Wednesday, November 26, 2008

WHAT I LEARNED IN HUNTING CAMP





Well, enough with the political crap for awhile. It is now safe to watch TV again, although I still don’t because the shows on are so worthless. I myself just got back from a nice 5 days in hunting camp where I got a decent buck “speed goat”, aka pronghorn antelope, with my favorite little 1894 Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55mm. My partner also got his speed goat and filled a whitetail doe tag. It was a great time living in an old GI squad tent with the cold weather liner, stoking up the Cabela’s packer stove, and cooking in the Dutch oven. Camp was as much fun as hunting. As always, one tends to learn new things on such trips. Here are the lessons from hunting camp that lodged themselves in the warped recesses of my warped little mind.

A single cup of coffee in the morning will cause you to urinate at least 17 times during the first hour of hunting, especially if you are stalking game and the wind is erratic.

It is a very good thing to have an insomniac hunting partner who gets up early and stokes the tent stove. If you do not have an insomniac hunting partner, consider slipping him some laxatives before bed.

Waterproof boots do you no good when you take a one-legger up to your crotch in a beaver hole.

Due to strange atmospheric conditions, not age, rifles and packs will swell and increase in weight by at least threefold during the course of a single day’s hunt.

Toilet paper! Always have toilet paper in your day pack!

A fatally shot game animal will have just enough energy left lurch over a stream bank and fall into the deepest beaver pond on the creek.

In real life, anyone insisting one should drink the blood of a downed game animal, like those idiot kids in Red Dawn, will be immediately clubbed with rifle butts.

When it’s ten degrees, have an empty Gatorade bottle beside your cot to prevent those annoying trips outside in the middle of the night in your long underwear.

When your wife says you don’t need a game cart, you will really, really, really need a game cart.

When you shoot an antelope, be sure you are at least a mile from the truck and have left your skinning knife in it, so you can field dress with a dull 3-inch pocket knife.

It’s never too early to start making plans for next year.



Saturday, November 08, 2008

No More McCains!

If you're like me, you get plenty of junk mail from groups like the NRA and Republican Party, asking for donations. They're often accompanied by a postage-paid return envelope. Don't throw these away! I made the following and now print it off and stick it in the return envelope and mail it to them. I hope you will too!





No More McCains!
No More RINOs!
No More Sellouts!
(And, until I’m sure that you’ve got the message, no more money from me.)

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

GOA: "Gun Rights in Peril"

Gun Rights in Peril
Barack Obama in the White House

Based on his voting record in the Illinois state senate and in theU.S. Senate, President-elect Barack Obama will be the mostanti-Second Amendment president in the history of America.

In January, the new President will govern alongside congressional leadership, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who are also extremely hostile to gun rights and who now enjoy greatly expanded majorities.

There can be little doubt about the direction in which gun rights are headed. The questions are how far will the anti-gunners go and how fast will they move?

Many comparisons have been made to the first two years of the first Clinton Administration, in which one party controlled both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Almost all experts agree that it was Clinton's overreaching on issues like gun control that cost his party control of Congress. Barack Obama will start out governing with even larger majorities than did Clinton.

Obama ran a campaign high on rhetoric and short on specifics. The President-elect claims he will govern from the middle, but the question for gun owners is which Obama will show up at the WhiteHouse -- the "centrist" from the campaign trail, or the radical anti-Second Amendment extremist who supports gun bans, waiting periods for firearm purchases, one gun a month restrictions, and more?

His party's large gains in the Congress give the incoming President more room to maneuver with a radical agenda.

An equally important question is the outlook for gun rights in the new Congress. That Obama will sign any anti-gun bill that gets to his desk is a certainty. But what can gun owners expect from the new Congress?

Hopes of Congressional restraint on gun issues dimmed with each election return as Pelosi's and Reid's majorities grew to historic proportions.

While there are many moderately pro-gun Democrats in Congress,they're not the ones calling the shots. The leadership is completely in the anti-gun camp, so expanding their majority would have a negative impact on gun rights regardless of who filled those seats.

Unfortunately, though, many seats that flipped parties also went from strong pro-gun to strong anti-gun. Gun owners suffered heavy losses in the Senate. Here's a look at five Senate seats that switched parties (all switches went from Republican to Democrat).

Colorado -- The retirement of A-rated Senator Wayne Allard set up a battle between anti-gun Rep. Mark Udall and pro-gun former Rep. BobSchaffer. This is one of three senate seats that flipped from "A" to"F."

New Hampshire -- Pro-gun Senator John Sununu was defeated by F-rated former governor Jeanne Shaheen, another "A" to "F" shift.

New Mexico -- Long-time Senator Pete Domenici, who was D-rated and usually voted against gun owners, was replaced by F-rated CongressmanTom Udall. Udall defeated A-rated Representative Steve Pearce,making this a big loss for gun owners.

North Carolina -- Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole ran as a pro-gun control candidate for president in 2000. Since being elected to the Senate from the Tar Heel state, however, Mrs. Dole compiled a good pro-gun record. Dole's defeat at the hands of F-rated anti-gunnerKay Hagan is a dramatic flip for gun rights.

Virginia -- F-rated Republican John Warner retired. Former governor Mark Warner (no relation) trounced "A" rated Jim Gilmore, also a former governor. Either of the candidates would have been an improvement over the retiring Senator, but Mark Warner refused to answer the GOA survey and has a mixed record on gun issues.

In the battle for the U.S. House of Representatives, gun owners also were hit hard.

Of the 18 incumbents who were defeated, 15 were pro-gun (only two were replaced by a pro-gunner). Of particular disappointment to gunowners were the losses of Republican representatives Marilyn Musgrave(CO-4), Tom Feeney (FL-24), Bill Sali (ID-1), and Tim Walberg (MI-7).These representatives were among the most ardent Second Amendment supporters.

In the 32 open House seats, the results were mixed. Thirteen seats went to A-rated candidates, while six went to F-rated anti-gunners. Nine new congressmen are "Not Rated," meaning they have no record and refused to fill out a GOA questionnaire. Four new members fall somewhere in the middle, leaning toward a pro-gun position but no guarantees. Note: a handful of close races across the country are obviously headed for recounts, but this is how things look at the moment.

The A-rated winners in open seat elections are: Tom McClintock (R-CA)(this race is still subject to change), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Bill Posey (R-FL), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Debbie Halvorson (D-IL), Aaron Schock (R-IL), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Christopher Lee (R-NY), Glenn Thompson (R-PA),Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). These representatives will have their work cut out for them, as the new Congress has moved decidedly in the anti-gun direction and many pro-gun leaders were defeated.

All in all, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid can’t help but be emboldened by their gains and there can be no denying that gun control legislation is on their agenda.

So what can gun owners and sportsmen do to help prevent a gun control tidal wave? Get involved and stay engaged!

Gun Owners of America will continue its efforts as Capitol Hill's no-compromise gun lobby. But GOA's effectiveness depends on your activism. Please continue to send the e-mails to your congressmen,and forward GOA Action Alerts to pro-gun friends.

If you are not a member of Gun Owners of America, please join today at http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm so that you can start receiving our newsletters and other important gun rights information.

The entire Congress needs to know that we're watching, and if they attempt to ban even one firearm or expand unconstitutional gun control in any way they will pay at the polls in the next election.

AND THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION WILL BE...

"Jimmy Carter's Evil Twin" instead of "Bush III".

Monday, November 03, 2008

IT WILL ALL BE OVER SOON...


I think the above illustration pretty much sums up what we have gotten from the 2008 elections, even more so from the so-called media than from the candidates.

Thankfully, the election cometh this week and our pain will be over soon, although another pain may be imminent. It will be safe to watch TV again without being bombarded with annoying political ads, although IMHO TV is not worth watching these days even without the politico ads. Try reading a book. We will have maybe a two-year hiatus in which to do so before they start campaigning for 2012.

Meanwhile, lest we forget history, since those who do are doomed to repeat it, let’s take a brief time-out to examine a few age-old observations appropriate to this election that the grazing public at large seems to have forgotten…again…

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uniformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."-Mark Twain
"I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to luft himself up by the handle."-Winston Churchill
"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."-George Bernard Shaw
"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else."-Frederic Bastiat
"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!"-Pericles
"A government big enough to give everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."-Thomas Jefferson
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."-Matthew 6:33