Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Obama "Recovery"

Millennials finally get to claim a trophy for an achievement they actually earned (no participation medals here)...that's right, Millennials have officially set a 75-year record for highest percentage of young adults living at home with mom.  At just under 40%, Millennials are barely shy of the all-time record of 40.9% set in 1940, after the end of the Great Depression. 

Today December 20 & Christmas

It's been 23,010 days counting leap days and 821 full moons.  For all the high tech gadgetry, for all the advances in medicine and big pharma, for all the digitization of life in America, unfortunately, there is still no cure for the common birthday.

But hey, who cares?   Today's my birthday!   

The date was December 20^th in Morris, MN.   There was a full moon that night.     

Thank you to Mom who made it happen.  Mom had open heart surgery when she was 4 and was told not to have children.  Then I came along!  I like to say birthdays should be celebrations for Mothers and what they went through!  Birthdays should require presents to Moms!  If you have a Mom treat her like a queen on her birthday! 

These days I feel good, I feel healthy.  Less is more and still difficult to push the plate away. My kindergarten teacher would be proud if she could see how well I nap.  It felt good hunting in the hills this fall, just not as hard and fast as the old days.  I say the biggest component of anyone's net worth is their health.  Health maintenance is my responsibility.  I own that.  

I know I'm getting older because when I pull comfortable friendly garb out of my closet my wife often uses terms like, VINTAGE, RETRO or "SO 80's".  

And at this stage my bucket list is getting smaller and my fuck it list is getting longer. 

It's been a hell of a run.  Doing it my way with hard work when meeting opportunity paid off. With some luck I always had enough and then some.       

I learned long ago I chose great parents and thank God every day  for two healthy sons and being married to the smartest person in the room.   Usually any room.  And I never question her judgement, just look who she married!  

The older I get the more I have to be thankful for.  I know the good old days are here and now.  I am blessed and the cool thing is I still believe the best is yet to come.   

Remember, the importance of birthdays is not how many you have had but how well you celebrated so this holiday season, cheers and bottoms up to all my friends, I'll raise a toast to you, maybe several, if the beverage is aged and smooth!  

From our home to yours, sending thoughts and prayers for a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for an even better 2017.

This has a great ring to it............

President Donald Trump.

Only 1 candidate for President of the United States of America called for a wall to be built to keep criminal aliens out of our country.

Only 1 called for a ban on Muslims.

Only 1 called for deportation of illegals.

The GOP party flatly denounced him.

Trump won in a landslide.

Dear CIA and FBI...........

If H. R. Clinton won the popular vote in America what effect again did the Russians have on the election?

So the Democrats are 100% correct.  The election was stolen.

Stolen from Bernie Sanders by Hillary Clinton and the DNC.  

Wikileaks tell us so.............

Facts. Charts don't lie..................

Hillary Clinton says that "President Obama doesn't get the credit he deserves for the recovery that is taking hold".

Charts are facts.    

Rigged, another day of rigging..........Gold battered, silver tattered

"over 90,000 contracts in gold futures were puked .....over $10 billion notional..."

Yet, not even "one" ounce changed hands in the process!

Gold is suffering the worst 6-week tumble since May 2013 and the last 24 hours have seen the losses accelerate as following The Fed's second rate hike in a decade, someone dumped over $10 billion notional of the precious metal through the futures market. As the dollar surges to 14 year highs (and EUR tumbles) so silver also is plunging most since the election near a $15 handle once again.

Over 90,000 contracts were puked through futures in the brief time after yesterday's rate hike decision - over $10 billion notional, and that selling pressure has re-accelerated this morning.

When the derivative market for Gold/Silver finally gets busted by the physical side of the market it's probably going to be the biggest fireworks party the world has ever seen.  Buying physical Gold is like buying a Lottery Ticket,  where you know the odds of winning are 300 to 1,  you just don't know the date  that they announce the winner.

Yellen Fed Speak aka bullshit................

Normal ranges??? I believe it's fair to say that Yellen is either under duress, a bold face liar, or completely clueless.

28 P/E totally normal. As is 3 times book value. Highest price to sales ever. Earnings yield below 4%.

I can't think of anything more normal than that for stocks.

Tuesday chuckle.............

Donald Trump was asked by Bill O'Reilly on Fox News if he could quote any bible verses

He answered: "Yep, I sure can"....."Trump 20:16"

"What's that?" asked Bill.

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Deport the criminal illegal and you'll never have to feed him again!”

Maybe common sense in MN hasn't died...........

Minnesota in some strange twists has simply lost it's way.   They would give away the family farm it seems.   Finally some old boys who served have put an end to the disrespect.

Well done!!!!

Make America Goldman Again...............

So, he cashes in $260,000,000 of over-valued GS stock, and not pay a penny of taxes?  What does he pocket in money that would go to the IRS?  $86,000,000 or so?  

Great gig, if you can get it.  Especially if you're just another fancy Suit in the room, "Advising" the POTUS.  I need  to get one of these "Advisory" jobs:  No responsibilities, no deliverables, no stress.  Just cash!

WANTED:  US Presidential Administration Job, AKA  "POTUS Whisperer".   

Actually, I'm not playing sides here,  Hillary Clinton would've hired the Goldmanite too.

MONTANA

It's been 50 years since this deer hunting bug started for me. That's alot of cold weather, misses, sun rises, great shots, laughter, dreams, snow, heartache, worry, camp fires and dead deer. The great man in my life who made it all possible isn't with me any more and the longer time goes on the more I'd like to have a last conversation with him. I owe so much of my hunting career to my Dad who seemed to always be there with encouragement and his time. There wasn't much money growing up but we never felt poor and rich was a state of mind. 



I turned 62 this year and yes, I started taking out some of what I had paid in over 45 years, give or take. Better now than never I thought. If there is one thing to take away from this story I would say enjoy each and every day and do your best until the sun goes down and you lay your eyes to rest. God willing you will rise up in the morning and have the opportunity to do it all over again while believing that the best is yet to come. I wish I still had the spring and the youth in my legs to hit the hills as hard as I once did.

My hunt for a buck this fall in Montana actually started a year ago. It started in a place where whitetail deer hadn't been seen in a long time and where if somebody were to tell me there is a real bomber whitey in that drainage I wouldn't have believed them. But, seeing is believing, well in the case of black panthers that isn't necessarily true but I'll leave that for another narrative. I saw a bomber buck and his buddy at the end of October in 2015 that really got my attention. He was a TOP FIVER in my book. One of the top 5 whitetail bucks I had ever seen in the wild. He was on property that I didn't know the landowner and via the rumor mill probably would not be able to gain permission to hunt. So what was a guy to do other than stew on it? Stewing is good. It's better than taking action sometimes. Many times before I put on a trade in my work I will go for a walk. Walking helps me stew, maybe it does for you too. If you haven't tried it, stewing is good. It might even keep a person out of trouble!

After one of the easiest winters on record in Montana last year, we headed back to the Ghost Ranch, property we purchased in April of 2014 on the Yellowstone River for some shed hunting. We had good friends visit, good weather and a lot of fun. Found plenty of sheds but nothing to write home about and none even close to the size of the rack I saw atop that bomber about 8 miles back up in the hills off the river just a few months prior.



As the locals in the Yellowstone River bottoms like to say, they don't know where those big whitetails go to shed their antlers. They never seem to find them with regularity. They sure don't seem to get shot, they sometimes show on trail cams in late summer, it's just the nocturnal elusive nature of old whitetail bucks everyone says. I don't have any definitive theory on where those old bucks go to shed but I am sure coming up with far more questions than answers. In a bit I will give you my take. Granted I have only owned this property for 3 falls and yes I abide by Montana regulations and do NOT run trail camera's during any hunting season. This summer we never took a single picture on a trail cam. How dumb is that? Well, I had a busy year and can't be everywhere at once and it didn't get done. That is the simple answer. Hopefully it won't happen again. You can't catch coyotes with traps in the shed and you can't get great photo's with trail cams in the drawer and you can't kill great bucks from the couch. Life doesn't have to be hard. 

I had a good friend come with me to Montana in late September to put up some deer stands. He has never killed a deer in his life and plans on hunting a good buck in 2017. So, how can a guy ever have too many deer stands? I use the Rivers Edge ladder/platform stands and the Summit climbers. Yes, the Rivers Edge stands are a pain to assemble but you only need to do it once. I never want to be the guy you read about getting banged up falling from a deer stand. At my ranch NO ONE goes up into a ladder stand without a safety harness. No harness, no hunt. Simple. A friend of mine was seriously hurt in 2015 when bow hunting out of a wooden ladder stand. Life is short, no need to take chances with safety. I encourage everyone to go over their gear, straps, climbers, safety harnesses PRIOR to the season. When my sons were young we always practiced in the summer running climbers up and down pine trees during daylight and dark. They were proficient at it and that is one less thing to worry about as a Dad when the boys are headed up a tree in the pre-dawn.



In September when I first pulled in to the ranch I saw vultures. Indeed my fears were immediately confirmed. The warm weather across Montana and the nation made for a late frost. When you have warm weather and a late frost in Montana it is ideal to have an outbreak of blue tongue. This is the first deer I found near water after I got to my ranch. It sure wasn't the last. Vulture food, nature is deadly. 



Blue tongue kills deer fairly fast. The stench of deer killed by the disease is unique. Vultures were plentiful. The number of dead deer on my two miles of river bottom were not nearly as bad as in the fall of 2013 when carcasses were found everywhere in the spring of 2014. Other ranchers said they had not found any evidence of blue tongue this past fall. My ranch has a lot of stagnant water, prime breeding ground for the female midges that can ravage deer, antelope and sheep. I have some serious study ahead of me on this disease. I had big bucks that disappeared from summer to fall every year. Huge bucks. Top Fivers. Gone. My place has tremendous deer density and for the blood sucking parasites that bite it looks to be ground zero. Ask any outfitter in the Milk River country of Montana why their deer all but disappeared and blue tongue will be the first words out of their mouth. Some people say there are too many does and that the big bucks are so weakened by the fall rut that they die in early winter. Others say those big boys head off to the hill country in bachelor groups and are most susceptible to being killed by lions. I do know this. A lot of great bucks are seen in late summer, never to be seen again. They don't get shot. The sheds aren't found. The county where my ranch is located has a year round predator control effort going and there is no shortage of trappers, snare men and aerial hunting but it is still loaded with coyotes. Bobcat and lions I haven't seen any tracks on the river but am sure they come through. If i were a mountain lion in Montana I would live on the river. Awful easy chewing no doubt.

Hunting season was approaching in early October and after all my stewing I decided to write a letter to the property owner where I had saw that monster. No harm in a letter, just throw out a request for permission and see what happens I thought. So off went the letter and off I went to Montana for the hunting season. And then one day, my cell phone rang. I made arrangements to go to the property and meet the land owner on a bright Sunday afternoon. Excitement was running high. I had visions of that magnificent deer being even bigger this year and having the privilege and opportunity to hang a tag on that buck! 

Life has a way of changing. Some times the biggest changes in life come extremely fast. About 5 minutes after I got to the property and exchanging pleasantries, the owner wanted to show me something that may change my mind about hunting that ranch. It was a rack of a deer found a couple weeks prior. A deer that had died near stagnant water. A deer that had a carcass that smelled of death by blue tongue. It was the buck I had a year to dream about. No doubt about that, I simply couldn't believe it. Here is the deer that dreams are made of!



Indeed he looked better the year before, running with a pal in the morning sun, heavy body weight prior to the rut. Hard to put into perspective what all this big boy had to endure to get to this age before being taken down by a midge! He isn't a long main-beamed deer, he wasn't that wide, he was just a great buck with good mass that I sure wanted to tag! With Dean Parisian we don't do scores. Scores aren't my thing. Great bucks are great bucks. It's about the hunt, the memories, the fun. Scores don't cut it at the Ghost Ranch. To each his own. This rack is now mine and will take a prominent place among a few other great bucks on a wall full of great memories, not scores. It will never be scored. Do hunters actually sit around for a year and think about a great buck being 152 or 164 or 176 scorable inches? Is life that competitive? What do those score whores compete against? Age, nutrition or genetics? Enjoy the time afield. What else do you need?

We had some fine bucks on the Ghost Ranch this fall but none of the deer I had taken photo’s of last year after the season were around. Like the previous year. And the year before that. All the biggest bucks that we had seen over the last 3 hunting seasons had made it through without getting shot and none showed up the following year. Anyone care to explain that to me? Here are some bucks that I thought I would share with you.





Here is a couple of younger bucks doing the circle dance. Like teens at a concert!


This youngster had just finished a pornographic act with his young lady friend. I was a tad late in getting the picture. What was funny is this appeared to be the same doe and the same buck at the same time facing the same direction one day apart doing what deer do in the rut!



One of my best hunting pals from south Georgia showed up during the rut and decided he wanted to shoot this deer! Congratulations Ron! 



The rut was in full swing and a Texan who I had the pleasure to hunt with last year came to Montana to get another muley. He shot a fine buck on the dead run! 



One of the more unusual occurrences in my hunting career took place with this buck. We drug the buck up out of a steep cut after applying the tag and were standing there contemplating taking a picture or two. I happened to look down on the ground and there, on top of a gopher mound, sat the bullet (30-06) that had just killed the deer! It had apparently gone thru the deer and when the beast hit the ground at full tilt it must have dropped out of the off-side of the deer! Think about those odds! So my pal recovered the deer, the shell casing AND the bullet that drilled the deer!



We all have that certain friend who has a friend who killed a whopper. You know what I am talking about. There is always a toad somewhere killed by a friend of a friend. Well, here is a buck that was killed by a friend of a good friend of mine in Montana. First shot from the .270 was at 455 yards after a 1.5 mile stalk. Second shot hit him at 480 yards. Yes, the guy shoots year around and is very proficient. Yes, the final kill shot came at 20 yards. They got up to the beast and up it came. The big boy took some lead! What a tremendous buck and the trophy of a lifetime! Don’t ask me what it scored. I don’t know and care less. I should put a plug in here for my friend who got his pal on this great deer. He is a guide in Montana and knows his stuff! (http://www.channeloutfitters.com)



Montana is a pretty cool place. Millions of acres of public land. If you hunt smart you have an opportunity to kill a good buck on public land. Year after year. You also get to see some pretty interesting things. Here is an owl that died an unusual death. 



Here is a buck that was found last summer on the Mispah River bottom. Pretty cool bone eh? A real stag! Makes the term beer can bases look rather small!



Hunting at my stage of this game is a lot about family. My wife and I dreamed about having a place for our sons to hunt together. A place where we could gather and spend time away from it all and do what we all enjoy doing, watching wildlife and putting some organic meat on the table. The Ghost Ranch has exceeded our expectations after a couple of years of work. Our oldest son has a job with the military. He sits at a console that launches ICBM’s. Smart, bright and motivated. An officer and a gentleman. Cool under pressure. He tagged another fine buck this year. Do I sound like a proud Dad? I know his grandfathers are.



My youngest son didn’t kill a deer this year and it wasn’t because he didn’t put in the time and effort. He bow hunted all fall. He is a HOYT hunter and is a bow hunter for life. He missed a coyote with his bow and never drew a drop of blood on a deer in any state. He had the best fall of his life. I am going to share his Facebook commentary, it says it best……..
“Regardless of the outcome, I feel blessed to have such an appreciation and respect for the opportunities I am given any time I get to hunt. The experiences I had this past week in Montana were incomparable to any before and as I get older I only cherish them more. Since Freshman year of high school I have hunted in Montana over thanksgiving break and filled my tag every year. This was the first year not filling my tag and I'm just, if not more, proud of my hunt and efforts. While bow hunting certainly raises the bar on killing a mature buck, I still had numerous opportunities on good deer but not the one I was waiting for. Im thankful for the opportunity to do it all again for years to come, and for the good health that allows me to do the things I love. #keephammering”

He is the President of the Bass Fishing team at the University of Georgia and had some ups and downs this year. 



He had his talons stolen off his bass boat from scum that inhabit the world and that was a wake up call to always do your best to protect your gear.

The years are coming at me faster. Probably the same for you. My boys are growing up. These pictures seem just like yesterday!





As for me, it was the best year hunting in 50 years. How could it get any better? I hadn’t planned on killing a deer unless it was an absolute monarch. Things change fast. With the season about over I took my bride to a platform stand so she could take pictures and watch some deer and turkey and I headed off down into the thick stuff. I crawled up in a platform stand for all of 3 minutes, for sure less than 5 and had a doe coming full tilt with some bone behind her. In the late afternoon sun it just looked sweet. I pulled up my .243 and started to BURP the ole boy to a halt which wasn’t working and I finally just hollered real loud, “HEY” which slowed him down enough to take a Hornady through the slats and ventilate him nicely as he piled into some cottonwood limbs before expiring. I love the sound of a big buck crashing into downed timber! Wouldn't you agree it has a good sound to it? Yes, things happened fast. The immediate text from my bride was “that was quick”. The sun was setting, I snapped this picture after tagging him, gutted him and took off for my wife who was ready to head back and get dinner ready. 
What a fall it was. I passed on some great muleys, got plenty of miles on my boots with family and friends, ate like a champ, cheered for Trump, stayed healthy and every day found it nearly impossible to thank my Creator enough for what I got to see and experience. To kill big bucks and to grow big bucks a person needs three things on those deer; age, genetics and nutrition. I have the nutrition and cover components figured out. I wish I had better genetics. I really want to figure out how to get these old Yellowstone River bucks longer age. I hope I can someday figure it out and God willing, I hope the next 25 years are just as good with family in the field. 



From our home to yours, Merry Christmas!

USFWS on a job well done.........

Had a great conversation with a federal government employee today which is rather unusual.  

This guy really knew his stuff and I like to give credit for conversations with government personnel who not only give great answers to questions but give you the background on why the law is what it is.

STEVE OBERHOLTZER
Special Agent in Charge
Law Enforcement


An asset to his employer and to the nation!  

Pearl Harbor........75

Fulton County, Georgia

The attitude that a caller has to endure in asking basic questions to the Fulton County Dept of Revenue, Tax Commissioners Office is extremely disappointing.

Taxpayers deserve better.  Much better.

Pine Ridge, South Dakota #DAPL #NODAPL

There are so many problems across Native America, pipelines are not one of them.     

Many if not the majority could be eradicated if reservations across the continent could do one thing.

If only they could mandate Native children be brought up in two-parent households with a father and mother.   The siring needs to stop.  The need for fathering is long overdue.  

Hope was tried 8 years ago, look where that got us.

Last week I was in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and visited the high school where I attended.   I hadn't been back in over 40 years.  When William Clinton was President I took a phone call from his people inviting me to attend a speech he was to give in Pine Ridge.  I politely declined even if they would have sent me a plane ticket.   Presidents can't change Pine Ridge, Billy Mills can't change Pine Ridge.   Dean Parisian wishes he could but only Pine Ridge can cure what ails it.  

It's been over 40 years since I graduated high school.   In those years I don't know if Pine Ridge, the community, has made great strides or if the high school has made great strides in educating the youth in the Pine Ridge community.  I will find that out in due time.

What I do know is that the visual blight and neglect is hard to believe.   The staggering loss of human capital and it's impact on family structure is the biggest loss to Pine Ridge. 

Obviously the liberal policies over the last 40 years have done little if anything to change the dynamic of the Oglala Nation. 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has a history of mismanagement and corruption. 

Reservations are the ultimate welfare state, a liberal utopia. Why work when government gives you a tiny check every month? I have never understood why America supports people to stay poor. What is the motivation to succeed if they are rewarded to stay dependent (on my labor and taxes) ? The permanent victimhood class and the welfare state has created generational welfare to warehouse generations who have been told they are powerless and have no hope of succeeding on their own. The BIA handouts have been sold as a substitute for hard work, ambition and success. Social programs have been sold as a replacement for a job and an education. The BIA has even been sold as a replacement for a father and in some cases, the entire family.  To pay people not to work, to incentivize fatherless parenthood and diminish the importance of the family and guess what will happen?   That in a nutshell is Pine Ridge.

Yes, it's okay, just look in the mirror. The only person that can make a substantial difference in my life is the person I see in the mirror. Least of all, not a sitting President. My decisions affect my outcomes. I accept that personal responsibility and I will refuse until my dying days to beg for scraps with the illusion that something of significance is being done by the BIA to help Pine Ridge. 

Unfortunately the addiction has not gone away.  White Clay, Nebraska has not changed. Business in White Clay is good.  The outcome is still killing Pine Ridge.