Free Republic

Short video that speaks for itself. Video Here

There have been many stories written about the likely new world record non-typical whitetail taken by Stephen Tucker in Tennessee.  It has been written about in The Tennessean, The New York Times, North American Whitetail, CNN, Fox News and Field and Stream.  Field and Stream is the only place I found a photograph of Stephen with his rifle.  The rifle part of the picture was rotated and cropped.  You see it above. None of the articles I have read identify the rifle. Shooters are naturally curious about what hardware was used to take a world record trophy. I believe...

A miniscule moth with a wingspan of just 0.4 inches is the first species to be named for the soon-to-be president of the United States, Donald Trump. Yellow and white scales topping the moth's head resemble Trump's signature hairstyle, inspiring the name Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, wrote evolutionary biologist Vazrick Nazari, a researcher from Ottowa, Canada, in a new study. The moth's habitat extends from Southern California in the U.S. through Baja California in Mexico. The wall that the president-elect has proposed building along the border between the two countries could divide that stretch. Nazari discovered the new species while examining moth...

Yet another reason why I was so glad to get out of the Puget Sound area way back in the late 90s. It was bad then. It's worse now. BLM/SJW nutjob These SJW (social justice wanker) people are flat-out dead-bang spiral-eyed crazy. But it is fascinating in a looking-at-a-bloody-car-wreck-with-fatalities-as-you-drive-by sort of way.

I am posting this because there were at least eleven posts about Courage in 2010 and 2011 and hundreds of comments. =========== Sadly, we must announce that one of our very favorite rescues, GSROC alumni Courage has passed away. Our volunteers are devastated at this news and our hearts go out to his guardian. She cared for him when he first came into our lives, emaciated, starving and near death. Thanks to the help of our supporters, GSROC was able to care for Courage and return him to good health and ensure he had a happy life. His owner helped...

One day while hunting one of the highly trained dogs was chasing some pigs by scent and collided with a big buck kangaroo that then held and wrestled the dog by its protective gear (boars have tusks like knives), the owner was horrified that his dog or the kangaroo would get hurt and run in to save both parties. You can see the dog trying to escape, wanting nothing to do with the kangaroo. The big buck kangaroo releases the dog when the owner gets close but then moves in to try and attack the human.

The Village Gun is my name for an old Springfield 84-C.  My father acquired the rifle and a state of the art Weaver 3/4 inch straight tube scope for $7.50 during the Depression. I have written in previous articles that the Village Gun was used by my father and the neighbors for deer hunting. The Village Gun wasn't primarily used for deer hunting. There are dozens of things a .22 rifle is used for on a farm at the edge of wild country.  The Village gun was probably used for most of them, over the roughly 60 years of...

Deer hunting in Northern Wisconsin seldom requires shot of more than a hundred yards. That is because most of the hunting is in dense forests or in woodlots where visibility is restricted.  The occasional long shot is available, but they are unusual. This eight point "basket buck" was taken yesterday, on opening day 19 November, 2016. The Namekagon river offers one of the few opportunities for long shots in the area.  Most deer are harvested at a hundred yards or less.  The buck was crossing the river 275 yards upstream when it was shot. In this unusual case, the...

My father did not spend a lot of time talking about the hard times in the Depression.  His father had been an avid hunter and trapper, and had passed those skills down to him.  Sometime in the 1930's he had obtained the Village Gun, my name for the old Springfield 84-C .22 bolt gun.  It had been nearly new, with a Weaver straight tube 2 3/4 power 3/4 inch scope when he purchased it for $7.50. Times were hard in the Depression.  Money was hard to come by. Wages for a boy picking rocks in farmer's fields were 50...

Northern Wisconsin is gun culture country.  When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, everybody had a gun or three in every house.  It wasn't always so.  The Depression was a hard time for a lot of people.  My father managed to snag the Springfield model 84-C during the 1930's. He paid $5 for the rifle and $2.50 for the scope. The rifle will feed Shorts, Longs, and .22 Long Rifle interchangeably through the detachable 5 shot magazine. The scope was an old straight tube 3/4 inch 2 3/4 power. It was state of the art in...

Last night I went to bed without knowing how the most important election of my lifetime would end. I had my hopes that the people of this country would do the right thing and elect Donald Trump but like most here I had my hopes crushed more often than I care to remember. This morning I woke to Willie, my dog, my best friend, my companion, in distress. He was gagging and unable to stand. As he lay on the floor he lost control of his bowels and bladder and I knew that this was maybe the end. I quickly...

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Donald Trump is more than un-American, President Barack Obama charged here Friday: He’s almost inhuman. That’s not all: Trump’s running a racist campaign that black voters especially need to reject, Obama said. “Don’t choose fear. Choose hope,” Obama said, offering his closing argument for the final days of the campaign that’s a summoning of his own 2008 campaign and a rejection of Trump. “Don’t choose fear. Choose hope.” And Trump would only get worse if he made it to the Oval Office, Obama warned here in this state that Hillary Clinton’s campaign is hoping will go back...

That is a good sized bobcat and a small coyote.  The confrontation took place at my ranch at 0918 on October 9th, 2016, according to the game camera. This shows the coyote 12 minutes earlier.  I suspect she sensed the bobcat at that time, but it did not show up on the camera. I keep the water running to attract wildlife.  The water hole is about 10 yards from the pistol range backstop. Deserts do not support a tremendous biomass, so wildlife is much less common than in many other areas.  I do not have livestock, and have no...

Todd Orr Relied on Bear Spray instead of the Pistol he had with him While discussing the effectiveness of pistols to defend against bear attacks, a consistent theme is the claim that pistols are not effective, are difficult to use, and that many more people who use handguns are badly mauled than use pistols successfully. I tried to recall an incident where someone used a pistol in defense against a bear, where it did not work.  I could not remember one, so I posted this request in response to the claim. From freerepublic.com: “Actually, there are legions of people...

Another grizzly bear attack in Montana.  A man was mauled. It sounds like he sprayed the bear with pepper spray while being mauled, but that is a bit unclear. From kbzk.com: The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports a man suffered bites to the head, shoulder and wrist after being attacked by a grizzly bear north of Whitefish on Sunday. (snip) He was able to use pepper spray against the bear during the attack, which caused the bear to flee back toward the direction from where it charged. It is possible that the dogs were part of...

FORT HUACHUCA — Four members of B Troop — representing Fort Huachuca’s 1880s historic soldiers on horseback — returned from the National Cavalry Competition at Fort Reno, Okla., last month with top honors. “We cleaned house,” smiled Martina Peters, who has been a B Troop member for 12 years. “For a small group of all-volunteers, we did exceptionally well,” she added. B Troop, 4th Cavalry Regiment (Memorial), with Chris Zimmerman as program coordinator, came home with the Best Cavalry Unit honors, as well as the coveted Major Howze award, a mobility test consisting of a mock saber charge. The group...

If you have been reading about defensive uses of firearms against bears, you have likely read that bear spray is more effective than firearms, and that a large percentage of people faced with bear attacks failed to disengage the safety.  Both are based on a highly flawed study. In a discussion at The Truth About Guns, a commenter, writing about the subject thought that a high percentage, maybe 20%, of defenders, failed to take off the safety.  The commenter did some research, found the study by Tom Smith and Stephen Herroro and others, and corrected the number to "8...

Getting child crime victims to open up is never easy for investigators and asking them to tell their stories to a jury can be brutally traumatizing. To help these kids overcome their fears, some courtrooms across the country are employing comfort dogs, canine companions who take the stand alongside them to calm and bolster their spirits. Special correspondent Kathleen McCleery reports.

Another documented bear spray failure.  In this case the victim chose to use bear spray instead of the pistol he had with him.  It is an interesting contrast with Kim Woodman, who was also charged by a sow grizzly with cubs.  Kim had a 10 mm pistol, a Glock model 20.  He stopped the charging grizzly at almost contact distance. Kim only had 30 yards to react.  Todd says the grizzly charged him from 80 yards off. Link to video From Todd's facebook post:  I yelled a number of times so she knew I was human and would hopefully...

Instrumental, Jesus Loves Me, Till We Meet Again, with sing along lyrics. This video was arranged with our pets, my wife & scenic animation.