bluecoupe

Honestly, with the current trend of people letting their animals do whatever they want, taking them everywhere they go (sometimes even into the bathroom I think) and couple that with the number of idiots who shoot at anything without knowing 100% what it is, I didn't find it bad at all.

oh yum... party's at Gizmos! (anybody have directions? )

Well, that's a good point bubba and a distinction that I hadn't really thought about until your post.

Yep, no one wants to put the work into much of anything anymore. Put holes on a paper from a bench rest once a year - good enough. There are a lot more examples of todays laziness but I don't wanna start up posting wars. ;-)

That was what I experienced as well when I took the bow class. I'm not sure I could stomach that. I'd want to be fairly confident someone had a clue what they were doing before passing them. It's my understanding that, due to lobbyists from the equipment manufactures, that the State is more of a rubber stamp process; if they stay the whole time - they pass.

Not the first time a woman has had an animal "approach" her during that time of the month - hormones are hormones.

Have that as well as the application, but thanks for the pointer.

Yeah, the instructor said that marksmanship wasn't a requirement other than the special area certificate. But missing a 30'x30' target at 30 yards seemed REALLY scary to me... I know, rules is rules.... I have the application, I just haven't filled it out and sent it in. I'm on the fence as I don't do "politics" very well. I'll have to think on it further. The classes are probably pretty much done until springtime anyhow.

That's mainly why I'm not in the woods this year. Some yahoos who have no respect for anything got permission to hunt the property I hunted. I'll pass. No deer on the planet is worth risking hunting around them. I've shot my share of deer in my life, if I never shoot another, so be it. I like seeing the wife.

@ bubba: Ya know bubba, I just may take you up on that. I'm retired these days and certainly have the time. So it's not simply a rubber stamp process? You can actually fail people? I know when I took my bow class many years ago, people were actually missing a 30'x30' set of hay bales at about 30 yards while shooting to get the Fahnestock certificate. They didn't get the special certificate but did "pass' the course. I asked the instructor about it and he said it was state regs, if they attended, they passed the basic class. Scary stuff, at least to me. If that mentality has changed I may be interested.

No sweat - just tripped my trigger... I said "may be easy for him..." ;-) Seriously, my Dad was VERY good at sharpening as was a friend of mine. I REALLY wanted to be able to hone a knife to a fine edge with stones but after hours and hours of practice I just gave up. I'd still like to be able to but I'd wear both the stones and blades out first. ;(

I think what struck me was the "easily learned" lol - you have no idea how many hours I spent trying before I said "f it"...

I thought it was fairly clear, I guess not... You're OPINION is that it's easy to manually sharpen knives so therefore someone would have to be an idiot to be unable to do it. Wrong. It may be easy for you but everyone has different talents and capabilities.

You know what they say about opinions don't you?

Air dry? Really? I'd always been told to get the water off 'em asap?

Dishwashers are bad for various reasons Shawn but the main one is the probability of them smacking your knife around and damaging the edge. Only takes a second to wash and dry 'em. I WISH I could hand sharpen. Believe me, I've tried but just doesn't sink in

Congrats on your knives - I'm sure they'll serve you well. The most important thing about choosing knives is how they feel in your hand. There are many quality knife brands out there but how they fit your hand really is the key in how well and effortlessly they will work for you. What I love (Henckels Professional S) you may hate and visa-versa. I always tell folks to go to a store where you can handle the knives prior to a final decision. Also, HAND WASH ONLY. Dishwashers are extremely bad for knives. Immediately after use, hand wash, hand dry, and store properly. If using a wooden knife block, insert the knives with the blade facing up so that it doesn't rub on the wood. As for sharpening, I've tried and tried to sharpen by hand using oil stones, etc and I just can't get it right. I'll make them duller. I finally settled on the Chefs Choice 3 stage sharpener. It actually does a pretty decent job on them. Once every couple of years or so I take them to Warren Cutlery in Rhinebeck and have them sharpen them. Enjoy your new knives.

Never been a tree person, well except for playing treetag when I was a kid. I figure if I was meant to be in a tree I'd be crappin' through feathers.

Very nice rack. He's been around a while

I'm sure you'll get other replies. It has to cause some deflection, the argument will come as to how much. ;-) I figure better safe than sorry no matter what I'm shooting.

Can you shoot through twigs? Sure! Now, will the bullet go where you intended it is really the question you should be asking, and the answer is; no.

oops - I looked but missed it - my bad.... <blush>

Channel 2 reported a hunter who was not wearing blaze orange was killed "upstate" after he'd taken a break at their camp and then was going back out. His friend, who was unaware of the mans return to the camp shot at movement. I didn't catch the county that it happened in. This may be a cold statement but; two idiots in the same place. Sadly, one's dead and the other has to live with it. No charges have been filed.... yet

I lost my hunting property to a-holes who had no respect for the fact that we'd been hunting that property for years. We told them they were encroaching on stands we'd used for a long time (one guy was literally 20 yards from where I stood) they couldn't care less. I think I'd be awfully thankful that you at least have respectful people and have a place to go without worrying too much about getting shot.

no experience with that one - good luck and report back on it.