This Voodoo Priest business seems to have promise !

"Fire marshals said the fire started around 6:40 p.m., when a woman visited a man in the building and paid him $300 to perform a voodoo ceremony to bring her good luck. The man was known in the neighborhood as a voodoo priest, the AP reported.

A city official told the AP that the ceremony involved the man and woman having sex in a bed surrounded by candles. Those candles set fire to the linens and clothes on the floor, the FDNY said. But instead of calling 911, the man conducting the ceremony tried in vain to douse the flames with water."


http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/brooklyn/fdny-voodoo-sex-candles-caused-fatal-fire-in-brooklyn-20110225-akd#



Sign me up !

Restrepo

The only surprise is - - - that people are surprised !

Residents Flee St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (AP) - St. Louis is losing residents, according to U.S. Census figures released Thursday, and the population decline goes deeper than being another blow to the proud city’s image.

The drop will mean a financial loss that could cost the already cash-strapped Gateway City millions of dollars.

Figures from the 2010 census were a bitter disappointment, as the city’s population dipped to 319,294.

That’s down more than 29,000 – a staggering 8 percent – from 2000.

For St. Louis leaders, the news was doubly disappointing because they were expecting to see an increase.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/02/25/residents-flee-st-louis-especially-north-city-over-last-decade/



The great flying gas station ! ! !

To be built in American factories !

"Stonehenge" in Maryland !

"One of Maryland's most mysterious ruins can't be seen from any nearby road. In fact, in summer you could stand within 20 feet of it and see nothing but the trees and vines that are slowly demolishing the fragile structure.

But behind that green curtain, off Garrison Forest Road in Owings Mills, you would find stone walls two stories high, pierced by rows of vertical slit windows that suggest gun embrasures.

Scott Frenkil, 53, a Lutherville mortgage broker, thought he'd found a forgotten old fort when he first saw it as a kid in the 1970s.

Experts who have seen it seem to agree the structure probably dates at least to the 18th century. The evidence suggests it was modified several times and used as a barn in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

But Frenkil has accumulated a pile of documents that convince him that the original structure was built in the 1690s as a fortified house, or trading post. Perhaps it served as part of a defensive line, established in the 1690s to protect settlers fearful of Indian attacks."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-greenspring-fort-20110221,0,7106720.story

Is it time to ditch "magnetic north" ? ? ?

"Magnetic north, the point at the top of the Earth that determines compass headings, is shifting its position at a rate of about 40 miles per year. In geologic terms, it's racing from the Arctic Ocean near Canada toward Russia.
As a result, everyone who uses a compass, even as a backup to modern GPS navigation systems, needs to be aware of the shift, make adjustments or obtain updated charts to ensure they get where they intend to go, authorities say. That includes pilots, boaters and even hikers."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/fl-magnetic-north-shift-20110218,0,2819271.story

With the advent of inexpensive handheld GPS units, has the day of magnetic navigation gone the route of celestial navigation ?  You can buy a decent GPS for the same cost as a good navigational grade compass.

Personally I only use the compass for quick general heading references, GPS and the GPS backup are what come into play when precise navigation is required.

Using magnetic navigation seems to be similar to carrying pigeons to detect when you are close to land ! ! !

Busy, busy, busy

And a bit of bad vision to boot, most of those 39 wives are pretty hard on the eyes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358654/The-worlds-biggest-family-Ziona-Chan-39-wives-94-children-33-grandchildren.html

Public sector unions and the mess in Wisconsin.

First the disclaimers, I am from a Union family, my Father and most of the Uncles worked in either the steel industry or mining. I am well aware of the progress for salaries and working conditions that the unions brought, and I fully support them in the private sector.

However public sector unions are a different bird, and in my view they should be outlawed.  Why you may ask, well it comes down to the very foundation of the union versus management adversarial relationship. The push and pull and compromising of each other’s interest is balanced by the need of both of the parties to work together to make a profit.  Remove the profit incentive and the equation changes dramatically.

In the public sector union, the “management” sitting across the table in negotiations is most often an elected official, and are all too frequently “bought and paid for” by political contributions, quite often from the very unions they are supposedly “collectively bargaining” with.  There is no adversarial relationship except perhaps between the union, in collusion with their “bought men” and the poor taxpayer who is left holding the financial bag when the politician is long gone.

When you consider that the average teacher in Wisconsin makes about $90k in a total compensation package it is pretty clear who is greedy, and who is holding the financial bag. Strange that you never hear the actual average salary in the mainstream media  J J !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x2N4bDmzdc

The king of combat fishing ! ! !

Heaven knows that I love to fish and my favorite type of fishing is Salmon fishing, and the best I have ever seen is on Alaska's Kenai River. One of my favorite spots is the confluence of the Moose and Kenai Rivers. We are of course talking about combat fishing when the salmon runs are hot and the spot is accessible by road.

I had this Moose / Kenai place "doped out". Because I lived there I was able to see this water in the winter when it was low and figure out where the fish would be when the water is up in the summer.

Just off shore in the main river is a large rock that salmon pile up behind, it is unseen when the water is up. In the picture below I am standing on "the secret rock". When you line up the secret rock with a particular pine tree on the far shore the "big rock" is right in line.

If you cast too far upstream your fly (weighted-spinning tackle) would either snag on the rock, or be swept out of the sweet spot behind the rock.

If you cast too far down stream your fly would never make it into the hole. There was only about a four foot window you had to hit, and the only good place to hit it from, was the "secret rock".

I could hook up with a Salmon on almost every cast when they were in the river. People were amazed thinking I was using some secret flys, I even sold a few thousand of them.

Click to enlarge. 

Look in the center of the picture, the guy up to his butt in 45 degree water is "ol' Bay Bob" the guy beside me in the hat is my old Australian buddy Leonard.

When I got tired of catching them, I would "hold court". I would tell the guy to my right "let me see if I can hook one with your rod" I would promptly hook one, hand the rod back to him and he would wander off to the right to fight his fish in calmer water, the next guy would step up hand me his rod, and in short order he was "hooked up too".

Really miss the old place.

The Brits are truly disgusting :) :)

http://www.shortersclub.co.uk/products/26047-westlers-hamburgers-in-onion-gravy-425g-pack-of-6.aspx

I cannot imagine even for a second hamburgers out of a can - - -

No wonder we had to bail them out in WWII :)

The Grizzly that nearly ate Ol' Hogsanta ! Final Part

The day before our scheduled pickup we were sitting around a campfire in the little clearing just in front of the cabin. Tired of catching big Rainbows if you can believe that, and planning our final evening hunt. The morning would be full of packing and hauling our gear and hide down to the floatplane landing.

As we were relaxing we heard the faint but unmistakable sound of pack frames jingling with tied on accessories making a rhythmic tune. Apparently a group of hikers had covered the nearly 20-mile distance from the Sterling Highway trailhead. And to go along with the jingling, what to our wondrous eyes did appear?

It was a group of "Outward Bound" college girls, with a University of Alaska female professor in the lead.

They were beat, trail weary and trail worn. We broke out a couple of six-packs of Coors cooling in the snow melt fed stream that runs right by the cabin (Pee Creek we named it! Ever camped by running water?), and put on a fresh pot of coffee and sat down around the campfire to exchange pleasantries.

The Professor inquired as to what we were doing in that area so early in the spring. We showed her the Rainbows we had cooling in the creek and mentioned that we were also bear hunting. She replied that it seemed like a lot of trouble and expense to hunt Black Bears, which are common, and even considered a pest in Alaska. We added that we had hoped to run into a Grizzly of two also.  She replied that we were wasting our time there because there were no Grizzlies in that area. She had it on the good authority of several biologists from the college. I wish I had video or at least pictures of what followed.

I adopted my best West Virginia hillbilly drawl and said, " well Mam', you seem right knowledgeable about bears and all, could I get you to step behind the cabin here and help us identify what kinda bear this is that we shot".

Get this picture! Here we go around the back of the cabin with the professor and a whole gaggle of young college girls who trust this lady with their very life. And behold there is a 9 foot Grizzly Bear hide nailed to the back of the cabin, "just getting a little sun" I quipped. Their eyes got so big that the light reflecting out of them, I swear, was brighter than the sun.

After much Oohing and Ahhing we settled back around the campfire. The professor was dumfounded and swore revenge on the biologists who put her and her charges life at risk. I asked why she was so concerned about bears. One shot in the air from your .44 will send most packing. She replied that since there were no Grizzlies in the area she did not want to carry the extra weight, and mumbled something about communing with nature on it's own level. They pitched their tents real close to the cabin that night, and the sound of the privy door opening and closing all night testified that Pee Creek was fulfilling its God given chore!

After a great breakfast of ham, eggs and pancakes whipped up by yours truly (we always take too much food in case the trout don't bite) they were ready to break camp and continue on their several day trip. I found the professor and handed her my .44 Redhawk, in its holster, and a spare pouch of ammo, and my name and phone number scribbled on an unused bear tag. I added that she could call me when she got back and I would come by and reclaim it. She was much relieved, and we got big hugs from her and all of her charges. Wilderness hospitality is a wonderful thing!

Well we had to stock the cabin pretty well with our excess food and supplies, but we got light enough to make it out in one trip. My partner has retired back to Texas, too old to hunt, but "ol' griz" hangs on his wall. I missed my date with the big sow the following spring because the breakup was late and Grizzly season was over before the lake cleared of ice. "ol' thumper" is on detached duty, back in Alaska. It is with a young friend who moved to Anchorage with his Alaskan wife. Which reminds me, I need to brew him up some of my special loads for "ol' thumper".

Post script - - - The Upper Russian Lake Cabin still stands and has been refurbished, you can rent it for a small sum and fly or hike in for a great getaway.

http://www.recreation.gov/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=71830

Amazing, but lengthy photo essay of the rebuilding of the URL Cabin.

It would have been easier to just build a new cabin but being a historic landmark I am glad they kept the existing log walls and just raised it before adding a new roof and porch.

http://photos.mombok.com/Alaska/Upper-Russian-Lake-Cabin/3204715_tCtSh#176693931_ytbzP

Birther Redux !

"Birthers make a majority among those voters who say they're likely to participate in a Republican primary next year. 51% say they don't think Barack Obama was born in the United States to just 28% who firmly believe that he was and 21% who are unsure. The GOP birther majority is a new development. The last time PPP tested this question nationally, in August of 2009, only 44% of Republicans said they thought Obama was born outside the country while 36% said that he definitely was born in the United States. If anything birtherism is on the rise."

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/02/romney-and-birthers.html

Only "Bambi huggers" could be this ignorant - - -

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/bs-sp-deer-sterilization-20110212,0,4577353.story?page=1

If the idea is to reduce breeding deer, someone needs to tell these folks that deer in "freezer wrap" do not breed ! ! !

While they have the deer "tranquilized" - - - turn them into Bambiburger ! ! !

Guns going to Mexico - - - apparently no big deal to Obama !

"The White House says tracking the bulk sale of high-powered rifles from border states gunshops which legally sell thousands of assault weapons that end up in Mexico each year is not an emergency, and has rejected a request from the U.S. agency that monitors weapons sales to do so without public review.
Instead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' proposed requirement that firearms dealers near the Mexican border to report multiple purchases of high-powered rifles will undergo a standard, three-month review period, opening it to public comment."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110210/ap_on_re_us/us_gun_sales_reporting

Oxymoron - - American Intelligence

from Fred Reed

"American intel has never been much good. Reflect. In 1941 tensions were high with Japan, which was known to have a large, modern fleet and better pilots with better airplanes than ours. On December 7, naval intelligence hadn’t bothered to know where that fleet was—with disastrous results.

In 1950 in Korea, signs of an upcoming attack were thick on the ground, but US intelligence didn’t notice—with disastrous results. Nor did it notice when the PLA was about to enter the war—with disastrous results.

As noted above, in 1959 the CIA made a complete botch of the attack on Cuba. Again: the Children’s Agency thought that the Cubans would rise against Castro. The results were politically disastrous.

In 1961, the U2 got shot down over Russia. It was not up to the CIA’s standards of catastrophe, being merely embarrassing. I suppose it is too much to expect perfect consistency.

In 1975 came the adventure of the Glomar Explorer, in which the CIA wasted a half a billion green ones, which was money in those days, in secret communion with a totally lunatic Howard Hughes, to fail to retrieve most of an ancient Soviet submarine that the Navy didn’t want.

In 1967 the Israelis attacked the spy ship Liberty and killed 142 sailors, because the intelligence community was too stupid to protect its ships. In 1968 the North Koreans grabbed the spy ship Pueblo, whose highly trained crew didn’t manage to destroy their secret thingamawhatsses, because the intel community was too stupid to protect its ships. In 2007 the Chinese forced down an NSA spy plane, which, as usual, didn’t destroy its secrets.

Vietnam. Here we have another example of the intelligence geek’s consistent inability to do what should be a primary duty: to tell the government the likely consequences of a given policy—with disastrous consequences. Washington blundered into that war with no idea that the Viets might fight, that the war might cost a decade, 60,000 dead soldiers, and eventually be lost.  Had Langley and Meade not read Bernard Fall, or heard of Dien Bien Phu?

During Vietnam, there was the Son Tay raid. Son Tay was a suburb of   Hanoi where a large number of American prisoners were held. The military made a brilliant raid that would have gotten them out, except that intel hadn’t noticed that the prisoners had been moved to another location. For the prisoners the results were disastrous, since they would not get another chance.

But the supreme contribution of the spookoweeners to that war was to be taken utterly by surprise by Tet, the queen-sacrifice move that lost the war for the US. Disastrouser and disastrouser.

In the Yugoslavian mess, the US managed to bomb the Chinese embassy in Belgrade because it didn’t know where it was. Gilbert and Sullivan. Check the telephone book, maybe?

The spooks were astonished when the Berlin Wall went up, and again when it came down. They did not predict the collapse of the Soviet Union, their principal object of study. What do these guys do all day?

They did not detect the pack of Saudis who dropped those towers in New York—with disastrous results. Nor had they detected the earlier attempt on the towers with a truck bomb.

Iraq? Again, they had no idea how Arabs might react. I guess they had never heard of Israel and the Palestinians. They figured it would be a walk in the park, with disastrous results.

They seem to have been equally clueless, or maybe just unable to overcome the Pentagon’s excessive estimation of itself, in the case of Afghanistan, again with disastrous results. Washington did not remotely suspect that it would get bogged down in a decade of a war, which it would probably lose. Maybe they hadn’t gotten around to reading about the Russians’ experience of Afghanistan."

http://www.fredoneverything.net/CIA.shtml

Dooming the children - - -

"The decline of marriage in recent years not only signals trouble for the men and women missing out on the stability of the institution; it can also threaten the future success of children born outside the economic protection of marriage. The 41 percent of children born in the U.S. to never-married mothers are at a higher risk of experiencing poverty at some point in their lifetimes than are those born to married parents."

This is the dirty little secret of the welfare programs, poverty breeds poverty.
Many would argue that it was the intention of the welfare programs to perpetuate poverty and therefore create a population that would continually vote for more welfare.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/02/10/national-marriage-week-what-the-collapse-of-marriage-means-for-children/

A match made in heaven - - - for the simple man

Cut ham to bite sized chunks, cut cabbage to tennis ball sized chunks, boil together with salt and pepper to taste.

No better simple meal !

Dick can still rock the room - - -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntPJC85DY6Q&feature=related

The Grizzly that nearly ate Ol' Hogsanta ! Part 3

We sat down and took a break to settle our nerves, and let the bear die if he had a mind to. I feared he would not, he was running pretty good when he left the sheep. After about 30 minutes we approached the sheep carcass to pick up the trail. The snow on the near side of the spot showed pretty good blood splatter, but the far side showed none. I suspected that the bullet did not exit, and we were in deep shit with a wounded bear. He left a blood trail you could follow from the air, and we trailed him for about 300 yards across a large avalanche created meadow.

On the far side of the meadow was our worst nightmare, an alder thicket. This thing was so thick a sparrow could not fly through it. You could not see more than a few yards into it, even in the bright sunlight. We stopped for a conference. I was scared, so was my partner. We considered waiting till the next day to give the bear time to die, but the area is crossed by a hiking trail, and the thought of some poor unsuspecting hiker blundering into this pissed off critter killed that idea. We started this mess and it was up to us to finish it.

A wounded bear will often circle to watch his back trail to see or attack what is following it, and that was going through my mind at the time. We decided to separate by about a hundred yards and approach the thicket to see what we could see.

 Agreeing to keep each other in sight at all times we planned our approach. I removed the first two 250 grain cartridges in my rifle and replaced them with the 300 Grain Barnes.  I also removed the retaining strap on the .44 Mag. Ruger I carried as backup. The holster was new and the snap very stiff and hard to remove. We proceeded very slowly to the thicket, doing more watching than walking, and dreading what we would find.

When we were about 50 yards from the thicket I saw a movement in the brush exactly where the blood trail entered the brush. I hollered to my partner "there he is, right on the trail".  In the same instant I raised my rifle to use the scope to see if I could "look through" the brush and see anything.

 And he came!

By pure instinct with no thought involved I hit him as he cleared the brush. I saw him "hunch up" as the bullet struck. And who was he "coming for ", not the guy who had wounded him but for ol' Bear Bob. He must have known that I like bears!

He came so fast it was unbelievable, running on less than four good legs, as we would later find. Now remember I was as fast with a bolt-action gun as anyone I know. And I shot this bear as he cleared the brush. This bear died just a few yards in front of me as the bolt handle was on it's way back down. That bear had covered a distance we paced at 45 yards in the time it took me to chamber another round. An action that I had practiced until it was automatic. Talk about fast! Talk about having to take a bath in an ice-cold lake and change your polypropylene underwear!

I asked my partner who was about 50 yards off to the side "Why didn't you shoot" he replied " by the time I got the gun up I was afraid I'd hit you". I retorted that I hoped he would have found the time if this brute had gotten hold of me.

Then the fun was over and the work started. After my bath that is.  I dearly love bears and bear hunting, but man skinning one of these monsters is nothing but work, hard, nasty, stinking, and bloody work. The post mortem revealed that my partner’s shot had indeed not penetrated. The bullet had blown up when it struck the shoulder blade and probably ruined the left front shoulder but it did not seem to slow him down much. My shot had entered the opposite shoulder and traversed the entire 9 foot of bear, lodging under the skin on the opposite rear haunch. Fortunately all 4,000 lbs of energy were expended on him but he still covered the distance fast enough to remain in my dreams (or nightmares) to this day.

The skinning proceeded as well as it ever does. The taxidermist only had to sew up a few mistakes when he did the rug. We left most of the paw skinning for him too. We had several days before our plane was to pick us up so we did our best to reduce the weight of the hide.

Remember those pictures of natives carrying "dinner" on a pole between two big men. Well try to imagine the same thing with two guys and a bear hide. It must have been funny to watch if you were not involved, and if there was anyone to watch. We salted the hide real well and rolled it at night. During the day we put it on the rear of the cabin to air out, and get some sun and maybe dry out and lighten up a little. We really did not want to pay for a second floatplane flight to bring the hide out.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Be sure to check back next week for the fourth and final part of the story.

Entertainment is a lost art !

The little known (until now) story of Lima 85 in Laos !

The President of the United States of America, authorized by act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded, in the name of the Congress, the Medal of Honor to Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger, United States Air Force, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty. Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on March 11, 1968, in the country of Laos. While assigned as Ground Radar Superintendent, Detachment 1, 1043rd Radar Evacuation Squadron. On that day, Chief Etchberger and his team of technicians were manning a top-secret defensive position at Lima Site 85 when the base was overrun by an enemy ground force. Receiving sustained and withering heavy artillery attacks directly upon his unit’s position, Chief Etchberger’s entire crew lay dead or severely wounded. Despite having received little or no combat training, Chief Etchberger single-handedly held off the enemy with an M-16, while simultaneously directing air strikes into the area and calling for air rescue. Because of his fierce defense and heroic and selfless actions, he was able to deny the enemy access to his position and save the lives of his remaining crew. With the arrival of the rescue aircraft, Chief Etchberger without hesitation repeatedly and deliberately risked his own life, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire, in order to place three surviving wounded comrades into rescue slings hanging from the hovering helicopter waiting to airlift them to safety. With his remaining crew safely aboard, Chief Etchberger finally climbed into the evacuation sling himself, only to be fatally wounded by enemy ground fire as he was being raised into the aircraft. Chief Etchberger's bravery and determination in the face of persistent enemy fire and overwhelming odds are in keeping with the highest standards of performance and traditions of military service. Chief Etchberger's gallantry, self-sacrifice, and profound concern for his fellow men, at risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, reflect the highest credit on himself and the United States Air Force.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_L._Etchberger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lima_Site_85

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/95unclass/Linder.html

http://www.limasite85.com/photogallery/LS85%20Recovery/index.htm

"greenies" and their ethanol push, cause starvation !

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.0bcf7660807b5b8e782fa73f510af552.471&show_article=1

"World food prices reached their highest level ever recorded in January and are set to keep rising for months, the UN food agency said on Thursday, warning that the hardest-hit countries could face turmoil.

Rising food prices have been cited among the driving forces behind recent popular revolts in north Africa, including the uprising in Egypt and the toppling of Tunisia's long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

And in its latest survey, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said its index which monitors monthly price changes for a variety of staples averaged 231 points in January -- the highest level since records began in 1990.
"The new figures clearly show that the upward pressure on world food prices is not abating. These high prices are likely to persist in the months to come," FAO economist and grains expert Abdolreza Abbassian said in a statement.
The Index rose by 3.4 percent from December -- with big increases in particular for dairy, cereal and oil prices. The rises were most significant in China, India, Indonesia and Russia, data from FAO's monthly report showed."

I always liked Rumsfeld ! ! !

Now only the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal:

Rumsfeld warned in 2001 of Afghan “swamp” and “not to make a career out of transforming Afghanistan;” parts ways with neocons on use of military to spread democracy around the world

Lashes out at Clinton, Kerry, Biden for flip-flops on Iraq: “You wouldn’t want to be in a foxhole with them.”

Disputes Powell’s claim that he was “duped” by administration on Iraq WMD, says Powell was no Bush administration “maverick”

Bashes CNN for concealing Saddam's crimes against humanity prior to start of war

Document: Rumsfeld pressed for more troops in Tora Bora to get bin Laden in 2001

Says biggest regret not insisting on resigning after Abu Ghraib

Says McCain had “hair-trigger temper” and “a propensity to shift his positions to appeal to the media”

Shares his side of a decades long feud with Bush 41

Aide tells Rumsfeld on 9/11: “You’re a son of a bitch.” Lives to tell the tale

Had young Geraldo Rivera arrested in 1970s student protest, when he was known as Jerry Rivers

Describes surprising encounter with Elvis in The King’s Las Vegas dressing room

Recounts weird meetings with a confused President-elect Jimmy Carter

Kissinger during last days of Watergate: “Rummy, we don’t even argue with Nixon anymore”

The Grizzly that nearly ate Ol' Hogsanta ! Part 2

One fine spring June, finds me and my hunting partner from Texas, ensconced in the Upper Russian Lake cabin. Set to enjoy a week of ice-out fishing during the mid-day and a chance at a Grizzly or the odd Black Bear in the "witching hours" of morning and evening. We had located a sheep carcass in an avalanche run out, and had great hopes that "ol' mister griz" would locate it too. We watched it like a hawk morning and evening for a couple of days. Finally the scent and the wind did its job and a good-sized boar showed up.

Now my partner is a little recoil shy, and a disciple of the "high velocity small bullet" religion. As a result he shot a souped up 7mm Remington Magnum. It was free throated for extra velocity, and accurized to replace the accuracy lost by free throating. My personal choice was "ol' thumper" a .338 Winchester Mag., lacking the resources and availability of a good  .375 H&H. I used the flat shooting Sierra 250 grain SBT, with a ballistic co-efficient of .596, stoked just as hot as "ol' thumper" could stand them. For short-range work I used the 300-grain Barnes heavy jacket. The velocity was less, but it was reputed to penetrate like a jackhammer.

We circled down wind and stalked to within 150 yards in good cover all the way. We eased up behind a huge cottonwood blow down, and glassed the bear. He was a good one, young, no rubs on the hide that we could see, probably a male, because no sows had been seen yet that spring. My partner won the toss and snuggled down taking a rest on the downed tree. He waited patiently for good side shot as the bear worked to dig the sheep carcass out of the tightly packed snow of the avalanche run out.

Now there are two schools of thought on bullet placement in a big bear. School one says take him through the lungs if the distance is great enough and let nature take its course when the bear is unable to breathe.

The second school says take him through the front shoulders to immobilize him, and follow up with a second shot to the lungs. I subscribed to the second school and practiced often and long getting off a second accurate shot. I had shot competitively for years with a bolt-action rifle and the motion was automatic. I was as fast as anyone I had seen with a bolt action. I had practiced with "ol' thumper" extensively. I even went to the extreme of developing reduced velocity loads, and used it for squirrel hunting. Well my partner had witnessed much of my practicing, and thought the “through the shoulder school” was the way to go. Only problem was he did not have enough gun to pull it off.

At the shot the bear jumped in the air and took off.  I was watching through the spotting scope and saw the hit. It looked too far forward for a lung shot. I asked my partner "where did you hold?" he replied "I took him through the shoulders". I called him a name you can only call a close friend.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Be sure to check in next week for part 3 !

There are yachts, and then there are YACHTS !

Kart track, submarine, heloport, beach - - - anybody want to pitch in on one :)
http://www.superyachtdesign.com/concepts.asp?cid=657

Sure is getting crowded - - - "under Obama's bus" !

Israel shocked by Obama's "betrayal" of Mubarak

(Reuters) - If Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak is toppled, Israel will lose one of its very few friends in a hostile neighborhood and President Barack Obama will bear a large share of the blame, Israeli pundits said on Monday.


Israel should have had a clue when Obama treated Netanyahu like crap on his visit to Washington.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/us-egypt-israel-usa-idUSTRE70U53720110131