Today's Hunt

The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley,
An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Robert Burns

It didn't work out just like I planned, so I can take some comfort from Robert Burns poem. However, today wasn't a total loss. This morning dawned with a heavy fog, so heavy I couldn't see a hundred yards.



The weather stayed foggy until after 9:00. Looking for tracks, some deer had walked across a cleared area behind my stand. Whether they were moving during the dark early morning hours or in the fog, we'll never know, but the tracks plainly showed that they crossed that opening sometime after the rain finished at about midnight.

The rest of the day was absolutely gorgeous and I spent most of the rest of it looking at this.



But, no joy! I was in the woods all day, spending most of it alone with only myself for company and my thoughts for distraction. In everything except the game not cooperating, it was a magnificent day.

Rain

It has rained all day. Lots of rain, continuous rain. Since before daylight it's been raining and now, as dusk falls, it's still raining. I pumped the pool down to the level of the skimmer yesterday. Today, looking at it, I believe we've had between three and four inches at the house. Lots of rain. All day rain.



That's what the front looked like today, about noon. A continuous band of rain that stretched from Arkansas down to the Gulf, covering a 100 mile swath. It's a huge front and temperatures will cool considerably as it passes. Temps have already dropped, but I don't believe that they're through. Our high this morning was about 60F, and right now it's about 52F. They're calling for the temps to be in the mid 40s tomorrow.

The rain will end sometime after midnight and tomorrow will be partly cloudy and cool. Which is good news for us deer hunters. If my experience is any indication, the deer have been bedded all day. Tomorrow they should move, which sounds like a good thing for those of us that'll be sitting on a deer stand. Tomorrow will be a very good day to be in the woods.

More on Handi-Rifle

Flintlock Tom says in comments:

I really like the H&R single shots. I have a 12 gauge and I have been watching for a .45-70. It seems odd to me that they didn't make the barrels interchangeable. It would have made them very versatile to have one receiver and swap the barrel.

As it turns out, Tom, the barrels are interchangeable, with certain caveats. Not like a Thompson Center rifle, but with a little fitting they are easily interchangeable. You've got to use an SB2 frame. Shotgun frames aren't strong enough for some centerfire cartridges. H&R 1871 used to have a service where you could send in your receiver and have new barrels fitted to it. Now that the rifles are made by Remington at the Ilion plant, it's yet to be seen how that service will remain.

However, the folks over at the Greybeards's Outdoors Forum have everything you need to know about the Handi Rifle in their forum. Two of the threads are particularly intersting. The FAQ's thread is a must-read, and the Handi-Basics 101 is also full of information. Those guys at that forum know all there is to know about the Handi-Rifle and they're willing to share the knowledge. Go over and browse around.

A bowl of the Red

I made a pot of chili this afternoon, out of a severe yearning for it. It's not quite cold enough outside for chili, but I want some. My chili is standard, American chili made with ground beef and tomato sauce. Nothing fancy. A couple of pounds of hamburg3er, a couple of cans of beans, some onion and bell pepper, and chili powder. That's about it.

Deer season starts this weekend. Actually, it's been started for several weeks. Archery season started several weeks ago and this past Saturday, the primitive weapon season opened. This Saturday starts the regular gun season and for the first time in several years, I'm truly ready for the opener. The stands are up, clean and serviceable, the feeders are out. All I actually need to do is get out there and sit down.

Road Use Tax

Those bastards in Washington are trying to come up with a scheme to make every road a toll road.

"A comprehensive road-use pricing initiative in the Washington metropolitan area would be an extremely ambitious experiment," Brookings Institution authors Benjamin K. Orr and Alice M. Rivlin explained in a policy paper designed to garner the interest of regional authorities. "Leadership and upfront investment from the federal government would also be essential to get the experiment off the ground and ensure comprehensive implementation. Some recent indications of interest at the federal level suggest that this might be possible. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has recently stated that, due to the failure of the Manhattan congestion pricing initiative, the US Department of Transportation still has funds available for pilot congestion pricing programs."

That's our US Department of Transportation. Whad'dya want to bet that this is a trial balloon for a nationwide initiative?

How would they do this? Simple. With a GPS device that keeps track of your driving style.

"Vehicles would be fitted with a GPS transponder device similar to an E-ZPass, perhaps as part of the registration process," Orr and Rivlin explained. "This device would record the type of vehicle, the distance traveled, and the time and location of travel."

I bet there would be a thriving market for an enterprising mechanic who could disable the device. Unobtrusively. Or hack it to show that the vehicle drove very little.

Why do we need a new tax on miles driven? Simple! Gas taxes are down.

Despite the privacy issues, DC officials insist that tolling is necessary for making up for the shortfall in gasoline tax revenues. The proposed mileage tax would solve this problem by increasing motorist taxation levels by a factor of ten. The additional revenue would be diverted to spending on buses and rail service.

Oh, lovely! Excess funds would be diverted to buses and rail. Which use less gas.

Basically, we drive less to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we drive more efficient vehicles, we combine trips and do all the things they recommend and they come up with a new way to tax us. The folks in Washington D.C. are truly worthless bastards.

Exit question! Have you ever known a government agency to have excess revenues?

I agree with Instapundit. A better solution would be tar and feathers.

Sinusitis

I've got some kind of sinus thing going on and I feel like hell. Milady is a registered nurse and she tells me that I'm not contagious and I'm going to live through this, but I feel like crap.

I think I'm going to go prop up in my easy chair and take a nap.

Migration

I was sitting on the back porch today and I noticed that I wasn't watching hummingbirds. Generally during the late afternoon the backyard is alive with zoom, zoom. Last week I noticed that we didn't have any male birds and Momma tells me that the males leave a couple of weeks earlier than the females.

This afternoon, no birds at all. I'll wait another couple of days and take down the hummingbird feeders.

Good news for Garand Fans

The word over at Culver's Gun Talk is that the CMP has arranged for a shipment of M1 Garands, bayonets and 70 million rounds of 30-06 ammunition from Greece.

Many, many, many (did I say 'many'?) near mint rifles with nothing wrong but the trigger group and/or stock were switched. I think a third or more of what I saw was truly excellent like this, and it actually became more unusual to see one with the correct trigger group and stock. As to condition, these could be anything from fairly used to nearly unfired (if not completely unfired). But there were many that were right as rain and nearly unmarked - clearly collector grades. If that holds across the board it means that there were over 6000 rifles that were collector grades or a stock/trigger group away from collector grades.

I'm not in the market for a collector grade Garand, but I might like one, or several, shooters. And, with 70 million rounds of ammo coming, I might be able to afford a couple of cases.

I meant last year to get my paperwork complete and submitted to the CMP and this gives me the motivation to do that.

Hat tip to The Gun Counter forum.

Tam's right

Tam says that the loaded chamber indicator is the dumbest thing they've ever put on a pistol.

Its very existence betrays a bad mindset to have around guns, which is the idea that "This one's loaded, so I'll treat it with extra special caution!" The problem is thinking that way implies the unwritten corollary that "I don't think this one's loaded, so I can handle it sloppily," which almost unfailingly comes back to bite the unwary in the arse and leave bullet holes in things better left unpunctured.

As usual, she's right.

1. All guns are always loaded.

Cessna Caravan

The Cessna Caravan (208) is a fixed gear, high wing turboprop aircraft used as a regional airliner and cargo aircraft.

And as a warbird. Aviation Week has photos of a Caravan outfitted with Hellfire missiles, flying out of Meacham Airport near Fort Worth. The aircraft are being modified by ATK Integrated Systems, who has a major facility at Meacham.



The article says they're slated for the Iraqi Air Force. Ain't that interesting? I've always thought that if I ever win the Powerball, the Caravan would fit nicely into my millionaire portfolio. Who knew you could get them with missiles?

Deer Cam Pics

I went to Momma's today to check the deer cam. I have them set for Central Standard Time so that I won't have to change everything over once the time changes on the first Sunday in November. (That's next weekend, by the way.)

Here's a nice pic of a doe near the feeder with a small buck in the foreground. Of course, you can click it for a bigger image.



And, here's one of that same little buck looking at the feeder. You can likewise click it for a larger view.



I know that this is one of the most inexpensive of the game cameras on the market, but I'm having a ball learning how to use it.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog likes being scratched, and he'll stop for scratching at any given time.

Here, he's sitting with Milady, demanding attention while she reads the newspaper.



It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

More on Oath Keepers

I was surfing the liberal side of the intertubes today and came upon a little piece over at Associated Comment, entitled The Oathkeepers Need to Be Put in Check. Hilarity ensues, but not so much from the reason of the author, but from his total lack of understanding about what it means to be in the military or the cop profession.

Let's look at one little bit of blunder, shall we?

To pledge to willfully obey orders is in direct conflict with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ.

Uuuh, no. To willfully obey orders is the hallmark of both the oath of enlistment and the oath of commission. However, all military members are schooled at least yearly that they have a duty to not obey illegal orders. The Nuremberg Defense died during the end of WWII. I suspect that the author meant to say that "to willfully disobey orders...", but he didn't. Either his understanding of the UCMJ is sorely lacking or his proofreading skills are sorely lacking. Either way works for me.

Another burst of lunacy is shown in the concluding paragraph of the piece.

Just because a person is in the military or on a police force doesn't give them the right to arbitrarily interpret laws and act according to what they perceive as threat.

We might quibble about the use of the modifier "arbitrary", but as a police officer it is exactly my job to interpret the law and to enforce it to the best of my ability. That pretty much defines police work.

Imagine if active duty soldiers were not allowed to act on what they saw as a threat. While we're imagining, how about if police officers were not allowed to act accordingly to what they perceive as a threat. That's another huge part of my job. Reacting to threats. That's what I'm paid to do.

Should the military and police be subject to civilian control? Certainly, that's also one of the hallmarks of service. We're subject to the lawfully constituted government. No one's arguing that point. Should we also question orders that might be illegal and refuse to obey those orders when our moral compass tells us that to obey orders is wrong? Of course.

There's a catch-22 involved in that action, that we might be prosecuted for failing to obey an order that's later interpreted as lawful. That's a risk we take, but an order that skirts that close to the line between lawful and unlawful should be carefully considered before it is issued.

Once, years ago I was talking with a commander who told me that in the absence of orders he expected me to conduct myself in a manner that was morally, ethically and legally correct. Then he illuminated that guidance by telling me that if the moral and ethical conflicted with the legal, he expected me to act on the moral and ethical. That's good advise and a beacon that I've tried to follow during my twin careers in the military and law enforcement.

Would that our elected leaders were bound by that same guidance.

Elyas

I was surfing over at my daughter-in-law's blog and snatched this picture of the youngest grandchild at a pumpkin patch. It's a good photo of the kid.



I miss that boy. Hopefully we'll see him sometimes soon.

Huge slide

We've got this huge blow-up slide in my side yard, rented by my son's girlfriend for a kid's birthday party. Some of the grandkids are over here now and the remainder of the party is arriving soon, but I had to capture pictures of this thing for posterity.

To give you some idea of scale, the fences in the background are 6 feet tall.



Here's a close-up with three of the grandsons on it.



I've got to fire up the charcoal pit soon to cook hot dogs. It's going to be a bang-up time.

Bolton Wins!

I was wrong about Bolton losing their homecoming game tonight. They beat Avoyelles High School in overtime, 39-36.

Great job by the coaching staff and a monumental effort by the kids.

It was 11:30 when I left the parking lot. That's more than 16 hours today, but everyone went home safe and sound.

Rain

We got rain today. Lots of rain. Accuweather is showing that the main body of thunderstorms is east of us. The front has been moving from the west to the east all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be a drying-out day starting with cloudy skies and ending with a clear evening. Temps in the mid 40s. It should be a good night for high school football.

I'm glad the weather is cooperating. Tomorrow is Bolton's homecoming and the kids have a lot of activities planned, starting with float preparation in the morning, a parade in the afternoon, a pep-rally in the stadium, then prep for the game, with kick-off at 7:00 p.m.

I'll be there for the whole thing, getting to the school house at about 7:00 a.m. and leaving after the game tomorrow night, sometime after 10:00. For reasons known only to the coaching staff, we chose this game for homecoming against a winning adversary who is having a really good season. We're going to get our butts kicked.

Go Bears.

I.P. Shutting down in Pineville

The International Paper plant in Pineville is shutting down, according to the Town Talk. The last day of operations will be December 15th, with 200 employees laid-off.

That plant has been around since I was a kid, making container-board for worldwide markets. It's been an economic engine in central Louisiana for decades.

Just Damn!

Oath Keepers

There's a group of people called Oath Keepers. They've started to come onto the mainstream media's radar. Most recently, the founder, Stewart Rhodes appeared on MSNBC's Harball with Chris Matthews. David Codrea talks about it in his Gun Rights column.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has them listed as an organization that bears watching.

Oath Keepers, the military and police organization that was formed earlier this year and held its April muster on Lexington Green, may be a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival. Members vow to fulfill the oaths to the Constitution that they swore while in the military or law enforcement. "Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders," the group says. Oath Keepers lists 10 orders its members won't obey, including two that reference U.S. concentration camps.

If you do a Google search, you'll find lots of folks concerned about the Oath Keepers.

I've taken oaths, both in the military and as a cop. They require me to protect and defend the Constitution. I really don't see anything right-wing or reactionary about taking such an oath. In fact, my oaths are to the Constitution, not the government. Governments change quite regularly and it's my job to go about my duties without worrying about the government.

As I read the Oath Keepers list of orders they won't obey, I myself have been guilty of raising hell when some overzealous bureaucrat tried to order something that would have gotten him in trouble. I once risked my career by offering to arrest a Chief Deputy if he insisted on giving an order that was plainly unlawful. He came to his senses and backed down, and we remained friendly associates.

The Oath Keepers isn't about taking up arms against the government. If you look at the oath, it's about peaceful non-violence in the face of unlawful orders. When you consider that the oath is about "standing down", it is fairly remarkable that a group of armed citizens is willing to do nothing when faced with orders that might violate the Constitution. That's what the oath is all about.

The "just following orders" defense died at Nuremberg. As an armed officer of the law and a retired military officer, I see no conflict. I followed lawful orders under Carter, Reagan, Bush(1), Clinton and Bush(2). I'm still following orders under Obama, but I refuse to follow any orders that violate the laws of the State of Louisiana or the Constitution of the United States.

This isn't about armed resistance. It's about standing down, something that a few of us have done over the years against plainly illegal orders. That's the beauty of the whole concept. Peaceful non-compliance. Ghandi would be proud.

I'm having trouble understanding why they're considered a right-wing hate group. I guess dissent isn't patriotic, after all.

Internet troubles

A bunch of teachers went to the main School Board Office today for a workshop on using the internet in the classroom. I noticed them coming back to school earlier than expected and learned that the internet access was down for the school district. We could still use the intranet, but the internet is down. Something about AT&T and a trunk problem. It's way over my head.

Police work has changed in the past several years because we all use computers to submit reports. I had to do a report today and emailed it to my supervisor. He called a few minutes ago and told me he never got it. Duuh! I should have known that he wouldn't get it. The internet was down. I told him I'd try again tomorrow.

Back in the day, I'd take a report with two forms and a pad of lined paper. When I finished my report, generally using ball-point pen, I'd call a supervisor, we'd pick a place to meet and I'd give it to him (or her). He'd read it, tell me to make corrections, then he'd take it to the office. Nowadays everything is email or fax. It's a lot easier to submit a report online and saves a lot of wear and tear on vehicles and supervisors.

Until the internet goes down.