Heck, it's been more then a year since I last posted here.

It finally dawned on me at the end of last year that I'll be 60 in November & life was becoming a chore.
So with the way the fishing tackle trade is going, I decided I'm closing the business at the end of 2017 so I can spend more time with my 87 year old Mum, go fishing & do more shooting & hunting.
Finances weren't looking great but the deal was doable so long as I was careful.

Then I arrived back in the UK from my usual Spring trip to NM to find my hunting partner & friend of more than 25 years died the day before.
Got a call from the coroner to say I was named as his executor (I knew he had no close family but still a surprise) & contacted his solicitor once I had the death registered.
That's when I found out he'd only gone & left me his whole estate: house, guns, truck, money, shares...

The past couple of months have been hectic, with organising the funeral, sorting his affairs & starting to clear the house, as well as run the business & look after Mum & I'm worn down to a nub.
So I took today off & went shooting, using one of my late friend's rifles Not really a hunting tool, as it's an Accuracy International AX13. With the Schmidt & Bender scope, bipod & suppressor, it must weigh 18lb easy.
One thing's for sure though; it's accurate, as I put 5 shots into .58" @200yds with Norma factory ammunition.
Anyway; I'm still around & hope to be more so once the year ends.

English Mike, great to hear from you! Sorry to hear of you friend's passing. Recoil Therapy is good for the Sole. Keep chunking that precious metal down-range and posting us updates.

I'm really sorry to here of your mate passing Mike, you have my heartfelt commiserations. Loosing a true mate is like loosing a brother.

I know how you feel dealing up his Estate...I lost Mum a month ago and my brother and I are doing the same thing...it's not easy mate...more the memories than anything else though. It probably sounds a little callous, but his passing has helped you with your financial issues.

If you are looking to do something in his memory, and there was a particular shooting Club you frequented, consider a trophy in his name for his favourite match or maybe a small stipend or similar for a deserving junior shooter who is struggling because of financial constraints. Otherwise...an annual hunt in his memory would be good.

sorry to hear of your loss Mike.....as Vince has said,find a way to put something out there so his memory lives on in shooting comunity.

I'm sorry for your loss

Thanks guys.
The most disturbing part is sorting paperwork.
I've found stuff going back to his family's part in the Warsaw uprising, documents from his father's work as a consultant in geriatrics & private letters regarding a romance with a well known Italian sculptress.
As for hitting the emotions; I found his mother's ashes in her bedroom still in the container from the crematorium shortly after his funeral (she passed in 2012), so took both his & hers & scattered them in the woods where they used to go mushroom picking.
Then whilst getting started on clearing the loft, I found his father's ashes in their original container too & he died back in 1979.

I guess another trip to the woods is in order...

Meanwhile, I'm planning my usual trip over the Pond at the end of October to spend time in New Mexico, Georgia & Alabama with my friends there & just plain chill out.

I might fit in a hunt in Colorado, depending on another friend squaring away a landowner tag - elk or deer, I'm not picky.:-D

English Mike, if you come sooner, you could get a Pronghorn tag. Speed goats are fun. It is a completely different type of hunting from deer or elk and they have their own unique habits.

slimjim wrote:

English Mike, if you come sooner, you could get a Pronghorn tag. Speed goats are fun. It is a completely different type of hunting from deer or elk and they have their own unique habits.

I'm going to do a pronghorn hunt some time in the next couple of years, probably 2019, unless I get my act together & organise a plains game hunt in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, it's foxes & rabbits...

I've spent the past couple of evenings getting back into using my Chargemaster to throw hunting loads, as I've done little except handgun, 5.56 & 7.62 NATO stuff for three or four years (LOTS of that though ).

English Mike wrote:

I've spent the past couple of evenings getting back into using my Chargemaster to throw hunting loads,

Pre-Recoil Therapy! Great!