So How Smart Do You Really Think You Are?

Here is a site that you can spend a few hours seeing how smart you really are on. http://www.funtrivia.com/

Or if you need some questions for a party or class...

Update of Random Items in My Head

I haven't blogged in awhile but of course have had several things bouncing around in my cranium.

If you are going to sign you child up to play on a sports team be committed to the cause. You are teaching the child dedication to a team. You are teaching responsibility. This soccer season has taught this volunteer coach a few things...

Fall is my favorite season of the year. The cool clear air is ideal for working outside. Saturday I marshalled the troops and we took care of a few dead standing trees that were just waiting for a good wind storm to make a mess. This way I could kind of control where they fell. I have plenty of firewood. The shed is full and we are stacking the over-run behind it.

There is a place near home we call "Thousand Acres." It has been an undeveloped place where people can take their dogs without a leash. It is more than 1000 acres. Years ago it was used as range land for cattle. It is north of I-84 and east of the Sandy River. Over a year ago I noticed some construction going on there. I had heard that some public entity was in control of the land and "making improvements." We take our dogs there about once a year just cause. We've been there twice lately as a Sunday afternoon hike with the canines. The US Forest Service is the controlling entity we've discovered. Now there are signs, maps, rules and tax dollars being tossed around freely. There are gravel trails, an elevated platform with plastic wood decking and stainless steel accessories and of course outhouses.

The platform is in a spot that would be a nice view point on the Columbia River but it is behind a bunch of trees blocking the view. The other odd thing is that the platform is circular and there are 10 foot 2x6's standing verically radiating outward around the perimeter with the edge of each board embossed with the name of a plant or animal that Lewis & Clark observed or discovered. So you can't really see out from this platform. Mind you this thing is about a mile and a half from the parking lot...

Of course there are small plastic bags and strategically placed trash cans for the doggie owners to pick up the warm mushy poo of their dogs... I won't. I can't.

The majority of the trees in this area are cottom wood trees. So the USFS has taken if upon themselves to plant more cotton wood trees in the grassy meadows as "reparian restoration." I say, "If trees needed to grow there they would have due to the millions of seeds produced each year by the mature trees." What a bunch of non-sense! I'm done.

An interesting letter in the Australian Shooter Magazine this week, which I quote:

"If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the past 22 months, and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington,DC is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.

That means you are about 25 percent more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the U.S., than you are in Iraq."

Conclusion: The U.S.should pull out of Washington.

(Borrowed from http://hollys-hystrionics.blogspot.com/)

Deer Camp 2009

The younger C love shooting and hunting. He always wants to be able to participate in activities that he isn't old enough for. We figured out this year that as a 9 year old he could fill my tag under the Youth Mentoring program. So we have been working on shooting rifle bigger than a 22 LR. He used a .243 with a 3-9x Leupold scope. We did some shooting with it so he wouldn't be worried about the recoil and would be confident on hitting his target.

We hunted at our favorite place that is 2000 acres of private land in Eastern Oregon. We camped out this year. When we were driving home there was 2 inches of snow on the ground in some places. This is the coldest it has ever been in around 12 years of hunting here. Of course it is the year we camp out.

Our hunting buddies had spotted a group of about 10 deer when they can in before day light to our camp so we headed there first to see what we could find. We spotted this buck in the bunch. He and I crossed a fence and snuck to a rock pile for him to have a good shot. The buck was between 50 and 75 yards away. He started by sitting down and resting his elbows on his knees for a steady aim. He realized he was too wobbly so we set up the bipod and had him sitting on the ground. His first shot was a hit but a little low. As you can see in the photo it hit low but broke the sholder on the off side. The deer took off on a three legged run. He laid down a short distance away and C shot again but missed. I led him to a better vantage point for a finishing shot. In the mean time the buck had moved to a fence line. Our friend had been watching us and had his rifle ready. He had a shot and took it, as we didn't want the deer to cross onto the neighbor's property. Even though he had a little help Little C was ecstatic with his success.

He and I did all of the gutting and skinning work together. He gagged at one point due to the body cavity guts smell and almost lost breakfast. It was the cleanest gutting job I think I've ever had so that was good. I told him I gagged on my first one too. Little C likes to do the skinning so he did a good job on that.

It started raining and snowing and didn't quit until midnight on Saturday. We spent some afternoon time reading Tom Brown Jr. stories and taking naps. We had hoped to do some frog shooting after the hunting was over but the cold and rain drove them all into hiding. It was a good time. DMP

Dizzing Heights

The boys and I have found a spot on the Columbia River Gorge that is really an amazing view point. It is a sharp ridge of rock that juts out from the cliff. My estimates are that it is about 300 feet high. I am estimating based on how high we are from the tops of the tress in the valley below.

If you look closely there are 17 elk down in the grassy area below. They are probably a mile away. We watched them for a while through 10x binoculars. There were two or three bulls and they were chasing the cows around. It was pretty neat to observe them and they weren't headed for the next county.

Here's the youngest on top of the world. I will say that this is not a place to stumble or hang out at during a high wind. It is a pretty neat spot to visit and observe without fighting the crowd.

DMP

Doggie Goes Hoggie

At Pacific City over Labor Day we observed the big dog doing something a little odd. It got us laughing! We think she was missing Harvey the pig...

If You Aren't Reading it You Should Be

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/

Good writing and excellent photos.

Pretty Boys

I have noticed the last couple years the pretty boy trend. There are males out there spending more time and money on their appearance than their girlsfriends. The way to spot them is to watch out for the perfect tan, expensive tattoos, designer clothes, designer sun glasses and a shiny automobile. If it is a truck it is exceptionally clean and lifted by some 4x4 shop. Generally the truck or wheels will have oversized wheels that would make any hispanic green with envy.

A good Hollywood example would be the boyfriend at the beginnning of the first Transformers movie. He is more worried about his vehicle, his appearance and his male friends.

The great part of being a guy is you are ready to go at a minutes notice. You can wear yesterday's clothes and think nothing of it. You have a tool box full of tools and know how to use them. A real man is secure with himself he doesn't need fluff to help his self image.