Friday, September 19. 2008
The trout get active and hungry again at this time of year in New England. This unique and wonderful stream on Long Island, about 1 1/2 hours from New York City, has sea-run Browns, Rainbow and Brookies - some quite large. Not many places where sea-run trout are found: if readers know of other streams that do, let us know about it. Of course, this stream holds hatchery fish too. It is a very special place. The rule is barbless flies only, and first-come, first-served for assigned beats. This photo of one of our Maggie's Farmers on the stream is from a couple of years ago. 
Thursday, September 18. 2008
A re-post from a year and a half ago -Jim Harrison: Hunter, chef, author, and all-around cool dude. Interviewed in New York Times Books. Got to love this guy. And how about his eager pup? 
Photo credit: Jeff Topping for the New York Times
Wednesday, September 17. 2008
Re-posted, from The Barrister.
Our editor asked me to do a little piece on wellies, as hunting season and wellie season is arriving - snow, slush, mud and muck. I have gone through many pairs from many makers, and I own many pairs now - more than I will ever need. They will probably bury me in one of those pairs, but not soon, one would hope.
Wellies are, of course, Wellingtons, named after the Duke of Wellington who was copying Hessian military boots. Only later did the term refer to rubber, rather than leather, muck boots. History of wellies here. (We have been corrected on one detail - that Wellies were invented by Aigle in 1853, not Hunter in 1858.)
Different sorts of wellies are made for gardening, walking in the rain, European hunting, and American hunting. Ladies look great in them. I am mainly interested in the rugged, uglier varieties which are suitable to northern climes where mud, snow, slush, muck, streams, and marshy areas abound.
Much as I may admire and love the idea of the venerable LL Bean Maine Hunting boot, I tend to return to my rubber boots for all-purpose hunting, wet hiking, snow, marsh work, bird watching, and barn-work: they make you feel that you can go through almost anything. Over the years, the material has improved, and so has the design, so that they are more comfortable, and grip your heel much better so they don't pull off in muck and leave you waving a socked foot helplessly in the air like an idiot.
There are several considerations with rubber boots. (Continued below)
Continue reading "Boots and Wellies Update"
Tuesday, September 9. 2008
How is that for a deer stand? Whole photo essay here. 
Thursday, August 28. 2008
Gwynnie had fun fishing yesterday in the California mountains. Note the US Government quarter. 
For the small wild trout in tiny moutain rills, small gear is indicated. This real graphite rod is a 30" “Micro” by J. Austin Forbes Ltd. 
Tuesday, August 12. 2008
 Writing can confront you with odd things, like realizing that you aren't 100% certain how to spell "twelfth" when you start typing it. Lots of consonants for one small word. You can cheat and type 12th.
The Glorious Twelfth is the August opening of grouse season in the UK, mainly in Scotland. That would be the Scottish Grouse - Red and Black - legendary game birds. Driven fast-flying grouse - doubt I could hit a single one. Some day, I will try. They can reach 60 mph. Unlike the US, in the UK you can find game on restaurant menus - and on the same day, if lucky. In the US, we found it necessary to make that illegal - market hunters were driving wild critters to extinction. Public lands, no gamekeepers. Our grouse babies aren't even full-grown yet, and our grouse season doesn't begin until October. Brits and Scots would hate our North American grouse hunting. It entails walking endlessly, without cocktails, through alder tangles that can feel like jail cells, and with only a few shots per day. And no loaders, no drivers. Image: Scottish Red Grouse, in the heather on the moors.
Thursday, July 24. 2008
 Bruce at No Looking Backwards says "I think I need a little help defragmenting my hard drive."
Tuesday, July 22. 2008
Our post on Richard Gatling and his Gun prompted a reader to inform us about two other hand-driven machine guns of the 19th Century: The Nordenfelt Gun and the Gardner Gun. Here's a clip of the Nordenfelt gun in operation:
Friday, July 18. 2008
 Richard Gatling believed that his rapid-fire gun would be a boon to mankind.
A quote from a review of the book on the right by Jonathan Yardley in the WaPo: 'It occurred to me,' he wrote to a friend in 1877, 'that if I could invent a machine -- a gun -- which could by rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a great extent, supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease be greatly diminished.' As disingenuous and self-serving as that sentiment sounds, it ended up being quite correct: Innovations in arms steadily reduced the relative lethality of battles (not to mention the cost of waging war) throughout the twentieth century."
Monday, July 14. 2008
From Theo, that's a bunch of service dogs in Hawaii. How did that fat Golden sneak into the photo? And, via Callimachus, Poodles in WW 2. A bit too friendly to be good guards.
Thursday, July 10. 2008
20 years ago you would be hard put to find any Striped Bass up here. The return of the Stripers is a fish conservation success story, which involved cleaning up the Atlantic estuaries in which they breed (especially the Chesapeake area, and the Hudson River) and banning commercial fishing for them. One positive result: Farming bass. Some of our pals went fishin' a week ago with Captain Bruce out of New London, CT: 
Wednesday, July 2. 2008
 The Supreme Count in its landmark case District of Columbia, et al. v. Dick Anthony Heller is a limited victory for opponents of gun control laws, affirming a right to keep a handgun in the home for defensive purposes.
There seems to us no doubt, on the basis of both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms. Of course the right was not unlimited, just as the First Amendment’s right of free speech was not. Thus, we do not read the Second Amendment to protect the right of citizens to carry arms for any sort of confrontation, just as we do not read the First Amendment to protect the right of citizens to speak for any purpose.
Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment . . . was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. For example, the majority of the 19th-century courts . . . held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues.
It is therefore probable that state “shall issue” laws and other concealed weapon “carry” laws are discretionary, and not supported by the Second Amendment.
Next, “assault weapon” laws which ban ownership of semi-automatic rifles because they are ugly or scary-looking are clearly supported by Heller.
We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those “in common use at the time.” We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of “dangerous and unusual weapons.”
. . . weapons that are most useful in military service—M-16 rifles and the like—may be banned . . ..
Looking at Part III of the Heller decision, we can see the future of gun control efforts: The clause allowing “laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms” could well be taken as permitting registration of purchased firearms, limitations on quantities owned and possibly buyer qualification (such as requiring drivers licenses for cars). Of course, gun advocates have long feared registration as a pre-cursor to confiscation (as happened in Australia), but that fear is substantially reduced by Heller. We have registered our SUV, but do not fear the state confiscating it. Furthermore, in view of the individual right to bear arms affirmed by Heller, an argument may be made that having an inventory of individually-owned firearms in the hands of the State may inhibit the right of possession, much as requiring publications critical of whatever administration is currently in power to be sent to and registered with a central bureau. Heller therefore is a narrow decision permitting handguns to be kept at home for defensive purposes, and should not be read as securing a broad right to hunt or even to carry arms for any non-defensive purpose. Photo: A Browning M2 machine gun, still not available for home defense.
Sunday, June 29. 2008
These people were always finding water all over their pool deck and furniture every time they came home after being away for a few hours. They thought the neighborhood kids were waiting for them to leave, and using the pool. However, they could never catch them doing it. So, they set up their video cam and left. This is what they found out:
Friday, June 27. 2008
I know nothing about Italian gun laws, but it seems timely to post this photo I took of a poster for Delta Firearms Academy last week on a street in Domodossola, while wandering around waiting for the train to Locarno. Our friends in DC should maybe give Inizio a call. 
Thursday, June 26. 2008
 From the Supremes today:
“The inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right...” Without self-defense, a person becomes a sheep in a world with wolves. Bravo to the five Justices who honor our Constitution over their personal preferences, and bravo to Justice Scalia for putting it all in historical context. The justices' personal opinions should have no role in their job: it's not what they are paid to do. After all, everybody has an opinion on everything. Opinions on stuff are a dime a dozen. Anyway, it's a big step in the right direction. More later... Updates: Lots of links at Drudge and Memorandum. And here is the Supreme's announcement. Also, "Yahoo" at Yahoo.
Tuesday, June 17. 2008
 My favorite handgun is my Les Baer 1911 Thunder Ranch Special.
Nobody builts a .45 like Baer, perfectly weighted and balanced so you can actually hit the target, and not get pushed backwards. A bit too heavy and bulky for carrying in your back pocket, however.
Monday, June 16. 2008
 Jim at Wild Goose Lodge on PEI is a good friend of Ducks Unlimited and is generous in his donations of trips to our fund-raising events.
To accommodate the increased costs of travel, he is reducing your 4-night package cost by $350 this year, while predicting another excellent year of waterfowl hunting.
Sunday, June 1. 2008
Here's one guy who won't be showing up for church this morning. Good grief. I don't think much of Obama's church, but what does it say about a guy that he would throw his church overboard for political power? Isn't that a Faustian deal?
Monday, May 19. 2008
 We have been perhaps too preoccupied with guns over the past week. Not being knowledgeable about anything but sporting guns, we really aren't qualified to discuss handguns. All I really know is that a .22 handgun is good for targets and rats, a 9 mm isn't really all that good for much, and bigger is designed to seriously hurt people. Well, all are fun for target practice.
Self-defence and home defence? Yes, we believe in those most basic of human rights. Guns, baseball bats, whatever. A reader friend who knows everything about guns thought our readers might be interested in these inexpensive (used) German Police Sig 9mms. You can buy them refurbished, too.
Over the transom: "Damascus barrels consist of a combination of forged iron and steel. Strips of iron and steel are braided in different forms into a band. This is then wound around a mandrel and welded. The manufacture proceeds little by little; the form is worked with light hammering until all the small rods or wires are joined into a solid piece. The mandrel used as a form is then removed by boring it out. Depending upon how the wires are braided and twisted, there appears upon the finished barrel after browning or bluing a more or less fine Damascus-like figure. The finer and more regular these appear, the greater the worth of the barrel. The cheapest Damascus barrels were the so called “band” Damascus barrels. Better types according to the quality are the so called “Horseshoe,” “Rose,” “Bernard,” “Crolle,” “Moiré," and “Laminette.” Other fine types of Damascus included those made in England, known as “Laminated Steel,” and the genuine English Damascus produced in Marshall’s workshops in Birmingham. Confidence in quality of Damascus was so great that even ordinary steel barrels were either painted or covered with decalcomania showing Damascus patters. These imitation Damascus are even now occasionally to be found. The improvements in barrel steels have now, however, practically driven Damascus off the market. Until the year 1900 approximately one third to a half of the Belgian guns were produced with Damascus barrels. In Subl, however, the switch over to the use of the much superior open-hearth steel type, the elastic limits of which even in the very cheapest types, are equal to the very best Damascus barrels, i.e. about 45 kilograms per square millimeter, was undertaken considerably earlier." Source: Stoeger’s The Shooters Bible, 48th Edition, page 57, 1957: 
Saturday, May 17. 2008
 12 ga. ammo that you would not believe! (Thanks, Habu. That site is a kick.)
My only concern is the danger of that confetti load. Won't that damage the Environment? What if the confetti isn't biodegradable? Or causes Global Warming? Their other loads seem very fine, though, and intriguing in many ways. A shotgun, in fact, is a far more serious weapon than a handgun for 99% of life's possible heavy-duty problems, but is a bit more difficult to conceal. When young 'uns aren't around, I keep one loaded (12 ga. pump, buckshot) and handy, just like my ancestors in CT did. You hope you never need it, but you use it with righteous force if you ever do because I hear from Vergil that there is still room in Motel Hell for bad guys. You can get those PC t-shirts here. The wording is "Should be a convenience store, not a government agency." (Ignore "continue reading." It's a glitch.)
Continue reading "And even more Gun Fun"
Saturday, May 10. 2008
I WILL SOON HAVE BIRD DOG PUPS FOR SALE. ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN ONE, PLEASE CONTACT ME. THE LITTER WILL PROBABLY BE ABOUT 7 - 10 PUPS, WHICH I WILL SELL AT A VERY REASONABLE PRICE.
I HAVE ATTACHED A PICTURE OF THE MOM AND DAD SO YOU WILL HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THE PUPS WILL LOOK LIKE.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AS THEY MAY GO FAST. THANKS. 
On the other hand, this seems like a better way to breed top quality bird dogs: Cloned Sniffer dogs.
Monday, April 21. 2008
 Some say P.J.O'Rourke is the new Mark Twain; but of course I'm the new Mark Twain so that can't be. He is the new Mencken, at least, or as fierce as Bierce, surely. I can't tell if he's lazy or smart --I imagine it's both-- because he almost never writes anything. He certainly never writes anything not worth reading.
Somebody at the Weekly Standard and the Defense Department got the bright idea to send him out on the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, and he didn't go up the gangplank to get on, either. If this doesn't explain John McCain to you, you're beyond explaining, and should just pull the lever for the empty suit or the empty pantsuit right now and get it over with. Some say John McCain's character was formed in a North Vietnamese prison. I say those people should take a gander at what John chose to do--voluntarily. Being a carrier pilot requires aptitude, intelligence, skill, knowledge, discernment, and courage of a kind rarely found anywhere but in a poem of Homer's or a half gallon of Dewar's. I look from John McCain to what the opposition has to offer. There's Ms. Smarty-Pantsuit, the Bosnia-Under-Sniper-Fire poster gal, former prominent Washington hostess, and now the JV senator from the state that brought you Eliot Spitzer and Bear Stearns. And there's the happy-talk boy wonder, the plaster Balthazar in the Cook County political crèche, whose policy pronouncements sound like a walk through Greenwich Village in 1968: "Change, man? Got any spare change? Change?"
Some people say John McCain isn't conservative enough. But there's more to conservatism than low taxes, Jesus, and waterboarding at Gitmo. Conservatism is also a matter of honor, duty, valor, patriotism, self-discipline, responsibility, good order, respect for our national institutions, reverence for the traditions of civilization, and adherence to the political honesty upon which all principles of democracy are based. Given what screw-ups we humans are in these respects, conservatism is also a matter of sense of humor. Heard any good quips lately from Hillary or Barack?
Read: 24 Hours on the "Big Stick"
Sunday, April 20. 2008
 I will blame Bird Dog for not including a fish photo in our Connecticut post this morning. He thought it would be corny.
Here's a Brookie from yesterday's outing, on its way to becoming dinner. Yes, we did fish with bamboo fly rods, consistent with the old-fashioned sporting ethic of Maggie's Farm.
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