2015 Turkey Season Ended Without a Bang, But...

Here are some fair-to-middlun' quality pics from a recent turkey hunting excursion with my best friend and his daughter (seen here acting as my turkey decoy deployment specialist ;)) in my beloved home state. It was the last day of the 2015 TN spring turkey season and also the only day I was able to hunt this year on account of having had back surgery on April 3rd—which screwed me out of getting to make it into the woods for practically the entire season. The three of us hoofed it up to the top of Signal Knob after an unsuccessful early morning hunt but were greeted with an amazing panoramic view at the summit...which was accompanied by a lot of sucking wind. Our previous feelings of disappointment and frustration were all but ameliorated upon our first glance of the stunning vista which lay before us that more than made up for nobody getting a chance at a turkey. 

It may not be discernible in these pics but the visibility had to have been at least 50 miles across the West Highland Rim of Tennessee. l tell ya I haven't seen a view like that for some time.

The hill or "knob" (as they say in these parts) that we were on here in these photos was—I believe—used by the Union Army during the Civil War as an intelligence/signaling station because of its eminence over most of the surrounding countryside. From what I understand the station here on Signal Knob served as a relay station (using some kind of super bright ass lanterns to send messages) between the Union forces in the Franklin, TN area and their forces in the Murfreesboro area.

Sheepdogs

Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, retired Army, has defined people in three categories. Most people are sheep who get on with their daily lives never intending to hurt anyone. Then there are wolves whose very way of life it to prey on the helpless flocks of sheep in our society. Wolves destroy for their basic needs but they also kill for sport. They inflict deliberate destruction of life only for the sake of destroying the weak and the helpless. Then there are the sheepdogs. Sheepdogs are the protectors of the greater society of sheep.

In human form they are the military members who elect to join the ranks of the defenders of our American way of life. Policemen are the civilian branch of the defender-sheepdog, brother and sisterhood.

The problem with sheepdogs is they can appear to us to look much like wolves. They have to be that way. One minute they are looking all shaggy and so cute you want to pet them and the next minute they are biting off the head of a wolf, which was sneaking up on you, because you failed to pay attention to your surroundings.

There is a fear in the flock that the sheepdogs will take advantage of their sheep charges and either try to totally control or bring destruction to parts of the flock. In some nations of the world the sheepdogs are the enemy; this, however, is not the case in the United States.

Unlike most countries our populace can arm themselves against threats, both foreign and domestic. We live in a call 911 society where we expect to pick up the phone and have the sheepdogs show up in minutes to protect us.

I once heard a mother call into the Dr. Laura radio show complaining about the fact she did not want her son to have any exposure to firearms. However, when she went over to her father-in-law’s house it was the home of a safe gun owner.  She felt his ideas were going to wrongly impact her son. Dr. Laura asked whom does the mother call when there is a potential violent situation in her life. Of course the mother stated she called a policeman (who has a gun on his hip), who will come and save the day and not take advantage of the citizen who has called for help. The mom wants a sheepdog to save her and her family from harm, but she can not envision her on son or daughter becoming a sheepdog.

[originally posted on http://www.chuckhawks.com/]

"Hypoliticracy"

If you'll notice, liberal democrats have and are continually pressing for more control over various areas of our (the citizens’) lives. Control over what people are allowed to talk about, what they're allowed to believe, what they must be willing to tolerate and not tolerate, and that people should not disagree or disapprove of beliefs that happen to be different than their own (even if the group that is supposedly being discriminated against is openly intolerant and behaves in a highly biased way towards other groups that differ from themselves). They want control over how we must (I say “must” because they want to make laws that strictly define exactly what you’re allowed to say to others) treat other people including a mandated complacency of suppressing one's own point of view in favor of leading an existence of perpetually walking on eggshells and never saying or doing something that upsets another group or person. They tout their stance against the "persecution" of certain groups as one of tolerance and open-mindedness. That type of ideology would be noble enough in and of itself; yet, the liberal democrats' actions are remarkably hypocritical since they lack the ability or willingness to accept the existence of opinions or behavior that they dislike or disagree with (I.e., Christianity, gun ownership, Pro-Life, Illegal Immigration, etc.).

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

Being asked not to offend ANYONE or express disapproval of any particular set of beliefs or behaviors is like being told that you're responsible for upholding the fragile self-esteem of the masses, whose delicate self-image and sense of happiness depends either solely or largely on the opinions and approval of everyone else. This is too great a burden for any one person or group of people to carry. One person's sense of well-being and significance is NOT and absolutely CANNOT be the responsibility of ANYONE else.

Somethin' To Think About...

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

Ayn Rand

Addendum to "C'mon People!"

Just for the record I am not an anti-government type, conspiracy-theorist, "shhh...Big Brother is watching" type paranoid knucklehead.  I am simply someone who watches the news (from many sources albeit...not just FOX), listens to the political small talk of my fellow average Joes, and makes it a point to be an observer and not a hyper-opinionated 2-cent spewing jackass.  Obviously I have my own opinions on things and some strong ones at that, but I dare claim to be a political know-it-all or a wannabe government analyst with a narrow-minded partisan chip on my shoulder.  What I DO know is that when there is an inordinate amount of "scandalous" activity going on within the governing body of this country--one I might add that my hard-earned tax dollars just so happen to "subsidize"--I am going to be paying attention to it.  I am going to keep my eyes, ears, and conscience open to government activities that I believe would quite easily get the average person subpoenaed, tried, convicted, fined, imprisoned, and effectively "socially tarnished" for life.  I may be a lot of things, and there's a lot of things I am not, but I certainly do not believe in standing by while the law-making entities of this STILL great county are allowed to exist above the law.

"I'm the big buck of this lick.  If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns."  ~ Abraham Lincoln

C'mon People!!!

Is it just me or does it seem like most Americans are turning a blind eye and deaf ear to all of the government's shady activities lately? I mean, most of us are fairly well-informed about Benghazi, the IRS scandal(s), and the NSA's sifting through citizens' phone records and emails. Fewer still may be aware of the executive order spree that Obama has been on or the massive amount of voter data collected by the Obama administration prior to his last election. It seems that in spite of knowledge of these matters, most people don't really act too unnerved or concerned (outwardly at least). From what I can tell many folks seem to brush it off as inconsequential or believe that it doesn't really affect them. And maybe it doesn't...yet. Granted, there's always some degree of turmoil and sketchiness when it comes to government affairs but taken as a whole the events unfolding before us have made me considerably uneasy.

I feel like shaking people and saying, "wake up, damnit! Don't you see the writing on the wall?" It is startling to me how egregious the abuse of power is right now in Washington. When a law or bill or policy is questioned or flat out rejected by its opponents then persons/party who are in favor of it quickly resort to bullying and strong-arming to get what they want. The agenda of our current president and his constituents is practically implemented by force and/or subterfuge. Now, call me crazy, old-fashioned, or short-sighted but last I heard that is NOT OK. And I would think that most other average Americans would agree...but maybe not.  I don't consider myself extremely an right-winged conservative. I just think I am "pro-Constitution".