Today, was once again reminded of the 4 Rules of Firearms' Safety as per the rules supposedly given to us by the late Col. Jeff Cooper. That got me to thinking about how many people believe that those rules are sufficient as the only rules to teach for firearms safety and about how many folks think them absolutes and also about how many of those same people violate some of those so called absolute rules frequently. In fact, it got me to thinking about how silly it is to see all 4 of them as absolutes. Now mind you, I am not saying the rules of firearm's safety are foolish or silly, just that creating them and teaching them as absolutes is absolutely so.
Why are they held as absolutes by many? Probably because the person who wrote them, by my guess, thought himself infallible. That is until he felt it necessary to change at least one of his own rules and even then he wrote it as an absolute. Another reason they are held as absolutes is because some people feel they must be in control of others and absolutes are one way to achieve that. Another reason, and this is probably the strongest reason they are held as absolutes is because shooters try to hide behind them as if they were some sort of magical shield that will prevent any type of accidental shooting or other type of accident with firearms. Maybe they would prevent most accidents but not all. Even then they are a tool at best and not a shield behind which to hide. You see, if you get down behind that shield low enough, you are going to overlook the other rules of firearm's safety that were left out of these mere 4 rules. Some of them are just as important, maybe even more important, than the 4 rules and how they are often overlooked is beyond me.
Let me get to the 4 rules, that some shooters hold as absolutes, so you know what they are. Before I do, let me point out that I may not have them worded exactly as he wrote them, you find them in different format almost where ever you see them, but they are in essence what he said:
1. All guns are always loaded. (This was the original version of the one that changed later.)
2. Never allow the muzzle to cover anything that you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
4. Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
Now that I have written them out, let me also give you the one that was changed:
1) All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are loaded.
I'll address them, then I am going to tell you what I think are much more sensible rules of firearms safety or at least will tell you a much more sensible manner in which to interpret them other than them being held as absolutes.
Number 1, as it first stood was not a rule at all. It was a declaratory statement - nothing more. You have to guess at what it is telling you as far as it being a rule goes is concerned. It is easy to make that assumption, that being: Treat every gun as if it were always loaded. The thing is though, if you always treat every gun as if it were always loaded, it would be impossible for you to do several things safely with your gun. You would never clean it, never look inside the barrel to inspect it (this should only be done after double checking that you have unloaded the firearm and removed any source of ammunition from it each time you handle it to do so), never hand it to someone else to look at, never take it from someone else to look at and so on. So I have to point out, no not all guns are always loaded and it would be absolutely ridiculous to always treat them as such BUT (and yes this is a big BUT) you had better be absolutely certain the gun is unloaded before you treat one as such like when you disassemble one, clean one, examine one (such as check the lands and grooves, look for rust in the bore, check the crown), repair one and so on.
Now despite what I just said in the last sentence above, whenever I am around someone who is handling firearms, I insist that they do handle the firearms as if it were loaded each and every time they handle it, and all the time while handling it, even after they have checked it to make sure it is unloaded and that any source of ammunition has been removed from it, unless it is disassembled and cannot possibly fire and even then I usually insist on a high level of safety (be careful about this one because you had best be darned sure it cannot fire). Can you see how rule number 1 above can have exceptions to it - times when you would not handle a firearm as if it were always loaded. Not yet? Let me give some examples of when I would regard a firearm as loaded or not.
I have just finished shooting my pistol at the range. I am getting ready to go home and I have already unloaded my firearm and left it on the bench, pointing in the only safe direction which is downrange). I then go to retrieve my target. I come back to the bench to pack all my gear, including my pistol, away for transport home. I pick the pistol up - oh no wait a minute what have I already done, before picking it up, that would have been a violation of the 4 rules above? I left the gun on the bench and walked down range. In other words I walked in front of a loaded gun. Oh my goodness, I forgot to treat it as being loaded at all times. Okay - that one seems silly to you, let me give another example of when I would or would not treat a gun as if it was loaded.
I have picked up my gun, after I retrieved my target as I said above. I keep it pointed downrange, and as I do so I check to see that it is in a safe condition in that it is indeed unloaded and that there is no source of ammunition in it. I do this visibly and physically by looking with my eyes and checking with my fingers both the chamber and magazine well. I then place the gun in my gear bag, zip it closed, then turn around and start to walk to my car. Oh no - here I went and did not treat the gun as loaded again because while it was sitting in my gear bag its muzzle covered at least 5 other people at the range - what have I done - have I violated rule number 1 above and maybe some others?
Soon enough, I am in my car and driving home. I arrive at home. I take the pistol out of the bag once I am in my basement. I point it in a safe direction at the walls with finger off of the trigger, then point it at the floor, then check to see if it is unloaded and that any source of ammo has been removed. Then I disassemble it for cleaning. To do so I must pull the trigger; I do so with the muzzle pointed in a safe direction even though I know I just unloaded it. Hey maybe I am following rule number 1 above but wait a minute - oh my, I have done it again, I have not treated it as if it were loaded at all times because I almost just pulled the trigger and surely I would not do that if I were not ready to shoot my always loaded gun and was not sure of my target and what was beyond and was not pointing it at anything I was not willing to destroy (and you can bet there is no part of my home I want to destroy). It seems I have violated rule number 1 and another one or two of the other rules - maybe all 4 - didn't I. Did I follow the rules or break them. Can I disassemble my pistol, in my home, then clean it without violating the 4 rules or at least a couple of them? Wow this is tough to figure.
I am starting to become flummoxed by these 4 absolute rules, are you? Still though, I know that a clean gun is a happy gun (no not a rule I made up but a saying I love to repeat, thanks Pete G), I decide that regardless of rule number 1 or any of the other rules I may have to violate to get the job done, I am going to get the job of cleaning done and I am going to do it as safely as I can do it. I look at the gun, that has been sitting on the counter top as I thought this all out and I again pick it up keeping my fingers off of the trigger as I do so. I check to see it is unloaded and that any source of ammunition has been removed from it and I do so both visually and physically all the while keeping my finger off of the trigger and while keeping the firearm pointed in a relatively safe direction while still pointing it at some area of my home that I certainly am not willing to destroy but while also realizing it will not harm life nor limb if it accidentally goes off nor hit a gas pipe or anything like that. Then when I am satisfied it is safe, I check it a second time because I am a worrisome sort of a guy. Once I am convinced it is unloaded, has no source of ammunition and is safe, I keep it pointed in a relatively direction yet most certainly pointing at something I do not wish to destroy, all the while being unaware of anything else on the other side of the poured concrete foundation at which it is pointed. I allow the slide to go forward and then squeeze the trigger. I then commence with the remainder of the disassembly procedure. Once disassembled I can clean the firearm properly. Did I do okay? I keep thinking of those 4 absolute rules and it sure seems like I broke them, at least some of them. What am I to do?
Oh heck, I am just going to get it cleaned. Those 4 rules, and their absoluteness, are still coming to mind as I ready to actually put bronze to steel. Let me think about this whole cleaning thing some more because it certainly cannot be safe. It seems inevitable I will violate at least one or two if not all of the rules while cleaning my gun! I am worried so I put down the pistol and think about what I have just done as relative to rule number 1, let alone the other rules for now, I come to realize, that as well meaning as the author, and followers of that rule, must have been to make it an absolute, it cannot possibly be held as an absolute if I am going to do almost anything with my firearm when I am not shooting it. I guess the rule writer realized that because he changed it a bit, but man it is even more confusing now because he is in essence saying even if it is unloaded you should always treat it as if it were loaded. It seems my guns will never be disassembled or cleaned or examined down the muzzle or whatever - that is unless I violate that rule as it is written in either version.
I have concluded the 4 rules must not be absolute and need to be broken to get some things done. So why didn't the guy who wrote them come up with easier understood versions of them. maybe he lived in a world of black and white. Yep, it was more that way way back when he wrote them but not absolutely so, so why not give them a little bend? Well maybe he was an authoritarian. Hm, could be since he had been a colonel and since he had a pretty strong ego. Could also be just because he did not want to see others get hurt because they did something stupid that was not safe. Maybe he just wanted to keep it simply too. The thing is, absolutes, no matter why you institute them usually are not absolute and almost always have exceptions. The 4 rules of firearms safety are no exception to the fact that most rules have exceptions. There was a better way to write those rules, one which explained what they meant a bit more. There was also a better way to express rules of firearm's safety rather than just giving 4 rules and that would have been to give several more of them.
You see, the 4 rules above omit several other rules that have been in effect as long as or longer than the 4 rules as a set. For instance there is one that, in essence, says:
Always use proper ammunition in any given firearm. (Do you think that a no brainer? Do you think it not necessary to tell anyone? Do you think it unimportant enough so it can safely be omitted from firearms' safety rules? Based upon my experience I can safely say that if the answer to any of my last 3 questions was yes then you need to rethink your answers. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most important rules of firearms' safety and it may be the only absolute one at that.)
Then, there is that other rule, the one about not mixing gunpowder and alcohol. Well, that is how they said it when I was a kid. What they meant was: Do not handle firearms in any manner while under the influence of mind altering drugs such as alcohol or narcotics. (It is really a good thing to remember and to remind other shooters about. When I see a guy drinking and shooting or handling guns and ammo, I either get him to stop handling the guns or am out of there if he does not stop.)
How about the one that says: You should become familiar with how to operate any particular firearm by reading its manual, or getting instructions from someone who is familiar with it, before you attempt to operate it; and you should confirm that the firearm in in good working order before firing it. (You would think this a no brainer too but man you would have missed the truth by a long shot. Again, this one has exceptions.)
Yet another important one: Check the barrel of your firearm, before going afield with it, to assure it is not blocked. Also check it after a fall or anything that could result in it becoming blocked.
Or yet another about checking it: If your firearm does anything unusual while firing it, such as a misfire, or such as it gives of a lower than usual bang, cease fire keeping the weapon pointed in a safe direction with finger off of the trigger, count to 10, then make the weapon safe by removing the source of ammunition and unloading it. Then safely check it or have it checked to see if there is a problem.
And here is one that people seem to ignore a lot nowadays: If you hand a firearm to anyone else open the action and make sure it is unloaded, if it is loaded then unload it safely before giving it to the other person. (There are exceptions such as when handing a firearm to someone to unjam it for you, or when you hand a firearms to a shooter whom you are instructing and that person is ready to fire - but make sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction at all times during such an exchange.)
Here is one that keeps you safe when others are handling firearms: If someone else is handling a firearm assume it is loaded and make sure they handle it safely, warn them if they handle it unsafely.
Here is one I have not heard in a while: Never fully trust that a mechanical safety will prevent a firearm from firing, follow the firearm's safety rules to prevent accidents.
Or what about this one: When storing firearms and ammunition, store them apart from one another in secure and separate containers. (Point out that storage of a firearm does not mean a loaded firearm you keep in your nightstand for self defense although that one may be best kept in a rapid open electronic lock box especially if there are kids in the house.)
Here is one for all ages: New adult shooters, and children should be under the watchful eye of an experienced and responsible adult shooter/instructor whenever handling a firearm.
And here is a rather morbid one, but one that usually gets people to thinking maybe they should have paid attention to the other rules - especially if you tell them this one and show them some photos of the gruesome results of accidental discharges of firearms: Remember, one accident with a firearm can have fatal consequences and it could be you who dies or you who goes to prison for killing someone else so keep it safe when handling firearms.
Of course, the 4 rules would be at the top of the above list but I would rewrite them in another format and would explain there can be exceptions. Here are the 4 rules, written a little differently:
When you first pick up or handle a firearm, check to see if it is loaded or not; and if you put a firearm down or are distracted, even for a moment, while still handling it, when you pick it up again or focus on the firearm again make sure to again check to see if it is loaded before doing anything else with it. (There are exceptions such as drawing from the holster in self defense when you had better know it is already loaded.)
Be aware of where the muzzle is pointed and while handling a firearms, do not point your firearm, even momentarily, at something you do not intend to shoot. (There are exceptions such as for disassembly, cleaning, repair, when the firearms has been unloaded and is inside a case - but even then try to keep it pointed in a safe direction with your finger off the trigger whenever possible to avoid chance of an accident.)
Do not place your finger on the trigger or even inside the trigger guard until ready to shoot. (There are also exceptions to this rule such as when disassembling some firearms.)
Be sure of your target and what is beyond and also of anything between you and your target even if off to the side but within your peripheral vision. (You may be darned sure that is a 12 point mega-buck standing broadside to you only 50 yards away and yet totally oblivious to you. As you raised your rifle to fire, did you stop to wonder just for a second why it is not looking at you when you are so close by? Maybe another hunter, leaving the woods with lunch on his mind, neither sees you or the deer and is about to walk in between the two of you while your tunnel vision has your eyes full of buckskin! To avoid tunnel vision give a quick scan with your eyes as you raise the gun to shoot.)
Now I grant you, the 4 rules written this way are tougher to remember word for word, but word for word does not matter. What matters is the essence of each rule and the reason we have the rules - to prevent accidents and remain safe. They are even tougher to remember when you add all the other rules I just gave. The thing is though, each and everyone of those rules is very important in order to prevent accidents that could result in serious bodily harm or death. Never think, even for a moment, that telling someone these rules and getting them to remember them all will be too much for them to learn. I learned virtually every one of the above rules in one fashion or another by the time I was 9 or 10 years old and did so at summer camp in a matter of 2 or 3 classes and range trips.
Why anyone would actually want to omit any of them from a firearms' training regimen for new and experienced shooters alike is beyond me. Every class should begin with them. The 5 or so minutes it would take to read them all to experienced shooters would only be a bother to the guy who knows it all. Me, I like to remind that guy, more than anyone else, of just what are those rules. As for new shooters, it may take 20 to 30 minutes, maybe even 45, to go over these rules and answer questions the first time around. Those 30 or so minutes might be the best you ever spent in your life in that they may prevent a tragedy from taking place. With each lesson, the rules should be repeated and the questions should become less and less as the new shooter soaks it all in. Handing out these rules in printed form would also be a good idea as would having them displayed at the range or in the firearms' classroom. It is up to you, as a professional firearms instructor, or as a husband teaching his wife to shoot, or as a mom taking her kids to the range for some fun with a 22, or as one shooter to another to keep it safe and to pass the rules on to others as you encounter new and old shooters alike. Why anyone would want to cut corners with something as potentially dangerous as firearms and shooting is beyond the scope of reason. Keep it fun by keeping it safe for you and yours and please - also for me and mine and everyone else for that matter.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, September 5, 2010
The End Of Our Way Of Life May Be Closer Than I Thought
The following is my personal opinion:
If something is not done soon, we are doomed. If the 9/11 Mosque is built that will signal the beginning of our defeat here in America, just look at the name they wanted to give it originally until the significance of that name was outed. If we do not rid ourselves of groups that wish to establish the caliphate and/or sharia law here in the USA we all will wear the yoke of Islam and from what I can see, some the backers of the 9/11 Mosque want just that. If we do not fight back now, in every way imaginable as if our lives depended upon it (which they most likely do) we will wind up defeated and converted or dead. We will have lost the fight simply because we are not fighting here on our own soil where it counts most of all.
It is not just the people who want that particular mosque built. There are many more Islamists in this country who are seeking to support our enemies both here and abroad and who seek to destroy our allies; that should be more than enough to make you realize they are our enemies. I urge you to spread this video. I urge to to look at the news from around the world about how Islam is spreading and about how violence is perpetrated by militant Islamists virtually wherever Islam becomes established. I urge you to realize that exercise of our liberties and rights are opposed by certain Islamists, just look at what happened when a cartoon of Mohammad was shown in Europe. There were worldwide violent demonstrations by hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Muslims over political/religious satire in a cartoon! You sure don't see Jay Leno or Bill Maher, the New York Times, or the women of The View making fun of or being critical of Mohammad now do you? If not, then why not? Maybe because certain Islamists would likely stir the emotions of all Muslims and many would then resort to violent protests as in the past. I beleive these are the same Islamists, in part, in favor of building the 9/11 Mosque.
I urge you to come to your senses and realize that Islam is not just a religion but is a form of state and that it eventually attempts to seize control of the preexisting state wherever it becomes established. (If you doubt that just look to history and then look at Islam today in Denmark, in the Netherlands, in France, in England, in India, in Pakistan, in Nuristan, in Iran, in Afghanistan, in Lebanon, and now even in the USA.) I urge you to realize that tolerance of Islam, in said form, is tolerance of your demise - of the demise of America and of freedom. I urge you to vote, in November for those who truly exhibit a love for this country, who hold certain truths to be self evident, who have and who will fight terrorism, and who will strive to keep America safe and founded on the principles set forth by our founding fathers. I urge you to contact your elected officials to stir them to action by lighting the fire of legal resistance under their asses. I urge you to make an attempt to change Islam to a religion of tolerance and not allow Islam to change our values instead. I urge you to make your patriotism, your love for America, your dedication to freedom known to Islam and the world in any legal fashion you can use to do so.
If it comes to it, if we are violently attacked from within by American Islamists, or are again attacked from the outside by Islamists or they who were supported by Islamists, I urge you to fight the threat in self defense and defense of America and her Constitution. Defend her from all enemies foreign and domestic like you have never have before and I urge you not to give up until the threat has ceased. You may not realize it, but you need to come to your senses about this. So do it now before it is too late and realize - certain Islamists have declared war on the United States of America and other Islamists are doing virtually nothing to stop them. Certain Islamists seemingly are now using Americans against Americans and are blatantly seeking support for political and statist causes hidden behind the walls of houses of worship. Realize that such is not protected under our Constitution or Bill of Rights. It is not the exercise of freedom of religion, it is not freedom of speech, it is statism and is an outright affront against our nation and her allies that needs to be stopped, investigated and prosecuted - yet our government does little if anything to stop them. Do we need another 9/11 or worse before you come to your senses? Wake up America, before it is too late and you had better do it soon because too late is much closer today than it was even yesterday.
All the best for America,
Glenn B
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Ballseye's Gun Shots 85 - Mounting A Riflescope Or Two The Ballseye Way
There I Was Waiting For My Son...expecting to take a ride upstate to get in some deer scouting today and maybe even see the bear(s) in the area. Really though, I wasn't all that hopeful because someone got home at about 0415 this morning and was slurring his speech just a tiny bit. You can safely bet - it wasn't me. When he came in, I was awake with another bout of insomnia. I had already gotten a few hours sleep but it was still lucky for him I was already awake when he made a bit too much noise coming in the side door. I had thought it was one of the dogs pushing on the bi-fold door, between the kitchen and side entrance, wanting to get out - but it was Brendan just floating in. His slight slurring was more than enough to clue me in that the trip was all but cancelled. I asked him why he had been out so late and drinking too much at that and he said - "No doubt, I'll be up by 7, just make me some coffee and wake me when it is ready". 'Okay - right' was something along the line of my reply and he again insisted he would be ready, willing and able to go at 0700. I let him float upstairs to go to bed.
Come 0700, I was feeling crappy. I finally got back to sleep at about 6 or so and was in no mood to get up realizing Brendan would never wake up at that hour because he was sleeping like a rock. I decided to sleep another half hour. I was rudely awakened at 0730 by the alarm on my phone. I set it yesterday for yesterday and guess I set it for multiple days instead of just one. It went off every five minutes two more times before I killed it. I finally crawled out of bed to get up at about 0830. I tried to wake Brendan by pounding on his door - no reply. All I heard was his alarm clock going off. I came back 15 minutes later and he was still asleep with the alarm clock buzzing. I banged again and rattled the door - he was out of it. I did this a couple more times, then at about 0915, just after my wife had started cooking breakfast, I went up, unlocked his door with my secret unlocking tool and scraped the bottom of his foot with it. Steel on the arch of a foot has an amazing effect, it wakes the almost dead. He rolled over and grunted - he was alive after all. I asked if he was going to go to the range with me since it was now too late to go upstate. He said yeah sure. He said he would get up soon and come down to eat. About 20 minutes later, just after I sat down to eat, I remembered Sleeping Beauty. I went up again and into his room to ask him if he was getting it in gear and he said yeah.
I went back downstairs, sat down with my wife and daughter and enjoyed a breakfast of blueberry crepes a la Linda. They were delicious. Still no Brendan so I went out and puttered around in the yard a bit. Then I went down into the basement and decided to mount the scope on my Marlin 336 and also put another on my Marlin 25MN. I had taken the scope off of the 336 after hunting last year to give the rifle a good cleaning. Happy I did, because the top of the receiver under the scope rail was pretty rusted. I cleaned it and took off almost all of the bluing on top of the receiver. Oh well - would have been worse had I not cleaned it when I did get to it! As for the 25MN scope, I removed that one because it had somehow become covered with black sticky goo of a rubbery nature. I do not remember if this scope was rubber armored. If it was, then something degraded the rubber into a black sticky film that took a lot of cleaning to remove. If it wasn't then I have no clue what got all over the scope and scope rings but not at all on the rifle! Over the past couple to few months, I tried to dissolve/clean that gunk off with various cleaners and solvents such as: Hoppes #9, Breakfree CLP, Windex, Mineral Spirits, Paint Thinner, Rubbing Alcohol, Lighter Fluid, soapy water and was just about at my wits end when I came across a can of denatured alcohol in my shed a few days ago.
Well, before I could mount that one it would have to be cleaned up so I decided to get that out of the way first, then mount both scopes. Even though the rubbing alcolhol had not worked, I figured I would try giving the denatured alcohol a shot at it. The rubbing alcohol I had used the first time was isopropyl alcohol and the stuff in the can is ethanol mixed with methanol. Both types are alcohol but the stuff in the can worked like a charm where the rubbing alcohol did not. Maybe one type of alcohol was a better solvent for this particular gunk, maybe it was the combination of ethanol and methanol in the can that did the trick, I don't know for sure and I don't care. Whatever it was, it had me getting the cleanup done in about 2 hours of wetting and rubbing and wiping today. Considering it had already taken me several hours over the course of my other attempts, I figure this indeed worked like a charm. Once it was cleaned up, I decided to mount both of the scopes.
Scope mounting used to be a mystery to me, first of all maybe because I had no need for it. My eyes used to be wonderful with 20/15 vision, yep - better than 20/20 so who needed a scope. Not me! In addition, I had heard horror stories from people who had done the job on their own while not minding advice they had been given to let an expert do it for them. Some of the stories were that scopes had come loose and a range day was ruined, others had actually gotten so loose (or maybe never tightened in the first place) to have fallen of of the rifles on which they had been mounted and some had broken because of that. The worst stories though were those of the ones that got away. No, the scopes did not get up and run away because they were not happy with how they were put on the rifles nor did they fly off the rifle when it was fired. It was the deer, or the bear, or the moose that had run, some almost seeming to fly, after the shot fired at them hit a barn in the next county. Why? Because the scope had been improperly mounted and had, after bouncing around in the trunk of the car or bed of the truck on the way to the hunting grounds, gotten all discombobulated this way or that and was no longer zeroed in when it counted. The shot went wide and the game escaped to see another day - probably even another hunting season because I imagine a deer missed like that, with all the hunter's invectives that must have followed, most assuredly has learned something from its mistake of letting a hunter get that close to take a shot. Hopefully those guys who did not mount their scopes right also learned and got it right the next time. That would mean doing it themselves without paying someone $25 or $50 to do it for them. I know some of them didn't learn a thing and got it wrong the next time too, and some others just paid someone else to do and thus learned nothing either. All that was enough to deter me from even considering using a scope even for a couple or few years even after my excellent eyesight had started to wane.
Soon enough though, my eyes were at the point where I needed not only glasses for reading but also for distance. It was harder to see at night or in dim light. Sighting in a rifle in the oft times dimly lit woods where I hunt was becoming a real pain in theass eyes. So, I bought a couple of Tasco Scopes, I guess that was at least a few to several years ago by now. I figured I would give them a try. They were not low end Tascos, but certainly were not high end Nikon, Leupold or Zeiss scopes either. I am pretty sure was was on closeout sale at less than $100. If I remember right, maybe the other was $125, certainly not more than $150. They were good enough for me for first scopes and over time they have proven themselves to be of pretty decent quality even though Tasco went out of business and was replaced by another company that bought their name but decided not to honor the lifetime warranties that came with each of my scopes. A sort of in with the new and to hell with the old sort of a thing much the same as I imagine health care will soon become. Lucky for me though, neither of these scopes has never lost focus, never fogged up, never broken, never lost zero (even after a trip to Maine with them bouncing in my trunk). They are both in fine operating order (despite the one that had to have all the gunk cleaned off of it). The one time one of them was called upon for the shot of a lifetime, it did its job. Brendan shot his first bear right through its heart - a one shot virtual instant kill - using the scoped Marlin 336.
So why is it that these fairly low priced, run of the mill, Tasco scopes have performed so well even though I have never had them mounted professionally - always choosing to do the job myself? I do the job completely by hand, with hand tools and do not even mount them in a gun vise to make sure they are level when I put the scopes in place. I don't line up a wooden dowel first to check level either. Nor do I use a spirit level. I place the bottom half of each ring onto the scope rail or other mount that is already securely on the rifle (or in the case of the 25MN into the groove on the receiver). Then I tighten the screws to secure the bottom half of each ring. Then I place the scope into the depression of the bottom rings and gently screw the top half of each ring in place, just enough to hold the scope in place but loose enough so I can still wist the scope left or right. Once aligned properly, I tighten all the screws with a simple screwdriver or Allen wrench working each one in evenly a bit at a time on one, then moving to another and so on, until I reach the point where each seems about evenly screwed in and all are tightly screwed in place. By eye, I check to see that the space between the top ring and bottom ring is about equidistant on the left and right side. If not I back off the screw on the side that is screwed down further, then screw in the other side a bit more, until each side looks even. It has worked every time.
When I get to the range and fire them to sight them in, they never come loose. When I take them afield they stay tight and aligned properly. I never even use lock-tite or anything similar. Despite at least one of them having a set of really cheap and crappy scope rings and that one is the heavier caliber of the two, a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, the other one is in .22 magnum, the screws always stay tight and the scopes always stay aligned - at least so far. I guess the answer to why they do not come loose and get messed up is because I followed some simple directions, I found online, on how to do the job. I would give the link but it seems to not being working. Oh heck - here it is anyway, in case it gets better: http://www.pentaxlightseeker.com/products/scopes/mounting_scope.cfm. If it does not work, I am sure you can find some other simple directions. Now, back to why this works for a veritable klutz like me - I took the time to do an online search, found some directions, realized it was a simple straightforward job, also paid attention when I was told that the screws should all be about evenly tightened but not so tight as to damage the scope body (which is pretty thin aluminum on most scopes) and there I was - an amateur scope mounter.
Today, it took me all of 10 minutes to get the scope mounted on my Marlin 336 to where I thought it was just right with the reticle (also reticule but not recticle as I used to call it) in the scope looking level each time I raise the rifle to my shoulder. Putting the scope on the Marlin 25MN took me about 20 minutes today. I was not satisfied with how it was sitting but finally got it to the point where it looked just right each time I brought the rifle to my shoulder and then looked through the tube at the reticle. Note, I did not say either scope looked or was actually precisely level in relation to either rifle that I had mounted and perfectly leveled in a gun vise. I do not use a gun vise to hold the rifle. I hold the rifle across my lap when I mount the scope. Then I then adjust the scope, to where it appears to be level, with the rifle up on my shoulder as if firing. I have always had an excellent eye for levelling pictures I have hung and for arranging or rearranging other things that need to be straightened out or levelled. I seemingly do pretty good getting my scope mounted right just by eye too. It may be off a tiny bit from level on the horizontal plain, or even from the vertical plain (which I tend to doubt) but when I hold my rifle to my shoulder and only then look into the scope, it seems level to me and when I shoot my scoped rifles the bullets hit their marks.
Is my scope mounting method absolutely correct? My scope mounting jobs may not be good enough for the likes of a military sniper who needs to take shots at several hundred yards or more nor for the prairie dog hunter who does likewise on small game but it is good enough for my purposes such as deer hunting and squirrel hunting. It should be good enough for general hunting purposes at least here in the northeast.
Is the procedure of mounting a scope something shrouded in mystery or difficult to accomplish? Only if you listen to a gun shop guru who is trying to suck some cash out of your pocket and deposit it into his own. It is not a big mystery at all and directions easily can be found online. It does not require an expert to accomplish, does not require specialty tools in most cases, and is done well enough in just minutes plus the time to sight in the rifle once the scope has been mounted. Adjustments are also as easy as pie (and pie is pretty darned easy to make). If you have a gun vise, or other device to hold the rifle in place when mounting a scope, use it. If you have a level to help you - use it. If not and you are like me and have just the essentials, well use the essentials and get the job done well enough.
Does my scope mounting method make sense? Probably more so than depending on someone else to do it, paying them to do it, and never learning how to do it for yourself. About the only guys it will not make sense to will be the one who is trying to get you to pay him to do it or that one other guy, the guy who knows it all and who knows you can't possibly get it done right without and expert to help you. Of course, he knows all the experts or is one himself. I'll do it my way. As I said, my method has not failed me yet.
Did I create this method, after all I keep calling it my method. Heck no, I am sure I did not - there must be thousands of other shooters who do it likewise. I just call it my method because it is the way I get it done. I like that, the part about 'I get it done' especially when I know how klutzy I can be yet this always works once I have done it. And yes, it works well. As I said, my method has not failed me yet.
All the best,
Glenn B
Come 0700, I was feeling crappy. I finally got back to sleep at about 6 or so and was in no mood to get up realizing Brendan would never wake up at that hour because he was sleeping like a rock. I decided to sleep another half hour. I was rudely awakened at 0730 by the alarm on my phone. I set it yesterday for yesterday and guess I set it for multiple days instead of just one. It went off every five minutes two more times before I killed it. I finally crawled out of bed to get up at about 0830. I tried to wake Brendan by pounding on his door - no reply. All I heard was his alarm clock going off. I came back 15 minutes later and he was still asleep with the alarm clock buzzing. I banged again and rattled the door - he was out of it. I did this a couple more times, then at about 0915, just after my wife had started cooking breakfast, I went up, unlocked his door with my secret unlocking tool and scraped the bottom of his foot with it. Steel on the arch of a foot has an amazing effect, it wakes the almost dead. He rolled over and grunted - he was alive after all. I asked if he was going to go to the range with me since it was now too late to go upstate. He said yeah sure. He said he would get up soon and come down to eat. About 20 minutes later, just after I sat down to eat, I remembered Sleeping Beauty. I went up again and into his room to ask him if he was getting it in gear and he said yeah.
I went back downstairs, sat down with my wife and daughter and enjoyed a breakfast of blueberry crepes a la Linda. They were delicious. Still no Brendan so I went out and puttered around in the yard a bit. Then I went down into the basement and decided to mount the scope on my Marlin 336 and also put another on my Marlin 25MN. I had taken the scope off of the 336 after hunting last year to give the rifle a good cleaning. Happy I did, because the top of the receiver under the scope rail was pretty rusted. I cleaned it and took off almost all of the bluing on top of the receiver. Oh well - would have been worse had I not cleaned it when I did get to it! As for the 25MN scope, I removed that one because it had somehow become covered with black sticky goo of a rubbery nature. I do not remember if this scope was rubber armored. If it was, then something degraded the rubber into a black sticky film that took a lot of cleaning to remove. If it wasn't then I have no clue what got all over the scope and scope rings but not at all on the rifle! Over the past couple to few months, I tried to dissolve/clean that gunk off with various cleaners and solvents such as: Hoppes #9, Breakfree CLP, Windex, Mineral Spirits, Paint Thinner, Rubbing Alcohol, Lighter Fluid, soapy water and was just about at my wits end when I came across a can of denatured alcohol in my shed a few days ago.
Well, before I could mount that one it would have to be cleaned up so I decided to get that out of the way first, then mount both scopes. Even though the rubbing alcolhol had not worked, I figured I would try giving the denatured alcohol a shot at it. The rubbing alcohol I had used the first time was isopropyl alcohol and the stuff in the can is ethanol mixed with methanol. Both types are alcohol but the stuff in the can worked like a charm where the rubbing alcohol did not. Maybe one type of alcohol was a better solvent for this particular gunk, maybe it was the combination of ethanol and methanol in the can that did the trick, I don't know for sure and I don't care. Whatever it was, it had me getting the cleanup done in about 2 hours of wetting and rubbing and wiping today. Considering it had already taken me several hours over the course of my other attempts, I figure this indeed worked like a charm. Once it was cleaned up, I decided to mount both of the scopes.
Scope mounting used to be a mystery to me, first of all maybe because I had no need for it. My eyes used to be wonderful with 20/15 vision, yep - better than 20/20 so who needed a scope. Not me! In addition, I had heard horror stories from people who had done the job on their own while not minding advice they had been given to let an expert do it for them. Some of the stories were that scopes had come loose and a range day was ruined, others had actually gotten so loose (or maybe never tightened in the first place) to have fallen of of the rifles on which they had been mounted and some had broken because of that. The worst stories though were those of the ones that got away. No, the scopes did not get up and run away because they were not happy with how they were put on the rifles nor did they fly off the rifle when it was fired. It was the deer, or the bear, or the moose that had run, some almost seeming to fly, after the shot fired at them hit a barn in the next county. Why? Because the scope had been improperly mounted and had, after bouncing around in the trunk of the car or bed of the truck on the way to the hunting grounds, gotten all discombobulated this way or that and was no longer zeroed in when it counted. The shot went wide and the game escaped to see another day - probably even another hunting season because I imagine a deer missed like that, with all the hunter's invectives that must have followed, most assuredly has learned something from its mistake of letting a hunter get that close to take a shot. Hopefully those guys who did not mount their scopes right also learned and got it right the next time. That would mean doing it themselves without paying someone $25 or $50 to do it for them. I know some of them didn't learn a thing and got it wrong the next time too, and some others just paid someone else to do and thus learned nothing either. All that was enough to deter me from even considering using a scope even for a couple or few years even after my excellent eyesight had started to wane.
Soon enough though, my eyes were at the point where I needed not only glasses for reading but also for distance. It was harder to see at night or in dim light. Sighting in a rifle in the oft times dimly lit woods where I hunt was becoming a real pain in the
So why is it that these fairly low priced, run of the mill, Tasco scopes have performed so well even though I have never had them mounted professionally - always choosing to do the job myself? I do the job completely by hand, with hand tools and do not even mount them in a gun vise to make sure they are level when I put the scopes in place. I don't line up a wooden dowel first to check level either. Nor do I use a spirit level. I place the bottom half of each ring onto the scope rail or other mount that is already securely on the rifle (or in the case of the 25MN into the groove on the receiver). Then I tighten the screws to secure the bottom half of each ring. Then I place the scope into the depression of the bottom rings and gently screw the top half of each ring in place, just enough to hold the scope in place but loose enough so I can still wist the scope left or right. Once aligned properly, I tighten all the screws with a simple screwdriver or Allen wrench working each one in evenly a bit at a time on one, then moving to another and so on, until I reach the point where each seems about evenly screwed in and all are tightly screwed in place. By eye, I check to see that the space between the top ring and bottom ring is about equidistant on the left and right side. If not I back off the screw on the side that is screwed down further, then screw in the other side a bit more, until each side looks even. It has worked every time.When I get to the range and fire them to sight them in, they never come loose. When I take them afield they stay tight and aligned properly. I never even use lock-tite or anything similar. Despite at least one of them having a set of really cheap and crappy scope rings and that one is the heavier caliber of the two, a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, the other one is in .22 magnum, the screws always stay tight and the scopes always stay aligned - at least so far. I guess the answer to why they do not come loose and get messed up is because I followed some simple directions, I found online, on how to do the job. I would give the link but it seems to not being working. Oh heck - here it is anyway, in case it gets better: http://www.pentaxlightseeker.com/products/scopes/mounting_scope.cfm. If it does not work, I am sure you can find some other simple directions. Now, back to why this works for a veritable klutz like me - I took the time to do an online search, found some directions, realized it was a simple straightforward job, also paid attention when I was told that the screws should all be about evenly tightened but not so tight as to damage the scope body (which is pretty thin aluminum on most scopes) and there I was - an amateur scope mounter.
Today, it took me all of 10 minutes to get the scope mounted on my Marlin 336 to where I thought it was just right with the reticle (also reticule but not recticle as I used to call it) in the scope looking level each time I raise the rifle to my shoulder. Putting the scope on the Marlin 25MN took me about 20 minutes today. I was not satisfied with how it was sitting but finally got it to the point where it looked just right each time I brought the rifle to my shoulder and then looked through the tube at the reticle. Note, I did not say either scope looked or was actually precisely level in relation to either rifle that I had mounted and perfectly leveled in a gun vise. I do not use a gun vise to hold the rifle. I hold the rifle across my lap when I mount the scope. Then I then adjust the scope, to where it appears to be level, with the rifle up on my shoulder as if firing. I have always had an excellent eye for levelling pictures I have hung and for arranging or rearranging other things that need to be straightened out or levelled. I seemingly do pretty good getting my scope mounted right just by eye too. It may be off a tiny bit from level on the horizontal plain, or even from the vertical plain (which I tend to doubt) but when I hold my rifle to my shoulder and only then look into the scope, it seems level to me and when I shoot my scoped rifles the bullets hit their marks.
Is my scope mounting method absolutely correct? My scope mounting jobs may not be good enough for the likes of a military sniper who needs to take shots at several hundred yards or more nor for the prairie dog hunter who does likewise on small game but it is good enough for my purposes such as deer hunting and squirrel hunting. It should be good enough for general hunting purposes at least here in the northeast.
Is the procedure of mounting a scope something shrouded in mystery or difficult to accomplish? Only if you listen to a gun shop guru who is trying to suck some cash out of your pocket and deposit it into his own. It is not a big mystery at all and directions easily can be found online. It does not require an expert to accomplish, does not require specialty tools in most cases, and is done well enough in just minutes plus the time to sight in the rifle once the scope has been mounted. Adjustments are also as easy as pie (and pie is pretty darned easy to make). If you have a gun vise, or other device to hold the rifle in place when mounting a scope, use it. If you have a level to help you - use it. If not and you are like me and have just the essentials, well use the essentials and get the job done well enough.
Does my scope mounting method make sense? Probably more so than depending on someone else to do it, paying them to do it, and never learning how to do it for yourself. About the only guys it will not make sense to will be the one who is trying to get you to pay him to do it or that one other guy, the guy who knows it all and who knows you can't possibly get it done right without and expert to help you. Of course, he knows all the experts or is one himself. I'll do it my way. As I said, my method has not failed me yet.
Did I create this method, after all I keep calling it my method. Heck no, I am sure I did not - there must be thousands of other shooters who do it likewise. I just call it my method because it is the way I get it done. I like that, the part about 'I get it done' especially when I know how klutzy I can be yet this always works once I have done it. And yes, it works well. As I said, my method has not failed me yet.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, September 3, 2010
Your Remington Moment - Firearms Giveaway Contest
Yet another firearms giveaway is being held, this one by Remington. It is called Your Remington Moment. They are giving away a Remington 887 Nitro Magnum Shotgun twice per month until April 2011, this started back in April this year. Then, in April 2011, they are going to select one grand prize winner, from among the bi-monthly winners. The grand prize is absolutely amazing, a complete set of Remington firearms, ammo for them all, and a safe in which to store them. Here is the list of firearms that make up the grand prize:
Model 700 CDL Model 870 Wingmaster Model 770 Model Seven CDL Model 597 Synthetic Model 11-87 Sportsman Field Model R-15 Model 750 Model 887 Nitro Mag Model 7600 Model 1100 Sporting 12 Model 572 Model SP-10
To get in on this one you need to enter a photo by following the links and instructions on the Your Remington Moment website. You can also enter a brief description of the photo and your Remington moment. I read the rules/instructions, and nowhere does it say that your Remington Moment had to be achieved with a Remington firearm but it probably would not hurt to include a pic of one of their guns in the shot. To win, it looks as if you have to get more votes for your pic than the others get for their pics. I may have to be calling in favors to vote on my entry which appears above. I think I'll have to enter a pic every time until it ends.
If I win the grand prize in this one, I may never again have to buy another rifle or shotgun! Then again, neither will Brendan.
All the best,
Glenn B
Another Hunting Trip Giveaway
Today must be the day for hunting trip giveaways. I received a card from Buckmasters telling me about their Texas Whitetail Hunt Giveaway. The entry is free and you do not even have to register to become a member of their website. The prize is an "...all expenses paid hunt..." on the Montgomery Properties Ranch in Texas. The prize will be courtesy of Buckmasters and the ranch. If you win the trip, you will filmed by a camera crew while out hunting. My guess is that this will be a trip during which, if you can shoot straight, you will bag a buck if you are the winner. The winner will be announced on October 5th. The hunt will take place between October 27 - October 31, 2010. They did not mention if they also pay for the winner's transportation but I would gladly pay my own round trip airfare to Texas for such a dream trip as this would be if I was the winner.
Once again, I am not all that sure why I am telling anyone else about this. If you win this one and the previous one - well you owe me one for telling you about them.
You can enter at: www.buckmasters.com/texashunt
All the best,
Glenn B
Once again, I am not all that sure why I am telling anyone else about this. If you win this one and the previous one - well you owe me one for telling you about them.
You can enter at: www.buckmasters.com/texashunt
All the best,
Glenn B
Weatherby Firearms & Trip Giveaway
I'd love to win a rifle, just once in my lifetime that would be very nice. So when I see what looks like a legitimate rifle giveaway, I give it a try. I just visited the $299Weatherby.com site after seeing a link to it in an email I received from the North American Hunting Club. Once there, I saw that Weatherby is running a not only a gun giveaway but a hunting trip and gun training trip giveaway as well. Pretty much all I had to do was register with their site, then enter the contest after agreeing to the rules. For some reason, I always expect there to be a catch with these things, something I'll have to pay to register or to get into the contest but as it turns out it is all free. So what the heck, I signed up as a member of their site and then I entered the contest.
I sure would not mind winning one of the 4 hunts, or the trip to Gunsite, all of which also include winning a firearm. Then again, I would not mind winning one of the 5 consolation prizes - all firearms. Here are the trips they are giving away:
1) Spring Turkey Hunt to Paso Robles, California (2 travel days & 2 hunt days), this prize includes a Weatherby® PA-08 Synthetic pump shotgun (12 gauge). Runner-up: 1 PA-08 Synthetic pump shotgun (12 gauge).
2)Home Defense Training at Gunsite Academy(5 days including travel days)in Paulden, AZ (I love AZ) plus a Weatherby® PA-459 Synthetic pump shotgun. Runner-up: 1 PA-459 Synthetic pump shotgun.
3)Full Feathered Upland Bird Hunt in Kamiah, ID (2travel & 3 hunting days) plus a Weatherby ® SA-08 Synthetic semi-auto shotgun. I could not find the runner up prize for this one but would guess it is likely a Weatherby ® SA-08 Synthetic semi-auto shotgun (12 or 20 gauge) since that is the one given away with this hunt. As a matter of fact, this hunt is not listed hen you click on the ? link next to each hunt. I found it listed though in the rules for the giveaway.
4)Fully Guided Trophy Antelope Hunt in Glenrock, Wyoming(2 travel and 3 hunting days)Weatherby® Vanguard® Synthetic rifle. (Heck, this one has my name in it minus an n, could be a lucky charm). Runner-up: 1 Vanguard Synthetic rifle (winner’s choice of in-stock calibers).
5)Plains Game African Safari trip to South Africa for a Plains Game Safari with Compass Safaris. This one includes travel and hunt, 7 to 9 days and Weatherby ® Mark V® Accumark® rifle (winner's choice of in-stock calibers)with an estimated value of around 10 grand for just this prize! Runner-up: 1 Mark V® Accumark® rifle (winner’s choice of in-stock calibers).
Even if you do not win a trip, if you enter, you also have a chance to win a rifle or shotgun as a runner up prize. So, if you would like to give it a try, visit this Weatherby site:
http://www.weatherby299.com/register/vanguard/
I don't know about you but I would love to win a hunt to South Africa even if it meant I'd have to spend a grand or two on it and then pay taxes on top of that. That would be the hunt of a lifetime, hopefully one on whcih I would not be eaten by lions or trampled by elephants. Of course, any of the other trips would be absolutely great too. This is so good, I really don't know why I am telling anyone else, except maybe my son, about this. The more entries there are, I imagine the less chance I have of winning. I guess though it would be nice to see one of my readers win even if I do not. If you do sign up for the contest, good luck!
All the best,
Glenn B
I sure would not mind winning one of the 4 hunts, or the trip to Gunsite, all of which also include winning a firearm. Then again, I would not mind winning one of the 5 consolation prizes - all firearms. Here are the trips they are giving away:
1) Spring Turkey Hunt to Paso Robles, California (2 travel days & 2 hunt days), this prize includes a Weatherby® PA-08 Synthetic pump shotgun (12 gauge). Runner-up: 1 PA-08 Synthetic pump shotgun (12 gauge).
2)Home Defense Training at Gunsite Academy(5 days including travel days)in Paulden, AZ (I love AZ) plus a Weatherby® PA-459 Synthetic pump shotgun. Runner-up: 1 PA-459 Synthetic pump shotgun.
3)Full Feathered Upland Bird Hunt in Kamiah, ID (2travel & 3 hunting days) plus a Weatherby ® SA-08 Synthetic semi-auto shotgun. I could not find the runner up prize for this one but would guess it is likely a Weatherby ® SA-08 Synthetic semi-auto shotgun (12 or 20 gauge) since that is the one given away with this hunt. As a matter of fact, this hunt is not listed hen you click on the ? link next to each hunt. I found it listed though in the rules for the giveaway.
4)Fully Guided Trophy Antelope Hunt in Glenrock, Wyoming(2 travel and 3 hunting days)Weatherby® Vanguard® Synthetic rifle. (Heck, this one has my name in it minus an n, could be a lucky charm). Runner-up: 1 Vanguard Synthetic rifle (winner’s choice of in-stock calibers).
5)Plains Game African Safari trip to South Africa for a Plains Game Safari with Compass Safaris. This one includes travel and hunt, 7 to 9 days and Weatherby ® Mark V® Accumark® rifle (winner's choice of in-stock calibers)with an estimated value of around 10 grand for just this prize! Runner-up: 1 Mark V® Accumark® rifle (winner’s choice of in-stock calibers).
Even if you do not win a trip, if you enter, you also have a chance to win a rifle or shotgun as a runner up prize. So, if you would like to give it a try, visit this Weatherby site:
http://www.weatherby299.com/register/vanguard/
I don't know about you but I would love to win a hunt to South Africa even if it meant I'd have to spend a grand or two on it and then pay taxes on top of that. That would be the hunt of a lifetime, hopefully one on whcih I would not be eaten by lions or trampled by elephants. Of course, any of the other trips would be absolutely great too. This is so good, I really don't know why I am telling anyone else, except maybe my son, about this. The more entries there are, I imagine the less chance I have of winning. I guess though it would be nice to see one of my readers win even if I do not. If you do sign up for the contest, good luck!
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Turkey Tailed Fungus?
I am not sure what these are called, I think they are called Turkey Tailed Fungus. If that is their name, one can see why. I spotted these while on a walk in the woods on a deer scouting trip a couple of weeks ago. The surprising thing about them seems to be that the fungi have fungus or mold growing on them - the uneven whitish stuff on their surface. Click on the pic for a larger view.All the best,
GB
Monday, August 30, 2010
Invasion of the Fire Bellied Toads (Bombina orientalis)
A few weeks ago, Brendan, our friend Harry and I drove over to Hamburg, PA to attend the Northwestern Berks Reptile Show. I wrote about it here. When I wrote about it back then, I did not expect Brendan to take care of the 9 Oriental Fire Bellied Toads (which I will mostly just call Fire Bellied Toads for the rest of this post) he picked up at the show. Yep - 9 of em - and as far as I am concrrned that is an invasion force when it comes to frogs entering my home. Not too long after he had them set up in a tank, my fears were realized a bit when, a few of them escaped. I think we are down to 6 of them now. Of the other three, I found only one and that was pretty much mummified when I found it; I suppose the others became likewise long before now. Well, after that first escape, he made sure to keep the enclosure closed tightly. I don't take such things lightly because, especially in the case of amphibians, it often means the animal will die; so I read Brendan the riot act. There have not been any more escapes. Heaven knows, I am familiar with the ability of most reptiles and amphibians when it comes to them being escape artists, just read my previous blog post two entries back from this one.My biggest fear though was that Brendan would not care for these new acquisitions properly as in the feeding and cleaning department. So far, he has pretty much proved me wrong. I say pretty much because he has, once or twice, let them go a few days too long without feeding (which is not terrible if they are healthy but they should eat at least every other to every three days), and at least twice he has let the tank go without changing the water to the point where it started to smell a bit foul. This is supposedly not great for amphibians as they absorb a lot of chemicals through their skin but I have seen amphibians thrive in some pretty foul water in nature, they are fairly tough. Luckily there were no apparent ill effects for his toads. They are doing very well overall, that is those that did not escape. He has gotten them a small filter for their tank and he seems to have a sort of cleaning schedule - changing the water a couple times a week. As for the feeding, he usually gets them crickets at least a couple to three times per week and dumps them all in their tank at once each time. The toads eat and some cricket survivors live on for a couple to a few more days, that is until the toads get them sooner or later. Then Brendan gets them more crickets. He also feeds them wax worms and has put a few small guppies into the water area of their tank. We have seen them dive in and gobble up guppies a couple of times now, though it only seems like one or three of the toads are adept at this for now. Under Brendan's care, with very little prodding or help from me (of course I paid for the filter) they are thriving. When he got them they were mostly puny, now they are pretty much fairly plump (as in healthy not fat).
As you can see from the pictures, Brendan's toads are of the variety with a fairly bright green back. Some other fire bellied toads are pretty drab brown. All of these toads lack the visible frog ear known as the tympanic membrane and they have truly weird somewhat triangular pupils. They all have fairly warty skin on their backs, and a few warty areas on their ventral surfaces. All of them though have a pretty bright red or reddish orange bellies (some have yellow bellies) and you can see the red belly in two of the pics. As I have heard, when a creature in nature has bright colors on its underside as do these toads, it is a warning for other creatures not to eat them. These toads reportedly can secrete toxins from their skin and that warning would be well taken if this is correct. Personally, I have never seen these secretions though I have handled a lot of these toads. (It is supposedly milky-white so it would show up.) 
With frogs and toads, with bright undersides like these, when they are threatened they often arch their backs and expose the brightly colored bellies. I have seen hundreds, if not thousands of these toads, in captivity and only have seen a fire belly toad exhibit this behavior once or twice as best I can recall. Maybe they do it in the wild more often and maybe not. I would have guessed they would display this in captivity more often if truly for defense since they take other defensive actions as jumping or darting away and diving under water. Regardless of why they have them, I will say the red bellies make them look pretty neat.Fire Bellied Toads are also known by their scientific name Bombina orientalis. As the name implies, they are from Asia (thus the 'orient' in the name). They are indigenous to northeastern China, the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Kiushiu, and the Khabarovsk and Primorye regions in southeastern Russia (1). All areas where it gets warm to hot in summer and blue-balls cold in winter, and man oh man that is cold. Note, I said in areas where it gets warm to hot in the summer, that is relatively speaking. These toads are often found at elevations where it warms up in summer but also where it still remains fairly cool in the summer relative to warmer areas of their range. It seems these toads are well adapted to a variety of habitats - all close to bodies of water. They live in various landscapes such as mixed forests (coniferous and deciduous), non-mixed forests of either type just mentioned, meadows, agricultural land, and so forth. They can endure long periods on land as long as the area holds sufficient moisture to keep their skin damp but they do seem to prefer living in or very near to various types of bodies of freshwater. Those would include swift and slow running streams, ponds, lakes, swamps, springs, drainage ditches, and vernal puddles. At the end of summer, the species can be found on land at distances up to few hundred meters from water.
Coming from an area with a temperate climate, they need to hibernate throughout the colder months. They hibernate up to 6 or 7 months out of the year coming out of hibernation in April or May to breed soon after in late spring through the summer. Once out of hibernation they begin to feed voraciously on worms, small insects and other arthropods, both aquatic and non-aquatic. They are opportunistic feeders and as can be seen some will take small fish, at least in captivity. All that feeding gets them ready for breeding and females breed through the season, laying up to about 250 eggs. The young hatch out in the water as tadpoles - hatching begins about 10 days to 2 weeks after the eggs are deposited. They then metamorphose over the next couple of months. After that, if they can avoid natural dangers and find enough food, they can live upwards of 20 years. This probably means that well cared for captive specimens could live at least several years beyond that. Jeesh - toads forever.
As far as keeping them in captivity, they are a commonly kept pet here and in Europe. Most of the ones available are probably wild caught specimens and this would likely account for many of them being pretty skinny when you see them in pet shops or at reptile shows. If wild caught, the possibility of them having internal parasites is fairly high but I must point that even skinny ones tend to fatten up nicely once fed regularly. This could either mean they can tolerate parasites (since they recuperate so well if actually parasitized) or that they were not parasitized and just not fed properly while in transit and lost weight because of that. I tend to think it may be both. As for parasites, if they carry those with an indirect as opposed to direct life cycle, it is quite possible they evacuate them all before too long and wind up parasite free. This would all need more study but would make some interesting work for a herpetologist.
Now that I have gotten some moms and dads on the alert about parasites in these toads, allow me to say they make great pets - the toads not the parasites - especially if you acquire captive bred toads. While many Fire Bellied Toads are still imported, they are becoming more and more available as captive bred. C/B animals are far less likely to have any sort of parasite load and are probably also much less likely to be diseased as could be wild caught animals. Fire-Bellied Toads are no exception, so if you want some, try to acquire captive bred toads.
Oriental Fired Bellied Toads are pretty tolerant of environmental conditions in captivity. They can tolerate fairly cool temperatures in the high 60s to warmer ones in the low to low-mid 80s (Fahrenheit). They usually do not require additional heat if kept at average room temperatures and may require air conditioning in the summer if your place gets pretty hot. Mine have always been kept in our basement at temps that are usually between about 67 to 74 degrees Fahrenheit, they have thrived at those temps.
These toads do not require special lighting but if any live plants are used inside their enclosure then you probably want to use florescent lighting for them (lights optimal for plant growth are available). If you use an incandescent bulb be careful not to allow it to heat up their enclosure too much, it could kill them. If it gets too warm while using one, then decrease the wattage of bulb you are using.
They can thrive in either an aquatic set-up a semi-aquatic set-up or a damp terrarium. In my experience, they tolerate chlorinated water fairly well if not excellently. I usually use water I have dechlorinated either by allowing to sit in a bucket overnight or by use of chemicals but have sometimes forgotten to do either will no ill effects. I do not think it is the chlorine in the water itself that directly causes the problems for amphibians but rather the fact that chlorine so readily reacts with other chemicals and minerals to create toxins. So it is probably best to dechlorinate it whenever you can. I strongly recommend you do this in summer; maybe it is just me but I would swear I can smell the chlorine in my local water supply in the summer and usually cannot in the colder months of the year. I am guessing they increase the chlorine in the water during the summer because the warmer temps probably increase the risk of bacteria in the water.
As for size of their enclosure, I have kept up to about a half dozen of them in a 10 gallon aquarium. I prefer the aquatic or semi-aquatic set-ups for them and give them a water area that is only about 6 inches deep at most. Usually, I provide a water area that is about 3 to 4 inches deep and I change the water about every 2 to 3 days, with an area on which they can haul themselves completely out of the water. I either use something like a smooth rock or a brick placed in the enclosure, or I may use a piece of something that floats like decorative cork bark. Better yet, my son has them in a semi-aquatic set-up with a relatively small water area maybe 8" long x 6" wide x 3" deep that is filtered by a mini-submersible filter. The rest of the enclosure has a land area that is pretty much always damp. It consists of piled up gravel, a piece of drift wood and a fake piece of drift wood to hold the gravel in place, some long cut sphagnum moss, planted bamboo shoots, a half of a coconut husk for a hiding spot and a fake rock background (made out of foam). The enclosure itself is a glass vivarium with 2 front-side glass doors and screen top. Make sure whatever type of enclosure you use is escape proof. These toads are good climbers and can climb glass especially in the corner of the tank, and ours even climb up the fake rock background. (Brendan's 3 escapees got out of a temporary tank on which the lid was not fastened properly.)
As far as feeding them goes, that is pretty easy. They will eat about anything small enough to swallow that crawls close enough to them. This included crickets, wax worms, small earthworms or trout worms. (You can cut the worms to small enough sizes and as long as the worm part wriggles it is fair game) and as I said above some will eat small fish. Crickets and wax worms are almost always readily available at pet shops nowadays. Try to feed them a variety of prey items. Crickets are okay a lot of the time but much better if supplemented with waxworms and other food items on a regular basis. Some pill bugs from your garden might also be relished, Brendan's gobble em down. Small earthworms are easy enough to find but be wary of those, or any insects, from a garden recently treated with insecticides or fertilizers. Trout worms, available at tackle shops and even at Wal-Mart, are another good choice. Keep their diet varied for best results.
We feed ours about every other day although feeding them daily is okay. As I said above sometimes we feed them a little less often but place enough crickets in the enclosure to then last them a few days. Be careful of the size of cricket you feed them, keep them pretty small. Large adult crickets might wind up preying on the toads. If you keep these guys in an aquatic set up, always supply something on which the toads and the food items can stay on to keep out of the water. Most of these bugs drown easily. Remove any dead food items from the tank as soon as possible to avoid a stinky mess; if you keep it clean you will have healthy and happy toads and stay happy yourself. Speaking of cleanliness, change the filter medium when needed. Also change about 1/2 the water weekly, with dechlorinated water.
As far as these toads being pets, I do not handle mine except maybe when cleaning their enclosures (which I give a complete take-down and cleaning about 2 or 3 times a year and smaller cleanings weekly) or when checking them for health purposes. These toads are not really slimy critters, but do seem slightly slimy, and while I am not averse to being slimed, it does a frog or toad (and these are very frog-like toads) no good to have this protective coating removed or to become contaminated by oils and salts on your skin. Additionally, if they actually do secrete toxins, you might want to avoid handling them more than needed to avoid the risk of adverse effects from the toxins. In that regard you may only want to handle them while wearing appropriate water-proof gloves. You may also want to make sure that young children and pets can not get to these frogs just in case those alleged toxins are powerful enough to cause harm if ingested. Young children and pets love to put things in their mouths. Always remember to wash up after handling any pet, especially those living in a damp, aquatic or semiaquatic set-up.
All in all, their care is pretty easy, they are easy on the budget, easy on the eyes and their vivarium or aquarium can be a piece of living furniture in your home. Oh, did I forget to mention, besides adding color they can also add some sound to your surroundings. They sometimes chirp and trill but not much in my experience, then again we keep em in the basement and when I hear them up on the 1st and 2nd floors they are not too loud. Breeding season probably gets the most noise out of em - typical of most critters that can sound off - isn't it!
All the best,
Glenn B
Footnote:
1) http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Bombina&where-species=orientalis
As far as these toads being pets, I do not handle mine except maybe when cleaning their enclosures (which I give a complete take-down and cleaning about 2 or 3 times a year and smaller cleanings weekly) or when checking them for health purposes. These toads are not really slimy critters, but do seem slightly slimy, and while I am not averse to being slimed, it does a frog or toad (and these are very frog-like toads) no good to have this protective coating removed or to become contaminated by oils and salts on your skin. Additionally, if they actually do secrete toxins, you might want to avoid handling them more than needed to avoid the risk of adverse effects from the toxins. In that regard you may only want to handle them while wearing appropriate water-proof gloves. You may also want to make sure that young children and pets can not get to these frogs just in case those alleged toxins are powerful enough to cause harm if ingested. Young children and pets love to put things in their mouths. Always remember to wash up after handling any pet, especially those living in a damp, aquatic or semiaquatic set-up.
All in all, their care is pretty easy, they are easy on the budget, easy on the eyes and their vivarium or aquarium can be a piece of living furniture in your home. Oh, did I forget to mention, besides adding color they can also add some sound to your surroundings. They sometimes chirp and trill but not much in my experience, then again we keep em in the basement and when I hear them up on the 1st and 2nd floors they are not too loud. Breeding season probably gets the most noise out of em - typical of most critters that can sound off - isn't it!
All the best,
Glenn B
Footnote:
1) http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Bombina&where-species=orientalis
Sergius L. Kuzmin (ipe51 AT yahoo.com), Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. 1999-09-30
Edited by Kellie Whittaker (2007-12-07)
Natural History And Captive Care References:
Personal Experience (Please note: my advice for keeping these is based upon my personal experience in keeping these toads. That will either be in agreement or disagreement from advice given by others. Any references or info I give are supplied to guide you to help you to find the best way you can care for your own Fire Bellied Toads and are not meant to be the end all be all of toad keeping advice. My supplying a reference or references does not indicate my agreement with the information supplied in them and my giving advice does not necessarily mean that is the best way to keep them - but is merely an example of what has worked for me.)
http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?query_src=&table=amphib&special=one_record&where-genus=Bombina&where-species=orientalis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Fire-bellied_ToadEdited by Kellie Whittaker (2007-12-07)
Natural History And Captive Care References:
Personal Experience (Please note: my advice for keeping these is based upon my personal experience in keeping these toads. That will either be in agreement or disagreement from advice given by others. Any references or info I give are supplied to guide you to help you to find the best way you can care for your own Fire Bellied Toads and are not meant to be the end all be all of toad keeping advice. My supplying a reference or references does not indicate my agreement with the information supplied in them and my giving advice does not necessarily mean that is the best way to keep them - but is merely an example of what has worked for me.)
http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?query_src=&table=amphib&special=one_record&where-genus=Bombina&where-species=orientalis
http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/caresheets/firebelliedtoad.html
Breeding References:
http://www.frogforum.net/toad-care-articles/2179-fire-bellied-toad-care-breeding-bombina-orientalis-relatives.html
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Today In History - Ingrid Bergman...
...was born on this day, August 29, in 1915. On this day, August 29, in 1982 Ingrid Bergman died. She was a great actress and a beautiful woman. If you want to watch some really good movies, watch ones in which she had a part. Any of these would be good picks:Casablanca
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Notorious
Spellbound
Joan of Arc
And the list of her films goes on and on all the way up into the year she died. Yes indeed, a great actress, no doubt about it.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Great Escape (Tortoise Style)
Things I find when doing yard work are usually not all that unusual. I am not lucky enough, as far as good luck goes, to find something like a gold ring set with rubies as was my next door neighbor while she was puttering around her garden right next to my property by inches at that). It was worth a few hundred bucks. Nah, my luck runs more like me finding a brown recluse spider crawling up my hand (that was only 2 weeks ago and it definitely was a recluse spider, if not the brown recluse, with the violin pattern on its back); lucky was luck was not very bad that day because I was not bitten. I found the spider in my compost pile under a pile of twigs I was getting rid of. My type of luck also had me find a metal box buried next to my back chimney. I dug it up expecting cash since it was just the right size to hold a nice wad of it and what did I find? Ash from what apparently been burned bones. Why do I think that? Because there were tiny teeth and bone fragments in it. Nope, the police were not interested. Once I found a really nice and smelly cat turd when I was looking for worms in my compost pile. I use the worms to feed my critters (tortoises, salamanders and the like).
My luck is not always stinky though, sometimes I am in the right place at the right time and sometimes I find something a bit unusual in my yard. Today, I found two nice sized holes in the sides of my tortoise enclosure. That was right after I found my male Hermann's Tortoise near one of our two side gates. He would not have been able to fit under the gate unless he dug but they do love digging. I had been out there trimming the bushes and saw him at the gate while I was cleaning up. I put him back into the pen, saw one hole, covered it over with a brick and then counted my tortoises. When I looked for each I saw one of my Redfoot Tortoises making its way out of a hole on the opposite side of the enclosure. Man the wood is really rotting and they are diggings right through it like convicts digging their way out of a prison. Okay, I plugged that hole too. hen counted them all. There were 3 Redfoots, 2 Hermann's and no Russian. The search was on. After about 15 minutes, I found her under a bush keeping cool That was pretty much where I thought I would find her, under a bush, but only after two complete circuits of the backyard looking for her. Missed her the first time round.
All of them are back in the enclosure now but before closing it all up with them in there, I took them all out and gave them a nice long soak in about 2 inches cool of water in a concrete mixing basin. It's their version of a swimming pool. As for their enclosure, I am going to have to build a new one. I thought I had more time to do it after the previous time that one got out through a hole in the side but I guess I had best get it done pretty soon before I really lose one or more of them. The reason this one is so rotten, besides age, is that our local population of carpenter ants loves the wood it is made from, they destroy it building nests in it. It is made from plywood, which the next one almost definitely will not be made from. I am thinking of using pressure treated wood or cypress - or maybe even getting industrious and building a cement enclosure for them. That would be a lot more work but it would last a lot longer. I may have to see how much Home Depot charges to rent a cement mixer and see if they deliver and pick up the rental unit. If it costs too much or is too much of a pain to get to my house, then it will be wood again, just one that lasts loner than plywood. Whatever the new one is made from, it has to be able to withstand the digging prowess of Danny 'The Tunnel King' Velinski (Charles Bronson's character in the Great Escape) x 10; these little critters love to dig.
All the best,
Glenn B
My luck is not always stinky though, sometimes I am in the right place at the right time and sometimes I find something a bit unusual in my yard. Today, I found two nice sized holes in the sides of my tortoise enclosure. That was right after I found my male Hermann's Tortoise near one of our two side gates. He would not have been able to fit under the gate unless he dug but they do love digging. I had been out there trimming the bushes and saw him at the gate while I was cleaning up. I put him back into the pen, saw one hole, covered it over with a brick and then counted my tortoises. When I looked for each I saw one of my Redfoot Tortoises making its way out of a hole on the opposite side of the enclosure. Man the wood is really rotting and they are diggings right through it like convicts digging their way out of a prison. Okay, I plugged that hole too. hen counted them all. There were 3 Redfoots, 2 Hermann's and no Russian. The search was on. After about 15 minutes, I found her under a bush keeping cool That was pretty much where I thought I would find her, under a bush, but only after two complete circuits of the backyard looking for her. Missed her the first time round.
All of them are back in the enclosure now but before closing it all up with them in there, I took them all out and gave them a nice long soak in about 2 inches cool of water in a concrete mixing basin. It's their version of a swimming pool. As for their enclosure, I am going to have to build a new one. I thought I had more time to do it after the previous time that one got out through a hole in the side but I guess I had best get it done pretty soon before I really lose one or more of them. The reason this one is so rotten, besides age, is that our local population of carpenter ants loves the wood it is made from, they destroy it building nests in it. It is made from plywood, which the next one almost definitely will not be made from. I am thinking of using pressure treated wood or cypress - or maybe even getting industrious and building a cement enclosure for them. That would be a lot more work but it would last a lot longer. I may have to see how much Home Depot charges to rent a cement mixer and see if they deliver and pick up the rental unit. If it costs too much or is too much of a pain to get to my house, then it will be wood again, just one that lasts loner than plywood. Whatever the new one is made from, it has to be able to withstand the digging prowess of Danny 'The Tunnel King' Velinski (Charles Bronson's character in the Great Escape) x 10; these little critters love to dig.
All the best,
Glenn B
Is The Islamization of the USA Starting Near Ground Zero
You watch this, then you tell me.
All I will say about what I think on it is this: Diversity without unity will lead to the destruction of America. There will be no unity of the diverse to come about from erecting this mosque/Islamic center except maybe if it is they who oppose it who unite. Only disharmony and disunity, between Muslims and non-Musliums, within our truly diverse culture will come about if it is built. Then again, maybe I am wrong, maybe unity will come about if it is built - the unity established once the USA has become a nation ruled by Islam. But whom am I trying to kid, I have not seen a truly united Muslim nation yet - have you?
All the best,
Glenn B
All I will say about what I think on it is this: Diversity without unity will lead to the destruction of America. There will be no unity of the diverse to come about from erecting this mosque/Islamic center except maybe if it is they who oppose it who unite. Only disharmony and disunity, between Muslims and non-Musliums, within our truly diverse culture will come about if it is built. Then again, maybe I am wrong, maybe unity will come about if it is built - the unity established once the USA has become a nation ruled by Islam. But whom am I trying to kid, I have not seen a truly united Muslim nation yet - have you?
All the best,
Glenn B
Ballseye's Gun Shots 84 - I'm Dreaming of a New Rifle...
...just like one I could win in this raffle:
1. Remington 700 BDL 3006 with Nikon Prostaff 3x-9x scope
2. Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 7mm-08
3. Marlin .308 MX Lever Action
4. Remington 877 12 gauge, 3.5 inch, synthetic
5. Winchester 1300 12 gauge pump, wood
6. Benelli 20 gauge, Nova, synthetic
7. Marlin XL7 25-06, synthetic
8. Savage 93F 22 mag. , synthetic
9. Mossberg Plinkster 22. l.r. Semi-Auto
10. Knight Wolverine .50 cal. Muzzleloader
They are only selling 700 tickets, as usual. There are 10 rifles up for grabs. I have a 1 in 70 chance of winning, well I really have a 1 in 14 chance of winning - or thereabouts - since I have 5 tickets. My ticket numbers are: 30, 76, 79, 80 and 81. I am betting on ticket number 30 since it is the furthest from the rest of them and therefore the oddball among them. Of course, I have taken my chances over the last 2 or 3 years on this raffle with no luck so I am not buying ammo for any of those rifles yet.
A nice thing about this raffle is that it helps support a sportsman's club that offers CCW classes and soon will have a 4H shooting program. Another nice thing is if you win, you can request your prize in a different caliber than the ones shown above, or for another gun of equal value. All the selections are okay with me gun-wise though I would very likely opt for different calibers on some. Not that I would complain though if I won and could not change. Just winning even the Mossberg Plinkster would make me happy, then again winning the first prize would make me ecstatic! I am keeping my fingers crossed and starting to save my change for the FFL transfer fee just in case!
All the best,
Glenn B
1. Remington 700 BDL 3006 with Nikon Prostaff 3x-9x scope
2. Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 7mm-08
3. Marlin .308 MX Lever Action
4. Remington 877 12 gauge, 3.5 inch, synthetic
5. Winchester 1300 12 gauge pump, wood
6. Benelli 20 gauge, Nova, synthetic
7. Marlin XL7 25-06, synthetic
8. Savage 93F 22 mag. , synthetic
9. Mossberg Plinkster 22. l.r. Semi-Auto
10. Knight Wolverine .50 cal. Muzzleloader
They are only selling 700 tickets, as usual. There are 10 rifles up for grabs. I have a 1 in 70 chance of winning, well I really have a 1 in 14 chance of winning - or thereabouts - since I have 5 tickets. My ticket numbers are: 30, 76, 79, 80 and 81. I am betting on ticket number 30 since it is the furthest from the rest of them and therefore the oddball among them. Of course, I have taken my chances over the last 2 or 3 years on this raffle with no luck so I am not buying ammo for any of those rifles yet.
A nice thing about this raffle is that it helps support a sportsman's club that offers CCW classes and soon will have a 4H shooting program. Another nice thing is if you win, you can request your prize in a different caliber than the ones shown above, or for another gun of equal value. All the selections are okay with me gun-wise though I would very likely opt for different calibers on some. Not that I would complain though if I won and could not change. Just winning even the Mossberg Plinkster would make me happy, then again winning the first prize would make me ecstatic! I am keeping my fingers crossed and starting to save my change for the FFL transfer fee just in case!
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Scouting Trip That Wasn't...
...and all because traffic sucked! It took me about 1 hour to drive to the ramp for the Throgg's Neck Bridge from my house today. Normally that is a 15 minute ride. The road to the bridge was stop and go, but only go real slow. The exit ramp for the bridge was almost at a standstill, so I headed over toward the Whitestone Bridge. The ramp there was likewise. I gave it one more try and headed to the Triborough Bridge, the one furthest west of the three. It was moving at a good clip but as soon as I crossed the span I could see the highway north was virtually not moving so I veered right and went back east to pick up a northbound highway from that direction. I eventually got on the Hutchinson River parkway going north, got just outside of the Bronx and again hit a wall of traffic. I exited, filled the car with gas, then headed back home with the hope I may go tomorrow. Even the ride home was disappointing. All in all it took me three hours and about 20 minutes to travel about as far as I normally would have driven in about 45 minutes had it been clear sailing by NY standards *(which would probably be a fair amount of traffic in most other places).
Oh well, either tomorrow or next Saturday are my other options. Since getting home, the wife, daughter and I took the 4 dogs for a nice long walk. Then I started gathering up some of my gun gear that is strewn around my basement in various nooks and crannies. It is amazing how much stuff can build up in 8 months or so since the last such clean-up. Oh well, back to work.
All the best,
GB
Oh well, either tomorrow or next Saturday are my other options. Since getting home, the wife, daughter and I took the 4 dogs for a nice long walk. Then I started gathering up some of my gun gear that is strewn around my basement in various nooks and crannies. It is amazing how much stuff can build up in 8 months or so since the last such clean-up. Oh well, back to work.
All the best,
GB
Friday, August 27, 2010
Inglourious Basterds - a review of my 2nd viewing
I saw this movie when it first was in theaters - I guess last year. It was okay as far as acting and such but to tell you the truth, then as now, I will never understand the reason that the screenplay was written nor the reason it ever went on to become a movie. I don't care who wrote it or directed, yes he has made some other great films, but this one is not one of them as I see it. This is the sickest movie I have ever seen, quite possibly the craziest and worst storyline I have ever experienced in any form, and it is an absolute piece of trash in my opinion. I may watch it again another year or more from now to see if it makes any sense to me then as to why this piece of crap, in my opinion, was ever released but that is only because I believe there must have been some twisted thinking that some special message was being sent in it and that has me flummoxed and I do not like being flummoxed.
Maybe the message was for Germans, maybe for Nazis, maybe for Jews or other oppressed people - maybe it was for our brave men and women in the United States Military. Maybe there was no message and it is instead some form of sick conception of our military. I don't know. I do know this: I suggest that if you are a Jew who respects your religion, your morality and your traditions - don't watch it. I suggest that if you are a person of any other faith or simply a person of morality and ethics don't watch it. I strongly recommend that if you are in the U.S. Military you never emulate it. It is, in my opinion, truly disgusting and has absolutely no point to it except maybe to be as disturbing as it possibly can be - maybe just a movie to make you revel in insanity. I believe it to be the product of a warped and very sick mind and that even though I like a lot of blood and guts movies such as From Dusk Til Dawn and Pulp Fiction for ones made by the guy who made this one - this one is not like them. This one revolves around WWII and Nazis and Jews and our military and revenge and around the good guys becoming as bad or worse than the bad guys and goes far beyond the vileness of a group of extreme perverts as I see it. What a waste of film in my opinion. I know, opinions are like assholes - everybody has one. So allow one more time for me to put my ass right out there by saying:
Maybe I am an asshole for watching it a second time but I guess I just could not believe how terrible it was the first time around and I had to see it a second time to be sure. I am sure now, I believe it now. I think, figuratively speaking, that the screenplay was written by an asshole and the movie was directed by an asshole, produced by assholes, and performed by assholes because only assholes could produce a piece of crap like this - but as I said that is just my opinion.
All the best,
Glenn B
Maybe the message was for Germans, maybe for Nazis, maybe for Jews or other oppressed people - maybe it was for our brave men and women in the United States Military. Maybe there was no message and it is instead some form of sick conception of our military. I don't know. I do know this: I suggest that if you are a Jew who respects your religion, your morality and your traditions - don't watch it. I suggest that if you are a person of any other faith or simply a person of morality and ethics don't watch it. I strongly recommend that if you are in the U.S. Military you never emulate it. It is, in my opinion, truly disgusting and has absolutely no point to it except maybe to be as disturbing as it possibly can be - maybe just a movie to make you revel in insanity. I believe it to be the product of a warped and very sick mind and that even though I like a lot of blood and guts movies such as From Dusk Til Dawn and Pulp Fiction for ones made by the guy who made this one - this one is not like them. This one revolves around WWII and Nazis and Jews and our military and revenge and around the good guys becoming as bad or worse than the bad guys and goes far beyond the vileness of a group of extreme perverts as I see it. What a waste of film in my opinion. I know, opinions are like assholes - everybody has one. So allow one more time for me to put my ass right out there by saying:
Maybe I am an asshole for watching it a second time but I guess I just could not believe how terrible it was the first time around and I had to see it a second time to be sure. I am sure now, I believe it now. I think, figuratively speaking, that the screenplay was written by an asshole and the movie was directed by an asshole, produced by assholes, and performed by assholes because only assholes could produce a piece of crap like this - but as I said that is just my opinion.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Lad Has Changed His Mind...
...or so it seems right now. That change of mind means I will likely be going on my deer scouting trip all alone. Hmm, that sounds good for the bears and not for me. Well, I'll have a good time anyhow - go for a hike, look for game and game sign, watch out for hungry bears, have lunch in the woods, watch out for hungry bears, enjoy the fresh air, maybe take a snooze under a majestic oak or swaying pine, keep an eye open for hungry bears, perhaps go fishing or catch some crayfish (mm delicious when steamed like lobster but man oh man does it take a lot of them to equal even a small lobster). It will be a day that will make someone else wish he had come along, as long as I am not eaten by a hungry bear.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
A Scouting We Will Go
No - not boy scouting - deer scouting. Brendan and I will be driving upstate this weekend for a day in the woods. We need to find ourselves a good place to hunt this coming season. Regular deer season starts in November so that means we are getting a pretty early start with things this year, as we should be doing. Around this time of the year, the bucks should have some fairly good sized antlers. So if we happen to run a cross a real monster buck with a big rack now - you can bet we will be going back to the same spot every couple of weeks to try to figure out his routine; better yet will also be trying to figure out the routine of the does in the area. Come November any routine that a buck follows now will be pretty much a faint memory in that buck's mind. What will be on his mind, just about every second of his waking day, will be mating. So - knowing where the does are will be quite helpful in finding a buck. Even if that does not work for us, we both have doe permits.
This weekend I am going to make sure to take a can of pepper spray with me - just in case we run across a bear like the one(s) that left all that bear sign I saw last week. If nothing else, it will give the bear a well seasoned meal and make the bear's leavings smell like pepper. Hopefully any bear encounter(s) we have won't get that bad for us and if we need the pepper spray it will do its magic and deter any hungry bruin boars or protective sows with cubs. Of course, if we find more piles of bear droppings, well that will be a good sign. It will mean that a bear or bears ares still in the area. If we are lucky enough to see one we will try to get pics. We will also be hopeful to figure out its routine so we get to see him again this fall because bear meat steaks are absolutely delicious. Of course, he is probably thinking the same thing about fat man steaks! I am sure if it came down to it, Brendan could run much faster than me, so I'll carry the pepper spray and the pistol.
All the best,
Glenn B
This weekend I am going to make sure to take a can of pepper spray with me - just in case we run across a bear like the one(s) that left all that bear sign I saw last week. If nothing else, it will give the bear a well seasoned meal and make the bear's leavings smell like pepper. Hopefully any bear encounter(s) we have won't get that bad for us and if we need the pepper spray it will do its magic and deter any hungry bruin boars or protective sows with cubs. Of course, if we find more piles of bear droppings, well that will be a good sign. It will mean that a bear or bears ares still in the area. If we are lucky enough to see one we will try to get pics. We will also be hopeful to figure out its routine so we get to see him again this fall because bear meat steaks are absolutely delicious. Of course, he is probably thinking the same thing about fat man steaks! I am sure if it came down to it, Brendan could run much faster than me, so I'll carry the pepper spray and the pistol.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Old Fashioned Family FunListening To News About Bedbugs On The Car Radio...
...on the ride home from work tonight and I got goosebumps; not because I heard that the city I was driving through is infested by them but because I had my car's windows down. It was a chilly 68 degrees Fahrenheit in New York City Bed-Bug City at about 7:30 PM or thereabouts. Those little boogers must be thinking they need to move back to warmer climes.
That thought was pretty far from my mind though as I drove along at a decent clip with the cool air washing over me. Man does that feel nice after what so far has been one of the longest hot summers I can remember. Now if you think the heat has been brought about by man-made carbon emissions and other man-made factors - you may be very wrong. There is some compelling evidence to think otherwise and I point you here.
Of course, the bedbugs probably do not give a rat's bottom end over any of this hoopla called Global Warming, they just keep getting those free rides into various parts of our society by the human vermin who carried them here from abroad in the first place. Now they have spread so far they don't even need dirty illegals to give them a ride, they can hitch one with us. I think we ought to bring back DDT for a brief but brutal campaign against them (that is if DDT would be effective on them). Whatever we use it should have some clout to hit em fast, hit em low and hit em hard.
All the best,
Glenn B
That thought was pretty far from my mind though as I drove along at a decent clip with the cool air washing over me. Man does that feel nice after what so far has been one of the longest hot summers I can remember. Now if you think the heat has been brought about by man-made carbon emissions and other man-made factors - you may be very wrong. There is some compelling evidence to think otherwise and I point you here.
Of course, the bedbugs probably do not give a rat's bottom end over any of this hoopla called Global Warming, they just keep getting those free rides into various parts of our society by the human vermin who carried them here from abroad in the first place. Now they have spread so far they don't even need dirty illegals to give them a ride, they can hitch one with us. I think we ought to bring back DDT for a brief but brutal campaign against them (that is if DDT would be effective on them). Whatever we use it should have some clout to hit em fast, hit em low and hit em hard.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Was He Eaten By A Bear While Making A Video To Prove That The Bear Really Does Poop In The Woods???
This video was discovered on a camera found by a couple while they were hiking through an area known to be frequented by large black bears in upstate NY. When found, the camera was lying in an area surrounded by bear several droppings. Though dented and scratched and in pretty bad shape, their were no bite marks or other definite bear sign on the camera. The memory card was still intact. The video is the last known activity of the pictured man in said area. The man who has not yet been identified is believed to have been from an urban area because he refers to himself, within the brief video, as a 'city guy'.
In answer to his own sarcastic question, he apparently did not know enough about bears to be a bit more watchful while in a small patch of woods containing 13 (count em) bearshits poopies, nor to realize that maybe 13 was not his lucky number but that 14 could be the bear's lucky number in that it would finally be getting some meat through his system and he (the city guy) would be the meat. It does seem as if something else caught his attention just before the video went dead as he starts to look all around him then comes back to one spot as if he heard or saw something in that very last scene. We can only guess it may have been a bear or bears that left all that bear sign in the area.
Please be advised, if you are eating or otherwise have a weak stomach, you may not want to watch this video, the subject matter is not pretty. It certainly does make one wonder though if the bears in the area had been lacking red meat in their diets, what with all the apparent evidence that they had been eating an awful lot of berries or fruits with fairly large pits and because there were no remains of 'city guy' to be found anywhere. It is hypothesized that the bear may have had such a bad hankerin' for red meat that, if it attacked and ate this man, it ate everything down to every last blood splattered leaf and every last thread of blood soaked clothing that should have been evident after a violent attack. Must have been a mighty big bear to get that guy down in one sitting, or maybe it was a mama bear and her cubs like the man said, in the video, he had hoped he would not run across. Three bears could have easily packed away even a very big lunkhead like him. Just imagine, if you will, an idiot walking through the woods, then prancing around the super seKrit spot 'where the bearshits poops (or bears shit poop) in the woods' while blabbing to himself as he filmed it - it must have looked like an easy meal to a bear, a darned tasty one (bears, just like us all, know fat makes for tasty meat) and a very large meal at that.
As I said though, there was no evidence of a mauling or of this guy being eaten, just this video found in his camera and him - who knows where he is! The mystery continues...and we are hopeful of solving it. So, we are thinking of making a movie along the lines of The Blair Witch Project if we can find a group of young videographersstupid intrepid enough to spend a couple of days and nights in the same area looking for the 'city guy'. Any takers?
All the best,
Glenn B
In answer to his own sarcastic question, he apparently did not know enough about bears to be a bit more watchful while in a small patch of woods containing 13 (count em) bear
Please be advised, if you are eating or otherwise have a weak stomach, you may not want to watch this video, the subject matter is not pretty. It certainly does make one wonder though if the bears in the area had been lacking red meat in their diets, what with all the apparent evidence that they had been eating an awful lot of berries or fruits with fairly large pits and because there were no remains of 'city guy' to be found anywhere. It is hypothesized that the bear may have had such a bad hankerin' for red meat that, if it attacked and ate this man, it ate everything down to every last blood splattered leaf and every last thread of blood soaked clothing that should have been evident after a violent attack. Must have been a mighty big bear to get that guy down in one sitting, or maybe it was a mama bear and her cubs like the man said, in the video, he had hoped he would not run across. Three bears could have easily packed away even a very big lunkhead like him. Just imagine, if you will, an idiot walking through the woods, then prancing around the super seKrit spot 'where the bear
As I said though, there was no evidence of a mauling or of this guy being eaten, just this video found in his camera and him - who knows where he is! The mystery continues...and we are hopeful of solving it. So, we are thinking of making a movie along the lines of The Blair Witch Project if we can find a group of young videographers
All the best,
Glenn B
Andrew Klavan - puts it in a light that should make it understandable even to liberals
This guy is excellent:
I am going to have to look at more of his work.
All the best,
Glenn B
I am going to have to look at more of his work.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, August 20, 2010
Well Here I Am at Holiday Inn...
...using up my Priority Club points and luckily I remembered to bring my laptop with me because they have free wi-fi. I still won't be blogging much tonight but just wanted to stop by my blog and say hi to you, my readers.
I spent way too much time stopping at Gander Mountain in Middletown, then at The Little Store in Roscoe, then at the original Dick's Sporting Goods in Binghamton but did manage to get in some time finding some hunting areas. Note, I did not say hunting spots because I did not get to hike more than about 45 minutes today to do any scouting. I figure I'll check out of the hotel early tomorrow and head for some of the better looking areas I saw today, then do some hiking and scouting at each. I am hoping to get at least 2 hours of hiking in at each of three spots. After 6 hours of walking, I'll park somewhere green and grassy and take a nap under the sky. Then I'll probably head home tomorrow night.
I've got to cut this off now so I can go get dinner and maybe a wee dram of something Irish.
All the best,
GB
I spent way too much time stopping at Gander Mountain in Middletown, then at The Little Store in Roscoe, then at the original Dick's Sporting Goods in Binghamton but did manage to get in some time finding some hunting areas. Note, I did not say hunting spots because I did not get to hike more than about 45 minutes today to do any scouting. I figure I'll check out of the hotel early tomorrow and head for some of the better looking areas I saw today, then do some hiking and scouting at each. I am hoping to get at least 2 hours of hiking in at each of three spots. After 6 hours of walking, I'll park somewhere green and grassy and take a nap under the sky. Then I'll probably head home tomorrow night.
I've got to cut this off now so I can go get dinner and maybe a wee dram of something Irish.
All the best,
GB
Priority Club Points - Oh Hallelujah
My points from Priority Club have not expired, apparently they never expire. So instead of camping, and since my back has been aching - along with almost everything else - I decided to reserve a King Suite at a Holiday Inn. Not bad for free. I'll be further from the area I want to scout, but I am guessing within a 1 hour drive. So a good scout trip today for several hours, then a good night's sleep in a bed, then stop at the hunting spot again tomorrow, on the way home from the hotel, for a bit more scouting and maybe some fishing too. Sadly though, no spam or hotdogs cooked over the campfire tonight.
Later for all of you,
GB
Later for all of you,
GB
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Solo Road Trip - Scouting Trip - Camping Trip
It is that time of the year to get my backside in gear and head upstate to look for a decent hunting spot. I will be heading up to Delaware County to the Bear Spring Mountain Campsite for an over-nighter, maybe even a 2 nighter. I should be doing a good deal of hiking and don't want to have to drive far from my anticipated hunting spot to find a place to sleep and since the campground is right at the hunting spot - well, what more could I want! Maybe at my age with the achy bones, creaking and cracking joints, the shoulder, neck and hip pain I could ask for a nice comfortable bed but tomorrow night I will probably rough it. That should convince me not to do it again until next year.
So there will be no blogging until Saturday night or maybe sometime Sunday. See you again after that.
All the best,
Glenn B
So there will be no blogging until Saturday night or maybe sometime Sunday. See you again after that.
All the best,
Glenn B
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)