universe aligned with what I truly wanted and my life just took off. Have the courage to say yes!

[J. A. EARLY]

I retired at 62, received a package to get rid of me and I couldn't be happier. Now eight years later at almost 71 and due to a brainless urologist that let cancer grow in me for a decade and the subsequent treatment, I get up and go hunting turkeys every day at 5 a.m. now as if I was a teenager. I watch the clouds go by and pretend I am still young. I tell people I'm in the ninth inning with two outs but the game isn't over until the last one. Yes I could have worked until now, had seniority over everyone, thirty-seven holidays and vacation days, a larger retirement income, but no one can tell me I can't have off. I quit to do what I wanted to do. Would have been at the Southern this year but the two guys who go with me said they have enough guns. They missed the point but the one guy was an artilleryman in Vietnam and says the continual firing gets to him. I can understand that. I still buy guns, fix them, hunt with them a couple of times,and put them away. But using a gun that was in the family or just a hundred plus year old gun is therapy.