I know that lots of VA hospitals deserve to get a bad rap, but there are exceptions, the CenTex VA Sytem based in Temple & Waco is IMO one of those too rare exceptions.
I wanted to echo that the Temple/Waco VA system is incredible. My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2007 and passed away in 2010 including the last 2 months in the hospital (2 stints in ICU). His care was exceptional and other than the last 2 months his quality of life was incredible. He even got a second opinion from one of the leading oncology doctors at MD Anderson who flat out said the VA treatment program was as good as what he would have gotten anywhere.
Also, I would like to thank all of you gentlemen for sharing your stories and renewing my desire to hunt. I haven't hunted much since my dad passed away, but decided I needed to get back to it. I am looking to do Elk next year and Africa within 5 years. Because that involves lot more walking than traditional stand hunting in Texas, I think light is the way to go. I am already an ultralight hiking devotee (even using tarps instead of tents), so ultralight makes sense to me. I am going to trade in my 7x57 Steyr M Professional for a Fieldcraft 308 this year and stick a 10oz Leupold FX2 6x36 fixed power scope on it. All up should be just over 6 pounds fully loaded and not a lot of recoil.
