That's right, spring is just about here to melt all this darn snow. Now I can get the old bow and arrows out and teach my 11 year old son how to use them.
As I mentioned in my post I'm not an Expert Archer, But I can Shoot! I pointed out that I'm no hunter and I probably never will be. The only way I will be shooting my food with a bow and arrow is if I ever find myself in a post apocalyptic wasteland and my .22 rifle runs out of bullets, and even then I don't know if I'll be able to shoot those radioactive glowing deer. They'll be just too darn cute to eat :)
On the other hand, there is something cool about target shooting a target of a deer. I guess that's what is behind that Buck Hunter video game. People who would never shoot a bambi in real life will think nothing of blowing away a few hundred deer on a video screen.
As soon as the last of the snow is gone, I will be out there with my Bear Compound Bow to see if I can still hit the targets, and maybe to improve a little. My son won't be able to use that one for a while, he'll have to start out a little smaller I think. And I'll take my uncle's old Bear Bow out there to give it a try too.
I don't know what the rest of the world looks like right now, but we still have a couple feet of the white stuff. Talk about a miserably long winter, is it ever going to end?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New Wheels On The 'Ole GMC Hunting Truck
My brother has this GMC truck he uses to go out west when he is bow hunting. It has these old factory steel rims and some crappy old tires that are starting to get cracks in them from weathering and old age. It's time for some new wheels on that baby. The rims on it currently were painted white, and the paint is all peeling off so it looks pretty rough.
They don't have to be the fanciest wheels out there, some high end custom rims or anything. Just some regular aluminum or chrome mags will do just fine. The truck itself is a short box step side, made in 1976. It has full time four wheel drive and a positraction rear diff, so it can really go places in the bush.
He was thinking of looking around some of the local wrecking yards and such. I suggested looking online for them at kijiji or somewhere like that, but Gordon isn't much of a computer guy. He can take em or he can leave em, and he usually just leaves em turned off.
There are a lot of other places online that you can look at to find GMC Sierra truck wheels, so I'm gonna do a little checking for him myself. It has to be on the lower end of the price scale, since his hunting truck is by no means a shiny new unit.
They don't have to be the fanciest wheels out there, some high end custom rims or anything. Just some regular aluminum or chrome mags will do just fine. The truck itself is a short box step side, made in 1976. It has full time four wheel drive and a positraction rear diff, so it can really go places in the bush.
He was thinking of looking around some of the local wrecking yards and such. I suggested looking online for them at kijiji or somewhere like that, but Gordon isn't much of a computer guy. He can take em or he can leave em, and he usually just leaves em turned off.
There are a lot of other places online that you can look at to find GMC Sierra truck wheels, so I'm gonna do a little checking for him myself. It has to be on the lower end of the price scale, since his hunting truck is by no means a shiny new unit.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Drugs To Grow Taller? Give Me a Break, Shortie!
I keep getting the weirdest spam. I get male organ enlargement spam, I get promises of male arousement. I get all kinds of messages telling me I won the lottery. Every other day someone from a far off land somehow gets my email address and wants to send me all of their dead relative's money. I get countless online offers to make bajillions without any work, all online before breakfast.
But this one takes the cake. Just order up these drugs to grow taller and you will sprout a few inches!
This has to be bull crap. I mean, even a redneck like me can spot an outright scam. I don't believe your willie will grow by sticking it in a vacuum pump, I don't believe I can make a bajillion without doing any work, and I don't believe any drugs are gonna make me taller. They might make me think I'm taller, or they might make me not care that I'm short, or they might make me happy so I forget about my height issues. But they won't make me taller. Get a life, spammers and con artists!
But this one takes the cake. Just order up these drugs to grow taller and you will sprout a few inches!
This has to be bull crap. I mean, even a redneck like me can spot an outright scam. I don't believe your willie will grow by sticking it in a vacuum pump, I don't believe I can make a bajillion without doing any work, and I don't believe any drugs are gonna make me taller. They might make me think I'm taller, or they might make me not care that I'm short, or they might make me happy so I forget about my height issues. But they won't make me taller. Get a life, spammers and con artists!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Always Take Your GPS When You Go Hunting
Like I mentioned before in my archery entry, I don't hunt myself, but I live around many who do. My brother and sister in law go together with a group of hunters to the same camp, and they always take a GarmanGPS with them. That wasn't always the case, but since what happened to Ken and his dad they decided it would be a good idea. They all go out west to the same wilderness area, so there are no other people for miles except maybe the other hunters and the forestry or oilfield workers, so if anything goes wrong out there you are up the creek without any sort of paddle.
I'm not sure exactly Ken and his dad were planning that day, other than drinking a lot of beer and finding a big buck. Part of their particular deer hunter tactics involved drinking all day and scouting out tracks and such. This necessitated leaving the truck behind since the trails were not vehicle friendly and they didn't bring atv's.I guess they wandered down one too many cutlines and took a few too many turns and before you know it they were as lost as two rednecks in New York. I imagine all the beer didn't help one bit, but there you have it. In the fall during deer hunting season, it gets pretty cold at night and they figured they might be in real trouble. Ken figured if he kept walking and checking, eventually he might find a spot with cell phone service.
It must have been a long hike with the deer rifles and the beer. Of course, after the beer ran out they realized that they didn't bring any snacks or water. It was somewhere around midnight when he finally found a hilltop where his cell phone would work. One of the biggest problems with not having a plan in the morning is that the other hunters at the camp had no idea where to look for them. So even though they knew Ken and his dad were missing, they weren't sure what part of the wilderness to look in. That meant a search party wasn't sent out when they got Ken's phone call, they just told them to stay put and wait for light. Neither one was hurt or in any immediate distress besides hung over, so they would have to tough it out.
Long story short, Ken and his dad spent the night outside, and found their way out in the morning after the beer wore off. Good thing they had warm clothes on.
So yeah, take a GPS with you if you go into the back country. Learn how to use it before you need it. And don't drink a pile of beer, or you won't be able to run the GPS anyways.
I'm not sure exactly Ken and his dad were planning that day, other than drinking a lot of beer and finding a big buck. Part of their particular deer hunter tactics involved drinking all day and scouting out tracks and such. This necessitated leaving the truck behind since the trails were not vehicle friendly and they didn't bring atv's.I guess they wandered down one too many cutlines and took a few too many turns and before you know it they were as lost as two rednecks in New York. I imagine all the beer didn't help one bit, but there you have it. In the fall during deer hunting season, it gets pretty cold at night and they figured they might be in real trouble. Ken figured if he kept walking and checking, eventually he might find a spot with cell phone service.
It must have been a long hike with the deer rifles and the beer. Of course, after the beer ran out they realized that they didn't bring any snacks or water. It was somewhere around midnight when he finally found a hilltop where his cell phone would work. One of the biggest problems with not having a plan in the morning is that the other hunters at the camp had no idea where to look for them. So even though they knew Ken and his dad were missing, they weren't sure what part of the wilderness to look in. That meant a search party wasn't sent out when they got Ken's phone call, they just told them to stay put and wait for light. Neither one was hurt or in any immediate distress besides hung over, so they would have to tough it out.
Long story short, Ken and his dad spent the night outside, and found their way out in the morning after the beer wore off. Good thing they had warm clothes on.
So yeah, take a GPS with you if you go into the back country. Learn how to use it before you need it. And don't drink a pile of beer, or you won't be able to run the GPS anyways.
Friday, January 2, 2009
I'm Not an Expert Archer, But I Can Shoot!
I love bow and arrow. I don't hunt, and I don't go to competitions or anything. I just like to shoot the darn things.
One of the advantages of Eckville property and rural living is that out on my acreage, I can pretty much set up an archery target anywhere I like and I won't be bothered. I used to live in the city of Red Deer and that wasn't the case. If you are living on a chunk of Red Deer real estate, you need to be very careful where you aim your arrows! Neighbours can be a ral pain in the a$$ when they are afraid you will put an arrow through them by accident.
I inherited my uncles old bear bow and all of his archery arrows last year. I need to get the bow restrung. It is a plain old longbow, no recurve or anything fancy like that, and probably he owned it in the early 60's or late 50's so it is a real antique. I haven't shot that one. Sure you can't take down a deer with it quite as easy. I'm not a hunter, as I mentioned earlier, so I'm not really concerned with that. I also don't compete, so who really cares.
The arrows I received from my uncle's estate are as old as the bow; they have mostly field practice points, but there are a few hunting tips of the non removable variety. I don't use those at all.
The quiver the arrows came in is made of plain canvas, and the bottom is ripped out so it isn't very functional at all. I haven't replaced it since I want to keep these items pretty much like they are for antique value. I use my dad's old bow and some new target arrows I picked up. Some day I might try a compound bow, but right now I have fun just playing around with these old ones.
I haven't gone out to shoot since that last dump of snow, so maybe I should go put out a target. I just worry about losing them in the snow, and not being able to find any missed rrows until spring!
One of the advantages of Eckville property and rural living is that out on my acreage, I can pretty much set up an archery target anywhere I like and I won't be bothered. I used to live in the city of Red Deer and that wasn't the case. If you are living on a chunk of Red Deer real estate, you need to be very careful where you aim your arrows! Neighbours can be a ral pain in the a$$ when they are afraid you will put an arrow through them by accident.
I inherited my uncles old bear bow and all of his archery arrows last year. I need to get the bow restrung. It is a plain old longbow, no recurve or anything fancy like that, and probably he owned it in the early 60's or late 50's so it is a real antique. I haven't shot that one. Sure you can't take down a deer with it quite as easy. I'm not a hunter, as I mentioned earlier, so I'm not really concerned with that. I also don't compete, so who really cares.
The arrows I received from my uncle's estate are as old as the bow; they have mostly field practice points, but there are a few hunting tips of the non removable variety. I don't use those at all.
The quiver the arrows came in is made of plain canvas, and the bottom is ripped out so it isn't very functional at all. I haven't replaced it since I want to keep these items pretty much like they are for antique value. I use my dad's old bow and some new target arrows I picked up. Some day I might try a compound bow, but right now I have fun just playing around with these old ones.
I haven't gone out to shoot since that last dump of snow, so maybe I should go put out a target. I just worry about losing them in the snow, and not being able to find any missed rrows until spring!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Me and My Chainsaw
From my earliest memories, I can picture my dad running a heavy old Homelite chainsaw, killing trees with abandon. He used to fall trees for the first half of the day, then haul them to his mill all afternoon. I come from a long line of tree killers. These days talk like that is frowned on, even though we still need to cut down trees.
On my property, there were a lot of old trees that were at the end of their lifespan. They were constantly blowing down in the wind, and falling in the pond to lie there rotting. I purchased a new saw to clean up the mess. I picked out my favourite, a Stihl 026.
Stihl chain saws have been very reliable for me. My first Stihl lasted 9 years, during which I cut all of my firewood with it and even used it at work for a 4 month job slashing brush. I was so happy with it that when I wore it out I went and got another one, exactly the same. The dealership I had bought the first one from had gone out of business, so I was forced to buy in the big city of Red Deer. I couldn't find a discount chain saw, I was forced to wait for 3 months until they went on sale.
The cleanup of old dead trees is ongoing, but slowly I have worked my way to the back of the lot. This year I will be planting more new trees. I have already planted over 150 new trees on our 7 acres, and I hope to plant another 100 this year.
Our house is heated completely with wood. Before you get all high and mighty about wrecking the environment, remember that almost everyone else pumps carbon out of the ground to heat their homes. I use carbon that is already on the surface, and mostly from deadfall or standing dead trees. These trees were going to rot and release their carbon anyways, I just speeded it up. Any of you get power for running the fan on your furnace from a coal fired electrical plant lately? You bet you did, if you live in North America.
One thing I could use is a chain saw sharpener tool. I have always used the file completely by hand, but I want to try one of these gadgets and see if it is any easier.
On my property, there were a lot of old trees that were at the end of their lifespan. They were constantly blowing down in the wind, and falling in the pond to lie there rotting. I purchased a new saw to clean up the mess. I picked out my favourite, a Stihl 026.
Stihl chain saws have been very reliable for me. My first Stihl lasted 9 years, during which I cut all of my firewood with it and even used it at work for a 4 month job slashing brush. I was so happy with it that when I wore it out I went and got another one, exactly the same. The dealership I had bought the first one from had gone out of business, so I was forced to buy in the big city of Red Deer. I couldn't find a discount chain saw, I was forced to wait for 3 months until they went on sale.
The cleanup of old dead trees is ongoing, but slowly I have worked my way to the back of the lot. This year I will be planting more new trees. I have already planted over 150 new trees on our 7 acres, and I hope to plant another 100 this year.
Our house is heated completely with wood. Before you get all high and mighty about wrecking the environment, remember that almost everyone else pumps carbon out of the ground to heat their homes. I use carbon that is already on the surface, and mostly from deadfall or standing dead trees. These trees were going to rot and release their carbon anyways, I just speeded it up. Any of you get power for running the fan on your furnace from a coal fired electrical plant lately? You bet you did, if you live in North America.
One thing I could use is a chain saw sharpener tool. I have always used the file completely by hand, but I want to try one of these gadgets and see if it is any easier.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Whatever Happened to Chernobyl?
This came up at work today: whatever happened with that Chernobyl disaster? We couldn't even remember how long it had been since the explosion and irradiation of some Russian city et al. I told everyone I would look it up tonight and get the lowdown, so we could all git edjucated. Our closest guess was, everyone dead for a hundred miles and nothin left but a huge crater. Turns out we were wrong.
It happened in 1986, which is 22 years ago. That explains why I can't remember it; I had a bit of a teenage alcohol addiction, and spent most of my spare time trying to figure out ways to get beer. I just wasn't much into the news back then. I still don't pay too much no never mind, since it is all so depressing anyways. Why listen to all the disasters, horror stories and drama? Thats why we got movin' picture shows, ainit?
So the abandoned city of Pripyat is still abandoned, and I couldn't find any information on exactly how many people died because I don't think there is any way to tell exactly how many people got some of that radiation from the fallout plume that drifted over Western Europe. I read that some of it even made it to Eastern North America. I'm a little creeped out by this whole idea. This disaster was supposedly worse than Hiroshima, so far as how much radiation was released. I'm sure Hiroshima was more devastating explosion wise though.
I just don't think we should mess with all this radiation stuff. It is downright dangerous!
It happened in 1986, which is 22 years ago. That explains why I can't remember it; I had a bit of a teenage alcohol addiction, and spent most of my spare time trying to figure out ways to get beer. I just wasn't much into the news back then. I still don't pay too much no never mind, since it is all so depressing anyways. Why listen to all the disasters, horror stories and drama? Thats why we got movin' picture shows, ainit?
So the abandoned city of Pripyat is still abandoned, and I couldn't find any information on exactly how many people died because I don't think there is any way to tell exactly how many people got some of that radiation from the fallout plume that drifted over Western Europe. I read that some of it even made it to Eastern North America. I'm a little creeped out by this whole idea. This disaster was supposedly worse than Hiroshima, so far as how much radiation was released. I'm sure Hiroshima was more devastating explosion wise though.
I just don't think we should mess with all this radiation stuff. It is downright dangerous!
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