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Hello to all,

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself since I just joined this site. My name is Tom and my online name is Flags. I’m a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy and am getting ready to retire. In Apr 2014 I’ll have 25 years of active duty under my belt and I’m to the point where I need to turn the reins over to a younger generation.

I’m originally from Golden, Colorado but haven’t spent much time in the state since the Navy has insisted on keeping me elsewhere. I’m still officially a Colorado resident but seriously doubt I’ll retire there. Every time I return there I end up longing for the Colorado of my youth and it saddens me to see what the state has turned into with the massive influx of liberal transplants from other states. My wife and I are sort of leaning towards either Alabama or Tennessee but haven’t made firm decisions yet.

I'm sitting on 20 elk preference points, 13 deer preference points, 3+10 weighted moose points, 3+12 weighted sheep points, 13 bear points and 9 pronghorn points, all for Colorado. Want to guess where I'll be next fall after I retire? I've also got 5 preference points for pronghorn in WY and 8 preference points for moose in NH.

I am an avid hunter and fisherman and have been blessed to hunt many species in many states. So far I have held tags for Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, California, Hawaii, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. I have also hunted British Columbia a couple of times and have made 5 safaris to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Cameroon. Places I’d like to hunt include Scotland, Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Alaska.

I’ve successfully hunted Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Blacktail Deer, Black Bear, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Pronghorn, Bison, Wild Boar, Alligator and some exotics in Texas. I’ve taken about 20 species of plains game in Africa including Roan, Eland, Kudu, Gemsbok, Wildebeest, Impala, Warthog and Zebra. Of all the game I’ve hunted I have always had a real special place in my heart for elk which is understandable since I come from a family of elk fanatics in Colorado. If my count is correct, I have personally taken about 25 elk and have been in on the talking of around 100 others. I also go after rabbits, squirrels, upland game and waterfowl every chance I get and just started turkey hunting last spring.

I’m not much of a bow hunter because I have never been able to devote the time to get good enough with a bow to shoot at a living animal. The chance of wounding is just too high with my minimal skill level. But I have done a lot of hunting with black powder for Mule Deer, Elk and Whitetail. I use a variety of firearms with a 7mm Rem Mag being my go to gun. I also use a 6.5x55 Swedish, a 6.5x54 MS, a 9.3x62 Mauser, 375 H&H Mag and a T/C Contender in 7mm TCU. One thing I find as I get older is that I use the 7mm Mag less and less and the 9.3x62 more and more. If you haven’t played with a 9.3 I highly recommend it.

I look forward to exchanging ideas, opinions and experiences with all of you.

Cheers

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