WOOOHOOOO!  The Central RAC unanimously voted to ask the Wildlife Board to make an action item of my proposal to the DWR!  That means two of the 5 RACs will make that motion and probably after a bit of discussion at the Wildlife Board meeting on Dec. 7, the others will join in.

A hearty THANK YOU to Wapiti and Edjukateer for joining me on the very long trip to Springville last night for the meeting.

I have to say this about the RAC people.  They have a very big job and only the State Employees get paid to do it.  They have representatives on the committee representing Sportsmen, Agriculture, Non Consumptive, Forest Service, BLM interests and several who just represent “US” the bulk of hunters, fishermen and outdoors people who are just who we are and nothing more.

They work really hard to find out what the people want and try to make decisions that are best for the majority.  They can only do that if people attend the meetings and speak up about how they feel on the subjects at hand.  So, if you don’t like the way things are being run, get down to a RAC meeting and put in your two bits.

Thanks for all the support I’ve been given in the effort to get more muzzleloader hunting opportunities out there for antelope hunters.  It’s only the first step in a very long process, but my hope is it will be on the 2014 big game application.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Bears Butt

Nov. 9, 2012

Thumbing through the latest Ducks Unlimited magazine and reading the great stories about shooting limits of big ducks in all sorts of hunting environments, my mind could not help but wander to my own shooting inabilities.

Here these story tellers tell about shooting their limits in just a couple of hours and on my last two outings I had plenty of opportunities to do that as well.  However, as most of you know my wing shooting abilities are about as good as, well lets just stop talking about it.

As I thumbed through the book here popped up an ad about a devise that is designed to help the shotgun shooter properly get his head down on that stock and align the barrel with his target.

So, I got up from my reading and came to my computer and looked up the site.  It somehow snaps to the rib of the “single barrel” shotgun and forces the shooter to aim and see a single green dot when he is properly mounted on the gun.  Any sign of red and you are not on it the way you should be.

It also said that 40% of  shooters are “left eye” dominant.  I found that amusing.  I will use that at the next Un-Turkey shoot.  And unlike my friend Magpie, will not attempt to shoot a shotgun in a manner not recommended by the manufacturer or common sense.  In other words, I will not try and shoot my shotgun left handed to see if it would improve my clay bird hitting abilities.  Instead I will accept my one to four bird hits and continue with my life.

Also on this site for this sight, I found a video that was quite cute and to the point in trying to sell the thing.  Two young girls who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, using the devise and both of them holding up a pheasant that appears they had taken.  And as all computer videos go, on the right side of the screen appears many more videos, some of which are on the same or similar subject to the one I just watched.  Again amused, I clicked on the one I have listed here and thought you just might want to watch it.  It too is cute and I hope you “get it”.  Copy and paste please.

Wish me luck tonight at the Central RAC meeting!

Bears Butt

November 8, 2012

The 2012 Presidential election is over………My guy didn’t win……Did America win?    Time will tell.

We all know by now that Obama has four more years to do something and I sure as hell hope it’s in a positive way.

This morning is “the day after the election day”….so what has changed?  We awoke from our nights sleep.  Those who have jobs most likely went to take care of whatever they do, while we retired or unemployed sit in front of our computers and type or play games or surf or whatever.  I see no change from yesterday.

On a flip side, if you can show your voter registration and your “I voted” sticker, there is a restaurant offering you a FREE Dinner from 5 till 10 p.m. today, in Jacksonville, Florida.  You have to pay for your drinks from the bar however and the bar will remain open until the last customer leaves.  They have room for 200 people so get there early!

On a down side, the stock market opened very low this morning.  All my money is tied up in cash, so it doesn’t effect me.

Ok, now that it’s over, we don’t have all those political ads to contend with, only the signs stuck in the ground everywhere we go.  How long will it take those responsible for putting them all out to pick them all up?  What do they do with all those plastic signs anyway?

If you have some of those signs and want a place to dispose of them, bring them to me, I have an idea for a few of them.  I don’t want 20,000 of them just a few, like maybe 100.

What’s my idea?  For one, maybe I could make up some “deer crossing” signs and place them strategically in the Crawford Mountains for the upcoming hunt.  Perhaps cut out some duck silhouettes and paint them up all ducky looking and use them as decoys.  Maybe some of my famous (or not) cooler can saver dividers.  Or put them on the trapping shed like shingles…that would be cool.  Maybe I do need a few thousand of them afterall.

So, for you reading this, cheer up if your guy didn’t get in.  In four more years the “bad guy” will be gone and out of mind just like Bill Clinton is for most of us.  Stock up on some ammo and go buy yourself a remorse gift, like a new 45 auto and a leather holster.  I like that.

Bears Butt

November 7, 2012  Don’t forget to wish No Grimace a Happy Birthday today!

Many, many years ago this could have quite possibly been a reality holiday, but today it would be really hard to pull it off.

National Marooned Without A Compass Day.  Do they even make compass’ any more?  I have a small one that I was given a couple of years ago by my friend Gatlin, and he said as long as I have it close by I can still find my behind (of course that wasn’t exactly how he said it).

With all of today’s technology GPS units, phones with GPS, cell phones in general and towers on top of nearly every mountain.  How on earth would anyone be able to get far enough away from some land mark to even remotely get lost?

Oh, I just re-read the holiday…not lost…Marooned.

And so I went in search of the definition of “Marooned” and boy did I get an eye full.  Most definitions said to be stranded, abandoned or however you get there, alone on an island.  But there was another place that said you were considered Marooned if you took in too much of a good thing, either drink or smoke, and you were so “marooned” you could do nothing but sit there in your own little world until some of it wore off.

So, let’s get back to the holiday at hand.  National Marooned Without a Compass.  By most definitions you really wouldn’t have any problem, afterall how big is this island you are stuck on?  Does it really matter to you if you go North or South, East or West?  Pretty soon you are going to hit the beach and then you will have to go left or right or just sit down and dig it in your own little world.  The bottom line is you are stuck there and a compass would be of no value what so ever.

If you suddenly find yourself  “marooned” by the other definition, the use of a compass would again be of no value because you probably could not even focus on the compass, let alone tell which direction the little pointer was pointing and for sure you would not be able to get up and walk in any direction.

Well, besides being our day to vote for elected officials, let’s go one step farther with it and Maroon the Moron we know deserves to be Marooned!

Bears Butt

November 6, 2012

This one has been around for quite some time, but some of you, like me, may not have heard about it.  Again it is an emergency thing.

So, you find yourself without lights.  You can not locate any flashlights or candles, or you have exhausted the batteries or used up the candles and still the power is out.

Maybe you find yourself on a camping trip and the battery dies in your trailer.  Whatever the scene you do have a can of Crisco shortening, a string and some matches.  Thank God you have those things.

Tie a big knot in the end of the string.  Use a long stick and push the string down through the center of the can of Crisco (or other solid type cooking oil in a METAL can).  Push Crisco up against the string to keep it standing up.  Now light the string.

The string will burn down until it hits the Crisco and then the oil will begin to melt and soak into the string.  The hole you made with the stick will eventually fill with melted oil and the string will burn like that of a candle, mostly burning the oil and slowly burning the string.  This type of emergency candle is said to burn over 40 hours continuously.

Now, if you need a source of heat to cook with.  You can push several strings down into the Crisco and light them all.  Suspend your pan over the top of the fire and cook whatever you need to cook.

Unlike a wax candle the fire from the burning string will not emit black soot, but burns cleaner.  It is said that there is no odor from this burning machine at all and my sources say it is safe to use indoors.  I’m sure one would have to worry about using up all the oxygen in a small space using it, so be careful with that.

So, if you find your can of Crisco has gone rancid DON’T THROW IT AWAY, make a candle out of it and mark it accordingly for the emergency you hope never causes you to have to use it!

Bears Butt

Nov. 4, 2012

See you up to the Un-Turkey Shoot that starts today at 10 a.m. sharp!

Boy my luck in buying wading boots is terrible.  You no doubt read about my buying some VERY expensive (to me) heavy duty boots from a company back in the South East and they ended up leaking so I had to send them back.  They did finally send me a replacement pair but I have yet to try them out to see if they leak or not.

Anyway, I picked up a pair locally while I waited for the expensive ones to come back.  They saw me all the way through the trapping season and into and through the ditch digging time on the farm during the spring.

Now, when I want to go duck hunting they leak!  They have cracks all around where the top portion fits the bottom portion of the boot.  The area where they fold when you pull the tops of the boots down over the bottom of the boots about knee high.

February to November!  You would sure think a boot that cost over $70 would last at least one full year.

In my haste to make them ready for another duck hunt I smeared some “fixit” stuff on the cracks in hopes that they wont leak next trip out.  Then I looked up the warantee on the internet…I blew it…they have a one year full replacement warantee if I want to try replacing them at the store I bought them at, or sending them to the main company.

The Weasel has the same issue with a pair he bought at the same time.  I’m not sure of his brand of boot but his issue is even worse than mine.  His cracked down the entire front of the boot, on the lower section!  And his boots were fully opened and hanging out of the sun in his garage.

What is going on with our brand name companies here in America?

Frogg Toggs what is going on?

Bears Butt

November 3, 2012

MAJOR EDIT!

I just received an email from Frogg Toggs company in Alabama and they are going to authorize me to return the boots for a new pair.  Even though I have smeared fixit stuff on the cracks.

Good for them!

Bears Butt

November 5, 2012