ness

I'm with ColdWaterFshr -- nice sticks. I guess I'm glad I muted my 'puter before listening because I mighta missed that.

Yeah, this one isn't black and white so I'm not surprised at the outcome. Coulda been much worse, or it coulda chewed up a bunch of time and money. So, you get to float and Prater gets to be an azz. Yeah, it's always nice to dream about exposing a jerk for what he is. But, like in the story of my crazy neighbor I told a while back, time, patience and keeping to the high road are best. Just let the Shoal Troll do his thing. I still think it would be a worthwhile project for MDC/MSA/OA/somebody to put together a piece on the how the laws work and distribute the info to local law enforcement in problem areas and figure out other ways to get the information out.

You should have a real solid evacuation plan if somebody gets sick, hurt or even homesick -- maybe have somebody shadow you on land. Some of those places could be hours from a takeout, other help, much less momma. But, I 'd bet you know that. Oatmeal, rice/pasta/beans, fruit, dried fruit, nuts, jerky, pita, gatorade or other mix. Maybe some homemade granola before you go.

There's another good one!

Hey CF, that was a good one

Bump. Inquiring minds want to know....

All I got was the 'test' ^joke. Welcome!

Ahhh -- don't sweat it. Branson's a love/hate thing for a lot of folks. I'm not much of a 'show' guy either, but I've heard enough from folks to believe they're worth checking out if it's your cuppa tea.

Things we've done down and around there that we liked include some stuff already mentioned: Silver Dollar City, Big Cedar, Eureka Springs, Shepherd of the Hills (the play, but there's the hatchery too), Dogwood Canyon. We loved the lodging at Big Cedar, and the food was good too. Clay Self, the singing cowboy in the bar restaurant at BC, is a crack up. Ate at Top of the Rock and remember it was good, but don't remember what I had. Cool view too. We never did a show, but there's a bo-zillion of them and some are sposta be excellent. It's probably a taste thing. It's almost like we felt when we went to Disney World -- just too freakin' much to do. So just pick your stuff, have a good time and don't look back.

I've never had the patience for fancy knots. Now my eyesight and dexterity work against me more than before. Stoneroller has some good thoughts. Saliva lube is important, and if you slowly seat the knot, minimizing the friction, you'll be better off. Triple surgeon is a good enough knot. Start with plenty of excess, make sure you really tie it right, and snug it down without overdoing it. A lot of leader problems end up being things other than knot problems. Fresh tippet and leader are important. If you've been fishing a lot and tie on a new tippet, make sure the leader is good too. If it's getting dinged up, bite the bullet and put on a new leader. If your leader butt is too large, bite the bullet. If you're tapering down more than a size or two, bite the bullet. If your tippet spools are old, bite the bullet.

Sweet -- keeping it in the family! Here's a couple pics to whet your appetite: After a full day in western Kansas: The day our pup learned the concepts of "deep" and "slippery"

I'd wager most world records are a lotta 'luck'. Right place, right time kinda stuff accounts for most of it. But heck -- he was out there doing it, while I was working. Seems like every time I hear about a record, there's a discussion about the person or the method, and it tends toward the guy somehow not being worthy or the method being sub par. It is what it is -- the biggest recorded bass in the state caught that way -- and that's about it. The interesting part to me is where he caught it. The record is just another meaningless number to file away in our brains until the next best fish comes along.

Quail have a lot of predators. Coyote, raccoons, snakes, bobcats, foxes, turkeys, squirrels, you name it. Not all of them can fly. Predation is greatest at the nest -- eggs or chicks. I think the rest is pretzel logic. If there was habitat, quail would be plentiful, coyotes, the same ones you claim rarely eat quail, would eat quail, but it wouldn't make a difference, because of the habitat? I've read a lot on the whole quail thing, and it's not completely a habitat issue. It's the single issue people latch onto, but there's more going on. The whole mix of wildlife has changed over the last 50 years. Turkey and deer are back in abundance. Quail are down. I tend to think there's a connection. On the habitat side, you're correct -- plowing to the road is a major factor. But, pesticide and herbicide use is up, pastures have been converted to fescue. Quail eat bugs and seeds. CRP is reverting back to cropland at a very fast pace due to reduced payments and an incentive to grow corn on every available patch of land.

Geez. I guess I didn't realize they sold them that early. I started mine from seed in Feb and they were less than a foot tall when they went in the ground a few weeks back. Tallest is maybe 2 feet right now.

I've got a buddy that fishes for cats just like what you're describing Chief. I've never done it, but can appreciate what goes into it. Do you still do it?

Man, love to hear these stories of seeing coveys. Chase -- where is your Brittany coming from?

Why don't guys just push through a constitutional amendment and settle this once and for all?

Did you guys start from seed, or buy plants? I'd be surprised to see plants as early as you're talking about. But you'd also have had to start the seed way early.

LOL

That seems counter-intuitive. If a coyote comes along a quail nest, he's gonna eat the eggs or chicks just like a raccoon would, right? He's not gonna take a pass on that in the hopes he can run down a rabbit. I'm sure there are a lot of other things going on I'm not thinking about.

Cool mods. Looks like you really gave it a lot of thought. What's the surface like on the decking material?

Nice, tidy looking garden!

I've only done a couple audio books. Didn't really care for the format. Currently reading 'The Great Escape' by Paul Brickhill, one of the prisoners at Stalag Luft III. It's a pretty quick read -- only a couple hundred pages or so. The lingo he uses (he's an Aussie) makes you stop and scratch your head every once in a while. If you've seen the movie, you get the gist, but it doesn't give you a real good sense of the scale of their operations or the scrutinity they faced. Tons of sand dispersed, thousands of bed (and other) boards swiped, hundreds of milk cans, utensils, etc. Hundreds of documents forged, complete with photos from a camera they bribed a guard to get them. Also made a couple hundred sets of clothes -- either German uniforms or civilian, compasses, maps. They learned German, French and other languages. Just crazy how much was involved.

Congrats! Did she come with the bow?

Yeah, that is a good one. Rented the movie, made a couple years back, and couldn't get through it.