Doc

I am enjoying the fact that we have a president who can look beyond some of these liberal feel-good issues and make some measured decisions that rely on something other than emotion for a change. Watching the left go through another emotional meltdown also provides a certain measure of satisfaction too.

If it happened in their national waters, perhaps. But as I understand it their tests are going into international waters. It's all fair out there. Plus there is the thought that it may serve as a smart preemptive strike to be a bit on the aggressive side in the name of self preservation and the preservation of our allies. Perhaps the answer is that it is better to engage now rather than wait until they have a stocked arsenal of improved and capable nukes. It wouldn't bother my conscience any if we were to take on an act of aggression against a budding nuclear power that is determined to use them when they finally get them developed.

In the spring, I really cannot get the work done around the house as it is. Hunting just hits a very low priority. Plus for so long, we have had a very thin population of turkeys in my hunting area that I likely would feel bad if I took any out. And then there are the bugs. I have a very low tolerance for swarms of black flies ..... actually, no tolerance at all. So I reserve my hunting for the fall and winter. No gobs of household and yard work to be ignored, no bugs, and no shortage of deer and squirrels. It's just a freer time of the year where I can pursue my hunting activities with full energy and dedication without worrying about what is not getting done back home.

Given all the efforts and successes that we have done voluntarily internally here in the US and the volumes and volumes of environmental law that have been adopted by states and federally, why do we have to pour jillions of dollars into some international slush fund to duplicate what we are already doing. Is it really necessary that we fund the environmental activities of the rest of the world. Yes there were many countries that signed on to the accord, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they were motivated by the free-ride provided by US tax dollars offered up for the use by their own countries. When will we get it through our heads that we can no longer finance every country's activities. We are not a bottomless money pit available for the use of every country slick enough to figure new ways of scamming us out of our financial resources. For some reason, we have figured out all kinds of ways of exporting our own internal versions of welfare around the globe for even international concerns to take advantage of. It can't continue.

My hiking and scouting and observation at this time of year are great for checking populations and seeing what number and quality of deer are out there, but the truth is that the activity and patterns are constantly changing such that when fall hunting rolls around, the patterns are completely changed by the time I spend the first hunt in any stands. They are critters driven by the ever-changing elements of food and cover and early summer observations and stand building, seldom improve actual hunting success. The same is true (to a lesser extent) with deep winter scouting after the season has closed. This is one of those activities where past performance often does indicate future results. Keep a good log book.

Ha-ha-ha..... Sometimes they just act like the goofy goats that they are. Probably a severe case of spring fever....lol.

So, can anyone explain to me why it makes sense to struggle with cast iron when today there are frying pans of new technology that defies sticky eggs. The new copper clad pans will fry an egg even if you choose not to use any oil or grease or whatever. We gave away all of our old frying pans including the Teflon and ceramic ones and replaced them all with copper clad ones and haven't regretted it for a minute. They all look brand new with literally nothing that will stick to them. No "seasoning" or difficult clean-up as in cast iron. So, other than some historical experience, what is the purpose of wrestling around with cooking technology of past centuries?

Why do they have to "simulate" when they have real moving targets whenever North Korea fires off their test missiles. That would be funny if we routinely shot down every test they fired.

The garden is surrounded by a 4' high welded wire fence with a strand of electric wire about 3" above the ground and another powered strand just above the welded wire fence. I have not lost a plant to a critter in the 10 years since installing all of that stuff. Even the chipmunks get wacked. And it is not just an inconvenient jolt. This fence leaves the bodies behind. Berries- Last year I wrestled with plastic netting, and wound up with a mess that I will never fight with again. We'll see if the birds beat me to them this year. I am not expecting a problem, because I never had a problem getting to the wild berries in time to get a pile of them. Also as a kid I used to pick berries for a farmer, and he never used any netting. I don't remember any of those plants being picked bare or even significantly by the birds or other critters. I have put in enough berries so if need be, I can share some of the harvest and still have more berries than the two of us can eat.

Damn Grampy ...... I'll never get to see 60 years old ever again, you young whippersnapper ....ha ha. Congratulations on reaching one of the magical milestones. Life just keeps getting better from there. It's almost time to start writing your memoirs, isn't it?

Isn't it amazing how light the recoil becomes when you're shooting at a deer instead of a paper target?

It looks like a bumper crop for blackberries this year, judging from all of the little clusters of berry-buds (whatever you call them). I put in a new berry patch year before last, and they are going crazy this year. The wild ones are producing like mad too.

Ha-ha..... I am not into that stuff that derives pleasure from pain. All of my rifles have had a primary requirement that they do not hurt to shoot. A few years back our county finally allowed rifles for deer hunting. Before I purchased a deer rifle, I made sure that all candidates were easy on the shoulder. I wanted a gun that I would want to target shoot with as well as kill deer. Over all the decades of deer hunting with a gun, I had been using a 12 gauge Ithaca Deerslayer. That gun was truly a pain, and practice with it was as few slugs as I could use to get the scope zeroed in and kept that way over all those years. When rifles were finally allowed, I happily went to a .270, and have been a happy shooter ever since. I can shoot that thing until I get tired of blowing the center out of the x-ring. It is a very pleasant gun to shoot, and that keeps me on the target range longer because of it. I have no intentions of shooting brown bears or elephants at any time in the future so It is all the gun that I need. By the way, the Ithaca serves as a decoration in the gun case and is a loaner for anyone that I hunt with that needs one.

So, is it merely governmental dysfunction? I don't know. To me there seems to be a pattern to it and having it happen so many years in a row, there does seem to be some direction to it. Frankly, I don't really see the issue as having that much real significance that it could serve as a political football. Let's face it, in the greater scheme of things, crossbows truly are pretty much at the bottom of the priority list. Perhaps that is the actual reason for this legislation having such a hard time progressing. Maybe it is just relegated to the bottom of the list because of it's lack of real significance. As far as the political path that this thread has taken, I don't believe there is any need for an apology. When discussing the functions of government and legislation, politics is kind of built into the discussion.

That is a very interesting question. Why is this legislation having such a difficult time. It used to be thought that the NYB was the force behind keeping the xbow out of bow season, the thought being that bowhunters were highly organized, and that no one was speaking for the crossbow interests. But that is no longer the case. The crossbow interests are now heavily organized, so it appears that the playing field has been leveled. It appears that there may be something besides organizational lobbying efforts from either side that is running the show. Any theories?

We have become quite the lazy people with the internet haven't we? It seems that we spend our time scanning the internet to find thoughts and ideas from insignificant sources that we can repeat as our own. We no longer form and express opinions of our own, but are content to simply become gatherers of the opinions of others. This particular section of huntingny.com has almost turned completely into that sort of a mindless activity, hasn't it? There seems to be some kind of satisfaction achieved by those that can use the internet to speak for them, never having to express an original thought of our own. It is interesting to watch our culture change, but also very boring and meaningless. It is also a bit scary how easily some are led by the opinions of others. We are becoming a "cut-and-paste" society, at least some portion of it is.

Now that is something I don't ever want to see in real life!

Well, you out-lasted me ..... lol. I'm pretty sure you are smart enough to understand my complaint about caustic responses and apparently you don't agree that we should try to be civil here. What more can anyone say about that?

Lol..... yeah, periodically somebody has to calm people down a bit. Actually my original reply wasn't even aimed at you, but you seemed to want to take it on personally. Like I said originally, the reply went sailing right over your head or you were simply due to fly off the handle at somebody ..... anybody...... for any or no reason. But now you know that I don't take that kind of aimless aggression from anybody.

I saw 90 degrees for a short period of time yesterday. It summer finally getting here? It won't be too long before I am complaining about the heat.....Ha-ha-ha. But I need a little heat and direct sun to dry that garden out so I can get the tiller out there. I might try it today just one pass around to break it up so it will dry a little deeper.

Boy, you are really on a tear aren't you. You really like this flaming stuff apparently. By the way, that is not a snide remark, but just an observation.

I recall a summer night when apparently a rabbit got killed outside our bedroom window. That was so loud I did a very nice move almost straight up out of the bed. probably became dinner for some owl or fox. It went on with it's noise for about 15 minutes or so. Then there was the night when there was some snarling critter out in the thicket next to the house. I'm not sure what his problem was but he kept up his snarling and growling for quite a few minutes. Last winter there was a pack of coyotes chasing something across the hill behind the house. There's always something going on out there.

So it appears that my reply blew completely over your head. I was commenting on the style of response always being so damned hostile. There is no reason for that kind of flame activity here. It gets kind of tiresome to have every opinion instantly drawing snide remarks or name calling or impugning of motives. Don't get so offended every time someone happens to have a different opinion than your own. That was all I was saying. Relax....Take a deep breath, and try to maintain control. This is conversation, not combat.

So, does the butcher haul the meat out of a pail of water when he sells it to you. I have been to a few restaurants where the meat tasted like it had been soaking in water long enough to eliminate the danger of it having any flavor ..... lol. But seriously, there is nothing achieved by soaking meat other than to remove flavor. You want to make corned beef out of it, that's different. There you are replacing the original flavors with a completely different flavor, and replacing the original flavor is a desired result. Don't soak meat.

Why does everyone seem to go there. Do you think that impugning one's motives automatically lends strength to your arguments. Is it so hard to believe that perhaps chas0218 may actually believe that achievements worked for are the most enduring achievements. I know that all these snide remarks sound cute, but if you are serious about discussing the issue, those kinds of comments are not productive. That is how so many discussions seem to devolve into mindless flame wars.