Shane's Blog
It’s been snowing like crazy at our house in Reno. Of course it totally waited until we left a few weeks ago. I’ll share some photos from our outside cameras of the action. I am really tempted to go for a few days, but the videos I am seeing of the pass (California to Nevada) are a nightmare. Even with my 4X4 and aggressive tires, it would take hours to get there and I would get stuck for sure.
Front Driveway
Front Door
Backyard Video Clip
Side yard
The coyotes are a problem now. For years they have been content to pace our fence and drool over the animals. I built an 8 foot fence around a few acres with my buddy Rick and his son Phear several years ago. This keeps them at bay. But it does not protect against the animals that are dumb enough to leave the safety of our yard. Yeah, I am looking at you chickens. They have mixed it up with a few of the dogs as well and have made snacks of our outside cats.
The problem is that by the time I get out there with my gun, they are gone. They hear me, smell me, whatever, they split or hide. What I needed was a solution that let me take them out from far away. I decided to purchase a rifle. I had no idea what to get, so I went to the Range in Fresno and asked a lot of questions. I decided on the Ruger 9MM Carbine PC. Powerful enough to put them down quickly and in the most humane manner, but agile enough for someone like me that is still learning to shoot a rifle.
So very, very different from a handgun, which I am pretty decent with now.
Before I attempt to shoot one, I’ll need to spend some time dialing in the sights (red dot) and getting good with handling the rifle. I don’t want to cause suffering for the coyotes, I just want to stop them from killing our animals. Do do that, I need to be proficient so I can get a kill with one shot. There are 2-3 times as many as usual, and they are coming up to our property during the day now. We have vineyards all around us and they hide and wait for a chicken to jump the fence and scratch for bugs in the fields.
#CountryLiving
Half Moon Bay holds a ton of history for me and my family. My parents took my and my siblings there all the time growing up and a lot of teens and adult life have been spent there. Pretty routine day would be travel there around 10, hitting Bean Hollow, Pescadero, or one of the other beaches and then Joe’s by The Coast (their site is awful) on the way home, or ice cream at Thrifty’s.
This past weekend was nothing new, but it was a blast. We did change it up a bit and spent the night at the Hyatt in Redwood Shores, which was a lot of fun. It was pouring rain, but the kids wanted to swim in the heated pool anyway. The room was magnificent, and I had my oldest handle a lot of the details throughout the trip.
