It's war this time

[Chuck Ellis]

Hey, you know that if you hit a cow in the head with a hammer it doesn't harm them (MUCH)...

 

[Ryan Mooney]

At other times we shot potatoes. He would "grovel" potatoes and set them on the ground and fence posts and we shot them.

We wouldn't have considered wasting potatoes like that. Certainly not with an unlimited supply of road apples (aka horse leavings) around. I practiced against those with all manner of thing from firearms to slingshots to bow & arrow to sling. I got so I could pick off 3 in a row from 30 paces with an old fashioned sling when I was in practice about as fast as most people could use anything else.

 

[Mike Stafford]

We wouldn't have considered wasting potatoes like that. Certainly not with an unlimited supply of road apples (aka horse leavings) around. I practiced against those with all manner of thing from firearms to slingshots to bow & arrow to sling. I got so I could pick off 3 in a row from 30 paces with an old fashioned sling when I was in practice about as fast as most people could use anything else.

We were fresh out of road apples. My grandfather always had an abundance of potatoes. Looking back at it I have to agree it was wasteful but he had no shortage of potatoes.

My grandfather and his "garden" is a funny story. He had this 35 acre farm in an adjacent county with a fully functional farmhouse, barn, tractor shed etc. etc. He would go out to the "farm" and plant vast quantities of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, green peas, watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydews, cucumbers etc. He faithfully tended his crops, weeding and cultivating them almost daily. Many days during the summer I would go to the farm with him and help tend the crops. One of the first things we would do was go to where the watermelon and cantaloupe vines were growing and pick one or the other and have it to start the day. Granddaddy grew what he called rattlesnake watermelons or Charleston grays. He would pick a good one and cut it open with his big old pocket knife (I have that knife in my collection with one of the blades sharpened down to where it resembles an ice pick more than a blade) and we would eat the heart of it right then and there. He always knew which melons were ripe and if the one he picked wasn't ripe he would pick another. I fondly remember those days.

He would harvest this bounty and we all would eat well but there was far too much even for the extended family. Granddaddy harvested it also and took it to the A&P and traded these home grown fresh vegetables for canned foods. In his basement when he and Grandma moved away were several hundred cases of canned vegetables that he had obtained in trade from the A&P.

Funny you bring up slingshots as I keep a wrist rocket around as a squirrel deterrent. I am pretty good with that thing. As a kid I made many a slingshot from a forked branch, strips of bicycle tubing, leather from the tongue of an old shoe and twine. I kept one in my back pocket most of the time like Dennis the Menace. I never had any red overalls however.



I say I am good with a slingshot but this man who doesn't live all that far from me is the best I have ever seen. He is called the Bean shooter man
Watch this video and tell me he isn't the best you have ever seen with a slingshot.

 

[Darren Wright]

Nice one Mike. I sent that to my daughter to show my grandson. We made on this past summer and he got to be pretty decent shooting it.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Watch this video and tell me he isn't the best you have ever seen with a slingshot.

He's definitely a site better than I ever was, with anything of that sort, that's for sure!

Funny thing is I only ever really had one slingshot, was getting about half ok with it and then the rubber broke. I couldn't, at the time, get any replacement rubber due to location and finances (we were poor and didn't get to town much). But a small chunk of buckskin or scrap of cloth and a few pieces of string were free so I whipped up a handful of old fashioned whirl slings and was quite a bit better with those (they also fit in the pocket or loop over the belt better so they're a smidge easier to carry). The kind of intuitive shooting method is similar with them although the mechanics are plumb different.

 

[Mike Stafford]

I played around with the whirl slings for a while but I can't say I was ever very good with one.

I figured everybody needed to be proficient with a sling because you never know when a Philistine giant might be coming your way.

 

[Charles Lent]

Mike,
I met Rufus in Seagrove, NC a few years back. He is every bit as good as in that video.

Charley

 

[Mike Stafford]

Mike,
I met Rufus in Seagrove, NC a few years back. He is every bit as good as in that video.

Charley

Charles, I would like to take lessons from the Bean Shooter Man. When I am at war with the squirrels I would like to be able to waste less ammunition.

The truth is I don't have enough years left to ever be that good no matter how much I practice but I sure would like to see someone that skilled.

 

[Darren Wright]

I walked out to spread some pellet stove ashes in the yard this morning and saw two hawks fly away from my taller oak tree, one had a fuzzy tail waving from his talons.

 

[Dave Hawksford]

Charles, I would like to take lessons from the Bean Shooter Man. When I am at war with the squirrels I would like to be able to waste less ammunition.

The truth is I don't have enough years left to ever be that good no matter how much I practice but I sure would like to see someone that skilled.

When my boys were young we'd sit on the side porch with a pellet gun , and I'd have them shoot bumble bees off the holly tree to begin there training. Consider size and distance they became very good.

 

[Darren Wright]

Well, looks like it's about to get serious around here. I went to head to the borg for some supplies and all kinds of error codes came up on the truck.

I popped the hood to find one of my harnesses chewed on. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get the one wire chewed at the harness fixed or not or if I'm looking at a whole new harness. I'll disconnect it and give it a closer look tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get the pin out and solder a longer wire on.


Also chewed a bit on the positive battery cable. I'll get it patched up tomorrow also.


The truck is drivable, but the power steering assist isn't working completely and have no ABS or traction control.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

. I'm hoping I can get the pin out and solder a longer wire on.

ixnay on the solder, crimp connectors all the way down imho. Yeah I know high temp solder is usually fine, but.. I prefer crimps wherever possible in these use cases because you don't have to worry as much about flex fatigue.

 

[steve ramsey]

I feel for you Darren, I put $1500 into replacing wiring harnesses on my truck after I first got it. My mechanic suggested take heavy gatorade bottles, drill holes around the top, half fill with moth balls and zip tie in the engine compartment. Haven't had a problem since. Other people claim they could smell the moth balls but I lost my sense of smell so didn't bother me. If you have to replace the harness you may be able to turn it in on your home owners policy.

 

[Darren Wright]

And Ryan for the win! I was able to pull off the back cover of the plug and expose about 1/2" of wire from the one that was cut right at the plug. I used some small copper tubing I had on hand, overlapped the wires inside the tube, crimped it on both ends and covered with heat shrink. Repeated for the 3 other splices. All the codes went away. I still need to stop by the parts store and grab some of the "liquid" insulation to patch up the ground cable yet.



Also Steve, thanks for the tip. I happened to have a couple of boxes of mothballs left over, so did just that under each the truck and the jeep.

I had the pellet gun with me at the shop, but not seen one squirrel all day, I think they know they are in for it.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

I tend to have a collection of crimp connectors, but good note on small pieces of pipe & shrink wrap.. I'll have to keep that on in mind.

I think they know they are in for it

I swear if there's an 8 hour day and you're watching for 6 they'll only be out the other 2 99% of the time.

 

[Darren Wright]

Well, seems the moth balls must not work. I had a couple more wires I had to patch a few days ago from when I was out of town. This morning I had no heat/air blowing, front window control, and engine and airbag lights on again. Popped the hood when I got back home and found the start of a nest and a few more wires chomped. I'm not sure I'm going to keep chasing this, need to check my auto policy and see if there are any exclusions, but my wife thinks it is covered. I will let the dealer/body shop take over. I did clear a spot in the shop, so it's now parked inside.

Oh and did have this arrive this morning...

 

[Ryan Mooney]

I'm telling you, traps are the answer. You'll spend all your time looking for squirrels that are busy not being there when you are and are busy there when you ain't.

Having said that... Which variant of the swarm is that? I'll be definitely interested a short review (noise, accuracy, how well the magazine works, etc..).

 

[fred hargis]

I had chipmunks eat through some of the wiring of a truck of mine, they also chewed the hood liner all to ribbons. They are a little easier to deal with (rat traps) but just as destructive.

 

[Paul Douglass]

A GOOD pellet gun will take care of it... I bought on several years ago.... Love owning it,,, I can safely practice with it in my yard,,, even in my house if I want.... And it will drop squirrels and magpies with ease....

 

[Darren Wright]

I'm telling you, traps are the answer. You'll spend all your time looking for squirrels that are busy not being there when you are and are busy there when you ain't.

Having said that... Which variant of the swarm is that? I'll be definitely interested a short review (noise, accuracy, how well the magazine works, etc..).

I have some traps coming too. It's this one, just a break over, so not expecting excellent accuracy. Just popped it off in the garage to test it, no projectile, has a pretty decent pop to it yet, but really no more than one of my air nailers. I'll setup a sound meter when I'm sighting it in and see for sure. I was eyeing a PCP, so if this one is horrible, I'll probably just return it and get the PCP