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I honestly can't come up with the words. I am heartbroken. I am angry. I am not ashamed to tell you that I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. Y'all.... Mikey literally spent some of his last hours reaching out on TGO for a connection to the outside world. You all were his community. You were his lifeline beyond the four walls of his hospital room. Please don't ever forget that. Don't misinterpret TGO to be just another gun forum. This place is literally home to many of us. Damn it. I just can't.

This is my favorite video of Mikey from a few years ago at the Musician’s Hall of Fame induction. You might recognize a few of the folks onstage with him - ZZ Top, Peter Framptom, Randy Bachman... His solos are at about 2:40 and again at 5:20. The whole thing is worth just great.

She had been released. We’re letting a lot of folks go home right now who we’d keep in normal times. These aren’t normal times. I’m prayerful for her.

And this is just a few. Mike told me once that the (recording) session work he did put him in contact with the biggest names in the music world, in all types. Now if you knew Mike, you know this wasn't bragging; he didn't seem to like talking about who he knew or worked with just to name drop. Those were just people he worked with. Just any other day or job to him. Playing and making music. That's all Mike wanted, at least outside of his family. Everything he did was for his family. That always came thru in conversation. You just felt and could see the love he had in his life for them. He was a dedicated musician and family man. One who was blessed enough to make his passion his life's work. We should all be so lucky. I'm sure others here knew him better than I did, and are hurt just as deeply by his passing. But I must say that meeting Michael Douchette was a joy. I can say without any reservation that meeting Michael was one of the biggest and best parts of my time in our TGO family. He shone in whatever context you would meet him in. You simply could not help but like the man. He made that impossible. Goodbye my friend. May you have eternal peace and joy playing with that Heavenly Band that needed a great steel guitar player.

Mike played Reagan’s inauguration back in the day. He toured with Tammy Wynette for years - but the list of musicians he worked with was ridiculous. Here was his short list: Alabama, Rodney Atkins, John Berry, Clint Black, Ace Cannon, Paulette Carlson, Mark Chestnutt, Earl Thomas Conley, Bobbie Cryner, Dixiana, Vern Gosdin, Faith Hill, George Jones, Frankie Lane, Johnnie Lee, Loretta Lynn, Ronnie McDowell, Lorrie Morgan, Wayne Newton, Ray Price, Bonnie Raitt, Eddy Raven, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Russell, Dan Seals, Doug Stone, Mel Tillis, Pam Tillis, Randy Travis, Conway Twitty, Billy Walker, Keith Whitley, John & Audrey Wiggins, Maurice Williams, Chely Wright, Tammy Wynette

Y’all please keep his wife Lisa in your prayers. She’s not out of the woods yet either.

Mike use to come by my house when I lived in Gallatin and he was working at Sumner Gun and Supply. He knew I was a guy that liked Bersa's and if they got a special one in on trade he would always stop in and tell me that it was put back until I could get up to see if I wanted it. I got 3 of my Bersa's from Sumner because of him with my favorite being a 40 Caliber I had been looking for. He was a very good friend. His wife and family are in my prayers and will be every night. Rest in Peace my dear friend as you are surely being missed by many!!!! Bersaguy

What a great guy. Met him to for the first time at Bill’s Eastside Gun Shop. Im sorry to hear this. He had a love of his family, music and the gun community. But especially his Marine, his Son. I was a 1SG in the Army those days and we always chatted about him. May he Rest In Peace. Huge loss to us here.

Turns out there was a nice 10 pointer where I hunt. Never saw him before. They were really moving this morning.

If you can store all your ammo in a safe, you don't have nearly enough ammo ...

A lot of us are getting up in age faster than we realized. It's a shame that we sometimes don't realize how fortunate we are to have folks like Steelharp among us until it's too late. He's gone home just in time to be part of the Christmas Band!!

Man this sucks Mikey was a great guy first time I met him in person was at Bill's Eastside shop too. I hadn't talked to him in awhile but this made me tear up. He will definitely be missed. This is an awful reminder that people need to take this seriously and do whatever they can to prevent spreading it. Its not fair that he is gone way too soon.

Oh my God! And I don't say this lightly. I am stunned and heartbroken. I met Michael almost 10 years ago, buying a pistol from him here. We swapped that CZ Compact back and forth several times. It was a joke between us. When we met to deal, somehow I felt and told him that when money was better for him, I would sell it back to him. And I did. Twice. We passed several between us on deals over the years, and I always told him the same thing. But that CZ was the only one Michael ever wanted back. I don't know what went with it. I think he did sell it at some point. But that's not important. What is important is the friendship we shared over those years and deals. Michael often spoke of his son, My Marine, he called him. I hope His Marine knows just how proud of you Michael was, and how much he loved you. My apologies for not remembering your name. So for Michael's Marine...I thank you for your Service. And offer my condolences to you as well. Michael, I, and everyone who ever met you, will miss you. We were better for having met you. May God Bless and keep you in His arms forever. My deepest condolences to his family.

I have loaded every ammo can to the brim. I still have primers, see photo. I’m willing to let a few bricks of whatever go in a Lend/Lease system. IOW, I will loan a brick and you pay me back when they become available again. Yeah, I know I’m taking a chance they will not.

My wife would use one to drown me if I told her it was her Christmas gift. Seen the same think here, Oddly on a recent Dollar General stop almost all the paper towels were gone, but the TP was full. I have bought more than we used to keep of both, but it is mostly due to storage space. Also humans survived a long time without either, so I am not too worried about it. People need to worry m9re about stocks of food. I see people rushing to buy TP that I know have less than a week of food MAX.

Sad news indeed. Bought my first ever revolver from Mike. First TGO member I had the pleasure of meeting. Met at Stuckeys in Pelham. That was many moons ago. RIP Mike and God Bless your Family..........

Many years ago when we first got married, my wife and I ran out of TP once. My wife swore it would never happen again. Since then we have always kept a hoarder size supply on hand. I still do. I got through the first shortage just fine and I'll get through this one too.

I also met Mike at East Side Gun Shop. He'd buy a gun one week and have to sell it 2 weeks later, to acquire something else. I enjoyed his Fun Loving Attitude. Rest in Peace Mike.

So sad to hear. Can't imagine how the family felt having what seemed like progress and hope ripped from them. They'll be in my thoughts, along with the best wishes for his wife's recovery...both in body and spirit. Please let us know if/when any funds are set up to help what comes next.

A friend's 80-year-old mom wants to start trading in the stock market! She asked me (retired CFP) for advice. I'm going to help her set up two accounts. One will be a "don't touch" account which will mirror her daughter's managed account in a portfolio of Vanguard ETFs. (I plan to make two minor tweaks... adding TMFC and MFMS ETFs to the mix.) The other account will be a small "play" account that she can research and trade stocks... maybe 5% of her investable funds. She can win or lose to her heart's content. Her objective will be to "beat" the professional account! Her adult children are rich and so is she. If she finds joy in trading stocks, more power to her!

This is why I installed bidets in all of our toilets.

True that, but this being the most well fed nation on the planet, some folks might be better off missing a meal or two.

Congrats Greg!!!

Thanks. I also just found on Hornady website that there is a error in the 9th addition manual I have. The correction says 2.090. https://press.hornady.com/assets/pcthumbs/tmp/1410993774-9th-Edition-Handbook-Updates-Errata1522702177.pdf

Very sad news, prayers continue for his wife & family.

It breaks my heart to read his messages here about being ill and scared and to now know he didn’t make it is truly saddening. I met Mike a few times in person and always enjoyed hearing his stories of the music industry. RIP my dear friend my prayers are with his family now

Thanks. Not the biggest deer I ever killed, but it is the best rack.

If your passively investing thats alright but if you look at where the market is as a whole unless they were ultra conservative you have should have seen better. For example those ARK Invest ETF's i've mentioned are up over 30% in 3 months....3 out of 4 are up over 120% on the year. You don't have to do anything but buy the ETF and sit on it. No paying brokers...no paying anything...just watch your money rise. If I was really lazy or just gun shy I would buy ARKK, ARKW, ARKF, ARKG, and ARKQ.....say put 20% into each of whatever amount your investing....set a trailing stop loss of 20% (this is a long term set it and forget it)....and let it ride. A $10,000 investment on Jan 1, 2020 would today be worth approx $23,000...the only work you would have needed to do is reinvest when your stop loss hit in March at the market drop (by the beginning of May you were back to even).

Nice, congrats! No movement around me, yet. I've heard maybe one shot from deer hunters, but am close to some duck hunting area and heard a bunch from them.

I use CapitalOne for savings, or holding $$ I may/may not need for a while, or for the annual tax & insurance bills that come around . You can transfer $$ back and forth with some limits, but I set up accts for RE taxes, house & car insurance, FIT taxes, etc., so I never run into the transfer limitations. Their website indicates they are paying 0.40% for savings accts, which is better than most CD's at this time.

Really sad news, condolences to his friends and family. I can't say I really knew him, other than reading many of his posts on TGO and a couple of mutual quotes back and forth, but it's evident from the outpouring of sympathy that he had many friends here and will be sorely missed.

When I first started learning of Micheal's talents and his history in country music, he sent me this video. I've watched it a lot. I questioned him about those big names he'd played with. The list is unbelievable. Just about everyone in Country Music, and a few in rock as well. He sent me a message one night, music only and asked me how I liked it. I was blown away listening to it. It was a recording of some his work with Charley Pride. Amazing. I'm sorry that I don't seem to have it now. It was a recording of some studio session. You would like it as well, I'm sure. Miss you already buddy.

Just cheer up and hang in there I bet it gets overturned

Mike and I had some good times hanging out with Bill at Eastside Gun Shop. He will be missed.

I found your comment that "It used to be much harder to beat the market because information was so hard to come by, but now it's at your fingertips" to be very interesting. I have a totally different take on it. In the old days (70s, 80s, early 90s) when humans made trading decisions, I thought it was much easier to read the ebb and flow of fear and greed around individual stocks as well as the market as a whole. Today most of the trading is computer driven, and everyone can get the same information you're talking about. So not understanding algorithms, and not wanting to bash my brain with information, I sure miss the old days! That said, for investing (not day trading) I've always said that the big success formula requires anticipating the perception of reality. The ultimate reality doesn't matter unless it's perceived the way you needed it to be, and you needed to get in ahead of the money that raised the value of your investment. So it's a 3 step process, and relatively few folks can actually do that, and the ones that can really do it are rich and famous. Hi Warren! I have accts at TD Ameritrade and eTrade. I like almost everything about TD better, so will consolidate there soon. I hope the merger with Schwab does not mess them up.

You mean the elevated rifle butts or the handguns? The handgun rack is up high because underneath it there are barrel-hangers for quick-grab pistols. The long guns are elevated for two reasons: One, to keep the weight of all the guns off the fire-resistant drywall bottom so it doesn't crack and lose efficacy, and; Two, an extra layer of height in case of flooding or in the case of fire, from massive quantities of water pumped into the house by over-enthusiastic puddle-monkeys (fire-fighters). Additionally, I keep a golden rod under there for humidity control and I occasionally slide Mrs. CrosbyStill's jewelry box under there when we are travelling. The Benelli 12ga semi-auto with H&K action is on the safe floor in the corner because it is too long to fit on the elevated shelves.

My grandson took this one while hunting in Texas.

I think I do it mostly because I hate shopping. I did used to get some strange looks at the checkout counter at Wallyworld when I showed up with a dozen tubes of toothpaste. Since discovering Amazon, and now that I finally figured out how to do online curbside pickup, I haven't actually set foot in a store since last February. Barring some sort of internet meltdown, I will never again walk into a Walmart ...

At these prices, I just might offer a case of 115 grain myself. It's very tempting. I could buy another Glock with it...and there are a couple of nice ones for sale here.

I did that!! Bought two USSR made SKS's. Spent hours cleaning cosmoline out of them. One I converted with a Choate Sporter Stock and detached mag (pre-ban and have the receipts to prove it :). The other I left completely stock and gave to my dad (with bayonet and cleaning kit). Just sold that last year for $500!! I store very little ammo in my gunsafe for two primary reasons: First, it's packed with guns. Second, the floor drywall is elevated off ground (nice Browning safe) so the weight would crush the drywall at some point.

I have only seen one, this little 4 point. I was hoping for a big doe, but he will do. Going back out Saturday, hope to get my doe, but if another buck comes out, well, I may just invite him home too.

I'm boring. I buy and hold index funds. Not exciting, but this strategy has been very good to me. I have a kid who recently started buying single stocks. He thinks it's awesome. Fortunately, his funds are limited, so the lesson he'll learn shortly won't be too costly.

Nothing to brag about, but I haven't seen a good deer where I hunt this year. I bought a new dehydrator, and want to see if it works. My patience ran out around 7am this morning.

Nice buck, what rifle is that?

Second Amendment Foundation https://www.saf.org/

I think we've all been had. I've decided I'll spend my money on ammo instead of questionable lobbyist...

Life member of both the NRA and SAF. The NRA won’t get another dime from me for a long long time. They primarily communicate with me asking for money, selling me fear, and spamming me with junk. SAF is a totally different deal. Just this week I got a mailer from them and I thought “Oh no, better not be similar to the crap the NRA sends”. I was pleasantly surprised when it was useful information about what they are doing to help me, a gun owner. I should look into the GOA or that TN group.

I think the time is right for GOA to try and put the NRA out of business by saying in a campaign, "give us your membership dollars, and as we reach the NRA's membership levels, we'll wield that power more responsibly both politically and fiscally". Clearly the NRA didn't prioritize the money they raised to be effective as a gun rights organization, they needed it to fund cronyism and lifestyle perks. I very much believe under the right leadership with built in oversight and transparency from the beginning, GOA can reach the same level of political clout the NRA uses as their only legit defense. From there, they money will come in from the industry, and they can fund the safety and range standard programs the non-legislative wing of the NRA does pretty well (I admit to not know if/how GOA may already try to do this). Yes, it will be a public and brutal fight as the NRA will not go gentle into that good night. But for the next few generations of gun rights, I'm willing to trade some short term disharmony to have the group politicians actually do business with hold values a better aligned to the core of gun ownership is supposed to be about (hint: it ain't hunting and sports).