Spring turkey 2013 has come and gone. 

For the past four years, I've hunted with my buddies from my wife's family out in the area near their hunting cabin (an old schoolhouse) in the exact center of the state.  These are always fun trips, and it's great to hang out with friends, but in my time since joining only one guy has taken a bird. 

I don't know why we are jinxed.  I hear gobbles o' plenty on many of the hunting days, it just seems as though the turkeys aren't interested in buying what I'm selling.  Until this year.

Boys and girls:  I present to you the 2013 Spring Turkey Top Gun.


Right before he came up, I was sitting there thinking of how many bad days I had while ice fishing this past winter, and how I've yet to shoot a turkey.  "Idiot, if it weren't for the grocery store you'd starve to death."
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Tomorrow will be a white-knuckle day.

Since my good buddy Bob died, there have been a lot of changes, and here we are at the end of winter and I'm running out of firewood.  Bob and I used to lumberjack together on his land, and then it was only me.  And now the land will be cared for by new owners.

I placed an ad on Craigslist to solicit a barter of work for an allowance to cut firewood.  There were two responses, and the first of which I will endeavor to engage tomorrow.
Hotcakes and I will travel to Fond Du Lac to cut a couple huge branches from a big ol' walnut tree hanging over some fellow's garage. When we first set out I believed we had the tools and machines necessary to address the project (the guy sent me a couple photos from his mobile phone), but this will be a big, scary undertaking.  If everything goes well I might end up with a couple facecord of good firewood for my family.  If it does not go well I could fuck something up or be killed trying to take this thing down.  I'm afraid of this tree.
I'll do my best to have Hotcakes record the operation.  It could be boring, America's Funniest, or Faces of Death footage.  Tomorrow we'll find out.  I hope for the best.

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I spent the afternoon clearing snow and ice from a couple leaking church roofs.  High temp in the twenties.  There isn't much one can do to fix things with a foot of residual snow, but as a God-fearing man I will at least show effort.
I'll wake up again in about 5 hours to fish on Lake Winnebago.  Last week the ice was 4" on the bays, but we've had a good cold spell over the last week.  
After a while your blood acclimates to colder temps.  During summertime, 60 degrees is sweatshirt weather.  Now that it is winter, 30 degrees is sweatshirt weather as well.

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I scored tickets for tomorrow's Packer game (versus the perennial failure Detroit Lions) where I'll be in the company of my lovely and darling wife, Mrs. botnet.  Although the Pack hasn't lost at home to the Lions since 1991, there are no sure things in life, and I hope this turns out in our favor.

Packer tickets are supposedly difficult to obtain, given the length of the waiting list for season tickets (currently somewhere around 96,000 names with a wait time of about 955 years), but I've been lucky enough to curry favor with the right people such that I usually attend a game every year.  To those who have yet to attend a Packer game at Lambeau: I am so sorry.  Whether you are a Packer fan or something else, the Packer experience is something amazing.  The good vibe, the friendly fans, the celebration that is a Packer game at home is like Woodstock without all the filthy hippies. 

My seats:  Right on the aisle, row 52.  Here is a video of Brent "What's-his-face?" Favre's last (ever) play at Lambeau two seasons ago, shot from the same seats we shall occupy tommorow:
 


You'll notice the guy from Hibbing, MN seated next to me, he was a great guy and we shot the shit for a good portion of the game.  You can see that as Moss dropped the Favre pass as time expired, the fellow from Hibbing and I shake hands, and I hope we end up hanging out again sometime the Vikings visit the Packers. 

...Good people in Minnesota, and I like to think the Packer fans are hospitable and friendly as well, especially to visitors.  Though Lambeau is Hallowed Ground, if you love football (and you're not a jerk) I would hope that every Packer fan would make you feel welcome.

It's going to be tough to top the glory of Favre's final defeat at Lambeau, but here's to the Pack mopping the deck with the Lions tomorrow.

GO PACK GO!

Posted by: the botnet at 09:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today marks two years since I lost my best bud.  Damn.

On the phone with his (and my) adopted brother "Al", we spoke deer hunting, family, spring turkey, friends, and kids... Bob hung on every word.

To you, Bob:  I know you're watching us.  Every word over the phone was about you, Al knows.  I know.  I'm not going to go bawling to Al when he's in worse shape than I... and we're both bawling.  You know.  Two years, man.  Two years.

The womenfolk are getting along with life as well as you might expect.  The little one is bright and misses you.  I'm like a child, and for some reason my eyes keep watering.

Two years.

Posted by: the botnet at 08:42 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 My condolences, Bot

Posted by: LC Aggie Sith at December 08, 2012 04:53 PM (+bSoE)

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Yours truly is the inaugural winner of the Hookers and Booze (dot com) deadpool.  Yeah, that's right... Suck it, commies.  I can predict everything except the stupidity of 51% of America.  To the patriotic, I give you my best.  To the parasitic:  May your children suffer less stupidity than you.  Thanks for the laughs.

And if'n you like booze, boobies, funfunfun, and America, then get your ass over to hookers and booze.  They made me a winner, just imagine what they can do for you!
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Posted by: the botnet at 10:48 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Well deserved congrats

Posted by: LC Aggie Sith at December 08, 2012 04:55 PM (+bSoE)

2 Thanks Aggs!  I dhave high hopes for this year as well.  While I'm sure Hugo Chaves is on just about everybody's list this year, maybe the commie fuck will hook everybody up! 

I need a matching set!

Posted by: the botnet at December 08, 2012 11:02 PM (6PDiu)

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We are fucked.

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This election has been a rollercoaster.  Though I try to maintain a veneer of confidence, there are troubling incongruities in polls everywhere... We are to believe the Presidential race is tied, yet many of these polls show a D+7 or D+11 sample set?  We are supposed to accept that the race is tied despite internals showing Indies breaking for the challenger by high single to heavy double digits?
I'm going with my gut, and praying.

My prediction:

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Ogolfeline is a goner.

That said, the "lame duck" promises to be ugly, and here are a couple predictions...
The commies will use the debt ceiling fight, coupled with the "taxmageddon" deadline to extract an agreement from the weak-kneed who supposedly represent us.  The agreement, as well as the aftermath will be ugly.

Any increase on "S-corps" will be exactly as bad or worse than free-marketeers (like myself) predict.

Obamacare is a done-deal.  Maybe the worst elements will be pushed off for a few years, but damned if the clock isn't ticking.

Romney/Ryan will last only one term, since the shit economy will be baked in the cake by Obamacare/Tax recidivism.

I have zero optimisim other than Romney/Ryan winning the 2012 election.  Sure, they'll win this thing, but there has been so much shit piled on that we are living the Harrison Bergeron Economy.

I forever curse the man who calls himself "Barack Obama".

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A video from Hal Mason explaining how we are well and truly boned.  May God have mercy.

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Carolynr wrote: The day the democrats took over was not 

	January 22nd 2009, it was actually January 3rd 2007 the 

	day the Democrats took over the House of Representatives 

	and the Senate, at the very start of the 110th Congress. 

	The Democrat Party controlled a majority in both chambers 

	for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 

	1995. For those who are listening to the liberals propa-

	gating the fallacy that everything is "Bush’s Fault”, 

	think about this: January 3rd, 2007 was the day the Demo-

	crats took over the Senate and the Congress. At the time: 

	The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77 The GDP for the previous

	quarter was 3.5% The Unemployment rate was 4.6% George 

	Bush’s Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT 

	MONTHS of JOB GROWTH Remember the day… January 3rd, 2007 

	was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Finan-

	cial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the 

	Senate Banking Committee. The economic meltdown that 

	happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy? 

	BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES! Unemployment… to this 

	CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION 

	Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie 

	Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOES! Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES

	to stop Fannie & Freddie – starting in 2001 because it 

	was financially risky for the US economy. And who took the 

	THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? 

	OBAMA And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie?

	OBAMA and the Democrat Congress So when someone tries to 

	blame Bush. REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007…. THE DAY THE DEMO-

	CRATS TOOK OVER!” Budgets do not come from the White House.

	They come from Congress and the party that controlled 

	Congress since January 2007 is the Democrat Party. Further-

	more, the Democrats controlled the budget process for 2008

	& 2009 as well as 2010 & 2011. In that first year, they 

	had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to 

	compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got 

	tough on spending increases. For 2009 though, Nancy Pelosi

	& Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing 

	continuing resolutions to keep government running until 

	Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed 

	a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the 2009

	budgets. And where was Barack Obama during this time? 

	He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of 

	these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus 

	bill as President to complete 2009. If the Democrats 

	inherited any deficit, it was the 2007 deficit, the last 

	of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in 

	five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit 

	spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control 

	of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for

	the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it 

	from himself. In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is I 

	inherited a deficit that I voted for and then I voted to 

	xpand that deficit four-fold since January 20th.

	

Posted by: the botnet at 10:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"What is government? What is political power?

Government is the local monopoly of physical violence. That is the most basic definition of government.
That is it. It is forcing you to behave by it’s rules.

A little mental exercise. If you do not pay your taxes what happens? A man with a gun comes and threatens you with violence. Do not follow any government dictate for long enough and you will end up with a gun pointed at you. Which is why every time you hear someone say "They should do something about X”, where "they” invariably means the government you should ask the complainer if the problem is really important enough to have someone get a gun pointed at them.

Now, what is political power at its most basic level? The ability to direct the government to do your bidding.

Is this basic enough for you to understand why the accumulation of massive political power should concern everyone, not just Conservatives?"

Nathan_OH on May 10, 2012 at 10:12 AM

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Today I'll attend the Rally in the Fox Valley right here in good ol' Sloshkosh.  All four Republican US Senate candidates are slated to attend and speak, along with such luminaries as Lt. Gov Kleefisch, Mark Block, Rick Gudex, and others.  Governor Walker, Paul Ryan, and Herman Cain are invited to attend and address the rally, but there has been no confirmation.  I'll be happy either way. 
It is currently overcast and dreary outside, and I'm hoping like hell the rain holds off.  If I don't drink too much beer I'll post photos and shit later, but if it isn't raining I'll burn wood in the backyard.  And drink beer.

(Update)


The rally was well attended, and I happened to meet my brother and nephew there under the TGFSW (Thank God For Scott Walker) banner.  I showed a bit late due to family obligations, but compared to previous TEA Party rallies the crowd size was at least double.  The takeaway:  people are ginned up for the recall election, and boy howdy am I optimistic. 

After the rally, I recommended a nearby dive for drinks and conversation with like-minded folks.  Yeah, the Trail's End is a townie tavvie, but I know the owner.  I believe he is a conservative because he's crabby, and to me it's pretty much the same thing.  I made a couple friends, and came away with a sense of optimism which I previously lacked.  Mark these words:  Scott Walker shall serve AT LEAST eight years as Governor of the State of Wisconsin.  TGFSW.

Posted by: the botnet at 07:07 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I highly respect Steve Eggleston of norunnyeggs.com, and was lucky enough to run into the guy on an excellent WI recall thread posted by CAC at the HQ. 

Posted by: steveegg at May 03, 2012 09:49 PM (o44nj)

++++++++++++++++

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It was a fun time swilling beer with the guys (and gals). I got skunked again this year, but at least everybody else was unsuccessful as well. Friday morning was absolutely frigid, and I was underdressed for the temp, and worse yet hunkered in a blind trying to call the birds in. The toms were gobbling and seemed all over the area I was hunting, but were uninterested in approaching my call. The gobbling ended at about 9:00, and then it just got boring. And cold... way too cold to sleep.

Saturday the temperature was a bit higher, though the toms weren't gobbling. The rain and wind quieted the birds down, and I got only one bird to respond to my call. I set about to get closer to the call (from the direction of the river to the south of my blind), but I received only one response after I moved. That was it for the day.

Here is a porcupine that I didn't shoot.
Sunday, said "screw the blind, I'm wearing camo, and it's frickin' cold out" so I set out "runnin' and gunnin'". I received responses about half an hour's hike from the trailhead, and followed him into the woods calling to maintain contact and direction. Once again the bird wasn't interested in meeting me, as he moved away whenever I'd get closer. I chased him for about two hours until he crossed the river, and taunted me with gobbles in tall grass about 150 yards away.

Good times. Next year I'm going to blast a big tom, I promise.

Posted by: the botnet at 06:43 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The hunt for the elusive and dangerous forest chicken.  I'll be drinking with a bunch of old dudes out at the cabin, then waking extra early to freeze my ass off in the woods.
The shotgun is clean and oiled, I have a flask of alcohol, and a copy of Skousen's 5000 Year Leap.
I hope to shoot something this year.  Or at least see something.

We shall see.

I'll try to take a couple photos if anything fun besides boozin' happens.

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From John Venlet at the excellent blog Improved Clinch:

"In response, I’ll quote a thought of Epictetus, again, as he has recently been firing my mind.

When any person does ill by you, or speaks ill of you, remember that he acts or speaks from a supposition that it is his duty.  Now, it is not possible that he should follow what appears to be right to you, but only what appears so to himself.  Therefore, if he judges from a wrong appearance, he is the person hurt, since he, too, is the person deceived.  For if any one supposes a true proposition to be false, the proposition is not hurt, but he who is deceived about it.  Setting out, then, from these principles, you will mildly bear with one who reviles you, for you will say upon every occasion: "It seemed so to him.” (bold by ed.)

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The results of a recent Rasmussen poll have concluded that Wisconsin is composed of roughly 52% idiot.  It's going to be close, boys and girls.

If Walker goes down to the likes of Union toadie Kathleen Falk, we truly are boned. 

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Found this at Ace's

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"We should run Dick Cheney and emphasize he's had a change of heart"
       -George at H&B Chat


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