Curly said it...'it's the ONE thing'...

I had a birthday last week! Woohoo.. I am beginning to notice something though-I still have a list of stuff I want, I just don't really care as much whether I get it or not! This could be because I realize I don't need it too badly, or maybe just because I know I'll get that widget I've always wanted whether for my birthday or when I get good and ready to make it a reality. Almost sounds like birthday fun might be over. I can assure you it's not! At some point it becomes apparent that 'things' won't make you happy, but experiences and friends and family will. So after the family stuff I did what makes me happy these days-I went hog hunting!

I'm very glad to say that this hunt was exactly the kind of hunt I would want for a birthday, challenging both my skills and my fitness level while including a little adrenaline and turning a negative into a positive. All those things could be wrapped up and said this way: I'd rather things not be too easy, and a little pain or hardship makes things much more memorable!

So what happens when you're in a hog infested area and you find yourself with only one bullet? Well I can tell you that you'll feel more pressure not to miss! However, this is a good kind of pressure, one that forces you to draw on your skills and knowledge of both gun and game. Mix in a full bore 400 yard sprint in soft sandy loam culminating in a quick setup and a 200 yard shot and you have an example of some of the finest moments hog hunting has to offer! As I look back on that hunt, I know that it all came together even when things at first didn't go as I would have wanted. And then there's that luck thing. My luck that day came in the form of the decision to tie my boots!

So that day, as luck would have it, I reached down and tightened up my Danners. I don't know why. I do know that as we were running across that wheat field as fast as our 40'ish legs could carry us, it occured to me that I would have been eating dirt and in major pain if I had followed the routine I normally do. Instead, one little detail enabled me to pull off a spectacular shot (if you ask me) under very challenging conditions! Too bad Glenn's camera wasn't rolling at the time...

Oh, why did I only have one bullet? Hehehe..well because I missed the stampeding HERD of pigs we encountered at close range in the woods! Don't judge too harshly though, there's a tree or two that won't be growing the same way after jumping in the path of my bullets! Who knew trees were so protective towards pigs?

Well, well, well...where the hell have I been?

Oh yeah, that blog thing! How could I forget? Well, I could start off with a million excuses for why I haven’t put anything in my blog...but that would be short at LEAST one excuse if not a few more! So let’s just say I’ve been both lazy and busy.

Through my association with the folks at Garrett Metal Detectors, I’ve managed to get my picture in a magazine ad, as well as in their current catalog! This has made for some interesting conversations and a little showing off, but unfortunately there are a lot of people at work that now call me ‘Hollywood’. Not exactly what I intended… Still, it looks like a potential prospecting trip may arise from my 10 seconds of fame, and I hear rumors of a group hunt in some exotic location that sounds extremely promising!

I guess I need to dust off the detector and get back out there. I have at least one really cool historic site that I’ve been working on for a couple years. All I’ve managed to come up with so far are a few old minie balls and a musket ball, some old buckles, and some wheatback pennies. All good mind you, just still not what I believe the potential really is on this place. There are 3 old homesites, and old RACETRACK, a mule train stop, and even further back in time this place was ground zero for a post War Between the States feud. Wow, lots to look for! Mind you, that’s just ONE cool site, I also have so many leads to others that I may actually never be able to visit them all! I need to win the lottery so I have more time for hobbies!

Speaking of the lottery, I need to win it just to gear up with all the detectors I need! Turns out there are niches in this hobby and detectors to fill every one-go figure! Maybe I'll start up a begging website for people to donate to my addiction. Or is that affliction?

So with the little free time I’ve had lately, I’ll just say that it’s hard to balance everything! I did manage to get out and kill 2 pigs but that’s a different story for later.