Ultradog

Elkoholic, Extra, oversized, double down dittos on your statement that TV and movies are a major cause of this. Television violence is so over the top. How many killings does the "average" tv watcher see in a year? Hundreds? How can that Not desensitize us? Television is the #1 destroyer of civil society. It is killing us - individually and collectively.

Thank you!

They normally are released August 1st but for some reason were released about 10 days early this year. 8/1 was always a date I looked forward to in the count down to the opener. I would buy my license then and apply for the doe permit. Those had to be in by the 1st week in Sept to be eligible for the lottery which was another date in the count down. I don't mind. We can take two deer again this year. Only one buck. No use to run out and get your license though. Anyway. It's less than 100 days till the opener now. I have all the materials to build the new deer blind and will get started on that soon.

Got rid of the TV at least 20 years ago. Don't miss it. My new theory: The more TV you watch the more likely you are to get Covid19.

Well, When I was about 10 I really, Really wanted a Ted Williams rod and reel from Sears. I liked Ted - as much for his Navy service (my uncle met him in WWII and thought he was great) as for his career in baseball. I did get a new rod and reel for my birthday but it was the Sears Job and not the Ted Williams model. I was pretty disapointed but Dad showed me how the two rods were identical and the TW one just had a decal on it and cost two dollars more. He also said that TW had likely used the same one I had and liked it a Lot so they just put his name on it. I learned a bit about marketing then and it has helped me save a few bucks in life. I did use that rod and reel a LOT and caught a lot of fish with it. Mom even said I had paid back the cost of that birthday gift many times over with all the fish I caught for the family. I grew up on a lake and fishing was all there was to do. I liked that rod and used it till I joined the Navy. Then my little brother lost it while I was gone and that's the end of the story except I'm still not swayed much by celebrity endorsements and even less when it comes to picking the President.

I can think of four things off the top of my head that will improve your results more than any other. First: Scouting. Get your butt out there and figure out where the deer are. Second: Practice. It makes perfect. Third:Patience. Get out there and stay in your blind or stand. All these products you see advertised are just designed to get you to open your wallet. I suppose there are some small, incremental benefits to some of them but nothing like the advertisers would like you to believe. Four: Turn off your darned television. The more advertising you are exposed to the more junk you're going to buy and the less time you'll spend on the things that actually improve your odds.

The topic of a vaccine opens another can of worms. At least it does for me. Would you be the first person to take the vaccine? I doubt I could. Not sure I could be the millionth or hundred millionth to take it either.

Wm, What about all the educators, school employees, parents and children who Want schools to reopen? Those who do not think the risk is great or that the media has totally overblown this thing. Do their opinions count for nothing? I think of the ad I saw the other day for a T-shirt; "My rights do not end where your fears begin."

Well said Elkoholic! Being an amateur historian I think of the Marines who landed on Iwo Jima, the submariners who suffered the highest death rate of the war, the fliers who destroyed the 4 Japanese carriers at Midway or the young men who who climed the cliffs at Pont Du Hoc on D Day or the men who flew rockets to the moon. We knew some of them would be casualties - far, far more than 1%. But they sent them. They went despite the risks. And the world was a better place for them having gone. Succumbing to fear and staying home doing nothing is a losing proposition. Joe Stalin said something along the lines of "When a million people die it is but a statistic. Yet when one child dies it is a tragedy." How true. But we can not be a nation that puts a greater value on one child's life than we do a million potential educators, fliers, carpenters, physicists, farmers and pharmacists who Must have an education to do their life's work.

Well, I haven't actually started building the new blind yet but I have most of the materials for it now. Fortunately my bride didn't grumble too much when I asked to use her garage stall for a couple of months to store everything. I sold the old one for $1K and had hoped to get the new one built for that but even though I am building it on the cheap with stuff from Craigslist I will still have a couple Hundred in when I'm done. A big part of the cost was the windows. I got some really nice - new windows for it which weren't cheap. One thing I bought was some beautiful, old school wood paneling for the inside. I had to buy 30 sheets @ $10 each to get the 9 sheets I wanted. It was an all or none deal. Sold the rest for $14/sheet and came out alright ? I'm looking forward to actually starting on it but have some other projects I have to get done around here first. I'll post about it again when I actually get to building. In other news, the 2020 hunting regs come out one month from today and it's 129 days till the opener. Oh, and y'all can wish me happy birthday if you want. I'll be 67 on Saturday. Ciao

Hearing deer is one thing I miss about sitting in an enclosed blind after all the years I hunted in thick woods in an open tree stand. I always listened intently to the sounds of the woods and was alerted to more deer by sound than by movement. I can remember sitting there, bored, cold, sleepy and would close my eyes and just listen. Part of the reason I built the blind was the property I hunt at is bordered on one side by a busy highway so there is not much chance of hearing a deer anyway.

This guy has it right.

We finally got a little rain. Enough to get my plot mix to start germinating. Could use more rain tho. It's early here. Sun's just coming up. Peeking over the trees on top of the bluff. I drove over to have a look. Having my morning coffee in the pickup. No virus or rioting with looting and burning here. Nice to get away from all that. Just a seed mix. Growing like it should.

Yes! The bunk for a nap is primarily the reason I want it a little bigger. I want to place the windows a little better too so the inevitable blind spots aren't so annoying. The guy who bought it said he was going to set it up on an old hay rack so he could pull it to different locations on his property for hunting. He called to say he got it home safe and sound then said his wife and 6 yo daughter immediately decided they had better uses for it. LOL

I dragged it out by the highway and it sold the next day. Should have priced it higher?Oh well. I made some $ on it and have enough to build a bigger, better one. I decided to do this about a month ago and have been collecting free stuff off of Craigslist for it. I'll probably get started on it fairly soon. Last one was fun to build and I used it for 6 seasons.

My little brother bought a 40 about 2 years ago. Has about a 5 acre field right in the middle of it. He built a nice stand on one end last year. He's a bow hunter. Deer and he got his first turkey last year. We turned over about a 1/4 plot last Saturday. Threw in a standard plot mix that we added a bunch of rutabaga to. He's pretty excited about it all and had fun on the tractor. I got my plots turned over but not disced or seeded yet. Am going back up to finish them this weekend. We'll be halfway to the opener on Saturday.

All is well here though I haven't posted lately. Work has been non existant for me lately but my wife is still working so we're staying afloat. But I will be starting about a month long job next week so will be able to play catch-up on a few things. I've been watching several government auction sites for a used pickup lately. Bid on three different ones but didn't get them. Finally lucked out and won this one. 2013 2500HD 4X4. Plain Jane Work Truck but it has trailer package which I really needed. Basically the same package as my 06 Chevy which suited me perfectly but is worn out and getting rusty. New one came from a university. They sold 5 of these that were almost alike. I don't need or want the plow but might have it sold already. Has 13,336 actual miles on it. I pick it up on Tuesday. Oh, and it's only 218 days till the rifle opener.

Well, I must have Alzheimer's or something because I don't see a name. Or is the original post you are referring to the one that was deleted?

So what did he do? If you'd rather say at least tell me his name so I can do some searching about it.

Seeing the thousands of patriots in Richmond VA on the news makes me proud. Wish I could have gone. Just a thumbs up to them all and wishing godspeed to them from Minnesota.

I sat in my blind for a total of 6 days and never saw a deer. Not one! Hunted at the lake property the last day and saw nothing there either. My hunting pal Mike saw does and fawns but no bucks all season. He finally took a doe - a very large one, on the last day so we got a little venison. My plots were a big failure this year. A big part of why I didn't see anything. Looking forward to starting over on them in 2020. I finally finished our new garage. Had the final electrical inspection Dec 3rd and the final building inspection the next day. Passed both no problem. Still have to paint the doors. And after 4 years of collecting hard to find parts I finally got started on my 4200 Ford. It is in a hundred pieces right now. It was a gasser with Ford's infamous Select O Speed - (power shift) transmission. It's going back together as a diesel with an 8 sp crash box. And, after 6 years of marriage I still love my wife. No photos of deer or wife to share but here's the new garage and a before picture of the tractor. Happy New Year to you all!

I am truely sorry Dave. My lovely wife has lost a lot of loved ones in her life. Her first husband died 12 years ago. Then an older brother and her second husband 7 years ago. In the last 5 years, both parents and 2 more brothers. The last one unexpectedly in March of this year. Plus a couple of her friends have passed of late. Somehow she keeps her head up and a smile on her face. I wish you would talk to her. She is wise in the ways of losing those she loved and continuing her day to day. Perhaps she could impart some of this 'wisdom born of tragedy' to you. If not, she has a sympathetic ear and a kind tongue.