H.A.S - Hunters After Season

We had a great time last night in Salem Ohio. I was asked to bring my bullet collection for display and some of my mounts. I took my 148 5/8 buck from Muskingum County Ohio, a 123 archery buck from Indian County Pennsylvania and my black bear. I am not sure exactly how much it weighed, but what I brought home weighed between 400 - 420 lbs. I did not bring the carcas (spine, rib cage, pelvic bones etc). So it is possible that it weighed upwards of close to 500. I guess I will never know. The skull measured over 18".

Dad, Kenton, and Paul Houseworth enjoying some "lies" being told.

There were about 150+ guys in attendance.

Some of Daryl Muir's taxidermy work.

Kenton proudly posed with his 1st squirrel that Daryl Muir mounted. The squirrell is sitting on the branch Kenton shot him off. The leaves and sticks on the habitat base are from the base of that little tree.

Here is a blurry photo Dad took of my collection before it started.

Kenton just won a trophy for the 2007-2008 Youngest Successful Buck Hunter.

Paul Houseworth shared a story about shooting his ram rod out of the barrell of his muzzle loader.
Daryl Muir and I tied for a prize on the buck scoring contest. Our scores were with in inches of each score. We both nailed one score at 162". I won a cool Mossy Oak hoody.

Senior Citizens are Valuable

They claim they are more valuable than any of the younger generations and I quote"

"We have silver in our hair.

We have gold in our teeth.

We have stones in our kidneys.

We have lead in our feet and.....

We are loaded with natural gas.

Yep!! I say they are more valuable!!! :)

Another one from Tom and Connie Rodgers.

The Wheels of Life

At what stage are you in the "wheel of life"? I am at the one right in the middle of life with the van and all the kids. This May 20 I will be halfway to 70.
Thanks to Tom and Connie Rodgers for sending this my way.

Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness

I normally keep my blog for the lighter side of life. I guess I will break tradition and post something of a spiritual nature. This past Sunday I preached on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. The first four Beatitudes deal with our relationship to God. I covered the first three, but made a heavy emphasis on the last one - "Bless are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled."

As I spoke on each beatitude I did not cover the benefits listed with them, rather I just emphasized what God wants for us as Christians. This 4th one is the key to all the rest. By following this Beatitude it will enable us to be able to easily succeed with the others. God says in both the Old and New Testaments that He wants us to be holy. The best way we can as humans be holy like God is to follow the example of God's son. Jesus Christ gave us the greatest example in the flesh. If you have a desire to be holy like God wants us to, study what He did and what He said. Being holy is being righteous. How many really truly hunger and thirst after true righteousness?

The text was Matthew 5. The context of this verse is very simple. It uses elements of our daily life that help us to understand what God wants for us in respect to being righteous. It says that we need to hunger and thirst after it. It is a concept we all easily identify with. It is something that motivates our fork and our glass many times a day.

When was the last time you went from Sunday morning to Sunday morning with out eating or drinking? Most of us think we are starving if we miss a meal or two. Most of us fare sumptuously at home and at buffets. We cannot do anything in our life with having lunch breaks, eating out, meals, drinking fountains. Without the time taken to fill our bodies with nutrition and nourishment, we would soon become dehydrated and anemic. Yet spiritually we can go from Sunday to Sunday and day to day without filling our spiritual life. How much more we would be blessed if we daily hungered and thirsted after God and His righteousness. What if when we got up we had our breakfast of time with Him. Spent a time during the day reading His Word and even in the evening gathered our families around God's word like we do the table and fill up again. I can tell it is the only way we can over eat or drink without sinning.

May God help all of us to have a hunger and thirst for the things of God. May we not let the many distractions around us get us sidetracked. You will be blessed and you will be filled!! Alright enough of my preaching!

Of Men and Tractors

What does a guy need the most in life? A tractor of course! (This can change depending on the season and mood.) Even if you have several....Yes you can always use another, especially if it is a good deal. The good deal part is the catch. Not only is the tractor priced low....which did not convince my wife to bite on the deal. Her comment was "Well if the Lord knows you need the tractor......just pray he send in all the money for it." I said ok....I think I did pray about it, but not as fervently as she did. I guess it was just something that she knew I realized was a good deal. All she was thinking about was monthly payments for several years. She prayed hard...I did not doubt.... but who is going to give me $6,300.00. A good deal is not a good deal when you don't have the money.

Long story.....here is a pic of a tractor that is not the exact one but the same make and model. I recieved a call today and the tractor was paid for....I am still waiting to hear if Dad will let me say he bought it for me. The tractor pictured here is priced firm at $9,500.00. Needless to say I think I got a good deal.

It is dangerous having a tractor dealer at the end of the road that my inlaws farm is on. I can not tell you how many times I have pulled in and asked prices on tractors that were traded in. Julie's Uncle Tim tested it out for me. It is a Ford 3600 with about 2,000 hours. It started right up at 20+ degrees out with no ether or heater. I will post pictures of it when it is delivered.

My Sweetheart!!

I apologize for not mushing on here on Valentines Day. I am not one for allot of PDA(Public Displays of Affection.) There is a time and place for everything! :) She definately was worth the weeding and waiting!

No comments about that skinny guy in the picture and whatever happened to him!

Glad I am not a Patriots Fan

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bill Belichick has been illegally taping opponents' defensive signals since he became the New England Patriots' coach in 2000, according to Sen. Arlen Specter, who said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told him that during a meeting Wednesday.

I would hate to admit being a Patriots fan! Now we know why the Steelers lost the AFC game to the Patriots in 2004.

Flashback Friday

When: September 2000
Where: Haliburton Highlands - just south of the Alagonquin State Park, Ontario Canada
Who: While working as Operations Manager of a Shipping Company in Pittburgh an attorney asked me to join him on a hunting trip to Canada. I turned him down the first year. The second year he twisted my arm hard enough I finally gave in.
Why: Because at $900 for the liscence, gas, guide, food, and lodging, I thought it was a great deal. The guide even guaranteed us a bear that weighed at least 250 lbs.

This bear was the 4th I had seen. The first two days I had 2 bears within 5 yards of me. I had picked a spot along a river that they crossed and sat up along the trail. I was too close and could not get my gun up. I sat there for about a minute with the bear directly looking into my eyes. That was very cool. After seeing the same or similar smaller bear(250lbs) I decided to try a new spot. On the third day I moved to a new spot and saw a 400 pounder in the morning. I set up that evening in the same place and caught him passing through. He weighed 420 lbs field dressed. It was an awesome experience I will never forget. I shot at the bear and got a clean shot right behind the shoulders. The bear did what they mostly do and started to thrash around and let out the horrible wailing, moaning growl that is called there death wail. As the bear was doing this I set the gun down and took a picture. Then the bear started to run off. I quickly grabbed my rifle and squeezed another shot off at the running bear. I always thought I had missed that second shot. When I skinned out my bear I found the the two holes entrance and exit. Later when I had the meat cut up the butcher gave me the expanded bullet that he had cut out of the bear front right leg. That got me to wondering. I called up Daryl Muir my taxidermist who was tanning the hids of teh bear and asked him how many holes. He explained that it looked like the bear had been shot in the right side and exited the left. I had shot the bear on the left. After a short discussion I realized what had taken place. It was a once in lifetime occurence onlong the same lines of Robin Hooded arrows. My first shot had entered the bear on the left and exited on the right. The second bullet had gone in the same exact entry hole making the hole slightly larger. Sincethe bear was running quartering away from me the bullet had angled and lodged in the bears right front shoulder.

Here is the bear right after I shot it. I chased it down and walked up to it. I was told by my guide that I should have waited for a little while before taking out after it. I just wanted to make sure that he did not get away.

You can see the mass of his body with my gun laying along side of him. He was 6' 8" from his tail to the tip of his nose. His skull measured 11" by 7" for a total of 18". I will try to find a picture of his paw and scan in.

Here is my guide holding the bears paw.

Dogs and Balloons

This is the kind of dog we need in our house. My wife would absolutely be thrilled with such a canine friend. Might I add she hates balloon popping!!

Would Someone Die For A Lie? - Lee Strobel

A Night with Wade Nolan

I found someone who knows Alaska upside and down. Wade was a guide at Denali for many years. He is a wildlife biologist and photographer. He also loves hunting and more importantly he got saved and now is traveling speaking on whitetail deer and other interesting things about the outdoors and gives his testimony. I have heard him many times and always enjoy his adventures.

Wayne Drury and Ed Zike

A few of the mounts of the wall.

OK what am I eating? Wild Boar, Elk, Moose, Whiteteail??

Wade Nolan sharing about Denali National Park.

Wade and I

The Center

The Northwestern Youth Community Center celebrated its 1 year anniversary open house at the Center. The Center is a place for young kids to hang out after school in our community. I happen to be a part of it and have been just about since it was started. What do I do? Well I am the resident electrician, and more notably the vice-president of the board. Sounds impressive? Not actually. I found I was the vice-president on Saturday at the open house. I guess I missed the wrong board meeting and got elected. The Center has come along ways and has along ways to go.

Joe Marcewizc from Penn State Behrend speaking.

Some young boys playing with a game.

A little gal enjoying reading.
Kenton is trying out an excercise machine.
Ruth with her shiny new can.
Dr. Corder and I.

Connie Lance has been a big blessing to the Center. She is a key contrbutor as a grant writer and is able to help as a coordinator with free labor by prisoners from the local state prison.

Kenton and Vincent trying their hand at air hockey.
Kendra and Alyssa making their craft.

Sam Ring playing ball with his daughters.
Another one of my friends from counseling with the Strengthening Families Program.
Another Duke fan!
I think he was gettig a kick out of it.
Elizabeth was quietly working away.

New Course - Curriculum Development & Design

Question: What does this mean to you? Curriculum Development Design
Answer: It means you have to pray for me! (Not what you thought the answer would be is it?)

I am excited about this as I develop a special history curriculum around one of the many innovations of the Civil War - self contained ammunition. As many of you know I have collected cartridges(bullets) for about 23 years. I have no clue how many I have in my collection, but I would be safe to say well over 1,500 different rounds no caliber the same. Maybe I will share a picture so you understand what in the world I am talking about. I have taken my collection to many game dinners and have been a guest speaker. Here is a pic of part of my collection at a game dinner.

Sick a Bed Two Chairs

Not that you care...but I have been extremely sick. All I can find strength to add today(J/K)is the explanation for my title. It is part of my families way of saying we are very sick. My father is the one that taught me this saying when I was a little kid. When you get that sick you pull two chairs together and make a bed to sleep in. I never have asked him why they always did that. Maybe it is so he couldn't roll out of bed and land on his head.

About McCain

I had to post this for my good buddy, Tim.

-----------------------------------------------------------

James Dobson, the Focus on the Family president, today released this statement to the Laura Ingraham show.

"I'm deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, who voted for embryonic stem cell research to kill nascent human beings, who opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, and who has little regard for freedom of speech, who organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.
"I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has at times sounded more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does not make the medicine go down. I cannot, and I will not vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.
"But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should John McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I'm affiliated. They do reflect, however, my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country."

Ski Trip to Holiday Valley Planned

Ski Trip
February 25, 2008
Holiday Valley – Ellicottville, NY
Group Rate Ski-Lift Tickets – All day/night, 9:00 AM – 10:00
Adult - $37

Junior (6-11) - $27
Rentals – All day/night Skis: Snowboard:
Adult - $28 $39
Junior (6-11) - $22 $31

Many of us take packed lunches which we eat in a designated area of the lodge.
- If you prefer to buy food on location, it is available, though pricey.
Hot chocolate and coffee will be provided free for any member of our group.
If you want to reserve group tickets or have any questions contact:
Marilyn Muir - Event Coordinator

330-506-4227 or 330-372-1593

dmmuir84@earthlink.net

Or you may email me at:

iwumasterstudent@yahoo.com

We Have Heat!!!

We installed a new furnace in our home today and my wife is very very happy. The greatest part about it is that we feel warm. What felt the same with the old furnace and thermostat control set at 74, the new 90% efficiency furnace and electronic thermostat does the same at 68. The old furnace had the fan motor going bad and was only blowing about 25% of what the new one blows at. The target on the inside of the old furnace had melted over time and we were not able to buy a replacement. I guess that is what happens when something gets to the 25 year old mark. The kids rooms are now nice and warm. No more bunking in the livingroom when it gets real cold out.

George Randall picked up our furnace and delivered it the other day.

Dad and I uncrate it and discuss what all we have to do.

Dad working at unhooking everything and removing the old exhaust pipe.

The next two pics show the furnace area empty and ready for the new furnace.

Prepping the bottom of the furnace for the gas line entry.

In and ready for the intake and exhaust lines.

Finally in and running and keeping Julie very happy!!

Steeples and Egg Laying Rabbits

I received this letter from a very genuinely misled soul concerning our church. It includes our bad use of the following things with our church: our steeple, our observance of Christ's birth at Christmas and His resurrection at Easter, and our worship of the Lord on Sunday. His whole premise: we are worshipping the sun. The funny thing is I never had even thought about the sun except to notice whether it was a "nice day". I really had not realized that some lady transformed bird into egg laying rabbits. Weird! What was even more interesting was when he showed up to church and during the prayer request his prayer request was to ask the church when we were going to take the steeple down. It had only been only up 2 weeks. To say the least for the last year he has bothered us and finally sent this into our local paper that refused to publish it based on its ridiculous nature.

Dear Editor,

I must address a situation that occurred last year that bothers me on two levels, one spiritual, on a personal. I’ve listened to many preachers, teachers, saints, sinners all talk about improving a person’s relationship with our Creator and I believed have. Now let me have a shot at calling others to repentance.
In the Bible Yahweh says not to do what the heathen do and say you are dong it for Him.

That sounds simple enough doesn’t it? But apparently it is not.

Last year the church at Keepville erected a spire on their church building and you ask “what could be wrong with that”? Let me explain.

Spires, steeples and obelisks are all representations of “rays of the sun” dating from the time of Nimrod and the Kingdom of Babel. When Nimrod died his wife Beltis (also called Samiramis) claimed that he ascended and became the “Sun God”. Sometime later Nimrods widow claimed she was impregnated by a “ray of the sun.” Hence these objects representing “rays of the sun” are also phallic symbols, sometimes called the phallus of Nimrod. This is the symbol that now adorns the “Christian” Keepville Church. Remember Yahweh says, “do not do what the heathen do and say you are doing it for me.”

I have warned the pastor about this situation and he said, “but it doesn’t mean that to me.” He said it is pointing the way to heaven. Perhaps putting a golden calf up there would be too obvious of a pagan symbol and parishioners would leave even if one says, “but it doesn’t mean that to me”.

Now suppose every time I pass that church or one of its members, I were to raise my middle finger to them. (I would never actually do this except to make a point!) I’m sure they would be offended, and when they acted offended I can say “but it doesn’t mean that to me!” In fact I will rename it my “spire finger” Look it is also pointing to Heaven!!

Now don’t take me wrong, I’m not doing this from meanness, but from love. I love Yahweh and have been called to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. To my thinking putting up pagan symbolism is the same as flipping God the finger. No matter how loudly you cry “but it doesn’t mean that to me”, please stop and ask what does it mean to God?

On a personal note my great great great grandparents are buried in the Keepville cemetery, and now the shadow of this pagan sun worship symbol now crosses the honored resting place of a man who fought in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812.

Now it’s not my intention to afflict only my friends and neighbors in Keepville but to call all people who are involved in Babylonian sun worship practices to follow Rev. 18:4 “Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sin, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

So, what are some things your church does that come straight from Babylon? How about December 25? It was the birthday of Tammuz the baby conceived by Beltis with “a ray of the sun” making him the reincarnated Nimrod the Sun god and her in turn the “mother of god”.

Also Easter was celebrated before the birthday of Yahshua (Jesus) much as it is today. Easter (Ashtaroth) being the name of the reincarnated Beltis who returned to earth from “heaven” in a giant egg and showed her divinity by transform birds into egg laying rabbits.

These are not Sabbaths or feasts described in the Bible as commanded by Yahweh neither is Sunday the “Sabbath of the Lord they God”. But if you all just keep saying “but it doesn’t mean that to me” and say it loudly, maybe Yahweh will hear from Heaven and not bring the plagues of Revelation 18:4 upon you, but that is quite a chance to take. Wouldn’t it be better to repent and “come out of her my people” and really improve your relationship with Yahweh, the Creator of the Universe.

Sincerely
His Servant
XXX XXXXXXXX

I forgot to mention that he told me last summer that God had called him to be a prophet and when I asked him what God had told him he said "I am not sure yet, I have to study about that."

Your One Stop Shop

I love being a help to others. It ussually is done in a huge variety of ways. Over the short time here at Keepville on just vehicles I have rebuilt motors, fixed gas tanks, exhaust systems, alternators starters, brakes, ignitions, and other miscelaneous things. Today Blaine Cosner called and needed an alternator put on. So after I was done installing our new furnace, I changed his alternator and then headed out to visit a lady from our church that is on the last leg of her journey here on earth. Blaine rode along and did some calling with the pastor.

No Heat in our House

We will be without heat today while the new furnace is installed. Dad is on his way right now to help me out. I am sure either Julie or I will post an update later.

Granny Gurnee in the Hospital

My grandmother will be 88 this year and ended up in the hospital. She has led an active life and retired in Arlington Texas as the manager of the largest mini storage facility in the city. She moved back north near Mom and Dad and lives in the Shryock Apartment Complex. She quit working for the Social Security office at age 85 and now volunteers at the area free clinic. I think that is where she picked up her pnemonia and bronchitus. Hope you get bettter soon!!

My Sister Beth's Birthday

My big sister(although she is much littler than me)turns 37 today. I stopped down to her house to see her and take her out to eat. She chose Hoss's Steak and Seafood. We had a great time. After that we stopped and saw Granny in the hospital. P.S. She is still single and is now going to shoot me for saying so, but...if you know of any nice Christian guys about 35-45 give me a holler.

Happy Birthday Beth!!

Flashback Friday

These pictures are from last years hunting season. It was a great year for us all. Rod, Dad, and I all ended up with a trophy. Dad and I parted ways in the predawn morning of the last Saturday. Rod and I had both shot 10 points the first day and I shot a doe the following morning. The spot for the three of theme was at the good old "sweetspot". I left Dad there and made my way to the "backdoor" to make sure no deer ran into the development. It was 10 degrees out and the wind was blowing at a good 20+mph. You do the scientific math - Very Cold!

About an hour after daylight I heard Dad's .308 crack the morning air. One shot and silence. My cell phone rang "I think I just shot someone's dog." You have to understand that in Pennsylvania any dog that runs deer during hunting season or any other time is fair game. A dog can run a deer until it collapses then it is usually killed. Dad had been watching a 6 point buck which was not a legal one in WMA 2D. Just about a 1/2 a mile was route 119 and it would have been another deer in the freezer. as he watched another doe come through the pines he waited for the flash of brown and waited to see if it had antlers. He decided if it was a doe he would just go ahead and take it. As the brown head appeared through the pines his .308 laid it down as quick as it had appeared. The problem was when it went down it thrashed and a tail was flipping around. The coyote had dropped in a little depression on the trial about 125 yards away and remained almost completely out of sight. All he could see was enough hair to know it was not a deer. His first instinct was a dog, but did not think it was a dog either. I told him that he had more than likely shot a coyote. I told him to stay put and I would circle around the back of the pines and try to push a buck toward him. I did alright, the same 6 point came meandering by again. You can't grow horns by watching them in the scope. Then he jumped I had just shot. His guess - Byron shoots = dead deer. He was correct except it was not the right kind of a deer. Then he heard a second shot.....

What happened next was not the best deer story I have. It includes a state cop and a Game warden. I had moseyed along the back trail overlooking Bob Herman's house. A spot where I have kicked up literally over a hundred deer over the years but never had any success. I would usually jump them and they would take off running through 40 year old overgrown Christmas trees. The property used to belong Musser Nursery. It is rather thick in spots with all kinds of "junk" growing in it. As I walked along I saw 3 doe bedded down about 50 yards ahead of me about 10 feet off of the trail. As is my tradition I never shoot a deer laying in its bed. They quickly jumped up and bounded away giving me time to look at each one of them in my scope. They were all doe. As the ran down over the hill I waited till they came to a stop at the edge of the woods by the harvested corn field. I picked out one and noticed I was shooting through allot of limbs and about 80-90 yards. When I shot they all took off and I could see two run across the field. The third one amazingly was till standing there. I shot again and it promptly fell over. What I did not realize that a spike with the smallest rack I had ever seen had been laying down along the field and stood up when they ran across the field. one of them curled back along the field toward the north and up into the woods. The second shot had dropped him in his tracks. I did not realize this for I could not see him right away I moved around trying to scope out if I had hit anything. A I started to make my way down over the hill I saw two hunters coming my way. I knew them both and figured we would swap success stories for the year. The one was a state cop and had taken a huge buck two years before at the very spot my deer was laying. They got to the deer first and I heard them say "Uh Oh...someone shot a spike!" WHAT????!!!! I could not believe it! After we talked about it he said that he had watched this deer for quite awhile in his scope and never saw the spikes. As you can see the tiny pencils on top of his head were covered by the big brown ears. Fortunately for me his hunting buddy was the head WCO for this area and he called him and got him out of bed to take care of my "mistake kill". Fortunately for me he was there and witnessed it. The warden could see that the spikes were very small and gave me a 25.00 restitution fee for a mistake kill instead of a 100.00 - 300.00 fine which would have gone on my record and also lost my license for the next year. He handed me another tag and said happy hunting and make sure is does not have an antler. I was so disgusted by then that I decided to quit hunting and head home.