The other day I asked why an arrow being shown in a slow motion video did a snake like maneuver as left the bow and traveled down range, Night Hawk coined it as “Archers Paradox”….HMMMM I said to myself not knowing what the heck he was talking about.  So I went looking for the answer and found this video I think sheds a whole lot of light on not only Archers Paradox, but also a few other things that deals with shooting an arrow out of a bow.  I didn’t know any of this until I saw this video.  The guy that did this video is obviously a very knowledgeable person when it comes to the science of shooting a bow and arrow and in this video he does a great job at explaining what is going on.  I am impressed!

Bears Butt
June 11, 2014

My buddy Muskrat tried to get me to go to the VA hospital over two years ago and get screened at the Agent Orange clinic.  I put it off even though I filled out the paperwork and sent it in.  I had an excuse every time they contacted me about it.  Well, today I’m headed down there for my check up.

Blood work, X ray, and EKG and then a physical.  NO cost to veterans.

Hey!  If you set foot on Vietnam or Korea in the 1960-1970’s, do yourself a favor and contact the VA and get yourself on the list of Agent Orange list.  Agent Orange was the chemical that was used to defoliate the trees and brush in Vietnam and it has been proven to cause a ton of illnesses including cancer to those exposed to it.  Whether you think you were exposed or not, if you touched one toe on either of these countries, or if you were responsible for loading or unloading barrels of it on/off an aircraft,  you are entitled to a free exam and should you come down with one of the diseases associated with it the VA will treat you for free as well.

Muskrat was one of the victims of this chemical and look where he is now (see Willow Creek Free Trappers who have gone on ahead category).

I thank Muskrat for pushing me in this direction and I encourage you to do the same.  The hardest part for me is the drive into Salt Lake City…I hate that drive…an hour of pure hell!

Bears Butt

June 11, 2014

Last evening I went with Weasel down to check on the Beaver issue, and to shoot his newly acquired bow.  For one who has not shot a bow in over  a million years, I think I did quite well.  Actually, the way we used to do it back in the day, was to cut a stout stick, string a good cat gut sinew to it from end to end, cut some other hardwood type wood sticks and sharpen one end and go hunting.  As time progressed through my childhood, we actually cut a small notch in the unsharpened end to accommodate the cat gut, that helped keep the cat gut pretty close to the exact center of the back of the sharpened stick.

I could usually hit what I was aiming at from about say…10 feet….pretty good for a boy my size.  The actual penetration into the “thing” I hit was all according to sharpness of the stick I used to shoot.  Have I ever told you about my left hand thumb?

So, down to the field last night, Weasel offered up a chance to shoot six of his highly prizes arrows at a target some 20 yards away.  20 yards is a considerable distance for a man of my size and age, but I took him up on it and didn’t lose any of his arrows.  He even gave me a second chance to “hit the bulls eye”.  You know me and bulls and so I don’t usually hit them in the eye anyway.

The thing that was amazing about last evenings experience was the mosquitoes!

They were everywhere and hovering in line…much like going to Smith and Edwards!!!  There they were perched on wing, high above us and as we brushed away the ones on our arms, necks, faces and hands, the next swarm would drop in for a good taste of warm blood.  It was brutal!  But we made it through.  This morning I drank an extra glass of orange juice to help build up my blood and right now I feel pretty dang good.  So good in fact I want to share this little thing I found on the internet with you:

Bears Butt

June 7, 2014

I was reading a duck hunting story in a Ducks Unlimited magazine and in it the author talked about getting into the duck blind early and also staying late, both meaning before and after legal shooting hours.  All of us duck hunters have experienced the flights of birds before and after legal shooting times.  There is a magic moment in the waterfowl world where they all seem to want to take flight and all we, as hunters can do, is watch them.  Thousands upon thousands of the birds we have chased all day long are now flying in and landing all around us.  Quacking and making splashing noises as they hurriedly catch up on their feasting.  It’s actually pretty cool to see it.  In the early morning twighlight hours as we are setting out our decoys, the birds are in flight to go back to their resting ponds after being out all night.  That too is a great sight to see, but it leaves you feeling a bit empty knowing they are going to the resting area and most of them won’t be coming out any time soon.

Anyway, in this story I was reading the author mentioned “Perkinje Effect”…..What the heck is that?

Well I looked it up and in my own way of telling you (without all the scientific stuff) it goes something like this:

A young man named Perkinje, somewhere in Europe, observed that his favorite flower, the Geranium, had a vivid red batch of flowers on the stems and the leaves were dark and contrasty blue/green.  He loved these flowers, but his observation was this:  As the light of the day began to darken after the sun went down, the red flower took on a different appearance.  Now make a note, he probably wasn’t the first one to ever see something change like that, I highly doubt he was, but he was the first to write down what his observance was….the vivid red began to take on a dark shade of well, black and at the same time, the blue/green leaves began to take on a shade of well, whitish.

As time went on, his curiosity continued forcing him to study light and the eyes and how light effects the eyes and how things are seen.  So, when we are out hunting and it begins to get dark around us, we have seen how the bushes and trees lose any color and just turn dark, so that all the leaves on the bushes and trees become the same dull shade with little or no 3 d effect to them.  We also have noted that the animals begin to show up in abundance as well.  Are they showing up at this time of day because they know they have the upper hand on the ability to see after dark…I think so.   Especially those with big claws and teeth.

Well, Perkinje wrote down what he saw and theorized what was happening in 1819 and since then there have been a lot of studies done on this.  The real “what happens” has changed some since his writing, but it still carries his name.  Our eyes have cones and rods in them and it’s the cones that can tell the difference between the colors, while the rods can only see light and dark.  In the twilight hours our eyes switch over from the color vision of the cones, to the light vision of the rods.  It’s a slow process marked by the visible light around us at the time.  The next time you are out camping, get away from any un-natural light source and sit and observe how the colors disappear and turns into a dark something.  Try not to worry too much about the sound behind you, it is probably only a large grizzly bear, and if you don’t move, he might just perceive you as another bush in the woods.  After all, he don’t got no cones to work with.

Bears Butt

June 6, 2014

Mr. Beaver is once again attacking us in the field!  Yesterday I removed his dam from in front of the creek pipe.  The water was just about to go over the top of the roadway and had backed up nearly to the narrows of the pasture.  Today, Bob went down and removed the dam again.  This time it was to the top of the pipe, had water going across the road and water was backed up clear to the creek bridge!  This bad boy has to go and go soon!  Grab your shotguns boys and girls!  $20 bounty!

Winemaker and I are venturing out on this fine Saturday morning to do something we have never done before….hitting the yard sales!  We don’t need anything and it’s just a curiosity thing for us…to see how others do theirs.  We have had several yard sales in the past and even last year we convinced the neighborhood into having a block sale.  It was fun and most of the families got rid of some unwanted stuff.  It’s funny what we save and I’m probably the worst….It’s Good Junk and if I throw it away, I’ll be going out and buying another soon…..Ever hear that?

If nothing else it puts the two of us together doing something we both like and that is meeting people and B.S.’n…..we don’t have any definite plans nor specific sights to hit, it will be a drive down the highway looking for the telltale signs of a yard/garage sale.  Stop and Gawk!  Who knows maybe we will run into that “once in a lifetime” box of highly valuable stuff…this totally reminds me of “Gattlin”!  “Got anything in the line of sporting goods”?  That’s his main line and it puts him onto some super deals on guns and gear!  Sometimes he makes such a good deal on a fancy rifle that I have a tough time knowing how he even sleeps at night.

So, wish us luck!  We’re Outa Here!

Bears Butt

May 31, 2014

UPDATE:

That was fun!  We hit about 10 yard sales and it was interesting to us to see so many clothes at them…everyone of them.  We couldn’t do without a coffee table for Winemakers area down stairs and how could I pass up 5 drill bits for 50Cents!  I never got around to asking about “sporting goods”, but we did see some fishing tackle and a lot of power tools.  Tons of glassware and dishes also.  A wonderful day with a great thing to do.  I’m not sure we will ever do it again, as she works on most Saturdays, but today’s adventure was a fun one.

Bears Butt

Into precision shooting? Check this out!