Who Needs A Gun?

It’s deer season here in Alabama and it will continue in one form or another into February. At different times, hunters can use everything from bows and arrows to muzzle loading black powder rifles to modern firearms. While I don’t hunt anymore, I did in my younger days and I know it’s necessary to keep wildlife populations in check. When I was in the Army in New York I saw what happened when hunting seasons were restricted and the deer population soared to where there was not enough habitat to sustain them. And while I don’t hunt, I also don’t turn down any venison one of my friends who take to the woods offers.

Get together with any group of hunters and there’s always going to be a debate about what is the best method, archery, muzzleloader, or conventional guns. And even among the fans of a particular method, there are friendly arguments. Some traditional bow hunters look down on those who use modern compound bows, saying it really should be done with an old recurve bow. I’ve heard black powder shooters say that the only way to go is with a flintlock, not a later designed cap and ball smoke stick. And don’t get me started on the modern long gun hunters. Which is better, a rifle or a shotgun? What caliber or gauge? A scope or open sights. Everybody has their own opinion and they are all correct for themselves, even if not for the next guy.

But who really needs a gun to go hunting, anyway? Not born and bred country girls like our daughter-in-law Geli. On her way to work earlier this week she slowed down for several deer she saw on the shoulder of the road, but then another one came out of nowhere and slammed into the side of her Honda. She wasn’t hurt, but there was some body damage to her car. Geli said the deer kept going so here’s hoping it wasn’t injured so badly that it wandered off to suffer and die somewhere in the woods.

Moving on, I told you in yesterday’s blog that we had Terry’s cats, BeeBee and Mai Lyn, spayed and that they seemed to be doing well when we got them home. Well, not exactly. While Mai Lyn needed a few hours’ rest, she was soon back to normal. But BeeBee seems to be having some kind of reaction to the anesthesia and has been hissing and growling ever since we got her home. At first it was to anybody, Terry, myself, or our other animals. By yesterday afternoon, she had calmed down with us, but she still goes off anytime she sees the other cat or Alli. I did some research on Google, and it said that this is not uncommon for cats after surgery, so hopefully it will pass before too much longer.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Pirate Trials: Dastardly Deeds & Last Words by my friend Ken Rossignol. These are tales of real pirates, not Hollywood in the Caribbean, but actual bloodthirsty pirates, who, when captured and put on trial, confessed to their brutality in shocking detail to the horror of all those in the courtroom. These accounts of real crime on the high seas committed by pirates who were brought to justice in England, Scotland, Canada and the United States are true and provided precise narratives of their actions in the courtroom, including the drama of the high seas barbarism and the death march to the gibbet and gallows.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.