10-Ring

Yes! We see all of these videos out in the flatlands where people are killing a half dozen at a time. In the mountains if you can get 2-3 shots off and connected before they disappear your are really doing something, not to mention the fact that you will be shooting through/around brush to do it. I'm getting to be a fair mountain pig hunter, but probably wouldn't know what to do in Texas.

I don't even know any more. I've dropped pigs in their tracks with a .223 and had them run 100 yards straight up a mountain with a 12 gauge slug to the body. I've gotten to where I strongly prefer head shots, it's about a sure thing if you do your part. I come across them often while trail riding and almost always have to shoot while they are on the move, making head shots nearly impossible. Doesn't seem to be much out there bigger than 12 ga slugs, but I need to make a bigger hole.

I'm noticing less traffic on the road. No one likes $4 gallon gas, but I'm enjoying the lighter traffic. Might as well make the best of it.

I've been keeping my eye out for a well worn but serviceable Model 29. Basically one that has been well cared for but used to the point that it is no longer desirable as a collector/showpiece/safe queen. My intended purpose was a sidearm for pig hunting and I didn't want something that I was going to have to worry about beating up. It seems that such examples are nearly non existent. I'm starting to think that no one actually used those.

Beware, Parsons Branch Road is currently closed with no reopening date posted on the NPS website. The road is typically closed November-March. I've also seen the park service not open it at all certain years. It seems that when they don't have the resources to maintain all of the park roads Parsons Branch is usually the last to get attention. I've taken it many times. Some of those times I even went the right way (it's one way from Cades Cove). It's a great escape path on those days where the traffic is heavier than you anticipated. Just beware it's going to dump you out almost 50 miles from the Cades Cove entrance.

I'm a week late, but this made my day. I found Bob to be obnoxious. Having a compulsive need to post irregardless of whether or not he actually had anything useful to say, which he usually didn't. Conversations were had with forum members that I talk to outside of TGO about how disruptive and annoying he was. Great riddance!

That's not a bad thing. One of the coolest things that I've ever seen:. December 9, 2014 cool, overcast day. A photographer friend and myself decide to go to CC, get off the beaten path, and take some wildlife pictures. That was the day I learned exactly how the 2nd phase of the rut worked. Apparently the deer were right at the peak of the 2nd phase. This is what made it so amazing. Most of the does are bred during the first phase of the rut. By the second phase hot does are few and far between. Two different times that day we found a hot doe bedded down and got to see 2, 3, even once 4 bucks fighting one another to get the chance to breed her. I still have those pics somewhere. I'd never seen anything like it.

Are you sure that the loop is closed all day on Wednesday? I recall it being closed until 10am, but that information may be dated.

I lived about 15 miles from Townsend for a few years and spent some time there. It gets a little more touristy each year. Townsend is a nice place to base out of while you check out other things in the area. I highly recommend Dock's Motel on the River. It's older, but family owned, the owners Ron and Sharon are super nice people. The rooms are clean and the cabins are nice. I despise most everything in Sevier County, as I suspect you would as well, so I won't discuss the money pits over there. I'll never get to spend enough time in Cades Cove. Go during the week, early in the morning, this time of year is perfect, it won't be crowded. Park, get out, and check out the buildings. There are other neat things to see in CC as well like the Alum Cave, Cable Mill, and the Gum Swamp. River Road between the Wye and the Sugarlands visitor center is a nice drive with lots of nice views of the river. The road was originally a railway for the timber industry. Check out The Sinks. It's about half way down River Road. Loggers attempted to clear a log jam with dynamite and created a large rapid, hard to explain, go see it, it's worth it. Not far from Townsend and a short hike from the parking lot is Lookrock Tower. It's located half way between 321 and 129 on the Foothills Parkway, which is worth a drive as well. Cherokee North Carolina is always fun for people watching if nothing else. Fontana Dam is roughly an hour from Townsend depending on how fast you can get through The Dragon, Highway 129. Fontana is the tallest dam this side of the Mississippi. You can access the top and bottom though they are a few miles apart by road. More to see at the top for sure, but you practically have to pass the bottom side to get there, pull in, take a gander. If your are extremely lucky the overflows will be open. This is extremely rare, I saw it 2 or 3 times while living there. It's a big deal when it happens, of I recall correctly overflow from the lake side goes though 2 tunnels maybe 12 feet in diameter. It travels over 500 feet to the bottom side of the dam, then hits a ramp and shoots up 150 yards in the air and lands 400 yards down stream. I went once in the dead of winter and there was snow and ice on everything arrived the bottom of the dam, but nowhere else. Really cool. Cherohala Skyway can't be beat if you are into scenic drives. Lots to see along the road and by taking detours. Bald River Falls is a great waterfall and Green Cove is a really cool remote off grid fishing community, not much to see there if you aren't fishing though. Indian Boundary Lake is really cool and you can split from the Skyway there and take Citico Road along Citico Creek (more fishing opportunities, but requires a specific permit). If you go all the way to the end of the Skyway Tellico Plains had some neat shops and restaurants and whatnot. Hope I've mentioned a thing or two that may be of interest.

You certainly are not. This is right down my alley as well.

@Handsome Rob, I have been wanting to try this recipe since you posted it 2+ years ago. I have very recently come into some fresh pork and it is now time. I have a couple of questions about your process. When you refer to drying the hams, how exactly are you doing that? I understand the process of vacuum marinating but I'm familiar with it in very small quantities. How do you go about vacuum marinating a whole ham?

I spread about 150 pounds of fresh chicken manure over my 600 sq ft garden about 2 months ago to let it cool off before planting time. Also amended the soil with some wood ash. Looking forward to planting!

Must have been a heck of a time. I've heard stories about $100 SKSs, $70 Mosins with a span can of ammo, and $25 German Mausers. I was slightly too young to take advantage.

My first thought was to contact a local rv dealership and see if they would let you pay to park there, but if they are even a little bit secure you would run into issues with a Sunday morning pickup. So... Unless a gracious soul comes along and offers parking, this is what I would do: I would book a site at Harrison Bay State Park and leave it there. A second option would be a KOA. Personally I've never stayed at a KOA, but I've stayed at several state parks. With a state park you have built in law enforcement making regular patrols if the campground and a camp host keeping an eye on things. If you are concerned I would speak with both when you drop off and explain the situation. I'm one of those people who is always paranoid about people messing with my stuff, but I would leave my camper at a state park and not worry about it.

I have pretty much the same theory concerning "modern art". No one likes it, it's stupid expensive, but it's the perfect money laundering vessel for all the reasons you mention. I'm looking hard for just the right S&W 29. This screwdriver would buy half of one.

Yep. Hate to sound complacent, but I don't think Joe has done much of anything during the year he has been in office and I don't think he plans to either.

Here's a nifty article that outlines several of (former) Det. Dunaway's transgressions. It appears that Dunaway took a voluntary resignation 7/2007 after getting caught giving false testimony in another trial. It's a common (and unfortunate) practice, and one that MNPD, as well as other departments have a tendency of doing with disgraced officers. I have to ask why an incident that resulted in a plea deal where Dunaway resigned from the department was not reported to the POST commission. For those not in the know, the POST commission certifies police officers, if their certification is revoked they don't have the ability to work for another department. Another example of this involved Ofc. Chad Knaggs who is currently a Sergeant with the City of Springhill. (I'll post article below). Knaggs took a voluntary resignation from Metro after he was charged with assault for using excessive force when he repeatedly kneed a suspect in a wheelchair. The article that I'm posting elaborates on MNPDs history with voluntary resignations. I'll end this post by clarifying that by no means am I anti police, I just have no tolerance for public servants who don't do their jobs correctly. http://thenews.org/2016/05/05/interim-chiefs-past-raises-questions/ https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/some-metro-police-disciplinary-actions-going-unreported

Spend enough time in the woods and you will eventually endure a day when you seriously have to contemplate if you would rather be at work instead. Yesterday was one of those days. I went out on my RZR with 200 pounds of corn to set out a new pig feeder. I planned to be headed back home well before dark. I got the new feeder put together and loaded the corn into it. At this point I realized that I forgot to bring new batteries for the feeder. I had planned to go over to another feed site to retrieve my cellular camera and move it to the new feeder so I figured that I would borrow the batteries from that feeder. I rode the 3 miles over to the other feeder and grabbed my camera and borrowed the batteries from the feeder. As I'm about half way back to the new feeder I sense and hear a funny feeling/noise from the front end. Got out to check and my driver's side front wheel was being held on by a single lug nut. It seemed that the stud of the remaining nut was bent and the one next to it was broken. I robbed 2 lug nuts off of other wheels and pieced it back together. Thank goodness I had tools. I proceed on to my new feeder site and set up the camera, it's way past dark at this point. I was satisfied with the camera setup so I proceed back to the truck. While traveling a logging road going down the mountain I attempt to drive over a very large water bar that a logging crew had recently put in place and managed to high center the RZR so that neither the front or rear wheels were touching the ground. Just a slight delay, I managed to winch myself over the water bar. Once over the water bar I'm about a mile and a half from my truck, but could more than likely get my truck to where I am if I absolutely had to. Yay, that means I'll get to sleep in my bed tonight and not have to return tomorrow to retrieve this garbage machine. A half mile from the "main road" my right front wheel just locks up. I have a whole lot of "Eff it" in me at this point, as I'm frustrated with this machine, my wife is aggravated with me as I was supposed to my home an hour before and she has to leave for work. Our baby sitter had been at the house for 12ish hours and I was afraid she may be getting aggravated as well. I decided to see if I could limp it to the main road and then walk the rest of the way to my truck. I wouldn't have minded the extra half mile walk, but there is nowhere that I could get turned around with a trailer and at that point getting the RZR turned to load wasn't happening either. 1/4 mile hike to the truck, no biggie. Loading was much more difficult than I thought with a frozen up wheel. Had I not had a winch it would still be sitting there. As I'm winching the RZR onto the trailer I reach in my pocket to retrieve a shackle and feel a AA battery. What's that? Yup, forgot to put the batteries in the new feeder. 7 mile round trip back to the feeder, ain't going to happen tonight. I made it home in one piece and with all of the broken pieces of the RZR. I was never uncomfortable. I had on appropriate clothing, and had extra clothing. Worst case scenario I would have likely abandoned the RZR and walked back to my truck. My wife relented when I sent her the picture of the RZR, as she probably just assumed that I was out running around in the woods having a grand ole time. (No idea why she thinks that I would do something like that?) Babysitter was very understanding about staying late and was washing dishes when I walked in. Gave her a generous tip for her inconvenience and understanding. A few hundred dollars and I should have this machine going again. Turns out the hub broke. Not sure if that was before or after the initial lug nut issue. I've owned motorcycles, boats, and campers, but this RZR is the biggest money pit of them all. Just before I loaded up at home Finally ready to head back home

Messaged you

A new hunting buddy. I'm desperately looking another person or two to hunt/camp/four wheel with. I hunt pigs, that's my focus. I'll also hunt most anything else that presents an opportunity. I pay to use a large piece of privately owned land outside of Monterey, TN. TWRA has approved the taking of pigs on the property at any time, by any means. I pay $500 per year to use it and you would have to as well. I've been hunting this place for 3 years and in my opinion it's well worth the money. An ATV or SXS is a must have. I have one established bait site with a cellar camera on it, and would like another. I also have a camper that I like to take up there on weekends that you would be welcome to use when I'm there. There were 4 of us that started hunting the property together, only one other remains and he works an odd schedule so he's usually there when I'm at work. I honestly don't mind the solitude, I rather enjoy it, but I've found myself in a sticky situation or two, miles from camp, and many miles from anyone that could help. I figured it's at least time to see if I could find someone to start hunting with me. I try to get up there 1-2 weekends per month. I also have to run up from time to time to fill the feeder or do maintenance on the feeder. I have a son that's 1 1/2 years old that will be joining me within the next couple of years, so if you have kids, they are more than welcome (immediate family members are permitted to accompany you on the property at no extra charge). I honestly go up to ride my four wheeler or SXS as much as I hunt as I'm still trying to learn the property. I will note that since there is no season on pigs I do this year round. I live in Lebanon, and as I stated the property is outside of Monterey. I work Monday through Friday and get off work at 3:30. I typically cut out an hour or two early on Fridays and head out. I usually try to be home by noon on Sunday to get a little family time in. Though I have the ability to talk about pig hunting for hours, I am absolutely still learning. Your knowledge of pigs isn't important to me. I'm happy to be out in the woods, bringing home bacon is icing on the cake. What is important is that you are dependable and free of drama, I only have so much time to spend in the woods and don't want to sacrifice that because of some silliness.

I really like Krystal too, but you can't eat there if you are broke. Last time I went through there I paid almost $10 for 6 Krystals.

Though I have done, and highly recommend everything you just said. I would suggest staying away from the Skyway area any time TN, or NC has a bear season open as the roads will be thick with bear hunters, and they have a tendency to cause traffic. I know the TN is open in that area this weekend as some friends are there hunting Tellico.

I put this issue on the back burner a few years ago, but I would like to put this rifle back in service. When I bought the rifle it was dead on center, SKS dead on anyway. Carried it around in the woods and whatnot for a while. Went out to shoot one day to check sites before deer season and it was hitting about a foot to the left at 100 yards. No obvious burrs at the crown or damage to the sight. I have moved the front sight, using a front sight adjustment tool, all the way out, if I recall correctly that got me about half way back to point of aim, but I ran out of adjustment. Any ideas on what could have caused this, or how I can fix it? Don't really want to go with any kind of optic, for what I use this rifle for I much prefer open sights.

I would say Hi Point, but Hi Point is more fitting for Little Caesars, because even though it's low quality pizza, at least it's hot.