The Gunnies New Years top 10 Resolutions

1. I promise to buy a new firearm this year.

2. I promise to shoot more. (JD)

3. I will get laid at Camp Perry. (anon)

4. Going to make a beach/bikini/full auto video for youtube. (Katie Foster.)

5. I will get Bigfoot on deercam.

6. I will finish building out my AR. (Windy Wilson)

7. More range time with friends. (NRO)


Any further ideas?

Cheetah dead at 80.

I'll be the first to say it: He died too soon. Gone to the great escarpment in the sky.

He lived longer than most humans and influenced generations of Americans to aspire to rugged outdoorsy, manly, armed self-sufficiency. Cheetah was at heart American, redneck and Texan. Imagine the Tarzan character created during the times of ball caps and duct tape. (Cheetah! Get cooler!) If he had been created earlier we would have won at the Alamo. ("Cheetah! Get Fannin! Umgawa!")

He saved Tarzan's life many times over for just bananas and a few yucks. If you were stuck in some god-forsaken jungle inhabited by cannibals and animists, who would you rather have along: Mr Ed, Rin Tin-tin, Lassie, Flipper, Trigger, Big Bird, Old Yeller, Alf or Cheetah?

When I was a kid we kept an eye out for any handy vine to swing across the creek on. We said we wanted to be Tarzan but in truth were a little scandalized by his outfit. Secretly we all wanted to be Cheetah.



Update: Already, his story dissolves into a mystery.....

Yeti gives us the finger.

Legendary finger finally tested. It's some old Buddist Monk, most likely. Too bad.

They have nearly made it.

Just a few more days and the main season will be over. These guys are probably home free.

Bobcats.

Long walk from where one cat is to where the other cat is, so I'm assuming they aren't the same cat. They must know each other though...

Deer crossing fence.

Does going through the wire. I'm surprised, but never really had a cam on a fence before.

I figured they would just hop it. Guess they go through holes in the brush smaller than this.

Little buck following. He was gone by the next frame. I don't know if he went over or through.
Going to point the camera down slightly with a twig behind the top. He's a 1 1/2 year old. Just a kid. Probably legal, but just barely. I've passed on him.

DailyDeercam

Butler Creek.

Not much new or fun off the cams though I did a big circumnavigation of the swamp yesterday. Never done that. Moved one cam from the little knoll to up on a hillside where I never go- it replaced acam which got blinky when I moved it. I guess I need a couple new cams. Got three dead Moultires and three live ones.

Little buck going over a fence.

Coyote on the close cam. Ex coyote now, with regrets. I'm sure she was here looking for rabbit sign. They will be happier.

Never, ever have walked all the way around the old flooded beaver pond, now a cattail swamp. I did yesterday. It was the only season I could have made it through. Took a hour. Some parts so thick I had to push and arm through and then follow it. Beautiful sloughs down near the creek. No crossings except a temporary one over a fallen river birch. That won't last long.

Sat in the stand in the fading light. A little yellow coyote that I had glimpsed several times made the mistake of cutting across the pasture through the weeds. Should have just watched but I picked up the rifle.

WWII Knife.

Used this a bit in field dressing and skinning four does. Fun to use these old knives. Dr. Sneed had to sharpen both knives a couple of times per deer. Nice to have a fresh blade. He used a spring-loaded, V-shaped, jigged-up, plastic sharpener that we bought at a gun show. Crazy looking but it really works great.

Getting started.

Placking away with .45 in an EIC Pistol match at Camp Perry in 2007.

Justin Utley should have gotten his Pistol medal today as well, though he probably won't mention it to anyone.

Just for the record, both of us think the Distinguished Rifleman's Badge, with the all-day matches and wind reading at 300 and 600 yards is MUCH harder than the little .45 minute pistol LEG matches. The pistol matches are even usually shot from under a roof! Rifle is really tough. Pistol: just stand around in the shade for a few minutes with your hand in your pocket.

Distinguished Pistol Badge # 1511

Distinguished Pistol Badge laying on my canvas coat where I pin all my medals.

Close up of the back. They engrave your name, number and year. One of a kind.

Glad to get it in hand. Somewhere down below is my post on men wanting to be known as being cool under pressure. Watched the Cowboys and the Giants play last night and it was more of the same. Eli and the Giants are cool under pressure. Romo and the Cowboys aren't. So the Giants won and Eli gets the big rep. Romo doesn't.

The Excellence in Competition Matches run by the CMP, both the Pistol and Rifle LEG matches, are exquisitely designed to crack the human psyche. Humans AREN'T cool under pressure. They crack. Freak out. Flake out, Make excuses, Blame equipment and conditions, et, et, et. The reason that these kind of awards are so coveted in the little universe of service rifle and pistol shooting is that they distinguish the folks who, at least momentarily, overcome that. I watch it several times a year during EIC matches. Folks completely blow a match in the first stage- offhand at 200 yards. or they shoot unbelievably well until the last stage when they have a spectacular melt down. In shooting competition, its on the target in in the score for everyone to see.
Think of the actor, Bob Hope. Famous, beloved and played many movies as the guy who flaked out under pressure. It's funny to watch. His sidekick, Bing Crosby played the OTHER guy, the guy who was cool under pressure. Both are archtypes that audiences aspire to or fear to be. Steve McQueen vs Richard Pryor. Bill Murray vs Chevy Chase. Tony Romo vs Tom Brady.

Once again, to the few women that read this blog: Men want this more than ANY OTHER THING: To have a rep as being cool under pressure.

Up to Clarksville for a little doetag shooting.

The lunar eclipse finishing up on Saturday morning.

Rough business. Pulled the deer back into the field after finding her below the hill on the edge of swamp. Shot from the front. Bullet exit can be seen.

Doetag shooting with Remington 700 in .308. No blood trail. Bullet in from the front between chest and shoulder, mostly chest breaking multiple ribs and blowing out interior, exiting abdomen on right side.

Dr. Sneed, deer murderer and scientist. Big blood trail and several bloody lay-downs but not until she got into the woods. 30 yards or more with nothing. Tuft of hair at the spot where she was shot.

More doetag shooting. 120 lbs live weight. Through and through with a .308. No blood trail, just a tuft of hair at the site of the hit.

Kid reading book in the kitchen at the ranch house.

Shooting any kind of live animal, I try to remember to notice EXACTLY where the animal is standing when I break the shot so that if I have to track it, I have a place to start without thrashing around or guessing. It's VERY hard to remember that when an animal is moving and you are trying to get a good break on the trigger. I try to notice a tree or branch where they are and the then notice the LAST place I see them when they run. I rarely get both. My mind just gets busy.

We had to track Dr. Sneeds deer out of a big green pasture where it hardly left a trace. He had marked a tuft of hair. There was one little spot of blood about ten yards away, then nothing. I had the Good Doctor stay at the tuft, dropped my hat at the spot of blood and walked a line into the trees where I picked up a good blood trail. We found her about 60 yards further on.

I marked my first deer exactly where she was when the trigger broke. No blood. I started by angling down into the woods where I had seen her last and she was there. No blood trail at all though the M852 went between her left shoulder and chest from the front, blowing up a patch of ribs as big as a hand, exiting from the abdomen on the other side and pulling out a couple coils of little intestine. No blood trail.

Second doe was shot side to side with M852 match ammo in .308. Tuft of hair at the site where she was. Six deer ran so I lost her but they all went the same direction. No blood trail. I was zigging and zagging in the grass when I saw her laying dead in the open. Big exit wound on the shoulder. I backtracked from where I found her. No trace of blood.

Doe skin-tag close-up.

Never seen anything quite like this.