Doc

So, how does the hunting in England compare to here (in general)? Do you have a lot of open land in England to hunt in? Is it mostly a "pay-to-hunt" kind of hunting environment. Are there a lot of wild species to hunt there? One thing I never seem to hear or read about is just what hunting is like in european countries. My impression has always been that hunting is all but non-existant there and that what hunting exists there is pretty much insanely regulated and rather expensive to engage in. It sounds like that could be a wrong impression.

I like the Consumer Reports with their unbiased, extensive, standardized, testing and reporting to guide me in terms of quality. I find that to be much more reliable than just a couple of anecdotal comments here and there. Browse through a few of those reports and then you will have a better idea of how the quality of each auto source really is.

I honestly don't have a clue. As soon as we adopted the notion of global economies and new world order, etc. and began decades ago to export everything we ever knew about making a product, and invested gobs of money educating foriegn workers to do our jobs, and plowed money into foriegn infrastructure so they could successfully ruin us, the wheels of US decline began to entrench itself, and there is nothing that I can see that will ever turn it back. That's not to say that there are no solutions. I'm only saying that I am not smart enough to know what they are.

And the only way that is going to happen is when the American family has finally reached a 3rd world's standard of living. You want to successfully compete with them for your job, you have to learn to live like them. That's pretty much an economic certainty. Those prices don't become cheaper just by wishing them so. Why do you think our jobs went overseas to begin with. Cheaper wages, no environmental corporate harassment, and a willing corporate mentality that sees no problem with screwing the American worker and economy. Don't be blaming the American consumer, just understand that the glory days of our country are slipping away, and there appears to be nothing that can turn it around. When we have reached the proper level of ruin, the jobs will return. Just simple economics 101.

Speaking of lumber quality, be careful of some of these package deals that come from some of the "big-box" building supply outfits. often they take the opportunity to pass off some of their super low quality lumber.

Of course you're right, price and quality drive purchases. That's what makes a smart consumer demand certain products. But who is it that exported technology, money and jobs to those third world countrys that are now kicking our butt. That wasn't the American consumer. And the other thing that we have to get over is the idea that we are the only consumers who are driving markets. Every day we get to be less and less relevant as far as consumers. Buying American no longer achieves anything at all other than guaranteeing that you are paying more for a product of the same or less quality. Also, as a lot of these replies on this thread indicate, the choice to "buy American" no longer exists in much of an effective fashion for U.S. consumers. And if you do manage to "buy American", the only thing you are assuring is that the product is being marketed as being made in the USA. Most of those products turn out to be packaged or assembled in the USA, but the real skilled work that has any potential for a decent family income is still foriegn sourced. Other "made in the USA" products simply have their corporate headquarters here. It's all a Con-game, and none of it was designed or implemented by the American consumer.

So now you all are starting to see just why our economy can take cyclical ups and downs, but never any real meaningful and permanent forward progress. We don't make anything anymore. We are simply a "service" country. We flip a mean burger, and have the art of selling trinkets and gadgets (produced by others) down pat, but we really don't crank out any hardware. I'll say it again....if we want to compete with the chinese, we are going to have to live like them. U.S. industry cannot (will not) support our current lifestyles. But then, none of this is new. It's been going on for decades. We (U.S. corporations) have exported our technology, our expertise, and consequently our jobs to various 3rd world countries. We have even exported our demand for products overseas by raising (with our jobs) the standard of living of foriegn countries until they have made our internal consuming (U.S.) less necessary. Some strange things have happened to what used to be our domain, and apparently we all slept through it. And I guess U.S. corporations have absolutely no feelings of loyalty toward the country that spawned their success.

Ok, that is more what I was expecting to see on the other page. Actually, it appears that they want to do an even better job of monitoring and managing bobcats than they do whitetails. I really like the idea of trying to factor in "sportsman-effort" into their harvest data. That is something that should be part of whitetail harvest reports. However, I am curious as to what makes them think that harvest reports on bobcats will be any more successful than the pitiful rate of reporting on whitetail harvests. If they have come up with some magic bullet that has solved the report rate problems, I would think that they should plow the methodology back into whitetail management calculations. I am also trying to figure out what rationale the antis are using for opposing this plan. What possible line of reasoning could they be using that anyone would take seriously? Yes, I know they would like hunting and trapping taken out of the management of wildlife. But that is not a credible or practical position and it is not likely to be taken any more seriously than any of their other previous attempts to push that agenda.

Actually, I missed that link and only scanned the page that you referenced. I'll have to check it out.

I don't see a lot there to be either for or against. That web page sure is short on details. So it's pretty hard to work up much of an opinion given the fact that this really isn't a plan at all but rather simply a very brief fact sheet on bobcat biology. I'd have a problem figuring out exactly what it is that I am commenting on from what is written on the linked webpage..

I still don't understand exactly how the micro-stamping works. Does it mark the primer? Actually, the identifying marks would have to be on the firing pin. That's a pretty small area to be getting very many identifying numbers on. I would guess that the printing or whatever must be pretty darn tiny and the engraving for such a miniscule series of numbers must be pretty state-of-the-art. How long would you expect such delicate markings to stay legible during the repeated impacts? Are they going to require test firing of each weapon and inspection to ensure that each device is functioning adequately? How about the jillions of guns already spread through the public. Are they going to demand retrofits? I'm thinking the whole thing is pretty much just somebody's pipe-dream. My thinking is that it is hoped that after such a law is passed, very few, if any, gun manufacturers will be able to comply. Too bad for the gun manufacturers .... eh?

I think its possible that this article is only skimming the highlights of how this mild winter impacts the critters of nature. But it was interesting to read some of the expected results. It appears that the results are not always so obvious. For example, I expected the milder temps woule result in a mosquito explosion, and they are saying it will be just the opposite. I am curious how this weather might impact such species as gypsy moths and tent caterpillars and other pests.

How practical is that technolgy? I understood that it wasn't all that reliable and would add considerable cost to firearms. But then maybe that is the real purpose of such a requirement. Much like most gun laws, their only real effect and purpose is to add harrassment or cost into gun ownership.

I've got a Marlin bolt action .22 with a tubular magazine that holds 20 shorts. It's a hand-me-down from my Dad that I had since I was a kid. I guess that gun would be illegal in NYC too.

Lol ...... Is it the fingers or the toes that you have a couple extra of?

I think entirely too much is being made of the way he destroyed the laptop. It appears that some have a phobia about using a gun. Probably a version of the same phobia that creates anti-gun people, but we just don't recognize it. I'm not sure what it is about guns that makes people so paranoid, but this certainly is not the first time that a gun has been used to destroy some piece of equipment. We used to consider it a lucky day when a TV set showed up at the dump......lol. I would guess that if he had used a post mall, everyone would have thought it was pretty funny. Frankly, I thought poking holes in it with a .45 was funny.

I have seen some of that kind of parenting that you are talking about. You know..... the parents that get kicked in the shins or slapped in the face and the parent says, "Oh, please don't do that" and then ignores the kid while he continues making a spectacle of himself. Yeah go to any Walmart or grocery store and you'll see that kind of parenting. I agree, the guy should be investigated and then used as an example of how to properly get your kid's attention. As you might have guessed, I have had it with these so-called parents who have completely lost their spine when it comes to child rearing. I see examples of this nonsense all the time, and frankly it's sickening and pitiful. Personally, I would have taken an axe to the laptop just for a little extra emphasis and damage.

The "Cam-float" is finished. It's a bit crude, and I didn't realize what paint does to styrofoam ..... lol. But anyway I'm sure it will work. The thing weighs nothing so it should carry well. It came out just about the right height for little critters (muskrats, mink, beaver, fox, coons, etc.) And if the floods come .......... I'll be ready ......lol. The only problem is that it is designed only for that camera, and I cannot use thetwo Bushnells or the primos. But those are IR cameras so I wouldn't be using them anyway.

Look ..... I have no idea what the legal ins and outs are on this particular method of punishment. I don't even care. One thing I will say for certain is that the kid got the message .....no doubt in my mind. She is now one of the very few kids that has actually been punished for engaging in disrespect of elders. It sure doesn't happen very often these days as more and more the kids blatently run the household. And it's about time these techno-brats learned that there is at least some behaviors in life that actually have consequences. I say BRAVO! There is one child who is not being coddled and trained by a whiney do-nothing parent to be a worthless loser in life that expects the world owes them a living. Now she can buy her own laptop and whatever other electronic toys she wants. Maybe she will actually have to go out and get a job and learn how all the stuff that she consumes is actually paid for. Won't that be a shame? Was his method a bit off-the-wall? Probably .... but I applaud his originality, creativity and most of all, the absolute effectiveness at getting the point across. Whatever politically incorrectness that we may want to assign to this act, at least we are seeing one rare parent that actually takes some time and effort to try to correct his kid. That is one of the very rare times that we will ever see that. Most have already given up and thrown in the towel.

It's standard practice for these larger companies to have you sign a waiver that gives all rights to intellectual property that comes as a result of your employment to the company. He was lucky to get the dollar for each patent. I got nothing but a copy of the paperwork to sign .....lol.

The patents that I have were handled by the company that I worked for. I never got one on my own outside of work. However, I understand that it is not a cheap or easy thing to do. lawyers, infringement searches, and all kinds of expensive legal nonsense.

Lol .... I wonder if CNN aired this story. Probably not, it has some serious pro-gun features in it. Not really the kind of story most of the media would allow on their networks.

Poplars ........ That's one that I had forgotten about when mentioning trees with thin soft bark and a layer underneath that is very moist.

No. If it ain't broke, I don't fix it ..... lol.

I was totally against white-flash until I started to get interested in photographing critters other than deer. If they get a bit spooked from the flash .... who cares. They'll forget the whole experience in about 5 minutes anyway ... lol. The beauty of it is that the price of these white-flash cameras are quite reasonable compared to the IR ones. It's almost worth having one or two of them around for these kinds of specialty pictures. I figure the time is right to pick up whatever white-flash cams that I want because the selection seems to be getting more and more lean as sportsmen are migrating to the IR cameras because of the game spooking concerns.