E-Postal Deadline EXTENDED!

This is NOT the last day to shoot the September match before the Midnight, September 30 deadline.  If you want to enter this contest, but haven't  made it to the range, it only takes one e-mail request or comment to extend this contest past the first weekend of October.  Let me hear from you if you are pressed for range time before the deadline.  (WE HAD A REQUEST!) (My score: 14.  You can do better than that, so Save The Rooster!)

UPDATE:  We have an extended season!  You can shoot this contest through the first weekend of October, and submit your target the following Monday or Tuesday.  I will compile the results as they come in.

FFA Forestry Contest

Last week we hosted the annual FFA Forestry Sectional Contest at Fairfield, and were very pleased to have twelve schools attend with sixty FFA students.  This year the kids have Tree ID; Timber Measurement; Tree Selection for harvest, leave, or kill; Equipment ID; Map Reading; Compass and Pacing; plus a written test.  Here we see one of the Wayne City students measuring diameter with a Biltmore stick.

Many of the kids had no idea how to use a compass, so I gave every group a quick lesson before they navigated the course.  The sectional contests are as much about learning as competition, and many of the kids we help come back as good competitors the next year.  Olney High School's students placed first, and Wayne City placed second.  Both of these schools will be competing Saturday at the State FFA Forestry Contest at SIU- Carbondale.  The Wayne City kids came out to the farm after school on Wednesday, and spent a couple hours reviewing tree species in our woods, so maybe they can put some heat on Olney this weekend.

More Help For Beginning Shooters Courtesy Of Ruger Firearms

The videos by Ruger just keep popping up on YouTube, and they make an interesting and informative post every week. I manage to learn something from every one of them.

I still have a bit of video from the Rendezvous to post, and I have collected photos from the Packing Rat, Bea, and myself to make a slide show of GBR activities. Stay tuned.

Earnest or Full Swing, Illinois

You can count on hearing the U of I Extension saying every year that the harvest has started in Earnest, or that it is in Full Swing. I am not sure if they are trying to be funny, but it always gets a few laughs.

No Worries!

Bea and a couple of her friends will be taking a concealed carry class later this week up in Iowa.  Although shooting is not actually required in the new Iowa concealed carry law, the instructor for their class takes everyone to the range and wants them to shoot at three yards, seven yards, and fifteen yards.  They will be shooting a total of thirty rounds, and he wants them to be able to score at least 80% on a 12" x 28" target.  Bea was worried about that, so she ran off thirty rounds the other day at fifteen yards, and put twenty-nine in the target.  Not bad for shooting offhand, through tri-focals.  Expect an update after her class.

Operating Lessons For The Model T

The first video is published by the Henry Ford Museum, and it teaches you just about everything you need to know to make your Ford go. The museum wimped out and put a starter in this 1916 car to prevent cranking accidents. The second video shows how the crank will spin backwards if you forget to retard the spark. The proper way to crank one of these engines is with one hand only, and the thumb should be on the same side of the crank as your fingers. You want your hand to break free cleanly if the engine kicks, so your arm and hand are out of the arc when the crank comes around. Hang on tight, and sooner or later you will have a broken wrist.

Mondays Just Won't Quit

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola

This Johny Marvin song was recorded in the UK in 1928, and shared with us by 240252.

Weekend Steam

This weekend we are going via YouTube to Scotland, to see the machinery in the Waverly. According to the information with the videos, this ship was built in 1946, with a triple expansion engine, and feathering paddle wheels. The videos are of varying quality, but are all fun to watch.

Crankin' It Up

Here is the flip side of last week's record by Vaughn DeLeath. "I'm A Doggone Struttin' Fool was also recorded in November of 1921, and this disc has seen hard use on both sides.