The Hunt Is Over...

...and the deer are still laughing at us in the woods. We hunted the stand I had selected back in early September, and checked again and again over the months since, and we did not see a thing even though it was obvious the scrapes were still active. The next day we opted to do some Still Hunting in the morning. Saw nothing. Later on we set up near an apple tree, then even later near an apple tree that was growing on the edge of a swamp just inside the forest. Brendan found that place. It had the most deer sign around it that I have seen in years. I thought for sure we would at least see some deer there. No luck though, well no luck for us - plenty of luck for the deer.

We did manage to get ripped off at the inn where we stayed. I paid the outrageous price for a room with "all the amenities and a restaurant too" as they told me. Wound up the restaurant was closed for the season and the amenities did not even include a telephone or radio in the room, nor a television that worked properly, nor a full bath. The shower stall was all of what one could fit into and have barely enough room to move to wash up. The sink, outside the bathroom had a vanity with light bulbs some of which were burned out, and the sink was missing its stopper. The water pressure was horrendous or the water was turned down somewhere along the piping, and the hot water faucet took several minutes to produce something that even approached warmness. I must admit it eventually did get hot. There were no drapes on the window, but there was a light screen of sorts hanging outside the window blocking any view we may have had and still allowing the car lights from the roadway (adjacent to which our room sat) to illuminate the room. Of course there were Venetian blinds but they and that foolish looking piece of front yard fence they hung outside the window did not do as good at blocking the headlights from -penetrating our room each night as would have a cheap pair of drapes from Walmart. All this for the "off season price" of $99.00 plus tax per night. Now we could have paid $89.00 plus tax per night for a smaller room without a kitchenette. I opted for the larger room because it had a table - the other was so small as to preclude having even that amenity. The kitchenette had a small fridge, a micro-wave oven that looked ancient, and a coffee maker on which I almost burned myself when we arrived. It was turned on and man was the empty coffee pot hot. Yes we also had heat, but once turned on it came out so hot as to be in a sauna. I had to get up in the night and turn it off, but somehow it never quite turned off and the room was 'something-something' as my son said (two references to the anatomy in there that I do not need to repeat). Besides all of that the room seemed somewhat dirty, things like the carpet seemed not to have been cleaned in some time, even on our second morning - after maid service - the carpet obviously had not been vacuumed by the maid. Well after a horrendous night's sleep, what with all the traffic on this road (I had asked for a room on the quiet side of the inn) I almost decided to leave the next morning. We toughed it out though because to find another place then would have been a royal pain the arse. So we stayed the second night, and wound up so tired from our lack of peaceful sleep the first night that we slept somewhat better the second night. Of course to contact the manager I had to leave my room, pick up a house phone outside the office door and hit the "red" button. Imagine that it would have been about 5 degrees in the middle of a blizzard and you needed to speak to the manager about something like your heat not working.

Now the above is not just my complaining. Even Brendan was turned off by many of the things I just mentioned, and he also mentioned the odor in the place. He mentioned it several times, saying it smelled like an old lady's house. I suppose they used some cheap air freshener or cleaner that had a horrendous odor to it - sickly sweet perfume sort of a thing. He also said everything in the place looked either old or cheap, and I have to agree. The place just reeked of the discontent of other suckers who stayed there in the past. Imagine that when I said something about the place, in the middle of nowhere being as high priced as it was, the manager laughed and said 'you think that is high priced, during the season we charge $159.00 for a room'. I don't think they could get $39.99 for those rooms and have someone who stayed there think they got a good deal. I will never stay at this dump again. I'd rather stay at a Motel 6 and pay less than half and have a cleaner room, with all the lights working, free telephone, free cable TV and so forth.

Oh yeah, one other thing. Remember that phone outside the office, the one I used to call the manager. Well it had a neighbor. Its neighbor was a small mail box with a sign that said something like "Early Bird Checkout". I left my key inside of it when I checked out. The thing was though I was hesitant to touch it to open it because its top was covered with bird shit. I guess the early birds did sort of check out there literally, well at least they left something there regularly - and no one from the inn cleaned it. Yep, next time I hunt there we will either camp out, find another motel, or make it a one day trip. I will never stay at this dump again. I'd rather stay at a Motel 6 and pay less than half and have a cleaner room, with all the lights working, free telephone, free cable TV and so forth.

As for the actual hunting: It poured on an off the first day out, but we stayed dry thanks to some decent waterproof clothing we were wearing. Well I forgot my water proof pants, but even though my legs got wet on and off while walking through the woods, they pretty much dried off during breaks in the rain, and while sitting on our stand I covered up with a poncho. Brendan was bone dry as far as I know, I bought him a decent waterproof camo hunting outfit, and also a waterproof hunting coat in blaze orange. He wore the blaze orange coat and camo pants. I wore his camo jacket with a blaze orange vest over it. While we were out, and even though it poured an awful lot - we saw several gray squirrels, a couple of red squirrels, some hawks, many crows lots of smaller birds, and Brendan saw owls twice. The second day was a dry one, but somewhat colder. Heck the first day was in the mid to high 60s, the second day was in the 40s or low fifties I suppose. We were ready for the cooler day though and stayed pretty warm. Well - Brendan's feet got cold late on in the day, I think he needs slightly bigger hunting boots.

We had a nice time exploring the woods looking for deer on the second day when we Still Hunted. We hunted the woods for a couple to a few hours walking only a mile or so in all that time. We Still Hunt slowly. Don't ask me why but Still Hunting means stalking or seeking out prey, and stand hunting usually means you are sitting on you butt in your stand. After the Still Hunting, we took a stand near an apple tree. While there, Brendan was looking around and found another apple tree in the woods just off of a swampy area down below the area we were at. We moved there for the last couple of hours of the hunt. We saw a lot of deer sign, while we were hunting - deer droppings, rubs and scrapes. As a matter of fact, the spot that Brendan found at that second apple tree was loaded with so much sign I was truly shocked not to have seen any deer show up. Then again we were only at that spot about 2 hours. A full day there likely would have had at least a few show up there. So if we head that way over Thanksgiving weekend we may get us one yet. Of course that trip will be a one nighter, or if a two nighter we may have to stay at a motel in Kingston, NY about 20 miles away from the hunting grounds.

As to us not seeing any deer, we heard lots of shooting, but I only saw one deer leave the area on the back of a SUV. My guess is either lots of bad shots, or just guys shooting at squirrels. We heard one guy shoot about 20 or 30 rounds in rapid succession, now there was a real sportsman - don't ya think! I was happy we were, by the sound of it, nowhere too close to him. I think one reason there apparently were few deer taken was because the first day was so warm. Deer tend to move more at night in the heat up this way from what I know of them. In addition, there was a full moon on the 13th meaning that there was still plenty of light at night - another thing that keeps deer more active at night than in the day time. By the way, even on the ride home we did not see one even deer on a car. I suppose many other hunters fared like us.

Oh well - next time.

All the best,
Glenn

The Hunt Is On

o , o , RHINEBECK, NEW YORK Astronomical Applications Dept.Location: W073 55, N41 56 Rise and Set for the Sun for 2008 U. S. Naval Observatory Washington, DC 20392-5420 Eastern Standard Time
Day Nov.
15 0646 1634
16 0647 1633
17 0648 1633

All that the above gobbly-goop means is that the days are getting shorter; and that where Brendan and I will be hunting on opening day of the firearms season for deer the sun will be up at 0646 and set at 1634 or 4:34 PM. That means we will have to be up well before, maybe by 0400 and at our stand by about 0500 to 0530 at the latest. Hopefully there will not be so many other hunters in the area as for us to be stumbling over them, or them over us. Then again, since it was a full moon on the 13, the moon light on the early morning of the 15th will probably be sufficient to see without artificial light while making our way to our stand. The moon will still be up, it will not set until about 0900.

As for those other hunters, anyone want to take bets on how many shots we hear before sunup and the official beginning of the season on Saturday morning. Brendan and I will await the legal shooting time no matter how tempting a shot may present itself before then, but I am pretty sure someone else in the area will not, happens every year.

We leave for the hunting grounds early this morning - one day in advance of the season opener. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and bag a turkey on the last day of the turkey season later today. Heck, I just realized it is this morning already, I need to hit the hay.

All the best,
Glenn B

The BGI

Not long after I first passed the test for the U.S. Border Patrol Agent position - oh way back in around 1977 or 78 - and was then offered the job - I had to undergo what is called a full field background investigation. This was done to make sure that I was the kind of a guy to whom the United States of America could trust its secrets, and to make sure that I was the caliber of person who could be entrusted with enforcing the laws of this great land. Each and every 5 years since then (with one glaring exception that I can think of) I have been required to undergo similar background investigations. Heavens only know how I could have changed my loyalties within each of those 5 year periods and become a spy, or something like that, for the other side. Truth be told I am currently the subject of one of these investigations right now, this despite the fact that I have openly been stating my intent to retire in about 13 months, and despite the fact that I will be subject to mandatory retirement in a little less than 4 years. I should also point out when my last BGI was due - or no - maybe I had better not embarrass anyone in our government over that one.

Mind you, I am not complaining. I think that each and every person who has access to any sort of classified materials should have to undergo and pass a background investigation. That includes my boss, his boss, her boss, his boss all the way up to the top man. Yep - you guessed it. he top man in the federal Executive Branch of government - the branch by which I am employed - is the President of The United States of America. Now I understand that rank has its privileges, and although I readily admit I do not always agree with that concept I can agree that the President should have some additional privileges over the regular guy or gal. The thing is though, when it comes to National Security, there should be no quarter given to anyone regarding their worthiness of being given access to classified materials - none whatsoever. This is the whole thing I do not understand about the man who is our President Elect. He reportedly has obvious long term ties to a racist, hate mongering preacher who damned America, he reportedly has obvious long term ties to and planned part of his political career along with a known radical militant/terrorist, yet he is deemed fit to be made aware of the most secret information concerning the welfare of our nation. Sure, I know - he claims not to have known the true side of his preacher even after attending his church for about 20 years; and he claims less than friendship with a guy allegedly responsible for bombing the U.S. Capital and other places, and for killing police and injuring officer(s). Furthermore he says that he was only, what was it, 8 years old when those alleged terrorist activities of his associate took place - so how could he be responsible.

Well allow me to assure you of one thing. He is and should be held accountable for the associations that he knowledgeably makes and maintains throughout his life. He had knowledge of the alleged, and self admitted, Weather Underground Activities of William (Bill) Ayers; yet he chose him if not as a friend (as most see their relationship) then as an associate with whom he has maintained and cultivated that association over many years. If such an association was dug up in my personal history, during one of the many background investigations that have taken place during my career, and it was shown I had knowledge of the background of my associate and that said background was terrorism, what do you think would have happened to me. At the very least I would have been investigated more thoroughly. I probably would have been interrogated at length to determine the extent of my collaborations or associations with such people. In the long run, had such an association been founded, I would in all likelihood been denied my security clearance and therefore I would have been fired. This does not only hold true for me - this holds true for virtually every employee of the Executive Branch of our government. In other words every law enforcement officer, every special agent, every file clerk, every administrative assistant, every inspector, every officer, every computer operator, every mail room clerk all the way up to every director of any agency with the Executive Branch of Government. That is if of course if I had already passed my initial BGI and had gotten the job in the first place. If such information had been revealed in my initial BGI I would never have gotten the job to begin with.

So can anyone out there tell me how it is, that a man with such questionable associations can be given access to the most secret information that our government has within its files? I mean it! Give me a rational, logical, legal, answer that fully explains the regulations about how anyone can be given such information despite the fact that there seemingly is no way possible that he could pass the same BGI that I am required to pass every 5 years. In my opinion, it is an absolute failure of the system to allow this to happen. Each and every person who is given access to those secrets should have to pass, in my opinion, the same test to show they are loyal beyond a doubt and therefore are worthy of being entrusted with the same. By the way, I do not mean just the current President Elect, this should go for each and every President Elect, as well as to every politician who gains access to classified material. I bring it up now, meaning no disrespect, only because I am reminded of all this by way of my current BGI, and because of the current situation surrounding the questionable background of our President Elect - a situation I have never heard of before with regard to any President Elect throughout our Nation's history. How is it now that we, the rest of the members of the Executive Branch of our government are expected to look up to this man as our soon to be chief executive, and how is it that we are to hold ourselves to a higher standard than that to which he is held remebering, after all, he is soon to become the President? It is just baffling, but I will do my best to respect him and his office so long as he upholds The Constitution of the United States of America - the very same thing I am sworn to uphold and protect.

All the best,
Glenn B

Insomnia fanned by heartburn from hell

If I did not know better, I would suspect someone poisoned me tonight but I suffer from both of these nefarious maladies more often than I would choose to do so. Nexium be damned; it has not worked tonight and that is to my great dismay, discomfort, and lack of sleep.

All the best,
Glenn B

Gun And Ammo Order Blues

I am having little luck with orders I have placed for guns and ammo lately. First off I ordered a Yugo SKS in new condition from SAMCO last Tuesday night. Then I ordered 500 rounds of 7.62x39 HP, and 500 rounds of 7.62x39 SP from Sportsmansguide.com. The next day i realized I had lost my credit card, the one with which I had placed both orders. Luckily, or so I thought at the time, the credit card was charged for the ammo right away. As for the Yugo SKS, well SAMCO did not charge my card at the time, I suppose waiting until they processed my order.

I called SAMCO last Thursday to say I wanted to give them a different credit card number. They said wait until Monday, and to send an email. I sent them an email. They replied by Friday saying they would call me back this week to take care of the order. No one called yesterday. I called them today. They found my order, and told me they changed the card info. I asked when my order would go out and was told in another 7 to 10 days! I asked why so long and they said it was as if I had just placed my order today. The lady said maybe she could get it expedited. No one else was available, but I will call again tomorrow to see if things can get sped up.

I also saw today, when I checked my Sportsmansguide order status, that the delivery was set today for the ammo. According to the UPS tracking it was on the delivery truck by about 5:50 AM. Funny, it did not get delivered until between 1630 and 1700 (4:30PM and 5:00PM). I checked the box before letting the uPS guy leave to count the boxes of ammo, all were there this time. last time they delivered to me a few boxes of ammo were missing - apparently pilfered by someone who had cut a fine opening in the package then sealed over it to make it look as good as new. Too bad I did not look closer at the ammo boxes. Yes they were all full, but the thing is it was not the correct ammo. I ordered 500 rounds of Wolf 7.62x39 154 gr. SP and 500 rounds of Wolf 122 gr. HP. I received the HP ammo, but in the place of the SP ammo I found FMJ. I just sent an email to Sportsmansguide.com about that. They have a policy of no ammo returns, but they had best accept a return on this since I did not order what they sent to me. Hopefully they will make it right pronto, and hopefully SAMCO will send the SKS promptly so I have something out of which to shoot it all.

All the best,
Glenn B

Take A Moment To Honor Our Veterans...

...whether the veterans you honor be living or dead. Remember what our veterans have done for us: they have served for us, they have helped build and have protected our great nation, they have fought to preserve our rights and liberties, they have shed their blood for us, and many have been maimed or died for us. Next time you see a veteran - why not say thank you. In the meantime keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

All the best,
Glenn B

Shotgun Shoulder...

...is something that sooner or later effects all of us who shoot a 12 gauge shotgun. Brendan and I went to the range today. We wanted to try out the Remington 870 shotgun and the Marlin 336 in .35 Remington at a range of only 25 yards. A range somewhere between 25 and 50 yards will be the likely average distance for a shot this deer hunting season. As it turned out, Brendan shot the 12 gauge first, with full power loads. We only use 2 3/4" shells as opposed to 3 inch magnum shells, this because the gun is only chambered for them. Still though, a full power 2 3/4" 12 gauge slug gives one heck of a kick. After just a few rounds Brendan was complaining that his shoulder hurt. I try to get him to hold it the way I learned so it will not hurt, but it got him good today.

My method, the one taught to me and not one I created, is to stand square to the target, then mount the butt of the shotgun in the v formed at the end of the collar bone where it goes into the shoulder joint by raising the trigger hand elbow high as you seat the butt. I wind up with only about a couple inches of the bottom of the stock actually against my shoulder. This happens because as I mount the gun to my shoulder, I also mount it to my cheek. I do not lower my cheek to the side of the butt stock, but raise the gun to my cheek. I pull back firmly to hold it in place, step forward with my left foot (I am right handed) leaning into the gun, and then fire when all else is ready. If the gun stays in the notch I described, then there is little pain from the recoil if any. The pain from recoil usually comes from the butt being placed against muscle. Of course if you do not get it right, or if you shoot and the recoil causes the butt to come out of the notch and you do not reset before the next shot - OUCH. I'll have to see how firmly Brendan pulls the gun into the notch. I think he must not be pulling it back firmly enough because it happens fairly often that he hurts his shoulder. I don't want him getting bursitis or arthritis when it can be avoided by better technique. I'll also be purchasing Remington's new recoil pad when I can find one, supposed to greatly reduce felt recoil.


In the short video I have embedded, you can see the effects of Shotgun Shoulder and how it makes Brendan react after shooting the Marlin 336. The Marlin has some kick, the .35 Remington is no puny round, but the kick has never hurt before. Watch the video and tell me if you think it hurt him after the first shot. By the way, he was wrong when he said he thought he did not hit the target. He hit it almost dead center. He was using the scope set at either 4 or 6X, we usually shoot with it at 10X, but getting ready for the hunt I lowered the power. Easier to acquire a target at the lower setting when out in the woods, and more than enough magnification for a good shot. I would have shown you the target, both shots were within about 1/2" of each, but I ran out of memory in the camera as I was shooting the video.

Did you spot the effects of shotgun shoulder? Brendan does not normally shake off the pain like he did after that first shot. Had he not fired the shotgun several times beforehand there would have been no such reaction. By the way, note where his right elbow is when he holds the rifle. Up high, but not quite high enough to form that good notch I was talking about. The elbow should almost be pointing somewhat upwards for the shotgun (I don't recommend holding it up for a rifle).

Hopefully all Brendan will need is one shot with the Remington 870 during our deer hunt. The area we plan to hunt first is a shotgun or handgun only area. He had a one shot kill on his bear hunt, and I think if he sees a deer that presents a shot he will shoot just as well.

All the best,
Glenn

That Rare Bird...

... at least for me, was something I caught yesterday. In other words I had to work yesterday. While it has not been an unfamiliar thing for me over all the years of my career, it has become a rarer and rarer thing in recent years as I near retirement. The truly strange thing about yesterday is that I volunteered to work the day. Without going into details just let me say it was a potentially dangerous set of duties for me, as it is for all others who are doing the same thing. I would talk about it more, but am not allowed to do so. It was a fairly mundane day as far as they go if only because nothing bad happened; but I can tell you without a doubt that I was on high alert all day long. The others I worked with seemed to be fairly relaxed, but at the same time also at orange alert all day long (using the states of alert I have learned in firearms training that is the one just under red alert when the shit has actually hit the fan or is at least imminent). It certainly has a way of getting one wound up, and learning how to relax properly, as soon as you get off duty, after a day like that is nothing I have ever quite gotten the hand of. Sure you relax, over time, but you wind up taking some baggage home with you, and you need time to shake it off; someone who is understanding an cuddly helps also. I did not get any help yesterday. As a matter of fact I was up for most of the night. Slept on and off but was not able to get any solid sleep. I only crawled out of bed about an hour ago. I don't know how I did things like this when I was younger, but I did, and I slept a whole lot better then too.

This all brings to my mind an intense movie I saw recently on television called No Country For Old Men. I thought so right after watching it, and I am convinced now, that the whole moral to that story (and yes there was a moral) was that old men should retire from law enforcement because it is definitely not for them. Old men being those who are eligible to retire, and while the retirement age for law enforcement officers is pretty low you can bet you are too old for the job once you hit about 50 to 55. There is a reason for that younger retirement age. I guess it has to do with all the foul things and terrible people we see and experience over the years, and with the abuse we take, and I guess with all the abuse we do to ourselves, and I suppose with all of the odd hours we keep, and with all of the baggage we bring home to our loved ones, and all the darker deeper stuff we never tell even them about (the stuff we hide away that we do not even want to believe ourselves), and with our fears.

I am in my mid fifties. Yep, I guess retirement time is knocking at my door. I don't know if I am going to be able to make it another year as I have been planning, but not because of anything to do with what I just mentioned. You see, even with all of the kind of things I just mentioned, there is no other type of work I would rather have done for my career now that I have experienced it. As a matter of fact, there is no other work I would rather do right now, and no other purpose that I would choose to fulfill than the most basic purpose of my job. That is exactly why I volunteered for a potentially dangerous assignment. It is not that I am unconsciously suicidal or anything like that; I take the prudent precautions that some others do not (such as wearing my body armor yesterday), practicing what I have learned in training often, trying to stay somewhat in shape (not doing to well there lately), and so on. No, the reason I like it is because there truly is no other job, no other adventure, quite like it. I still enjoy the actual down and dirty work. Once I get down to the bottom line of my work, once all the paperwork, all the politically correct bullshit, all of the rules are covered, my job is one of the most interesting, one of the most adventurous, one of the most enjoyable jobs that anyone could have. Well that is not quite right, because not just anyone was cut out for it, but you get my drift - it is the best type of job for those who actually choose it for their career and stick with it because they like it and because they realize the purpose of it. Hemingway was right in what he said about the manhunt, though I don't suppose he really understood the underlying reasons as to why someone would choose to hunt men, he sought only the thrill and not the fulfillment of the purpose.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter."

Hunting for men is the ultimate challenge whether they be armed or not; and when you come right down to the bottom line that is my job but for a purpose. That in its simplest terms being stopping bad men from doing bad. I will admit though I don't get to do it as much now as some years back, and I miss that part of it. Yet as I said, Hemingway was right and I can attest to that. In all, I have been doing it for some 29 years now and the actual hunt of bad men, the challenge of it, still fills my soul with a purpose as simple as good prevailing over evil. It makes for one heck of an adventure, and in my eyes the life of a lawman is the ultimate adventure. No Country For Old Men?- Hmm, I may not yet be quite that old, not just yet.

All the best,
Glenn B

Gun Sales Up Over Gun Grabbing Fears - and Yes I Will...

...tell you that I told you so. As a matter of fact, I told you so here:

http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/11/exercise-your-liberties-and-freedoms.html

Before I told you so, I was busy ordering 1,000 rounds of 7.62x39 ammo, and a new Yugo SKS as I wrote about here:

http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/11/have-been-busy-ordering.html

And right before that I had told you that Obama was projected as the winner of the election and that I had no time to write about it because I had to do some shopping, I said that here:

http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/11/fox-news-has-called-it-for-president.html

The sad thing is I do not have enough ready cash to order more firearms. I still may have to order some on plastic and pay the piper, or would that be the money grubbing banker, those high interest rates for credit card purchases. Oh well.

Hopefully the order for the Yugo SKS will not fall through. I lost my credit card right after ordering it, and have since had to cancel it, and VISA will be sending me new ones. Of course SAMCO had not gotten around to charging my card for the rifle I ordered. I called them and they said to send an email about the problem telling them how i wanted to pay. I sent the email asking them to call for my AMEX number once they get to my order. Funny, for some reason they are backlogged several days on orders!

If you think that the fears of those whom are stocking up on firearms and ammo like there will be no tomorrow, or at least like there will be no right to keep and bear arms tomorrow, are unfounded fears - then just let me tell you - you are wrong. Here is an exact quote (boldface added by me) from the web site of Change.Gov, the web site of (yes you guessed) the President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama:

"Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets." (source: http://change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy/, about 3/4 of the way down the page under Crime and Law Enforcement)

Weapons, including so called assault weapons, belong just as much on our streets, and in our homes, and in the hands of We The People, as they belong on foreign battlefields. Why? Well, because the 2nd Amendment was added to The Bill of Rights in order to make sure that it would never be forgotten that We The People have the power to overthrow any government that would resort to tyranny. How could a government today resort to tyranny and use it to put down the people? By taking away their firearms, the same ones meant to prevent tyrants from oppressing us. This is the way it commences each time a tyrant comes to power. If you do not believe me then check the history books about Georgia, Cambodia, Russia, The Soviet Union, at least a dozen countries in Africa, Venezuela, China, North Korea, and so forth. Don't believe the bull crap that they want to restrict firearms ownership to fight crime. Just look to England, Australia, and France to see that tough gun control laws do not work - heck look no further than Washington, DC where the strictest gun control laws in our nation were in effect and the violent crime rate just kept going up, up and up. Why - because citizens could not defend themselves and criminals knew that. look to Texas to see how violent crime, and the numbers of violent crime victims fell. Why?" Because of the fact that not only can citizens of Texas carry firearms, but they are allowed to shoot bad guys with them to for so much as the bad guys breaking into their homes.

Look at the rest of the drivel they wrote. Of what Gun Show Loophole do they speak. There are no Gun Show Loopholes; there is only excessive restriction put on sales of forearms between individuals at Gun Shows. Why do I need to have a NICS check run on someone to whom I sell a single gun at a gun show when I do so as a private citizen, and when I do not need to do the same when I sell that gun to the same person anywhere else? On another issue why will my guns have to be made childproof when my car, my matches, my oven, my stove, my refrigerator, my steak knives, my bow and arrows, my booze, my power tools, my electrical outlets, my razor blades, and on and on and on do not have to be made childproof?

Folks all I have to say after reading that, and remember how Barack Hussein Obama tried to pass himself off as a friend of firearms owners and a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, is that you ought to be afraid of this man - very afraid. If you voted for him, you were out of your minds. Yeah, I know I said we need to show him respect, but guess what, I also said until he shows he does not deserve it any longer. First with his appointment of the biggest hate monger in DC as his chief of staff, and now with this website he has proven to me he is not worthy of that respect except as I need to show it to him as a member of the executive branch of the government. Yes I will show all DUE respect to him as his position calls for as part of my employment, but that is about it. I will not respect policies to reinstate the Assault Weapons ban, to disarm lawful American Citizens, to make a mockery of the 2nd Amendment, or to turn this nation into a tyrannical and oppressive government. I will do everything legally in my power to oppose him and to prevent him from doing these things. As I recall he will be sworn to uphold The Constitution, not to deface or destroy it or any part of it.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Need Suggestions For Prizes

For those of you who enter Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament, I ask that you give me some suggestions as what you would think would make some decent prizes. Please try ot keep it under $15, closer to $10 would be better (when you figure I am going into my own pocket for the prizes and for the shipping, I think you can understand why I want to keep this affordable).

There have got to be a gazillion shooting accessories or supplies out there, in that price range, that folks could find useful; but I am interested to hear from you as to what you think would be some decent prizes.

Some things I am already considering are:

A bottle of Breakfree CLP

A Nylon Holster (I'll pick the size, even if you don't have a gun for it you can trade it)

A cleaning mat

Scope rings

Cleaning kit

Nylon gun rag (case)

Box of ammo (you will have to be 21 or older if I offer that one)

Gun Book

Hunting book

Bore Light

Let me know if you have some other ideas for prizes.

All the best,
Glenn B.

Foot Locker Full of Ammo

Well, I went ahead and got a count of all of the boxes of ammunition inside of my ammo locker which just happens to be a mid to late 1940's foot locker. Without giving a hint as to how many boxes of ammo are in there, that would ruin the contest, let me just say that I was surprised by just what was the number of boxes. One thing I will tell you is how I counted. I counted each full and partial box as one box of ammo. When it came to boxes within boxes, I counted only the inner boxes that actually contained the ammo. In other words, if there was a brick of .22LR, and it was full, then I counted 10 boxes because there are 10 boxes in each full brick. Likewise for collectors ammo in tin boxes, I only counted the boxes of ammo inside the outer box.

Now two people have already entered, and without telling you what they guessed, I can say pretty much for a fact that my telling you how I counted will not have effected whether or not there guesses were close to the correct number, that is unless all others guess around the same numbers as did they. If that happens then I'll figure out what to do, probably a name pull from a hat. My bet though is that someone else will guess much closer to the actual number, and it will not matter how I counted.

Take a look at the link, then give it your best shot. Good luck.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament - Contest 2

Okay folks, this is it: Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament - Contest 2. To enter this contest, follow all rules that are listed within this particular blog post, and all rules found in the right hand column of my blog page under the header: Ballseye's Firearms' Accessories Tournament Rules (yes this is a clickable link to those rules).

This time around the prize for the winner of this contest will be a ClearI 4x32 Range estimating Scope (that is what it is called on the outside of the box anyway). This fine nice piece of shooting optics was manufactured in China (where else?) and distributed in the good old U.S. of A. by Clearview Investments, Inc. of Versailles, KY. Yes that is it in the pic to the above. It comes as is, which right now is as new in the box, but no guarantee or warranty from me, and no accounting as to what may take place in shipping - though I will try to package it well.

In order to enter this contest, Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament Contest 2, please send me an email telling me your best guess as to how many boxes of ammunition are contained within the trunk today November 6, 2008 as pictured in the photo of the trunk in this blog post. The person coming closest to the actual amount of boxes of ammunition within the trunk (as in the trunk today, as counted by me today, and regardless of any change to the number of boxes after today) will be the winner. See general rules in sidebar to right regarding ties and other important information. You must be 18 or older to enter this contest, and I will require a copy of government issued photo ID be emailed to me (such as copy of driver's license) by the winner in order to claim this prize. If you do not comply with that and all other rules you are ineligible to win the prize, but they should be pretty easy to comply with. General Rules: Ballseye's Firearms' Accessories Tournament Rules. Winner will be selected and announced on or about ThanksGiving Day 2008. You can enter the contest up until 10:00 AM EST on Thanksgiving 2008 (U.S. Thanksgiving).

Hopefully I will be holding these contests the first week of every month, but look more often because I may also hold another contest at mid-month now and then.

Good luck,

Glenn B

My Congratulations To President Elect Obama

Well we fought the good fight, but he whooped our candidate, and us, in the electoral vote, not so much in the popular vote, but certainly enough to win. So in the spirit of being an American I must offer my congratulations to President Elect Obama. I can only hope I will not force myself to eat those words later. Yes that means I am not optimistic about the outlook for our country under President Obama, but I will in the best of spirit of being a citizen of the United States of America respect my president (president elect), as you should too, even though many of us will probably disagree with him and the great majority of his policies. So long as he upholds the Constitution and honestly tries to do the best he can for our great nation, then he deserves that respect as president (or as president elect as he is now). Time will tell for how long he deserves it.

He is our president elect. He will become, in a couple of months, our president. He will then be our president for at least 4 years. Live with it, get used to it. Keep letting your voices be heard though because that is your legacy from your freedom loving forefathers, it is your right and even your duty as citizens. As you move along through the next 4 years, you will have plenty of time to support him, criticize him, or damn him depending upon his performance. You will also have plenty of time to prepare for the 2012 elections. Think about that and do what is needed to be done in order to assure a strong nation with free citizens who enjoy their rights and liberties under our Constitution.

I also wish to offer my condolences to John McCain and his hopes to attain the presidency. To the Republican party all I can say is get your fucking act together better luck next time; and remember - you make your own luck.

All the best,
Glenn B

EXERCISE YOUR LIBERTIES AND FREEDOMS NOW...

...while you still have them to exercise. I refer especially to your liberties and rights pertaining to firearms and ammunition ownership. Obama was one of the most anti-gun senators of all times, and if you do not think that he will make plans to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban, and probably do even worse than that, then you are either a fool or someone without the capacity for logical thought (hmm, I suppose those two things are the same).

I think you should have already taken a hint from my last two posts and gotten round to action already; but in case you are slow to get going, or if you just cannot see a hint when it is right there in front of your face, then allow me to be blunt:

GO OUT NOW AND BUY AS MANY FIREARMS, AND THE AMMUNITION FOR THEM, AS YOU CAN AFFORD. CHANCES ARE THAT PRETTY SOON FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION SALES WILL SKYROCKET CAUSING PRICES TO GO UP. FURTHERMORE, THE CHANCES ARE ALSO VIRTUALLY A SURE THING THAT SOON AFTER OBAMA IS ORDAINED HOLY SAVIOR OF MANKIND SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT, LEGISLATION WILL BE PASSED SWIFTLY TO SEVERELY CURTAIL OUR RIGHTS WITH REGARDS TO FIREARMS OWNERSHIP.

If you don't get it by now, then I suppose you never will, but I'll try to explain it one more time briefly: The right to keep and bear arms is the most important one we have. Without it, and without our ability to protect our freedoms, rights and liberties, the government will be able to place the yoke of servitude upon us. That is not the American way. In the U.S. of America it is the government that is supposed to serve the people and not the other way around; but from what I have heard during Obama's campaign he sees that the other way around. Heavens help us!

All the best,
Glenn B

Have Been Busy Ordering...

...things like 7.62x39 ammunition. I went on the Sportsmansguide.com site and I ordered:

1. Wolf® 7.62 x 39 122 Gr. HP 500 rds. Product: WX2-54048 In Stock. Quantity: 1, Unit Price: $109.22, Total Price: $109.22

2. Wolf® 7.62x39 154 Gr. SP 500 rds. Product: WX2-73974 In Stock. Quantity: 1, Unit Price: $113.97, Total Price: $113.97

That works out like this:

Payment Information:----------------------------------------------------------------------Merchandise Total: $223.19
Shipping and Handling: $17.49Shipping Method: [Ground]
Coupon: [SN441] - $10.00
---------------------------------------------==============-----------
* Grand Total: $230.68

That will give me over somewhere over 2,000 rounds on hand. Hopefully they have it in stock. I will probably also order another 1,000 rounds of it in 122 grain FMJ.

Now I only own one rifle to shoot that ammo. We thought Brendan also would have had a Saiga in 7.62x39 by now, but the gun store that told us they had it today told Brendan they sold it. Those rotten dirt bags, I do not know how they stay in business. had us calling them for almost 2 full weeks, telling us each time they were looking for it in their basement stockpile, and that it was in stock for sure, then tell us they sold it. I called and gave them a bit of my mind. The other guy who was suppose to get some in said his planned for ones never arrived.

So what to do with all that ammo and one Yugo through which to shoot it. Well, I just ordered another Yugo from SAMCO. It is supposedly in NEW condition, and it cost $249.95 plus shipping of $20.50. I hope they have my C&R license on file or this could become a hassle. I sent my C&R to them back in June or July when I ordered a Spanish Mauser from them (that was on back order and has not yet been filled). Hopefully the Yugo order will be filled without delay, so I get one. You can bet they are in short supply, and will sell out soon at inflated prices (yes I know the price is already inflated).

So there goes $501.13 that I know was well earned money, and that I think is well well spent money too. At least that much of my pie will not get redistributed.

Anyone know a good source for cosomoline?

All the best,
Glenn B

Fox News Has Called It For President Obama

Sorry no time to comment other than to say "fuck it". For now I am going to be busy placing orders on things for which prices will soon skyrocket.

All the best,
GB

Political Humor

I don't know who wrote the following, oir when it was written, but I just received it in an email with no credits given. I will give credit in saying this about the for now anonymous author - he or she sure knows how to write a joke that explains just how I feel right about now:

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. "Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the senator.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his
hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.
Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises ...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above...

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

"I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says.......

"Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted."

I tip my virtual hat to the author.

All the best,
Glenn B

VOTE

I CANNOT TELL YOU FOR WHOM TO VOTE, I CANNOT SUGGEST YOU VOTE FOR ONE CANDIDATE OR THE OTHER. I CAN TELL YOU THIS: I WILL VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN AND SARAH PALIN. WHY? BECAUSE THEY HAVE CONVINCED ME THEY ARE THE ONES WHO WILL BE BEST FOR OUR GREAT NATION. YOU HAVE TO MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND AND VOTE HOW YOUR CONSCIENCE TELLS YOU TO DO SO. HOPEFULLY YOU ARE MAKING AN INFORMED DECISION AND ARE OVERLOOKING THE HYPE AND THE ABSOLUTE TWADDLE THAT HAS BEEN RAINED DOWN UPON US FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS NOW.

SO VOTE TODAY. VOTE ON THE ISSUES, WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THEM, AND WITH A LEVEL HEAD, USING LOGIC OVER EMOTION, FOR THE CANDIDATE YOU BELIEVE TO BE THE BETTER CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE YOU LOGICALLY THINK WILL BE BETTER PREPARED TO STEP INTO THE ROLE OF PRESIDENT, FOR THE PERSON WHO YOU BELIEVE WILL BE BETTER ABLE TO FACE ANY CRISIS THAT MAY ARISE, FOR THE PERSON YOU BELIEVE WILL GET THE JOB DONE FOR AMERICANS AND AMERICA WHILE UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FOR THE PERSON WITH THE BETTER CREDENTIALS, FOR THE PERSON WHO HAS THE BETTER RECORD OF DOING GOOD FOR AMERICA, FOR THE PERSON WHO YOU THINK WILL CARE FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MORE OR BETTER THAN THE OTHER. I HAVE MADE MY DECISION, YOU NEED TO MAKE YOURS. LET'S HOPE WE, AS A NATION, CHOOSE WISELY.

All the best,
Glenn B

This Guy Should Have Run McCain's Campaign

Wow, what a video. This guy is Zo from Macho Sauce Productions; he is great, I'd like to meet him and throw back a few brews with him on my dime.

All the best,
Glenn B

Preparations For A Safe Deer Hunt

Deer season is almost upon us and if you are a deer hunter then you hopefully have already picked a place to hunt that will hold a decent deer population. I used to do almost all my deer hunting on my uncle's farm near Windsor, NY but since he sold the farm several years ago I now have to hunt on public lands. Thankfully NYS has a good amount of public hunting land, and also has Cooperative Areas that are privately owned but which have been opened to the public, by nice land owners, for hunting. This year as in the past several years I will be hunting on public land owned by the state. Brendan will be hunting with me. Will we be going to a State Forest, specifically a Multiple Use Area.

As a matter of fact I have been up there a few times now to scout out the area for deer sign. Yesterday I made what was probably my final scouting trip to the area. On the first trip, back at the very beginning of September (the Labor Day Weekend) I picked out what I thought would be a good spot to set up a stand. I marked off the stand, and a trail leading to it from the highway with reflective thumb tacks. That way, when walking to the stand at oh-dark-thirty (probably around 0430AM) we will be able to see the trail easily with our Mini Mag Lights illuminating those tacks, which are made specifically for that purpose. The spot I picked is not one that looks all that much like a text book example of a good location for a deer stand. Why not? Well, I suppose because it is not right on the edge of a clearing, and because there are a lot of saplings and bushes to make getting a clear shot not all that easy, and because it simply does not look like the best of spots. The thing is though it is a good spot for deer albeit one that will make a shot difficult because of the undergrowth.

Why is it a good spot. Well it is adjacent to a small field that deer frequent coming and going on their way in and out of the forest. That field is full of deer sign, the best being a well used deer trail that leads right into the area of our stand. I don't think that the deer stop in that clearing to eat what they can find. There was a lot of deer droppings as evidence of that. They also probably go through this way to the farm field a bit further down the hill and across the highway. I have seen them there, saw one there on my first scouting trip. Another reason that it is a good spot is because it is a transition point between the field and the heavier forest above where the deer bed down, and where they also can find an abundance of things to eat like acorns. Furthermore it is a good spot because it acts as sort of a funnel for the deer as it is a relatively easy place for them to make that transition from the lowland to the higher elevated forest. Yes there are a lot of saplings, but almost no brambles that are all around the rest of that small clearing I mentioned. That is important, deer and other animals usually like to take paths of least resistance. This area has had a lot of deer traffic, there were a lot of dropping around to make that evident. There is one other reason I thought this a good area. There was a nice sized couple of scrapes, one under a Hemlock or other evergreen tree, and one a bit further down the deer trail. They are both active scrapes; and I can only hope a bow hunter does not take the deer that made them before I get a shot at it in the regular season. Now I suppose I am setting myself up for that chance by writing this blog, but there is always a chance someone will see my stand and make use of it before the regular deer season (firearms season). I set up our stand about 25 yards from that spot. Since the area is shotgun or pistol only, that is a good distance considering the undergrowth.

Below, I have embedded a video (part one of two) of the stand I set up for our hunt. We will be hunting from the ground either sitting against trees or standing (or maybe sitting in a nice portable chair since this is not all that far from the road and a chair would be easy to bring in). The main point of the video is not so much to show why I think the area is a good one in which to set up a stand, but rather to show the precautions I have taken to assure we have a safe hunt. Safety is paramount when hunting, and I want to make darned sure that when on public property, the other hunters in the area will realize we are there. Of course we will wear hunting clothing with lots of blaze orange (yes deer are color blind), but I have also placed a lot of blaze orange tape on trees around the stand. Those markers are all temporary mind you, and before we leave for the season I will take all of them down. I placed them in a perimeter around the stand so that other hunters will have lots of warning that we are nearby. It is not like it is private property so I suppose that someone could just show up there and plop himself or herself right down where we intend to hunt but I am hopeful that other hunters who may scout or hunt the area are respectful of all the effort I went through to set up that area for use by Brendan and I.

As you watched the video, I guess it was pretty apparent that you could see the marker tape from a distance, and that it showed up very well against the background. Anyone who hunts deer or other wild big-game animals with firearms from a stand who does not mark the stand area like this is, in my opinion, being quite foolish. There are only a few exceptions where I would not mark and area in a similar fashion, and one would be predator hunting where camouflage is key to a successful hunt. Turkey hunting also requires the hunter to be camouflaged, but I have seen many successful turkey hunters who use this tape around their stand for safety. As far as deer hunting goes, I think you are being less than a safe and responsible hunter if you fail to use a lot of blaze orange. It does not guarantee there will not be a hunting accident, but it sure increases the odds toward having a safe hunt.

All the best,

Glenn B

Balleseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament 1.1 Winner

Yes folks we have a winner in Balleseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament 1.1. There were only 6 entrants who ventured a guess as to what was the mystery item, and while two contestants came close with guesses that is was a Glock grip they were still a bit of center mass. The one and only correct answer came from Bill Hatfield of Altonna, PA who guessed that it was a "Glock magazine loading tool". For his correct entry, Bill wins the cleaning kit I showed in the post about the contest; and I'll be mailingit out to him this week. Congratulations to Bill, and thanks to the rest of you who joined in the contest.

By the way, even though the contest only had 6 entries, I think I'll keep it going for a while at least. I imagine that with time the number of entrants in each contest will grow. I do not know yet what the contest will be, but I do have some ideas; now I'll have to dig up a prize. Maybe a nice nylon holster, maybe not; but whatever it is it will be a gun related accessory.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Powerful Video - A Powerful Message

As my friend Dennis M said when he emailed me the link to this video, I also will say: I have to hand it to the Catholic Church for putting out the video for which I supply the link below. Sorry I cannot because of restrictions placed on the use of this video reproduce it here. However, I can and am giving you a link to the site that has what is one of the most powerful videos about voting that I have ever seen. Once upon a time, I used to be a Catholic, but the Church and I have since parted ways. Still though, this video speaks to me, as it should to most people who hold some sort of moral values within themselves, and that applies whether you are Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Mormon, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic or even an atheist.

Yes it mostly speaks about catholic values, but the ones they mention are also shared, with the same level of importance as given in the film, to some great extent by just about everyone on the planet. That is except maybe by ultra liberals, ultra conservatives, or out and out psychos. Watch it and you will see what I mean; and be aware beforehand that it is a powerful piece of visionary work that just may get you to make sure to vote on election day.

http://www.catholicvote.com/

I hope they keep this video on their home page so it is easy to find, it truly is worth watching.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy Halloween

Here is my entry for a Halloween scare:

Ballseye's Firearms Training & Tactics - My Way Or The Highway Absolutes...

...are just about absolute bullshit balderdash when it comes to training someone in how to use a firearm, and when it comes to using one to protect yourself. Whether or not you should aim with your sights in a gunfight is a real hot question among firearms instructors, shooters, law enforcement officers, gun bloggers, and so one. It simply amazes me that so many folks will either argue yes you should virtually always use your sights (except when in contact distance with your adversary), or no you should not use them in almost all situations out to 25 yards. Now I realize everyone has an opinion, heck what I am about to write is going to be my opinion. Yet, just like everyone has a behind, they do not need to show off their behinds to everyone as if their behinds were perfect in size and form. Neither does anyone need to make their opinion known to everyone as if it was as absolute fact. That is especially so when it is out and out factually and tactically wrong as to its absoluteness. When someone does that it is just so much testosterone or estrogen driven balderdash.

A blog I was reading got off track of the sight thing, and wound up making, what is, in my opinion, an over generalized statement, a statement of absoluteness regarding your, my, any one's competence to carry firearms. When someone in essence tells us that you have no business carrying a firearms for self defense if you can not get a hit on target with each and every shot you fire, well I get fired up and take a shot at statements like that. Of course that statement was made with the implication behind it that if you use your sights you would not miss. A person who tells you a thing like that, and who implies the other, is telling you their opinion but in such a way as to make it an absolute. Opinions are not absolutes. My guess is that the person telling you such is either an self-inflated pompous blowhard, or is someone who means well but does not have enough practical training and or experience to know otherwise. I have received a lot of firearms training, and I have been there and done that practical experience wise more than once and even my opinion is not an absolute.

I have been shooting handguns for over 29 years. I have received distinguished expert status with them many a time. I have attended several firearms training courses. Some of them, in rough chronological order, were: U.S. Border Patrol Academy, a California Highway Patrol tactical course, U.S. Customs Patrol Academy, NRA Police Firearms Instructor training (rifle, shotgun and pistol), U.S. Customs Investigator Training Academy, NYPD Armed Encounter Training, U.S. Customs Service MP-5 Submachine-gun training, NYPD Tactical Entry Training, U.S. Customs Service MP-5 Submachine-gun Instructor training, U.S. Customs Service Firearms Instructor Recertification training, Federal Air Marshal Training. I also have received firearms training at least 4 times per year in each of those 29 years, and that is in addition to the above mentioned training courses that I attended. The quarterly training includes such things as weapons retention, weapons take away, cover and concealment, officer down, one handed reloading, defense against a knife attack, low light shooting, push off shooting, hip shooting, point shooting, and tactical exercises using the aforementioned techniques. Overall, I was a firearms range officer and firearms instructor for about 14 years, and have been training and shooting on my job for over 29 years. Those are my credentials training wise.

I also have limited practical experience. I have drawn my gun on several occasions, thankfully without having to fire it. Sadly though I have also been forced to fire my gun at least three times in self defense. The first time was in the line of duty, and I missed the guy at whom I was shooting. Funny how no one, and I mean absolutely no one at the time, even suggested that I was not worthy of carrying a gun because my shot had missed. Second time was a warning shot. Yep, a strictly forbidden by the Border Patrol firearms policy warning shot, and according to my Patrol Agent In Charge when interviewed by the press, it saved my life as far as he could tell. The third time I shot in a scary situation, well let's just say that is how I got the name Ballseye. Each time I was in those situations it was scary.

The first time I was almost blinded; but luckily only had the slightest scratch on the white of my eye and inside my lower eyelid rim. I was under attack from 5 or 7 guys throwing rocks and chunks of concrete at me, and they came darned close to hurting me badly when one piece hit my windshield and glass went in my face. My vehicle stalled and I was broadside to them. I was scared and my vision was blurry - but I took the best opportunity I had to save myself from serious bodily harm or death. I aimed in and fired. What would you have done? Was I wrong to have done so? I actually had my shot aimed in and the guy moved just as I fired because he was throwing another rock at me and I missed. Yeah it was darned difficult with the glass in my eyes, but I was able to aim with the sights and cranked one off. I was found to have been 100% justified. I was not even required to attend any remedial firearms training. Can you imagine that.

The second time time I fired my weapon in self defense was not at a guy but just over his head, actually aiming at the side of a concrete building. Close to his head though, I saw his hair go swoosh from the muzzle blast. Why? Darned if I know why I gave him that warning shot. Maybe because he was unarmed. I do know that I was already hurting bad at that point. I had several minutes prior had one hell of a fight with a guy I was arresting, and he drop kicked me from his position on a fence a few times in my chest. I got him though after whacking him several times with my portable radio as he tried to entangle me in the barbed wire at the top of the International Boundary Fence. Then, the guy whose hair I had not yet parted with the warning shot, and a few of his amigos in crime tried to get my prisoner away from me and in doing so beat me up pretty good. So I had gotten two good beatings, and was feeling pretty miserable, and probably not thinking to well at the time. Funny though, wound up I did not have a noticeable bruise on me when I went to the hospital that night, just some redness and a scratch or two. It was one heck of a couple of beatings though I can assure of that. Next day I did cough up copious amounts of blood from the beating I had taken, and was diagnosed with a fractured sternum, then with a fractured Zyphoid Process, then with nothing if only because the docs were aresehats. My sternum and Zyphoid process had both been cracked as I learned later for sure.

So when this guy came at me the second time, and was urging his buddies to come and get me a second time, but this time to kill me, why a warning shot? I do not know for sure. I was young, I was scared, I did not want to have to kill anyone, I hoped with all my might that he would run away and so would the other guys, and I think that somewhere in that jumble of fast moving thoughts that course through your gray cells at such a time I figured if I shot him maybe it would enrage the others and they would kill me but if I scared him off they would be scared off too, and I had been beaten up and was feeling like shit and not thinking right. I fired, he fled as fast as any man I have ever seen run, climb a fence, and run some more. His buddies, they fled too. It worked, but I now would not recommend it, and I would probably never do it again. Next time - two to the chest and maybe one to the head.

The third time, the shot with which I connected, I was off duty and out for a walk. Two guys pull up in a car, one gets out with a crumpled up sweater in his hands, pulls the sweater back with one hand and exposes a rifle barrel. Then he says: "Don't move mother fucker". I was just about shitting myself because it looked to me as if a guy had just leveled a 30 caliber rifle barrel at my gut and told me what he did. It was obvious I was in a life threatening situation and was about to get hurt badly. So what did I do. I moved, so did he he, I shot without ever getting the pistol anywhere near the level of my eyes to sight it in. I shot almost as soon as the gun cleared leather and was pointed at the bad guy. Guess what, I hit him too, or to be exact the bullet hit him. Yes it wound up giving me the name Ballseye because of where it hit him. Went in his right thigh, deflected to his left. Yes it came out of the thigh and kept going, right into his scrotum, then exited the sack, and then entered the left thigh and traveled down toward his knee where it lodged. Was it the best placed shot in the world - nope, but it stopped him from doing me harm, and I suppose gave his cousin who was his accomplice second thoughts too. My second shot definitely gave the cousin second thoughts and even though the round was demolished by hitting the windshield, he took off in the car in reverse.


Would I have been a really bad guy who did not deserve to carry a gun had I missed the shot altogether - hell no. Would it been bad had I killed an innocent person a block away, sure it would have. Would I have been justified in having shot without using my sights even if the result had been an outright miss with maybe a hit on an unintended target. Yes I would have been justified even if the result had been a bad one. Why, because I had been trained to shoot without using sights close in. I was trained to shoot like that for speed when needed and this guy had the drop on me. I was trained to shoot like that to avoid having my gun taken away and this guy was close to me. Less than 7 yards, probably closer than 3 yards, maybe as close as about 7 feet. It was hard to tell once the adrenalin got flowing and to tell the truth it has been so long I have forgotten what I thought back then about distance except he was too darned close to me. I shot, I hit him, just as trained for doing. Nope not a great shot for a paper target or a competitive pistol match, not one at at center mass, but by using vertical tracking and firing as soon as I had cleared leather it hit him, and it hit him hard and hurt him badly - no sights involved in how I aimed - but yes it was a form of aiming. If I had fired a second shot at him by vertically tracking up to center of mass, as I did track with the pistol, I would likely have killed him but it was almost instantly obvious he was not as much a threat as he had just been a moment before, so I avoided making the mistake of tunnel vision and looked to his accomplice who was just turning in his seat to exit their car with a handgun in his right hand. Another shot fired, this one hitting the windshield of the car right at the level of the driver's head somehow, and both fled. I never used my sights as I recall although the second shot was point shooting if I remember right.

Could I have missed. Sure I could have. Would it have been due to me not using my sights, I think not. It would more likely have been due to the absolute super rush of adrenalin in my system, or to the fact that my sphincter muscles were squeezing together hard to hold in my bowel contents (the pucker factor), or because some other muscle group was keeping me from wetting my pants, or simply because I was scared almost shitless and wanted to run away or cry like a baby. What if I had used my sights. The split second more to raise my pistol to eye level, and the couple to few more moments to focus on the sights and align them on target, and then squeeze one off would likely have gotten me killed if the guy had a real gun, and it would also have allowed his cousin time enough to get the drop on me. It turned out the first guy was holding a pipe making it look like a gun. Pretty convincing too because it had about a .30 hole in the end of it. Oh well. I did it right, and I got him, and I was unharmed by either him with his fake gun, or his cousin with his real revolver. Yes it was real. Wound up they had robbed someone before me, and that guy described to police the bullets he had seen in the chambers of the cylinder of the revolver.

Now before you go and start accusing me of blowing my own horn, or of being full of myself, allow to to tell you why I pointed out all of the above about myself. It is because that is my training and experience, well some of it. I have lots more experience using guns as when going on raids and such but thankfully not having to shoot them. Those are my qualifications so to speak. With my qualifications in mind - I think I am somewhat qualified to say what I am about to say.

Folks I just cannot stress enough there are practical times not to use sights, and practical times to use sights. Just because someone is more than arms reach away from you does not make it necessarily so that you use your sights. Just because someone is an arms reach away, or 3, or 4, or 6, or 9, or even 21 feet away does not always make it safe for you to bring your gun up and out in front of you to use the sights. Anyone who tells you that you should always use your sights at any of those distance is, I think, foolish. It may be great for shooting holes into paper, but it can be something very different when facing a bad guy.

Sure, you should learn how to shoot first using your sights. Then once you are a fair to good shooter that way you should graduate to learn how to point shoot. Then once you are pretty fair to good at that, learn how to shoot from the hip (no like like in old west movies at a guy 30 feet away but as in when you do not want to offer your pistol to the bad guy who is close enough to grab it), and learn how to do push off shooting. Learn some honest to goodness self defense shooting for all ranges from touching your opponent to out to at least 25 yards away. Get training from a certified tactical instructor, or at least someone who had such a certification in the past. They will show you more than one way to plug a scoundrel who is apparently intent on doing serious bodily harm to you. That will include when to use sights and when not to use them and you will learn there can be various times that the two methods can overlap and you need to decide to use sights or not to use them based upon your own best assessment of the situation as it is happening. By learning varying methods you are allowing for yourself to be able to improvise among those methods when you need to based upon any situation in which you may find yourself.

Try to stay away from all the all knowing testosterone or estrogen driven super gun guru types who generalize about such situations. You know the type, the ones who claim to know it all, and claim or imply that they are worthy of carrying a gun because they can hit anything at which they shoot each and every time they shoot, and who wind up telling you that it is absolutely their way or no way. They may just get themselves or you killed. The thing about shooting in defensive situations is that there is usually more than one way, and are sometimes several ways to do it. You may also find though practical experience that you will be able - after being trained well - to improvise upon your training and come up with a solutions that will work in situations that were not addressed in your training. No I do not mean one single solution that will work in each and every situation, but that by having learned varying methods you will have allowed for yourself to be able to improvise among those methods when you need to based upon many a situation in which you may find yourself, even those for which you have not specifically trained.

Before you can do that you need to realize that you cannot improvise based upon your experience and training if your training and experience have been to do the same exact thing each and every time. You see, in the real world the solutions may be a bit different each time just as are the situations in which you may find yourself. Will that solution ever wind up being the absolute one way that some firearms guru type has insisted is the only way? Sure it will - maybe even more times than not - but you probably can safely bet your last pair of clean undies that when you are in a situation that makes the pucker factor fail it will not happen exactly that absolute one way. The law of averages is just not wired that way, and a check of the facts surrounding a large number of shootings will bear me out on this one. A different day, different time of day, different place, different attacker, different number of antagonists, different lighting, different weather, different distances, different positions, different weapons, and so on, will make each and every situation, and your response(s) to it, different. Heck you may have taken a fall in a bad encounter and bent your front sight - what would you do then if you only knew how to shoot by sighting in. Think it cannot happen - well if that is what you want to believe keeping thinking that way, but only think that way if you lead a charmed life. If Murphy is one of your buddies though, then be prepared for the worst.

So why not make yourself ready for that worst case scenario, or that different set of circumstances, and go out and sign up for some self defense handgun training. Then once you have completed the first course sign up for another with another instructor at a different range, or at least for a different level of instruction from the same instructor if you cannot find another instructor. If the instructor is worth what you are paying for the course you will learn a bunch of different ways to shoot using and not using your sights, and if he does not teach you along those lines - well then look for another instructor and see what he or she teaches you. The varying methods they teach you, combined with a little bit of smarts and good situational assessment by you, combined with a lot of practice on your part, may someday keep your undies clean, and you from bleeding, because you got it right before you were all puckered out and all shot up.

All the best,
Glenn B