My wife helped with registration and ticket sales and did a great job. She held her post for four hours and never once complained about anything. Several members of the club showed up to help with other duties, including running targets, judging and handing out prizes.

We had a lot of shooters asking if this would be an ongoing event. We’re going to do this again in two weeks and see how it goes. If it goes like it did the first time, we’ll be scheduling shoots on a regular basis.

Floyd is a classic text-book example of ‘Smalltown, USA’. That’s why I use the name for my site. When you live in a rural/agricultural county, you can expect to encounter tractors on the roads pulling hay rakes or bailers. You can also expect to see heavy equipment on flatbed trucks struggling to get up grades in these mountains.

I left the house yesterday to go in town on some errands. As I approached a curve in the road, I saw a full size pick-up truck coming with a banner on the front that read “WIDE LOAD’. I immediately backed off the throttle in anticipation of what would be next. Sure enough, a few seconds later, a road tractor pulling a flatbed came around the curve.

On the flatbed was a Caterpillar D-8 bulldozer. The truck was decked out with warning banners and orange safety flags. The driver had changed to a lower gear to get up the grade and black smoke was blowing from the stacks, an indication that he had the throttle down trying to keep the truck and heavy load moving.

Another problem the driver was dealing with was this was a back country road that was barely wide enough to meet state requirements for width. In order to keep from clipping mail boxes with the blade of the dozer, he had to drive with a portion of the truck across the center line. A narrow road with tight curves and grades is not exactly user-friendly conditions for a man trying to drive a 25,000 pound truck carrying a 75,000 pound bulldozer.

I applied my brakes and began to pull over to give the driver all the room he needed to get past me. As I did this, I instinctively looked in my rear view mirror. There was a white minivan behind me. Rather than do the same, the driver of the minivan decided to hold her position in the lane. This created yet another problem for the truck driver.

Now, with the minivan driver taking up all of the lane I had been in, the truck driver had to back off his throttle, gear down yet again and creep by the minivan to avoid hitting the vehicle. I had pulled about half way off the road onto the shoulder and stopped.

At this point, to my utter amazement, the driver of the minivan blew her horn at me! I looked in my outside rear view mirror just in time to see her give the truck driver the finger!

I seriously doubt that minivan driver knows about me and/or my blog. I hope she does. Ma’am, you have the manners and people skills of a feral dog.

Recognizing the popularity of this sport, the Floyd County ‘Coon Hunters Association has picked up the ball. This coming Saturday, the 23rd, the coon club will host their first card shoot, or turkey shoot as most call it.

Turkey shoots date back to the late 1700s. The early pioneers would capture wild turkeys and use them as the targets. The turkey would be tied behind a large log so that he could raise his head but not escape. The shooter, using his hunting skills, would ‘call’ the turkey in an attempt to make the turkey interested. When the turkey raised his head to investigate the source of the calling, the shooter would then try to kill the bird. That practice ceased long ago and the sport has changed dramatically.

Nowadays, shooters pay a fee for their chance to win and shoot at paper targets. Turkey shooting is not an established sport, so there are no set rules. Turkey shoots are held all over the United States and the rules and methods are different depending on where you go.

Generally, a shooter pays a fee for every shot he or she wants to fire. A paper target is put up at a predetermined distance and the shooter fires at this paper target with a shotgun using birdshot shells. Birdshot shells are loaded with very small lead pellets. The bullseye on the target is usually two crossed lines creating an intersection.

Because there are so many pellets in a shotgun shell and there’s no way to control where each pellet goes, its pure luck concerning where the pellets hit the target. The shooter wins by a pellet from his shot being closer to the crossed lines that all the other shooters.

A judge is appointed and judges all the targets. A winner is announced and a prize is given. Prizes usually are a package of meat from a grocery store or a cash prize. Sometimes prizes consist of valuable items, but shooters usually are required to pay higher fees to shoot matches where expensive items are given.

Some regular turkey shoot competitors take this sport very seriously. It’s common for these shooters to invest hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a custom-built shotgun to enable them to shoot better. This type of shooter is usually seen at the bigger shooting ‘houses’ where large cash prizes are given.

Most people who go to turkey shoots, however, are common folks that are there to enjoy the event and have a good time. Everybody’s chatting, talking about their guns and making new friends.

I’m a member of the Floyd County ‘Coon Hunters Association, so I volunteered to help the guys get set up for this upcoming shoot. We had to dig holes, set target posts and shooting stands. After boring sixteen holes with a gas engine powered auger, I’m sore this morning. That’s alright, though. All the hard work will pay off Saturday. We’ll have a good time. Maybe I’ll win a package of pork chops.

My mother, God bless ‘er, is still alive at the age of 95. She’s living in an assisted living facility in Charleston, SC.

My brother, also in Charleston, called me the other day and asked me if I could come down for a few days to help out. We’ve got to clean out Moma’s house and get it ready to put on the market. So my next few days here will be occupied with tieing up loose ends and packing for a trip that I expect will last ten days to two weeks.

All that being said, I might be a bit more occupied than normally. If I don’t post, no need to call the Sheriff’s Office.

A little over a year ago, I wrote about ROAMING DOGS and the problems they create for farmers that own livestock. Just so you’ll clearly understand how strongly I feel about this, I’m bringing it up again.

Fred First, a local blogger and very good friend, posted an article this morning about his chickens and the problems he’s had with dogs attacking and killing them. If you open the link, you can read my response to his post.

When I respond with a comment to someone’s post, I try to be diplomatic and reserved. Lemme’ tell ya’ somethin’, sport. This is MY site an’ I’m not the least bit concerned with bein’ diplomatic when it comes to the subject at hand. I’m gonna’ call it like I see it. If ya’ don’t like that, don’t waste your time leavin’ a nasty comment. Comments are held in moderation for my approval and if I don’t like ‘em, I trash ‘em.

Fred and his wife, a lovely and very gracious lady, love their animals. They don’t keep chickens just to produce eggs. Those birds are their pets. Each bird has a name and a personality. Fred and his wife become very attached to their chickens and it pains them deeply when something happens to one of them.

After leaving my comment on Fred’s post about his chickens being killed by roaming dogs (dogs wearing collars, by the way), I sent him an email offering to help him ‘solve the problem’.

Fred is a very pacific and gentile man and is not inclined to violence. When it comes to roaming dogs attacking anything I own, I’m NOT pacific or gentile. Make no mistake, I WILL put a bullet through a dog’s head for attacking an animal that belongs to me on my property.

Like it or not, you are responsible for the animals you own. If your animals escape an enclosure and maims or kills livestock belonging to someone else, you can be held responsible for the damages. However, most farmers don’t waste the time and money it takes to haul some irresponsible dog owner into small claims court over a couple of chickens. They just put a bullet through the dog’s head and be done with it.

My wife and I are considering getting a few yard birds this coming spring. I’ll build a coop and enclosure to put them in. When they get accustomed to their new home and understand this is where they live, I’ll open the pen door and let them out.

Some might say “If you let them out, you run the risk of loosing one to a roaming dog.” Yup, you’re right. And my response will be “If your dog comes on my place and makes a move to attack my chickens, he’ll stop a load of buckshot.”

If you allow your dog to run loose and it doesn’t come home one day, don’t waste you time asking me if I’ve seen it. Sorry, I can’t help you.

Have you ever really paid attention to the greetings and messages on message machines and cell phone voice mails? Most are pretty average and generic. I’ve heard a few that were way past ridiculous.

I find background noise in a greeting to be very irritating. I’m listening to the message of the person I’m calling and hear ‘Wheel of Fortune’ or children fighting in the background. Did it not occur to you to turn the TV off and find a quiet place to record your greeting?

I have to wonder about people who don’t seem to think when they decide what they’re going to record as their greeting. “Leave a message an’ I’ll call ya’ back.” That’s it? That’s what you want me to hear when I get your voice mail option?

I’m not the least bit interested in why you’re not available to take my call. “Hey, this is Bill. I can’t take your call ’cause I’m probably huntin’ right now.” Deer season ended two months ago. Are you poaching?

I really admire a well thought out and professional greeting. “You’ve reached the voice mail of Bill Johnson. If you’ll leave a brief message with you name and phone number, I’ll return your call. Thank you!” Short, mature and professional.

And then there’s the messages. Oh yes, the messages.

The caller sounds like an auctioneer as he/she speaks at a rate of 500 words a minute. With ‘Wheel of Fortune” and children screaming in the background. And you expect me to understand what you’re saying?

I’ve had people leave messages on my phone that were equal in length to the Gettysburg Address. Is it so important that you must tell me all of this instead of waiting until you get me on the phone? I don’t suppose it ever occurred to you that I might have a response to what you’re talking about.

Another classic is someone I don’t know leaves a message and asks me to return the call without leaving a number! Then they call me three days later and want to know why I didn’t call them back.

I spent 30 years in industrial construction work as a crew foreman. My phone rang on a regular basis. I expressed my aggravation at this one day and a guy on my crew told me “Jim, if you throw your phone in a bucket of water, it’ll quit makin’ that noise.” You have no clue how many times I’ve been tempted to do that.

You’d think I’ve been ‘Missing in action’ as long as it’s been since I’ve posted. I’ve been right here, I just can’t seem to get motivated. I got into some kind of ‘blue funk’ a few days ago. I sit down to post and nothing comes out.

I’m wondering if the problem is I’ve had my head buried in this firearm/ammo buying panic thing. I’ve spent hours reading, researching and studying this phenomenon. Being an avid shooter and instructor, this thing is really a major issue with me. That’s not a valid excuse for not writing, but that’s my story an’ I’m stickin’ to it.

I’ve noticed a pattern in my writing. I drop out for a while and then come back in a blaze of glory. I write for a period of time and it happens again. Make up my mind.

Bear with me, I’m doing my best to get through this slump.

He is survived by his  siblings, Jones, Gretchen, Dolly, George and Mr. Bill.

Janet adopted Paddy when he was a puppy from a professional AKC registered breeder in West Virginia. He has been her constant companion and friend.

The remains will be interred here on our property.

Paddy was Chairman and Director of the Hospitality and Welcoming Committee here in our home. When guests arrived, Paddy would meet them at the door and welcome everyone warmly. His people skills were rarely matched and will never be exceeded.

Paddy had recently developed pancreatitis and his quality of life was degrading rapidly. This morning, Janet and I found him in a condition that brought us to understand it was time to make that most difficult decision. Dr. Karen Thomason, Veterinarian of Blue Ridge Animal Hospital here in Floyd was most compassionate and understanding and helped us through this.

We miss you, Paddy. You will forever remain in our hearts. 

Normally, when one orders a firearm through a gun shop, the delivery time is about three business days. My rifle came in three and a half weeks after  the merchant placed the order.  This is just another indication of the level of buying going on across the nation.

Gun shops don’t place orders with the firearms manufacturers. Instead, the manufacturers sell their wares to wholesale distributors and the gun shops buy the firearms from the distributors. So the consumer is the third point in the transfer of the firearm from the manufacturer. The distributors are backed way up in trying to fill orders and that’s why its taking so long for gun shops to get the firearms. 

The merchant I spoke with yesterday told me he received close to a dozen firearms last Saturday. Some of those guns were ordered before mine was. He also mentioned he was still waiting for nonfirearm orders he had placed before Christmas.

When one purchases a firearm, the merchant is required by law to have the buyer fill out two forms. The merchant then places a call to NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) and gives them the information on the form. NICS does a background check on the buyer to make sure there are no legal problems with the buyer making the purchase.

Most of the time, the background check goes through while the merchant is on the phone with NICS. Sometimes, there’s a delay and the merchant has to wait to get a response from NICS. If the merchant has to wait, so does the buyer.

My check was delayed, but I wasn’t concerned as I had seen that before. I just hung around in the gun shop talking with the merchant and other customers and waited a bit. Sure enough, about thirty minutes later, the merchant informed me that my check had come back approved and we were ready to finalize the purchase so I could take my new rifle home.

The day being in the middle of the week and the time being around noon or so, I noticed what I thought was an unusually large amount of traffic coming in the shop. That’s normal for Friday afternoons and Saturdays, but not lunch time on a Wednesday. I noticed that most of the customers were looking at and/or buying handguns. I think I saw one other customer besides myself looking at a rifle.

EMPTY SHELVES

Some people who do a lot of shooting make their own ammunition. The equipment to do this and the supplies are normally readily available at gun shops and online vendors. The merchant told me that in the last two months, he’s been cleaned out of supplies and is finding it very difficult to get more supplies from manufacturers and distributors.

I handload my own ammunition also. I keep the link to several online vendors saved in my ‘favorites’ file. In the last month, a lot of vendors have added banners to their sites stating that they are no longer taking orders because of the huge backlog of orders. Other vendors are stating that they are still taking orders, but they’re six weeks behind on getting them filled and shipped.

The shooting incident at the school in New Town, Connecticut set off a buying frenzy that has raged across this nation like a grass fire on a dry prairie. The grass burns off very quickly, but takes months to regrow. I have no idea how long it’s going to take for this buying frenzy to cool down, but I’m afraid it’s going to be quite a while.

Ever since the shooting at the school in New Town, people have been buying firearms and ammunition like there ain’t no tomorrow. That’s because they think there might not be a tomorrow to do that.

This buying frenzy is based on fear of the unknown. People don’t really know the authority or the limits thereof concerning the government. They’re afraid that they’ll wake up tomorrow and learn the government has banned some kind of firearm and/or ammunition and they’re buying what they can while the gettin’s still good.

There’s also been a run on applications for concealed handgun permits. Again, it’s based on fear. People have no idea what’s going to happen in the next few months, so they rush out to find an instructor that they can take a class from to get a carry permit. The Clerk of Court at the Floyd County Courthouse told me more applications have been filed in the last month than the previous entire year.

I call this mindset the ‘storm syndrome’. People hear of impending bad weather like heavy snow, ice storms and the kind of weather than might keep you home for a few days and they rush downtown for groceries, gasoline and meds. By closing time that evening, the shelves are empty.

I don’t think it would matter even if the media told everybody there’s nothing to fear or worry about. Fear is real, regardless of what the fear is about. And people are going to respond to that fear, regardless of what they have to do to conquer it or prepare for what they’re afraid of.

And the buying continues.