Is everyone here lucky or something??

[NW-Bound]

This seems to be a double thread. One about being lucky or not in life, and the other about squirrel hunting LOL!!

Well, you need to be lucky to hit that squirrel from 50 yards away with a rifle of your choice.

If one hits consistently from that distance, it requires more than luck. Good equipment plus skill and practice is a must.

I'm not convinced that millions will be eating squirrels or that it amounts to a crisis...

If milions start eating squirrels, that would be a crisis for the unlucky squirrels.

 

[robnplunder]

If milions start eating squirrels, that would be a crisis for the unlucky squirrels.

But it will help ease resource required to raise cattle. Let's eat pythons in Florida, too. Ditto for Asian carps taking over native species. Pigeons, Yum!. Rats in NYC ... ok, that's off limits.

I consider myself lucky. My parents gave me good enough genes to make something out of myself.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have been on this forum for a few years, and every so often this subject of luck keeps coming up, not just about ER but also how one fares in life. I wonder how that comes about. Quite often, it is because someone reads something in the media.

While no one can say that he does not need luck - heck, we all know bad luck or negative luck can trump everything else we have going for us, such as getting run over by a bus - he needs something else too, be it hard work, determination, perseverance, etc...

Luck is something that we have no control over, so why not concentrate on the other things that we can, rather than keep lamenting about something we do not have?

By the way, I like your idea of highlighting the key words from the OP, to show that even while talking about squirrels, you still have his topic in mind.

PS. I edited and changed the bold highlight to italic, because the former hurt my eyes.

 

[brewer12345]

I remember growing up always being warned about undercooking pork because of trich, but it is my understanding it is extremely rare now just a handful of cases each year almost all from eating wild game or home-reared pigs.

So go treat yourself to a nice medium rare pork chop from the grocery store.

Due to ethical considerations around how pigs are raised, I do not touch pork/bacon/pig of any kind and have not in many years. Wild boar would be different.

 

[photoguy]

While no one can say that he does not need luck - heck, we all know bad luck or negative luck can trump everything else we have going for us, such as getting run over by a bus - he needs something else too, be it hard work, determination, perseverance, etc...

Luck is something that we have no control over, so why not concentrate on the other things that we can, rather than keep lamenting about something we do not have?

+1

Due to ethical considerations around how pigs are raised, I do not touch pork/bacon/pig of any kind and have not in many years. Wild boar would be different.

I visited relatives this summer in Iowa which is one of the leading states for hog production. During that time I went to a teaching farm at a university for hog production. I was stunned to see hogs in gestation crates (I had never heard of this before) - it's basically a pen exactly the size of the pig which they are kept for long periods of time (months? years?). The pig cannot move or turn around or do anything but lie there.



Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Maenad]

While no one can say that he does not need luck - heck, we all know bad luck or negative luck can trump everything else we have going for us, such as getting run over by a bus - he needs something else too, be it hard work, determination, perseverance, etc...

Luck is something that we have no control over, so why not concentrate on the other things that we can, rather than keep lamenting about something we do not have?

+1

I have to admit, I'm as frustrated with the "it's not luck! I did it all myself" crowd as with the "you're just lucky" crowd. Neither one is true.

Our luck does indeed lie with the things we can't control. Place of birth, race, sex, parents... A LOT of people don't have those advantages, and are also working hard, and will not get to retire early.

I'm also proud of the good choices I made, but I'm sorry, folks, it's the height of arrogance to take pride in your accomplishments without acknowledging that you were also lucky to be born a white male, or to not have a debilitating illness or injury, or any of a number of other things that start a person off in a more difficult place. It's not a weakness to acknowledge that luck gave you a better basis for your hard work. And we also have a right to be proud of the hard work we have put in.

As to the article, well, fear sells. The news (liberal or conservative), fundraising for your political cause of choice, all of it. People react to it more strongly than they do to encouragement and good news.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Luck might open the door to success, but determination walks through it. Or you could be this guy:

 

[BreathFree]

+1

I have to admit, I'm as frustrated with the "it's not luck! I did it all myself" crowd as with the "you're just lucky"

I'm also proud of the good choices I made, but I'm sorry, folks, it's the height of arrogance to take pride in your accomplishments without acknowledging that you were also lucky to be born a white male, or to not have a debilitating illness or injury, or any of a number of other things that start a person off in a more difficult place. It's not a weakness to acknowledge that luck gave you a better basis for your hard work. And we also have a right to be proud of the hard work we have put in.
they do to encouragement and good news.

Since it is so disadvantaged to be anyone other than a white male, those others must be incredibly "lucky" to achieve success in the face of such diverse hardships.

Everyone is lucky in some way or another, but often it is expressed as the single most overwhelming factor, in an attempt to minimize their successes. I don't feel as though I should have to interrupt someone praising my successes, either verbally or internalized, with, "well, you know, I am a white male." This, along with every other fortune that has come my way.

 

[dallas27]

Well, you need to be lucky to hit that squirrel from 50 yards away with a rifle of your choice.

But stupid not to use a shotgun.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[brewer12345]

But stupid not to use a shotgun.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Not really. You have to get closer than 50 yards to reliably take a squirrel with a shotgun. When you do, you stand a chance of ruining some or all of the meat with shot. Where I am allowed to use one and only expect to find squirrels, I prefer to use an accurate .22 rifle.

 

[NW-Bound]

... take a squirrel with a shotgun. When you do, you stand a chance of ruining some or all of the meat with shot...

Or you may need luck to keep from lead poisoning.

 

[marko]

This particular thread is great!! We're running comments about luck and wealth in tandem with hunting squirrels!! And somehow it's working!

 

[MichaelB]

This particular thread is great!! We're running comments about luck and wealth in tandem with hunting squirrels!! And somehow it's working!

Not so much for the squirrels, though.

 

[youbet]

The stress. 65-hour weeks, including a two-hour daily commute. Constant travel and jet lag. Pressure to hit P&L targets. Impossible project deadlines. Conference calls with Asian customers at 5am and then again at 11pm the same day, with hopefully better answers. Missing the kid's Christmas choir concert while sitting in O'Hare waiting for the weather to clear. The look you get from good, hard-working people after being told their plant is being closed. Waking up in a panic at 3am to send an email to Japan that I forgot to send after the 11pm conference call. Endless political corporate nonsense.

.

But you made the choice to accept this type of employment. Instead of taking what fate/luck handed you, you could have applied yourself, improved your qualifications, etc., etc., and moved to a job with equal or better pay coupled with fewer hours and less stress. Or you could have started your own business and used focused hard work and determination to mold it, and your lifestyle while running it, into what you want. You didn't have to accept what fate/luck passed out.

 

[brewer12345]

This particular thread is great!! We're running comments about luck and wealth in tandem with hunting squirrels!! And somehow it's working!

Plan D or so (for me; for DW this is plan Z or so) if I get 20 years out and am having problems with portfolio survivability in the terminal years is to get rid of the high overhead suburban house and all the trappings and buy a small, cheap place in an area where I can do a 1X month shopping trip for groceries and pretty much trap or hunt all my meat and forage as much of my veggies/fruit as possible. I already have seen one place where this would work, and small homes/manufactured homes come up for sale there regularly.

 

[athena53]

I can't say that I would believe that.
I'm sure that the originally rich people would do better in general than the poor people. But to suggest that the rich people would make entirely all their money back, that sounds far-fetched. And certainly there must be a few poor people that, given the opportunity, would do something magnificent and build on their wealth.

Interesting example of this on a much smaller scale: my Ex and I each walked out of the divorce with $100K from the sale of the marital home. He continued to live in a cheap motel and didn't get a job (he was a brilliant inorganic chemist but had a drinking problem and refused to consider any job unworthy of his brilliance). I took the $100K, put it down on a $350K house, and sold it at a $200K profit 7 years later. My Ex died penniless in 2010. I retired at age 61.

It's still partly luck, of course. The housing market when I bought and when I sold were totally out of my control. I stayed healthy and gainfully employed. Still, the $100K from the divorce would have bought a nice red Italian sports car of my choice and a cruise around the world in the penthouse suite!

 

[brewer12345]

Not so much for the squirrels, though.

Eh, they breed so fast that a population can experience something like 80% mortality in a year and be back up to 100% after breeding season is done. Rabbits, wild hogs and many other creatures are similar. That is why it is so danged hard to eradicate wild hogs in places where they are a nuisance.

 

[ziggy29]

Eh, they breed so fast that a population can experience something like 80% mortality in a year and be back up to 100% after breeding season is done. Rabbits, wild hogs and many other creatures are similar. That is why it is so danged hard to eradicate wild hogs in places where they are a nuisance.

Much of this is because we have eliminated many of their natural predators (i.e. wolves, cougars and the like) in many places -- particularly near populated areas and ranches -- so they spread almost unchecked except when hunted or they die out from starvation because there are just too many of them.

 

[NW-Bound]

Not so much for the squirrels, though.

The squirrels' luck has not completely run out, as nobody besides me has shown an interest in joining the free-range limb chicken movement.

I do have 22 rifles (note the plural ), but forget what markmanship I possess. And then, there's no squirrel around my suburban home, and at my high-country home there are only chipmunks. So, luck may not be sufficient for me to bag some squirrels. I need close to a miracle. A squirrel might just fall into my lap, like this one getting inside a patrol car in Grand Rapids recently and making the news (people need a diversion from Ebola).

 

[brewer12345]

I do have 22 rifles (note the plural ), but forget what markmanship I possess. And then, there's no squirrel around my suburban home, and at my high-country home there are only chipmunks. So, luck may not be sufficient for me to bag some squirrels. I need close to a miracle. A squirrel might just fall into my lap, like this one getting inside a patrol car in Grand Rapids recently and making the news (people need a diversion from Ebola).

Your high country home is in Arizona, right? If I am remembering that correctly, you should be able to locate some Abert's squirrels (AKA kaibob squirrels) not too far away. Might be worth doing a bit of research.

As far as marksmanship, I bet it would come back pretty quickly. If you have a scope on one of the rifles, all you need to get down is the mechanics of gently squeezing the trigger. The rest is just putting the crosshairs on the critter and bracing the rifle against a handy tree.

The part that would require luck is finding some 22 ammo if you do not have any.

 

[brewer12345]

Much of this is because we have eliminated many of their natural predators (i.e. wolves, cougars and the like) in many places -- particularly near populated areas and ranches -- so they spread almost unchecked except when hunted or they die out from starvation because there are just too many of them.

If we are talking about squirrels and rabbits, by no means are predators gone in most of the country. Almost everything eats them. I regularly see coyotes and hawks and owls and foxes and... carrying them off or pooping what is left of them out. As for hogs, that is a man-made disaster. Coyotes generally do not trouble hogs, as I understand it (for fear of being stomped or gored into oblivion).

 

[NW-Bound]

A hog's bite is vicious. Same with javelina. Coyotes or dogs would fear them.

The part that would require luck is finding some 22 ammo if you do not have any.

I have not bought any recently, but read about its scarcity. Maybe a conspiracy?

 

[brewer12345]

I have not bought any recently, but read about its scarcity. Maybe a conspiracy?

Nope. Classic retail investor-type market panic that any experienced investor would recognize.

 

[jollystomper]

+1


I'm also proud of the good choices I made, but I'm sorry, folks, it's the height of arrogance to take pride in your accomplishments without acknowledging that you were also lucky to be born a white male.

Some of us who weren't born white males still feel lucky to be born what we are.

I'm not saying luck has no factor, it certainly does. But perhaps had I been born into situations that others deemed "lucky", I would not have had the same motivation and discipline to achieve.

Perhaps it is like willing the lottery. Winning the lottery is pure luck. But what happens to the money after you win the lottery it is more up to the person and what they choose to be influenced by.

 

[NW-Bound]

I think I am lucky to be me.

It could be better, but it could be a lot worse. I did the best I could with what I had.

Well, not really, as I did not always work hard, and in the end slacked off and ER'ed, but I am not going to envy those who work harder. They can have their money, while I am home BS'ing on this forum.