Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain

Forest Service Declares War on RV & Campers During Hunter Season - Updated

Update

It would appear that there was enough public outcry that the FS decided that they needed to "clarify" their position. Game & Fish believes that the confusion has been resolved.

The letter from Regional Forester Cal Joyner dated November 26 to Arizona Game and Fish Director Larry Voyles regarding AZGFD's concerns

A release by Coconino National Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart and Kaibab National Forest Supervisor Mike Williams on the Forest Service website dated December 9;

A letter dated December 9 from Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell to Senator John McCain, addressing the senator’s concerns

I can't say that my opinion of the two departments has changed. The FS just got called out on their publication and decided to backtrack.


Original Post

Forest Service Camping - 72 Hour Rule

Warning to Arizona hunters camping on the Coconino, Kaibab and Prescott National Forests

On August 16, 2013, the Coconino National Forest issued a press release entitled “Parking trailers in forests prohibited during hunting season.” The press release is specific to the Coconino, Kaibab, and Prescott National Forests, and is directed exclusively at hunters and recreationists who leave their trailers and/or motor homes unattended on the forest for more than 72 hours. These sportsmen may be subject to enforcement action, including citations or impoundment of vehicles, trailers and/or motor homes. The release specifically states, If trailers are left unattended for more than 72 hours, the Forest Service considers them abandoned property and may remove them from the forest. Violators can also be cited for this action.

See the whole article from AZ Game & Fish, link above, who are very opposed to this tactic along with the Sheriff's Departments.

You know where this is heading since most of the Forest Service is a 9-5 operation. You leave the trailer prior to daybreak to hunt and don't return until after sundown. Do this 3 days running, the FS comes by about midday for three days and then steals your camp claiming is was abandoned. Notice that they included impoundment of vehicles.

This is actually very anti-hunting. It must really chap their hides that some of the people come out a couple of days before season to grab a decent place to put the RV, return to town and then come back to camp for the hunt season. They are still legal within the 14 day limit. I imagine some candy-a**ed people have complained because they did not get there first. I don't have an RV and I could care less if the people with them do this. I have been known to go a couple of days early with my tent to do just the same. I am surprised that the FS hasn't included tents and vehicles the same way. If you are going to be a thief then you might as well go all the way. This has nothing to do with preservation but everything to do with revenue enhancement and restrictive control.

See the AZ G&F site for the contact information of the various FS employees so that you may vent your displeasure. The FS don't want you out there shooting, hunting or any other multiple use activity. They would love to get rid of the ranchers too. Only tree huggers allowed but you have to form a ring without touching the tree as a bit of bark may become dislodged. Don't step on the grass and quit breathing out that CO2!

Perhaps I am just lucky, but I have yet to meet a Game & Fish Officer who was anything but polite. Most have been willing to talk about good places to hunt or what the fish are hitting on. I am not new to this as I have been hunting, hiking, camping, four wheeling and backpacking for almost 50 years (yes, I am getting kind of old) and have met dozens of G&F Officers

On the other hand I am probably unlucky in that I have yet to meet a FS employee who wasn't an unfriendly bureaucrat with inflated opinions of their importance.  I am biased by my experiences and think that the FS has become run by a bunch of tree hugging, anti-ranching, anti-hunting, anti-camping college grads with inflated opinions of themselves and their mission to keep the unwashed masses out of "their" forests.  Feel free to disagree.


                     

Too Warm

It is a little warm for the season right now. But that is just my opinion as I think that it should be a little chilly for Christmas time. Guess I will just have to go get an ice cream cone.

So that is how soft serve is made. Perhaps I will pass on the ice cream!

Merry Christmas!

We are off to the "Hallelujah" service tonight. Our daughters starting calling it this when they were little because there is a lot of singing and a little sermon on Christmas Eve. Daughter #1 is home for college break so we will exchange gifts tomorrow. We already exchanged gifts with Daughter #2 and her Marine before Thanksgiving as he deployed then to Okinawa for the next three years. I would like to wish all a very merry Christmas and may God bless!

Deja Vu Thanksgiving

It was like we had gone back in time to BC. This is what we refer to as "Before Children". Daughter #1 stayed in Texas and daughter #2 along with her Marine are in Okinawa. We decided to go back to our old ways and skip the turkey. Turkey for two has a nice sound to it but results in leftovers forever. There is only so much dark meat and I am no fan of the dry white meat on a turkey. We had our old standby which is Cornish game hens. I will need to get a new rotisserie motor so that I can do the birds on the barbecue again. It was very nice day even though it was a bit quieter than the previous couple of decades.

I carefully perused all the adds that came in the 5 pound newspaper in preparation of my usual Black Friday shopping excursion. It was a nice day and I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

My usual excursion on the dreaded Black Friday is Sportsman's Warehouse and Ace Hardware. That's it as I would not go within a couple of miles of any mall. Most of the day was spent preparing my list and gathering things for the upcoming elk hunt. No, there will be no guide. I seem to be done with considering using a guide. My first guided event was a disaster (My Elk Hunt Sucked) and the next one was actually pleasant (Big Game Outfitters) but neither produced a shot. My odds seem to be better without "help". We shall see.

I was drawn for a cow hunt just north of Flagstaff in December. I am an experienced cold weather camper and backpacker as I used to do both ages ago in Michigan. I have all the gear including a nice heater for the tent. It is not as much fun to camp by yourself. I was pondering the wisdom of camping by myself in a place that can dump exceptional amounts of snow in a short time. At the of end of my careful considerations that took all of about 30 seconds, I rented a motel room in Flagstaff. One area that I shot an elk is about 15 minutes from the motel and another I would like to go to will take about 35 minutes. I will still take a small tent, sleeping pad, and my good bag in case I get stuck for some reason. Otherwise it will be a hot shower and a regular bed at night.

This reminds me of when I used to go deer hunting with Dad in Mio, Michigan. Dad did not like to camp. I believe the words were, "I saw enough camping in WWII." We would stay in town and drive about 15 minutes in the morning to where we would hunt. There are some good memories of those trips!

New Giant Predator!

Siats meekerorum: New Giant Dinosaur

“This dinosaur was a colossal predator second only to the great Tyrannosaurus rex and perhaps Acrocanthosaurus in the American fossil record,” said Dr Lindsay Zanno from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the Field Museum of Natural History, the lead author on the paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

An artist’s reconstruction of Siats meekerorum previously mistakenly identified as Godzilla. Image credit: Ima Lyon.

The Park Service Will Never be Viewed the Same

Report: Armed rangers forced senior-citizen tourists to stay inside their hotel during Yellowstone visit because of shutdown

Grand Canyon Cites People For Entering Closed Park

The National Park Service and its Rangers have been viewed as stewards of the parks and helpful to public. Guess what boys and girls? You have managed to take that reputation and grind into the mud in a very short period of time. Rangers, do you take an oath to the constitution or to be a political toady? Don't bother to try to explain as your actions speak much clearer than noises that will emanate from your mouths. People are already hearing the various excuses that start off with the infamous, "We are only following orders." Good luck with that excuse as it hasn't worked well in the past. You haven't shot anyone yet but, given the enthusiasm with which some of the officer are conducting their "duties", I am now sure that some officers would relish the opportunity.

I can understand (maybe) the need to shut down some sensitive areas like some access to the Petrified Forest but the Grand Canyon. Are you afraid that someone is going to steal the Grand Canyon? You can't hike on a trail that existed before this area was designated as park?

The populace now deems you as untrustworthy. It appears that your oaths were just lies.  The politically driven actions of the Park Service have alienated so many people that your reputation is soiled with no hope of recovery. Some officers are only now worrying that their reputations will be damaged. News flash - it's too late as your reputations are permanently damaged. No one will ever look at you the same way again. It is a shame to see an organization that at one time was so well regarded descend into infamy as yet another armed political overlord organization. It appears that you managed something that I would have bet money was not possible - a lower ranking in public opinion polls than the IRS. Perhaps that is the way you have always been but were just good at hiding it. Sad.

Man Uses Spear

A man saves his girlfriend from cougar attack with a spear.

I like this guy's gumption. This also gives me a thought. Perhaps we should petition AZ Game & Fish to put up a new season. I would call this the Tarzan hunt. Weapons would be limited to a grass rope, knife and spear. These were the weapons used by Tarzan in the earlier books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the Tarzan Series. I think that we could call this the Tarzan Tag and no drawing would be required. The tag would be available over-the-counter and with one tag you could hunt any large game species - bear, mountain lion, elk, deer, or javalina during the proper time of year. One animal per tag please.

I envision a new line of products for sale; spears, knives (large), grass ropes, loin cloths, body camo paint, special tree stands designed to give you a boost, and camo mats. The extra boost from the tree stand would be handy when leaping out of tree onto the back of your intended prey. It would give you added range. The camo mats would be padding for that occasional miss to provide for a softer landing. I think more about soft landings as I get older.

They already make camo tarps so you would be all set if your preference is ground concealment as opposed to perching in a tree like a little birdy.

There would be nothing quite like lassoing a bear first thing in the morning!

Tarzan, as presented in the novels, was not the nice caring person presented in the movies and TV shows. He was fairly brutal and had no second thoughts about killing if he deemed it necessary. You might even say that he was an adrenalin junky.

“I do not understand exactly what you mean by fear," said Tarzan. "Like lions, fear is a different thing in different men, but to me the only pleasure in the hunt is the knowledge that the hunted thing has power to harm me as much as I have to harm him. If I went out with a couple of rifles and a gun bearer, and twenty or thirty beaters, to hunt a lion, I should not feel that the lion had much chance, and so the pleasure of the hunt would be lessened in proportion to the increased safety which I felt."

"Then I am to take it that Monsieur Tarzan would prefer to go naked into the jungle, armed only with a jackknife, to kill the king of beasts," laughed the other good naturedly, but with the merest touch of sarcasm in his tone.

"And a piece of rope," added Tarzan.”
― Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes    

Come On, Say What You Really Think

Judge Jeanine speaks up. I had not seen her speak before as I am not a viewer of Fox News. If there was any fence riding here, I missed it.

My Kind of Council Member

"UK city council member reportedly claims to have fathered an alien child"

"Simon Parkes claims he has had experiences with aliens since birth, and his "real mother" is a 9-foot green alien with eight fingers, the Northern Echo reports."

Sadly enough, there was no description of the wife (Cat Queen) or daughter (Zarka). I believe that we have had more than one politician that believed in or thought that they had seen UFOs but the UK gets the best ones. Convince me that the locals don't elect him for the entertainment factor. Reminds me of a song ....

Nine foot two, she's a doll, 
she played college basketball.
Has anybody seen my gal?
Cauliflower ear, guzzles beer,
She can eat most half a steer.
Has anybody seen my gal?
Now if you run into an nine foot two
All covered with hair,
Don't be surprised, it's not your eyes,
Her mother was a grizzly bear.
What the heck, she's a wreck,
She played tackle for Georgia Tech.
Has anybody seen my gal?

We could use a lot more politicians like this one. It would be a refreshing change from the current lot.

There Was a Wedding!!

My Father's Day present was a beautiful wedding. Daughter #2 tied the knot with her Marine. I will post some decent pictures when I get some from the people we hired. The one below is just from my crappy phone. Everything went as planned! It must be a first. Everyone seemed to have a great time and we are tired. The kids are off to Disney for their Honeymoon.

I had written a short speech/toast for just prior to dinner. I started to pretend to roast our daughter and would occasionally glance at my better half.....
"I remember when she was but a tike and was playing in the backyard cactus…. oh, wrong story? How about the time at Big Lake that….not that one either? How about the time with the hamster and the toilet plunger….. OK, OK. I am only kidding, all of the above incidents never happened, as far as you know."

There never was any incident involving a hamster and a toilet plunger, that I know of, but it got a squeal out of the bride and laughter from the rest. People were asking about the hamster for the rest of the evening. She made a beautiful bride!

Send the insects on ahead to take the fight out of them. Fly! Fly! Fly!

I had picked up this comic about February last year. Seems appropriate right about now in more ways than just the single topic of Obamacare.

I am in no way making a statement that Pres. O. actually ordered the IRS to target conservative groups. I believe that it was implicitly understood that it was part of their job descriptions. All those meetings between the IRS and the Pres. were just about golf and stuff. It was purely coincidental. Nothing to see here, move on.

Whew!

I think that I have finally rested up from the Memorial Day weekend. We moved daughter #1 to San Angelo, Texas as she will be attending grad school there. Friday we loaded up her things into the van, trailer and her car. Saturday was a drive across the wastelands of southern New Mexico and West Texas. The wastelands are sparsely interrupted by places selling fireworks, pottery (something to do with the fireworks when bored), novel t-shirts, and other assorted nick-nacks. All these places look about the same and only vary in their state of deterioration. The one on the Continental Divide is special in its dilapidation. I wasn't sure if anyone could walk across the wooden floor without breaking through. I expect that falling through would be bad as it is probably where they raise all the snakes that are put in clear acrylic.

I had rented a U-Haul trailer, one way of course, in order to be able to take all of our darling's valuables. The winds were somewhere between awesome and spectacular. I was not able to drive the single axle trailer over 70 MPH as it would whip around like a leach out of water at any substantial gust of wind. Before you ask - yes, it was balanced correctly. It was almost impossible to read the painted text on the trailer in my rear view mirror with all the wagging back and forth. I think it said something about a 55 MPH limit. I have made this run before in about 10.5 hours. It was more like 12.5 hours this time. We finally arrived safely despite the best efforts of the winds, semis and RVs. My hands and back were already cramped and tired from my death grip on the steering wheel. I think that the van seat has a permanent pucker mark on it.

We went over to the apartment complex Sunday to sign final papers and get the keys to the apartment. This is when we found out that the unit was on the second floor instead of the first floor. There were two different reactions to this news. My daughter says that this is great as she won't have to listen to the elephants upstairs. We have always called the noise generated by people above you as the elephants upstairs. I believe that nomenclature came up when we were staying at a hotel that was also hosting a block of rooms for a soccer tournament. I am getting off topic. My response was more to the tune of, oh crap, now we have to tote all this stuff upstairs. See, two different responses to the same news. Both reasonable responses however mine was not greeted with enthusiasm. I was told to be nice as daughter #1 had to live there and I didn't. Sheeesh! Here I thought that this was a perfect time to complain as I didn't have to live there. She could always apologize for the cranky old man after I left. It might be good to have it known that your father was a cranky old so-and-so to provide for bargaining position in the future.

We successfully unloaded everything. Since I was not totally collapsed in a heap, the trailer was returned and we went to Lowes and bought some more stuff to haul up the stairs. The organizing frenzy was well underway. I was looking for a chair to sit in and pretend that I was immobilized and deaf for a while. It was a good thing that I brought a chair for myself. There is no problem in being immobile as I have a lot of practice in deer hunting. Pretending to be deaf is an acquired skill from years of practice when I am being informed of the chores that remain unfinished.

Monday brought on another shopping spree as we would not want to run out of things to tote up the stairs. Good thing that I got rid of the trailer as some other large items were being considered. I would go out with the measuring tape and return to announce that it wouldn't fit. I guess that you will have to order it and have it delivered. We drove back across the wastelands on Tuesday with winds that were actually spectacular. I was thankful that I didn't have the trailer.

I will now continue to assist in shopping and whatnot until Fathers Day. This is when daughter #2 gets married. She is getting married to a fine young man who is a Marine. I am sure that I will have some fine postings about this glorious event later on. It has been and still is a busy stretch!

 I walked by the reloading bench the other day and was sure that it called out to me. The gun safe definitely called to me and asked why haven't you been shooting? Soon, soon.

The Shoe Tire

My brother and I used to watch the Red Green Show and get some serious laughs. It is a Canadian show that does require some local perspective to understand all of the nuances. We were originally from Michigan and not too far from the border so we were acquainted with many Canadians. Shoot puck, drink beer, eh? The Handyman Corner is one of my favorite segments of the show. Enjoy.



 

College Grad!

Congrats to daughter #1 who has just graduated from NAU in Exercise Science. She has a 4.0 GPA and is an Honors student. Woohoo! Can you say Summa Cum Laude? I knew you could. She gets all this intelligence and sense of humor, of course, from my side of the family. I believe that she gets her goods looks and stubborn streak from her mother.

We will have a two week break and then move her to San Angelo to attend Angelo State University. You know, the good ASU. You may go ahead and complain if you are at/from Arizona State University. The graduate program starts in June for her next goal which is a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. She claims that the DPT stand for "dirt poor technician". I doubt that "poor" part will hold up long as PT's do well.

In all seriousness, congratulations. You worked hard for those grades and deserve them.

She doesn't want much personal information up on websites (smart girl) so here is a picture of a tire print where her car was frozen in place up at Flagstaff. It took a bit of hot water to free the car. You probably won't have that problem in San Angelo, Texas!

Gun people don’t trust anti-gun people because .............

Good article by Barry Snell that covers the many deceits of the Gun Control groups. Pop on over and read the many reasons articulated.

"We want the crime and killings to stop as much as you do, so to my fellow citizens who are anti-gun I say: So long as you deny our humanity, so long as you malign our dignity, intelligence and wisdom, so long as you seek to shade us under a cloud of evil that we do not partake in or support, so long as you tell us that because we own guns we are terrible people, you will prove yourselves absolutely right in that we won’t come to the table to talk with you."

Squirrels & Stupidity

It is not the squirrels that are stupid.......
Would-be squirrel-killer injured after taping cartridge to BB gun

Not feeling that the BB gun was powerful enough, he taped a .40 cal round to the end. The round fragmented sending the genius to the hospital. He is also a prohibited person and received a "sworn complaint". The sworn complaint was in lieu of arrest due to his being in the hospital. Otherwise, I expect that he would have been taking a different ride.

I will give this a one Flaming Squirrel rating!

  I think that the earlier post:
Do You Smell Fur Burning, still takes the top prize.

Do You Smell Fur Burning? - Update

Person torching squirrel fur starts apartment fire

I must be lacking some advanced culinary techniques in squirrel preparation. We always skinned the tree rats prior to cooking for our evening meal. I had never heard about using a propane torch to burn the fur off first. I wonder if you clean them before the propane fur treatment or just wait for them to pop? I believe that this falls into the category of, "What a maroon!"

Update.........
Since being posted, there have come to "light'" other misadventures involving squirrels which leads me to starting the "Flaming Squirrel" rating system. This will consist of a rating from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest (dumbest?) rating. I will place this as being the current champ with a rating of 4 "Flaming Squirrels".

So much for Flake

16 Republicans who voted to proceed on the Senate gun control:
Alexander
Ayotte
Burr
Chambliss
Coburn
Collins
Corker
Flake
Graham
Heller
Hoeven
Isakson
Kirk
McCain
Toomey
Wicker

So much for liking that Flake guy. Let's see how he votes as it goes forward.
I expected no less from McCain. I would love to see a strong constitutionalist run against him. The odds of that happening are.............

Senator Flake's Response

I have been contacting my senators and congress critters about gun control and such. Always be polite! Below is Senator Jeff Flake's response. It is not known if this is a canned response but it is a fairly good one. I am starting to like him more but we will see where his votes carry him.

"Thank you for contacting me about gun control legislation.

In the wake of the tragic December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, there has been a surge in the introduction of congressional legislation attempting to address gun violence. A ban on assault weapons, restrictions on ammunition and magazines, and increased background check requirements have all been proposed.

As you may know, I support the Second Amendment, and I do not believe our society needs more laws restricting gun ownership. What we really need is to do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not have them, while ensuring that those who break existing laws are fully prosecuted.

To that end, I do not support universal background checks, which would be extremely costly, create further delays for those eligible to buy guns, and apply to private transfers between family members, friends, neighbors, and even firearms passed down through wills. I do support making the existing background check system more effective in order to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. For example, many states and federal agencies are not providing the required disqualifying records of individuals barred from buying guns to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which checks the names and records of would-be gun buyers to determine if they may possess a firearm. For this reason, I am an original cosponsor of S. 480, the NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013, which would require states and federal agencies to report individuals involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, those incompetent to stand trial in a criminal case, and those found not guilty by reason of insanity – among others – to NICS. S. 480 was introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on March 6, 2013. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where it is awaiting further action.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future. I also encourage you to visit my website, which may be found at flake.senate.gov."

Elk Hunting - Again!

Surprise, surprise! I have been drawn for elk again. This time I have a cow hunt in 7E. I put in for a premier spot (can you say - low odds?) for bull for my first pick and a high odds cow hunt on the second choice. I realize that I did not do a report on my last hunt that utilized an outfitter. I will modify this post later with details from the hunt in November. This outfitter was pleasant to be with. We had good shelter, food and company. There were some bull elk but we did not get to drop the hammer on anything. I will explain the rest later, but for now........woooohoooo!!!!

Unintended or Intended Consequences?

"Illegal Border Crossings Double, Border Becomes Less Secure as Beltway Gets Close to Deal on Immigration Reform"

Every time that our elected officials talk about "comprehensive" immigration reform, the result is a new wave of illegal aliens. My stance has always been that the federal government must perform one of its primary tasks of defending our borders before we talk about anything else. I must see that there are real results as I will take no politician's word. Nappy's claiming that the border is secure is not proof of anything but a willingness to lie.

There are places that I no longer hunt along the border. The reasons vary for me to abandon these areas. Some are so overrun that the game has left the area (Calabasas). Other areas are flat out dangerous to be in (Ruby, Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge). My better half basically has asked me please to not hunt certain areas. She doesn't sleep well and constantly worries if I am camping there. These are the same places we used to go together to camp for a weekend in the Santa Rita Mountains for fun.

I always talk to the Border Patrol agents. They ask if I have seen any illegals and I ask if they have seen any deer. The officers used to tell us to stay away from the Ruby area as it was the drug runners corridor. Sound advice as it is rugged and dangerous territory. We now see various areas with warning signs saying to stay out as it is too dangerous. Do any of you from the government really expect us to believe you when you say it is secure? We are being warned off of our own land!

There was a time (1980s) when the drug runners were armed and the coyotes running people were not. This has faded to all being armed. If you stayed out of the way of the drug runners, you were pretty safe. You are now allowed to carry a firearm while archery hunting in Arizona due to this danger. I personally know people who have been shot at by smugglers/runners only for being in the area and seeing the bad guys.

Our government officials have failed us miserably. Do you ever wonder what else is coming across the border aside from the Mexicans? I hope that the general populace never has to pay with loss of life and property on a grand scale due to this government failure.

All the Border Patrol agents that I have met afield have been courteous and professional. This catch and release program must be so frustrating for them. My hat is off to the BP agents trying to do their jobs with both hands tied behind their back.

Aye, Aye Captain .......Spork

HATE cleric Abu Hamza is set to be fitted with a SPOON to replace his famous hook, it was revealed last night.

"Hamza, who lost his hand and an eye in an explosion in Afghanistan, has been fuming since he was stripped of his metal hook by US jail staff because it was a security risk.
His lawyers say he is unable to use toilets properly and can’t turn taps on or off."

Hold it. Aren't you supposed to use your left hand for bathroom chores, not your right hand hook spork? Don't these people know that a spoon can be dangerous. It could be sharpened up. Anyone remember that old Chex Quest game? It was actually rather fun. When you were out of ammo for everything else, there was always the spoon!

Who's to Blame

Obama: I Didn't Cancel W.H. Tours, Secret Service and Congress to Blame

Oh, come on. You know that there must be some way that you could blame President Bush for this. You have managed on so many other topics that were not related to him. What a (another) bald face lie. The Secret Service just takes care of business as directed and does not schedule events. What does Congress have to do with White House scheduling? At least go back to blaming Bush as the delusional base loves it.

It is disturbing that the mind set of the tax & spend crowd along with the bureaucrats always have to find the most painful and highly advertised way to cut the budget. Wow, you had to cut a little over 2% and you are going to make a huge show of cutting everything but waste. I imagine that it should not be such a surprise as these people truly believe that this money belongs to them. They even come right out and say that this is the governments money. Cutting anything, even including cutting increases to spending, is viewed by them as theft. You stole my money, therefore you must be punished.

We see only a few of the "Upstart" representatives objecting. These are the people that are branded as Tea Party, Libertarians, and wacko birds. I like the term wacko birds. It reminds of when the children were little and had some fierce name calling such as poopy head. Good grief, do we actually elect these people? I am looking for the flush button but fear that one was never installed properly. Perhaps there could be another consideration to ridding ourselves of career politicians. Can you say, "Term Limits?" I knew you could. We might have a chance of getting that passed. There is no chance that we can rely on the dumbed downed and dependent voters to do anything but look for the best handout.

Renaissance Festival

Daughter #1 was the festival a couple of weeks ago. She enjoys the events and seems to go depending on her school schedule at NAU. The archery game was looking for some action and challenged her to play for five dollars. If you could put up five straight bulls eyes with five arrows then you would win fifty dollars. She had informed them that they didn’t want her to play. I believe they assumed that meant the she didn’t want to play. The normal hawking harassment ensued but she was keeping her ground. They finally wanted her to shoot one arrow for free. She said, “OK, how do you hold the bow?”

Keep in mind that this young lady surprised the heck out of me the first time she shot. She wanted to go with daughter #2 and me to the archery range. We must have been talking about what fun we had and she decided she wanted to join in. We went down to the caveman warehouse to have a look at bows. She did not want any of those things with wheels and pulleys so we selected a stick bow for her to try. We stepped the range in the back and went through a few basics of stance, grip, etc. She shot a bull’s eye on the second shot and proceeded to keep doing it while announcing that this was easy. It turns out that she seems to be a pretty natural shooter. She shoots well!

I asked, “So you really asked them how to hold the bow?” I guess that she must have been paying attention when some of us were talking about hustling up games in past years. She shot her free arrow about a foot low and to the right on purpose. She definitely was paying attention when we were talking about hustling. She said, “Dad, the target was only about 5 meters away!” Now the guys running the range went into full sale mode to convince her to pay the five dollars. She “reluctantly” agreed and proceeded to place the next five straight into the black. The fellows seemed surprised and then asked why she didn’t want to play. She let them know that she did not say that. She had told them that, “You don’t want me to play.” She merrily collected her loot and went off to spend at the fair for other items.

I wonder if her picture is under the counter at the archery setup with a note to not challenge? That’s my girl!

A New Gun Rights Friend?

VP Biden, "You’ve had no better friend over the last 35 years than me".

Really? I am surprised that we never noticed it in the past. This statement is from the administration's attack dog on gun control.

That rain running down the back of your neck is just warm because of global warming!

Happiness is a Warm Gun (Not!)

Woman 'shot' and wounded as she cooks a snack after bullets left in her OVEN explode

I would love to hear the "rational" explanation for storing a magazine in the oven.
I like to keep my bullets warm because...........fill in the blank.

Illegal Amnesty

Here we go again. I say, once again, that I am opposed to any talks until the border is secure. Once we have secured the borders then we come move forward with the rest of the topics. The follow up topics should be about a naturalization path, not amnesty. Illegal behavior should not be rewarded with amnesty. Rewarding bad behavior begets more bad behavior.

Not before a secure border is in place will I believe that any of our politicians are anything but pontificating baboons. My apologies to the baboons for comparing them to politicians. It is just a mental image that I would like to see most politicians spanked until their buttocks are as red as a baboons.

Fun Day at the Range

Come on, sing along. You know you want to.

Oh, give me a home where liberals groan,
Where the riflemen and pistoleros play,
Where often is heard an encouraging word
And the ammo keeps going downrange.

(Chorus)
Home, home on the range
Where the targets are neatly displayed.
Where often is heard an encouraging word
And weapons are freely exchanged.

Where the wind is so calm, the ammo is free,
And the targets they reset themselves,
That I not give up second amendment rights
For the promise of security.

Chorus)
Home, home on the range
Where the targets are neatly displayed.
Where often is heard an encouraging word
And weapons are freely exchanged.

I am frequently told by my children that I am either primeval or weird. Pick a day for which it might be true but don't pick payday as they get more polite when there is a possibility of money being involved. My wife just shakes her head and smiles as this behavior is expected.

The 2013 Southern/Central Arizona Blogshoot was a lot of fun, again! This was organized, I think,  by Exurban Kevin and The Smallest Minority. Thanks to everyone who showed up. We had a fine time exchanging weapons, ammo, advice and stories. Exurban Kevin has a fairly complete list of attendees in the comments so I won't repeat here.

I have two disappointments from my time on the range. The first is that I did not bring more 44Mag ammo. The Henry Big Boy was bigger hit than I had thought it would be. It is a sweet shooter. The other item that I need to correct the next time is that I had to leave too early and missed out on meeting a couple more bloggers.

My two Bernardelli Model 80 pistols were finally fired. The 22 needs a new extractor spring and the 380 has a light primer strike (firing pin or main spring). Otherwise, they functioned just fine.I will have to keep and eye on Numrich for parts. Another weapon that I had collected but not fired was a CZ 52 (Tokerov). It sure is LOUD even for a pistol. I had some problems with it that all cleared up with an ammo change. I also had a chance to fire that old H&R 999 Sportsman. This shot well but does have a weak mainspring for a light hammer strike. This is the revolver with the pin on the hammer so I do not know of another good reason for a light strike as the hammer looks clean.

I had also brought my old 44Mag SBH that has been cut down to 4 5/8" and guncoated. The modification I made to the front sight seemed to hold up and worked just fine. I needed to get this checked out again as this is the one I typically carry when archery hunting. One just never knows when he will be attacked by some wild beast while taking the bow for a walk.

Thanks to everyone for the fine time!