New Camper

Change is literally all around us. Possible change with my job in the near future. May have some choices to make. May be some opportunity to consider. I will make choices that are best for my family and myself.

On a lighter note, bought a new-to-us camper yesterday. A little bigger and much nicer than our other camper. Has a couple of things to fix but nothing major. Purchased it from the widow of our neighbor that died recently. Yes I was working my way up to an appropriate time to approach her and she happened to walk across the street yesterday while I was backing my old camper into the driveway and asked if I would be interested in their/her camper. Looked at it, bought it, done deal. Taking it on our camping trip this weekend at Lincoln State Park. Got a load bearing stabilizer hitch with the deal, those aren't cheap.

Anyway, it all worked out nicely. She even said it was a big load/worry off her shoulders. Acted like I was doing her a favor. I think she gave me a good deal and I didn't haggle about the price(for the first time ever) becouse she said she needed just the amount to pay for her husbands funeral. Kinda sounds like she saw me coming but I wasn't gonna try to get her down after hearing that. Like I said, me thinks I got a pretty sweet deal anyway.

Very excited about the camper, need to sale the old one and recoup some of the money. Kids and wife tickled they won't be dealing with the embarrassment of the old camper. They already wanting to keep up with the Jones' and the Smiths'. I just want to go camping with my family, don't care if it's in a cardboard box...you believe me?
Live it all -

Deer Camp - Rambling

Plans for yesterday fell apart. Wife informed me of other commitments so had to scrap the Evans. trip. Picked up some updated topo maps yesterday of local hiking trails and public hunting land including roadways. The area that I used to hunt has become orange saturated the last few years so I'm on the lookout for a good deer camp locale. I have permission to hunt some private land but it's not really ideal for what I'm looking to do. Kinda picky anymore about who I'm setting up deer camp with. Nothing personal at all with certain fellow hunters I know but I don't drink, I'm not there to get away from the wife and kids and it's not totally about the "big buck" with me. I love the experience. From scouting the area and planning the trip to setting up camp and time spent around a good fire with good friends. Then there's the actual hunt. I like to be in the woods well before sunup. This allows me to get settled in and for things to quiet down a bit and to get my eyes and ears adjusted. I prefer to ease in and stalk out of the woods but a lot of fellas just stomp right to their stand (or ride their 4xSomething) and for them the hunt starts when they're sitting in their stand, which usually happens well after sunup. I get quite a few deer drove my way by hunters entering the woods late so can't say it's such a bad thing.

Since I've mentioned tree stands I should say that I don't use one all the time. I like to set up under a fallen tree or any natural concealment. I'll build me up a little shelter with broken limbs and debris and make myself real cozy. If I hunt this spot enough I'll build it up a little more each time I use it. I'm not against tree stands, I have a climber and we had quite a few permanent stands on my inlaws former property. Not sure if I mentioned before but 105 acres with a newly built hunters cabin, all surrounded by gov't land were sold during the divorce of my mother and father inlaw. Kick myself daily for not finding a way to hold on to that property. Anyway, guess I like to mix it up a bit when deer hunting. Really enjoy stalking but it kinda depends on the area and the amount of orange in that area.

Probably should mention, if somebody were to stumble across my blog and this post, which is doubtful because my blog seems awful boring so far but if they did one might say something like "you can't be building little shelter type stuff while deer hunting, the deer'll notice any change in their environment" or "what about the noise you'll make doing that" or "you have a much better view from a tree stand" Remember, it's all about the experience for me. What and how I enjoy it. Maybe not the same for someone else but I'll say this, back when I started hunting I took it serious for the most part but that was a different time in my life when I was pretty wild and there were times when I got drunk in a tree stand, passed out, woke up and pee'd all over the place then shot a six point buck that was running with three other buck before I got my zipper up. I've crapped all over myself, undressed and tried to clean myself off with the remaining part of my soiled longhandles and tried to bury it all in the freezing snow and shot a doe an hour later that almost walked right into me. I've set against a tree eating a candy bar making all kinda noise with the wrapper and a bunch of doe's came up behind me peaking around the tree to see what the racket was I guess, boom meat in the freezer! Not saying this because I'm Mr. Longstocking and definitely not trying to make myself sound stupid. I just think that deer have become accustomed to human smell and sound so unless your hunting in a remote area or for survival purposes or your looking for a specific experience like myself I say to each his own. Go with the 4xSomething, crap on yourself, whatever. My goal is to get my boys in the woods. Teach them to scout, hunt, track, shoot and field dress their kill. Many other things to teach them about hunting and being in the woods.

Starting to ramble and lose my train of thought. Hard to keep track of where I'm at using cell. Have to keep scrolling up and re-reading to keep thoughts in order. I've mentioned this before, my cell won't let me save to edit so I have to publish then go back and edit. This is a pain and so far I have done very little editing. Would be nice to save and work on as I have time. Hope to get this figured out at some point...rambling again.

Live it all -

Whistles For The Kids

Heading for Evansville in the morning. Going to hit a couple of salvage yards for some Jeep parts. Mainly looking for a roof rack but have a few other things in mind. Plan also to make a stop at the only army surplus shop in Evans. Guess everythings going the way of the internet nowadays. Been looking for a Swiss Alpenflage rain poncho for awhile now. Seems they're hard to come by according to some of the surplus stores I've been to, funny how you can find them all over the net. Also gonna buy whistles for the entire family. Obviously a good tool for emergency purposes but I have some other uses in mind as well. On our last camping trip three of our kids and some friends didn't make it back for their designated check in and after a while there were some freaked out parents. Long story short, after some looking around and getting a couple of park employees involved we were in the process of organizing a more thorough search when the kids came strolling up. They had lost track of time, honest mistake. It was an honest mistake but one that had some of the parents picturing their children in some some pretty gruesome circumstances as we had heard girls screaming across the lake at times but were unable to find their location while searching. So here's my idea, I wanna be able to call em in when I want to, simple. They'll be instructed to not use their whistle unless an emergency occurs. When they hear me blowing they'll know I'm looking for them. Could even set up a response signal from each, five short bursts from the oldest four for the second and so on. I know this plan has some holes and some details need to be ironed out but I'm kinda in the planning process and just thinking out loud here. I'm also aware that if we happen to be camping in a state camp ground it could get pretty irritating for other campers listening to whistle blasts throughout the night. At any rate I do think it's a fairly good idea, just needs some tweating, I mean tweaking and if all does not work out so well at least the kids will have a means to signal for help if the need should arise, which they should have had all along. Live it all -

Alias

Now days everyone has an alias. Some kind of handle, call sign, nickname, whatever you wanna call it everybody has one even if it's just for email purposes. With every blog comes a handle of sorts that carries some type of meaning. Many are obvious as to what they're about but some blog names seem to hold an importance only understood by the blogger. I like the concept of having a handle. Something that defines you. Native Americans were given their names by a certain event at birth or during the first stages of their life. I should say that this was the case with some. I am not an authority on Native American practices in naming their children. I have read that trappers acquired a handle or nickname from a certain trait, habit or accomplishment. Had been thinking on this when I ran across a blog post on the subject (can't remember where) Thing is I'm having a danged of a time coming up with something that fits me. Funny subject cause I'm always joking with my kids about this. Got them calling me Bearclaw at times but it's used up and doesn't quite fit. DogLord has been thrown in the mix but doesn't get who I am either. We use different nicknames for our kids at different times, kinda depends which seems appropriate at the time. Just a few are Star Moon, Goose, Sweet Karaline, Beaner, Playa, etc... For myself, guess I'll stay at it until something sticks. Actually went through a few nicknames when I was younger but most were sports related and I just don't feel they would suit me now.

Was working on my first leather project awhile back (axe sheeth) and my friend got to talking about things his dad used to make. Said he would stamp, burn, scratch or otherwise mark everything he made with his personalized symbol. Said many ole timers did this. I did know about this but had not been thinking along those lines but now... gotta have me a handle, gotta have me a mark! Which way's your stick float?

Live it all -

Modern Day Mountainman

Just read a post over on survivalblog.com about a dude's start in trapping in Alaska. Seems his grandfather, after filling him with all kinds of Alaskan trapping stories as a young man, gave this dude his cabin when he graduated high school. Basically about his first and second winter spent there, mistakes he made and valuable lessons learned. Pretty cool post. Matter of fact I love that kinda crap. I've loved reading about the fur trade era, trapping or anything mountainmen related since I was a kid. Had a list of supplies that was interesting also. I would include a link but have not learned how to do so yet. Another thing this guy mentioned was he found that his high tech clothing did not hold up well for the daily abuse that he put them through. He recommended wool even though it is heavier, insolated work coveralls and good boots with two sets of liners among many other suggestions. Apparently he ended up doing some guide work for hunters among other things. Modern day mountain man, that's what I'm talking about! If there's a book in the future I'll be buying it. Sounds like he's living the dream, living it all...

Coming Depression

Lot of rain around here the past few days. Let up yesterday just in time for 2nd daughter to play in soccer game. Missed game due to work but heard she played well and even scored one.

Thumbing over - The Great Depression Ahead by Harry S. Dent, Jr. He's a renowned economic forecaster. Uses demographics to make predictions in the economic world. Says he has been spot on since 92 and even detailed the whole stimulus thing we've seen including this lull we seem to be in. Said the gov't and economists would claim that the worst was over and we would be coming out of it but not to trust in this claim. Depression coming in late 2009 or early 2010 according to Dent. Have not read the book yet so don't quote me for accuracy. Also, when I say prediction I'm talking about analytical stuff here so don't go all biblical on me and accuse me of following some false prophet type stuff. Probably won't end up reading it anyway. Not exactly what I call a page turner. This dudes talking about how to prosper in the coming depression. I'm searching for ways to prepare for it.
Live it all-

Weekend Description

The big sale weekend went well. We were pretty much overrun with shoppers on Saturday. Quite a few cheaters showed up on Friday also but there were few open for business until into the evening. The wife made around $400.00 I think. I didn't participate in the sale as I was more interested in shopping this year. Bought around 200 Louis L'Amour westerns at a good price. Have not read his books since I was younger but thought my boys would like them. Purchased some upgrade bikes for the kids and sold their older ones. Still ended up with more bikes than we started with I think. Main thing I was hoping to run into was a generator but had no luck there. Didn't find any camping gear either. Come to think of it, the whole thing was kind of a bust for the consumer. Unless you were consuming food and in that case you were doing ok cause there was plenty of it. My wife did hamburgers, hotdogs and drinks and the kids sold popsicles. There was an overwhelming amount of people crowding through the neighborhood but as far as I could tell the pickens seemed kinda slim this year. Combine all that with the fact that my neighbor died and you might say that it was a down right depressing weekend.
Actually I didn't know the man. The only time I spoke with him is when my dog got to chasing his dog one day shortly after we moved there. I yelled to him to "kick her in the head" as I was running to break it up. When I got to them and caught my dog, and apologizing all over myself, he just picked up his dog and with a look of murder in his eyes turned and walked back into his house. The guy never talked or would even look at me after that. I don't know the guys name but may he RIP and I'm sorry for his wife's loss.
Started out saying the weekend went well. Not entirely accurate obviously.We made some money, didn't find any deals to jump up and down about and a dude that I've lived next to for almost two years, and still don't know his name passed away. At this point I don't know how to describe the weekend. I wonder, did he live it all...

Sale Weekend

Huge yard sale weekend about to start. Entire gated community will be open to the public. This is a once a year event as the rest of the year residence are not aloud to have sales. Pretty big affair and usually a fun time for family. I opted this year to not have a sale and concentrate on finding sweet deals. Wife chose otherwise so we are doing our own things I guess. Glad to be off work for this event and to spend time with kids. My mother usually comes down from Blgtn. each year for this sale weekend but it's looking like she gonna miss out this time.

Live it all -

What's In Your Pockets

A couple of times a year I receive a gift certificate from work for bithday and x-mas. I have been using this and sometimes throwing in a little extra to buy some sort of knife or multitool. Something to pass on to kids type thing. Already had a small assortment of knives but I have five kids so need a little bigger stockpile plus I like knives and it's a good excuse to get more. Last one purchased was a victorinox tinker. My father always said you should never go anywhere without a pocket knife and at least a little change in your pocket. I think you can tell a lot about someone by what's in their pockets. I keep a wide assortment of things in my pack, which is with me every day all day and which I will discuss later(will also discuss the contents inside my jeep later) but I also seem to keep my pockets pretty loaded down at times. Pocket knife, belt clip knife clipped inside other pocket, a little paracord, beeswax lip balm, very small non-breakable pill bottle (contents undisclosed), tiny prybar. Key ring has keys, safety pins, mini pushbutton light, small victorinox and extra hair ties for my girls wrapped on the caribeaner(spelling ?, havn't figured out edit on my cell yet) Also cell phone, bandana in back pocket, wallet in other back pocket and usually a leatherman surge on belt. What does this say about me? This is not a new thing for me from getting into reading survival blogs. My family always made fun of me for doing this but it seemed to come in handy on more than one occasion. Wonder what my son Gus has in his pockets on his 6th birthday today. Happy 6 big ones G! Live it all-

Handguns For Cowards

When I was younger my dad used to say that most men who carried handguns were usually cowards. The type to become brave or have a chip on their shoulder with claims to blow your brains out if you mess with them. These were the men, he claimed who would keep their mouths shut or go the other way when confrontation arose. His belief was that if you couldn't handle your differences with your two hands then you need to shut your mouth and probably get yourself out of the situation or better yet not get into it in the first place. I have pretty much went with this opinion and although I realize it's not totally accurate it has served me well. I have never been afraid to defend myself but there have been plenty of times that I've realized I may be in a little over my head. On these occasions I had no problem whatsoever running my little behind out of there. Always have been extremely fast and was certain I could get out of harms way if need be. That was the past. Forward to the now. Lets face facts, times are different. Much older, slower and in much worse shape for a fight or to run. Main thing is I'm not single anymore. The option to run would obviously be gone if any member of my family were present and we were attacked. Times also seem to be different in that everybody seems to be shooting everybody else. Don't know much about the coward thing anymore. Just seems that the upper hand usually has a handgun in it nowadays. I never remember locking our doors as a youngster and God help the man who came into our house without permission. My view today is, the safety of my family comes before my ego. I would hate to be caught in a situation where I was not capable of protecting a loved one, or any stranger for that matter, who was in need. I have spoken to my dad some about this lately and he tends to agree. Before the last election, when it was apparent who was gonna win I decided to buy my first handgun before the right to own one was stripped from me. Glock 9mm/ccw and I'm good to go. Still think guys just like to play army and pack guns (myself included) but the seriousness of protecting yourself and family is not a game.

Community

About two years ago we moved from a 17 acre farm to a gated community. Before we sold the farm I said I would never live with neighbors so close they could see me flexing my muscles in the mirror through my window. Don't like the rules, lot fees or lack of privacy. That said, I believe in following the rules the best that I can because I agreed to them when I moved here. Also this place can be good for the kids. I'm convinced we are in a more secure area in general and if things were to get really bad, natural disaster, economic collapse or a number of other doom-type scenarios. People could pull together in an area like ours and with some organization and ingenuity could do ok, or at least better than most, especially if there were some pre-planning involved. I love living out, away from others but unless you absolutely cannot be found your security would be in jeopardy or in the least you would be on your own to handle any circumstances. Not a good idea in my opinion especially if you have children to care for.If your on your own you better have a solid plan and be sure your "hearing" God. The Lord tells us not to worry about such things. I'm honestly not sure what He says about preparing for them.

Lost For Words

Seems I've become lost for words since starting this blog. Funny, wife says I never shut up, calls me a leaky faucet. No matter, still taking things slow. Have not figured out a few things I have been questioning about this blogging thing so until I'm confident about things, not gonna get too excited. Also a little unsure which direction I wanna go with subject matter of blog. Had a visit from an old friend whom I hadn't seen for about 15 years. As we were catching up we realized we have been living sorta parallel lives since last we had been in contact. Both got into some trouble, both settled down, married and lots of kids, both got involved in church, scouts and basically the same outdoor activities. Now that I think of it that pretty much describes most males past puberty or at least once they've gotten past their wild years. Most but not all! Ever wonder why some kids seem to get it at an early age, some seem to "go round the mountain" for a while, then something seems to click and all of the sudden they're adults making adult decisions. Course then you have those people that going "round the mountain" is a way of life. For some reason this group never seems to get it. Now I know there are hard times, tough breaks and down right bad decisions that people make. That's not what I'm really talking about. I'm talking about the people that never learn. The ones that continue to bang their heads against the wall. Anything from selecting a mate and finances to little Bubby better not eat candy for breakfast more than three days in a row. Maybe it's a pattern thing that you fall into. Maybe it's learned behavior. Could be a touch of good ole fashion stupidity. I think people have a right to choose and when God whispers, come this way, they choose not to listen. Some of them for their entire lives. Live it all-

Edit-Tongue-Hunting

Still in edit phase and trying to figure out how everything works. Not expecting anyone to stumble upon my blog for awhile so I figure I've got time to work out the bugs, learn the ropes, ease into this thing with grace. Spontaneous decision to hit the zoo yesterday found me looking at a giraffe with about a foot long tongue. Not much else to tell, just a relaxing time spent with wife and kids. Kids let us know they prefer theme parks more than once. Guess they don't understand the value of a free pass! Talked to a coworker about the lack of a good place to hunt today. I have had this problem for a few years now. Also, a good friend/hunting, fishing, hiking, camping partner is very valuable. I can be kind of a loner at times which is a bad idea when hunting new land. Trying to say, in a nut shell, it's just more enjoyable and definetly safer with a good buddy. More specifics on hunting, other outdoor activities, gear, etc...Later. Live it all-

Introduction Post

Welcome, as a first post, thought I would give some info.(warning) on my interests-family-religion-and anything else that comes to mind. Some may end up in my profile so sorry for the redundancy. I just turned 40. Married with 5 children. I am a saved, born again christian. I believe that the bible is Gods inspired word. I most certainly have a job(more on that later) I have a love/hate relationship with politics (you'll see) I fancy myself a modern day mountain man but in reality I'm more in love with the idea than anything. Hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and anything else backwoodsman related. Now here's the thing, I love to read! Can't get much clearer than that but I'll try, I love books. I love the smell of books, I love the look and feel of books, I love new books, used books, fiction, non-fiction, biography, poetry, you name it. When I get a new book I like to saver the moment. I usually will gingerly peel off any sales stickers so as not to leave any damaged spots. Then I like to study the cover and read everthing on it...I'm gonna stop with that crap cause I think you get the point, I like to read! Here's what I was aiming towards when I said "now here's the thing" A couple of years ago while looking for camping stuff on the net I stumbled across a survival blog. Actually didn't know what a blog was at the time but gotta say, it was right up my alley, so to speak. Not saying I'm a survivalist or I agree with a lot of what some of these fruitballs are saying, just that I find it very interesting in a boy scout-ish, preparedness, doomesday scenario sort of way. I am an avid reader of some of these blogs and would not label them all as fruitcakes so don't take offense. I have also stumbled upon many bushcraft blogs and have totally caught that bug as well. My plan is to tell my story. Family - church - outdoor ramblings - occasional political rant - what I've learned and what I'm learning in life. Anything from Knives and hawks to teaching my kids that with every choice they make there is a consequence, good and bad. As you can tell I'm not a grammatical whiz + I do everything from my cell + hardly know how to operate said cell + don't have a clue how this blog stuff works so please allow for an ignorance curve. I'll explain 37 South, wanstat and much more soon, but - not - too - soon...(what movie) Live it all-