A Teenager Did This!

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on HWY 25 in rural Iowa. For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed. It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos (all angles) of the rock. It looks like the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.

Here's the artist: Ray 'Bubba' Sorensen.

A Couple of Funnies

Why I Love the South!

Evening's Last Ray Of Light

I received this cam picture from Dave yesterday and thought it was so pretty with the evening sun shining on the deer. Thanks Dave for sharing your cam pictures for all of us to enjoy in the great wild outdoors.

Dear Heavenly Father, Please

help me to be the man my dog

thinks I am...Amen

D. Robert (Dave) Quick

Member: Christian Outdoor Fellowship of America

Member: Pilots 4 Christ
MY WEBSITE:

HANDLOADING FOR HUNTING

MY DISCUSSION FORUM:

HFH DISCUSSION FORUMS

Don't tell GOD how big your storm is.

Tell the storm how big your GOD is!

Florida Harley/Chopper

Bet you've never seen anything like this.....

What A Way To Fly Our Flag!

Dennis sent me this yesterday and wanted to share with you. He said....here is one of the most unique displays of both courage and patriotism to be seen in a long, long time. Enjoy!

Happy Belated Birthday Emma

My youngest granddaughter, Emma, was 2 years old yesterday. I called and sung Happy Birthday to her and she told me she had a lot of balloons and presents. I was in Virginia for her very first birthday but could not make it this year. I'm a day late in posting about her birthday but I'm sure she had a wonderful day. As soon as her Mom sends me her Happy Birthday picture, I will post it. Happy Birthday Emma...Gran Gran loves you very much!

Purple Martins At AmeriStar

The Birds Are Here!

Alford Hitchcock's "The Birds" was on the lips of visitors who ran from flocks swarming over and between trees in the Vicksburg Ameristar Hotel parking lot this past Thursday night.

"It must be thousand of them," said a hotel visitor as she pointed to trees drooping from the weight of the birds.

The purple martins have fascinated casino patrons for weeks, said Bess Averett with Ameristar public relations.

It's an awesome thing to see so many birds," she said.

For thousands to roost in one place is not unusual, said Bruce Reid, director of the Lower Mississippi River Region Audubon.

Through quite small, the purple martin is the largest North American swallow, which spends winters in South America and summers in the United States, said Reid.

They once nested in hollowed old trees, but because so much timer has been cut across the country, artificial gourds and birdhouses have been hunt in yards from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, he said.

We're eliminated their natural habitat," said Reid. "A lot of people provide housing for them in Vicksburg."

Averett said the birds roost at Ameristar each year for a few weeks before heading south.

Hotel visitor Veronia Lee of Magee said seeing the flock was "strange" and wondered where they had come from so quickly.

Averett said the birds cross the river from Louisiana around 8 each night and stay in trees there until about 6 a.m.

"They eat all day and roost all night," she said.

Last year, the birds roosted in trees near the hotel, but Reid showed hotel staff how to regain the property without disturbing the birds.

"We moved our Bradford Pear trees to the parking lot," said Averett. "We're trying not to interrupt their migrating habits."

They arrive in town in early February each year and migrate north to Canada, Reid said.

The birds finish nesting in Vicksburg around July 1 and congregate in groups before flying south, he said, by way of the Mississippi River corridor.

"They like the river environment," said Reid. "They prefer to feed on dragonflies and other large-body insects."

Averett said the casino has not had problems with the birds except for the property's appearance, which is keeping cleaning crews busy. (The Vicksburg Post)

The Wedding March

This video is going around the web now....if you have not seen it....it's so different, and I enjoyed seeing them have so much fun...seems it should be one real happy occasion anyway!

Fast Eddie and Titan

I recently became friends with Fast Eddie at MySpace who is married and has three children. He is an avid deer hunter and films for Lone Wolf's Adrenaline Junkies Television Show. You can also check out his new episodes on The Sportsman Channel. This is the story behind "Titan" that he harvested in his own words.

It started with several years of observing a specific place where deer enter the field from a bedding area that had no available trees to hang a stand. One lone tree finally got big enough to throw a stand in, but it was a bit out of position. So as a result I put in a food plot in the corner to suck the deer through the food plot, toward the field and past the lone tree. As luck would have it was a scrubby pin oak with lots of limbs and lots of back cover, so not being very high and concealment was not an issue. The main factor to success was crop rotation. Think 4-quadrants...upper right one woods, lower left one beans, and the other two corn. I had an outside corner of a large block of bedding area; this outside corner had corn on both sides of it so the point of the cover was the only exposed portion, to a bean field. Knowing that deer would rather funnel out here as opposed to walking through the corn, I put a trail camera on a fence post and right away started getting numerous big buck pictures of deer headed to the bean field...obviously they were going to be bottle necked down because of the corn. I had several really nice shooter bucks, but one in particular, "Titan" was making more routine appearances and showing up in evening daylight hours pretty consistent. Now, flash forward several to opening day, I had several wind variations that would work due to the isolation of this one tree and the proximity of the bedding area. But ideally, anything North is best, which is just what we got. As Dane Thompson and I climbed in with our hunting and camera gear, it was then a waiting game. We saw right off a few does come through and then nothing for a couple hours. Then as we started to see more deer from all around the bean field start to filter in, movement caught my eye and Titan was stepping into the battlefield. I had video taped this buck several times and was quite familiar with him, but still needed confirmation from Dane as my heart was pumping. All the hard work (stands, food plots, scouting, etc.), homework (I had a matched set of his sheds from the previous year) was about to pay off with the release of my arrow. Immediately, disgust crept in...a bad shot had tainted all of my hard work. I immediately claim to have gut shot him. I had practiced all summer long and had been totally confident with my ability. It was cool that night (especially for opening day) so we backed out deciding to return the next morning's daybreak. I slept little, but after looking at the footage, I was a little optimistic with the angle/trajectory of the arrow. I felt that I probably got his liver and maybe one lung. Several of the Lone Wolf's Adrenaline Junkies took up the trail and we did not go 70-yards before we found Titan. We had actually heard him fall the night before when we looked for the arrow. What an awesome buck and I could not be prouder. What I take away from the hunt is, you cannot be too prepared, look at bottle neck, pinch points for early season where you can stay away from deer who are not traveling very far from bed to food, and always don't forget to pick a spot when you shoot...I have killed a lot of nice bucks and have made some great shots...but buck fever still gets me otherwise I would not bother going anymore...so it is important to get your whit and keep focused. Granted you hope to see a buck of this caliber in bow range on opening day and you plan on it...but it seldom happens, so as a result you have the opportunity to build up your response (from a distance...get the rusty nerves settled before they are up close and personal). Anyway, I loved sharing the hunt; I hope some of you saw it on Lone Wolf's Adrenaline Junkies airing on the Sportsman Channel...also look forward to other episodes, where I miss Mr. Macho only to have my Dad get him on film and then Dane misses a deer called Fido, which I finally take on an exciting episode. The Titan hunt will rerun September 1st.

Thanks, God Bless and Good Luck, Fast Eddie

(My sincere congrats to Fast Eddie on a very nice buck harvest and for letting me share his amazing hunting story with you)

Rules are Rules

My friend Dennis, who lives in Port Gibson, sent me this the other day and thought you would enjoy reading about something we call RULES. This came from his life-long friend, Fritz.

After Fritz graduated from high school, he followed in his father's and brother-in-law's career and he went to work for the Lackawanna RR in Hoboken. The only opening was for a locomotive fireman. The Lackawanna RR had diesel locomotives, by that time and he did not have to shovel any coal, (Thank Goodness), but they hauled a lot of the black dirty stuff. Remember there is no such thing as "Clean Coal". In the vein of this story, coal trains were the heaviest thing we pulled. The yard engines struggled mightily to pull them and they were scary loads to stop. We had to lay down a lot of sand on the rails and sparks would fly out of the diesel stacks going up grades. We started a few fires alongside the rails too. However, we would have been smart enough NOT to stop on a wooden bridge!

The Good news: It was a normal day in Sharon Springs, KS, when a Union Pacific crew boarded a loaded coal train for the long trek to Salina.

The Bad news: Just a few miles into the trip a wheel bearing became overheated and melted, letting a metal support drop down and grind on the rail, creating white hot molten metal droppings spewing down to the rail.

The Good news: A very alert crew noticed smoke about halfway back in the train and immediately stopped the train...in compliance with the rules.

The Bad news: The train stopped with the hot wheel over a wooden bridge with creosote ties and trusses (In defense of the crew, according to Six-gun Jr., the crew tried to 'splain to higher-ups but were instructed ‘NOT’ to move the freakin train!)

“RULES IS RULES!”

But, don't let common sense get

in the way of a good

disaster!

Miss MS 2009 ~ Anna Tadlock

Miss Mississippi 2009 Anna Tadlock became the 52nd crown winner in Vicksburg Saturday night. She had made it to the top 10 in 2008, but not the top 5. She was encouraged by her parents Tommy and Felicia Tadlock of Brandon to decide to take her fourth shot.

"My motivation was obviously the scholarship money, but because I knew I would be more prepared" confidence came easily, said the 23-year-old Brookhaven native.

The new Miss Mississippi, who began singing at her church when she was 5, said she is hoping to take to the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas in January the same one she performed here last week and last year, "A New Life," but she will have to have it cleared by the national pageant's officials

Along with all the scholarships and perks that come with the crown, Tadlock said she is excited about the opportunity to promote her platform, music education for children.

"I firmly believe that when you involve a child in the arts, especially in music early on, it's going to have a profound impact on their educational opportunity later on," she said. "I feel every child should have the opportunity for that experience."

A 2008 Mississippi State University graduate, Tadlock plans to return to school to obtain a master's degree and some day teach English at the high school or college level.

She said she is unsure of which graduate school she would like to attend, but MS State is in her blood, having had both parents, grandparents and a number of aunts and uncles graduate from there.

The road to the 2010 Miss America competition has already begun for the 5-foot-4 blonde, who will be traveling back and forth from Brandon to Vicksburg for her preparations.

Looking back at her four years in the Miss Mississippi program, she said, "It's been a journey, but it's worth every step of the way." Congratulations Anna!

Miss Mississippi 2009 Anna Tadlock sits Sunday with her parents, Felicia and Tommy Tadlock.

A Christmas Place Workday

A nice campfire at the end of a hard days work at the camp!

Having good conversation around the Howell table!

Rex and I drove by their beautiful lake with "Othmar" in view heading back to camp.

Spencer and Michael stacking wood from the fallen tree.

Rex starting to cut down a huge tree for firewood and to clear the roadway.

Trent bush hogging the field near the North Cornfield Stand.

Camo taking a break after running beside us on the gator!

Spencer (Rex's son) on four-wheeler at the North Cornfield area.

Spencer took this picture of Rex and I at the North Cornfield watching Trent bush hog.

About a mile or so before I got to the camp Saturday morning, I saw seven deer in a field and two ran across the road in front of me. A nice beginning to a beautiful day! I pulled up at the camp around 10:00 and Rex was on the tractor cutting grass around the camp house. Paul, Rex, his Dad and Rennie (a family friend) greeted me and we soon sat down to visit for awhile. The weather was just perfect with a nice breeze blowing. It seemed like fall day. After lunch we took off to the woods to cut a huge tree that had fallen down across the road. Later we came back to the camp and freshen up to enjoy the rest of the evening with family, friends and guests. (We also had a drawing for a car giveaway and you'll have to check out Rex's site to see who the lucky winner was). Another wonderful get-a-way for me and on the way home Saturday night, about a mile or so from the camp, I had two nice size does to come out in front of me. A great ending to another memorable visit to the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club. Charming, Just Charming!

Relax

My high school classmate, Walter (Class of 1959), sent me this link today to a site and said if you want to see something very peaceful and beautiful click here. Enjoy!

Work Day At Christmas Place & Drawing

I was invited to come up to Rex's Famous Deer Camp in the MS Delta for a work day and drawing of a car at noon. Should be a fun day and I look forward to seeing his family and friends. It has been almost five months since we last visited during a hog hunt. The weather will be beautiful and in the mid-eighties. We hope to take a lot of pictures and see you when I get back. I'm out of here....

Aflac Scam

Watch out for this scam!!!

Police say that the gang usually is comprised of four members, one adult and three younger ones. While the third younger ones, all appearing sweet and innocent, divert their "mark" (or intended target) with a show of friendliness, the four - - the eldest - - sneaks in from behind the person's back to expertly rifle through his or hers pocket or purse for any valuables.

Be on the alert!!!

Above is a recent attack captured on film.....

BGIF

You just can't make this stuff up! And once again, these people breed...and vote! Pretty scary! BGIF (Boat Goes In First) Charming, Just Charming!

Tractor Square Dancing

Let's have some fun today and go tractor square dancing! :)

Coons, Doe & Fawn, Oh My!

Now, isn't this a sweetthing!

Received some more cam pics from Dave in Indiana. At the top is a cute one of a fawn. Below Dave has the Doe saying, Hey, that's for my babies! He said he may have to go and grab his rifle and go sit in the woods....got to figure if it's legal or not though....by his count, they must have brought all the kin.

New Site - Runnin Wild Outdoors

Over the weekend I went by to visit Justin's Great Wild Outdoors blog and he had posted about, Picking Up After Yourself When Enjoying The Outdoors. One of the comments made was from Frank, who is very new to the hunting blog world. He said that he had just posted about the same thing on his new blog, Runnin Wild Outdoors. In checking out Frank's blog, I saw that he lives in Alabama and loves to hunt, fish, camp, hike, eat and just relax in the great outdoors. I left him a comment to encourage him to become a part of our Outdoor Bloggers Summit. He said that he would love to post the OBS badge on his site and goes on to say that he has seen the badge on other sites and was thinking of looking into it. He soon checked it out and liked it, but said he does not know what to expect when he tries to join some of these communities. Please go over and give Frank our support and a very warm welcome and wish him success with his new blog in our hunting community. Charming, Just Charming!

Life in Today's Church