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Death is a natural part of life. We may not like it but will all experience it in time. All the animals and fauna will die eventually. "Death is a subject many do not want to discuss." Some fear death. Death is the point where one's spirit leaves this tent, where it exit here on earth (our body), then our soul spirit enters the Hadean Realm (the realm of departed spirits) and eventually the spirit returns to God who gave it in the first place. The body (tent where the spirit exist on earth) is placed in the ground and returns to dust which God used to form our bodies in the beginning of mankind. One can confirm this in the pages of the Holy Bible, which is Gods word to mankind, and in written form. King James had the Bible translated and put into written form many centuries ago. We can all benefit by reading a good translation. We are blessed to have it in this day in time. Matter of fact, one does not need to fear death. One can prepare for death. That is the key to not fearing death. Guys it is going to come. Death to some people, those who prepared beforehand, will be something looked forward too. The Bible tells one heaven is a wonderful place to spend eternity with God and Christ sitting at His right hand. I don't say this callously because death, is separation and it brings great grief and pain to our families, loved ones, and friends who are left behind here in this realm. Those who are left, in this realm, can take comfort in the fact they they can go to the one who had died and gone into the next realm. You can read what King David said after he lost his son he had with Bathsheba, in (2nd Samuel 12:15-23) in your Bible. It is comforting to know one can go to the departed providing we prepare for it. The key to deal with death is to prepare yourself for it before one reaches the end. I know this is a gun blog and death is not a pleasant subject, but we will all face it sooner or later. Why I put this in General Discussion. I have a friend who is haunted by those he killed in war. I told him they had the same chance to prepare themselves as he did, before they met their death in War. Not a good/pleasant subject to discuss, but a needed one in the days of Coved and after.

For anyone interested in helping his family, they have established a Gofundme to help with expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-our-parents-home-for-the-holidays

I just found out that his family will have a service Wed, Dec 9th @ 9:30 AM at Cornerstone Church in Madison, TN with a gravesite service afterward. They are asking that everyone who attends to please follow CDC guidelines, and in lieu of flowers please donate to the GoFundMe account set up for Mike. Link below... Fundraiser by Dan Douchette : Help the Douchette family lay a legend to rest. (gofundme.com)

I agree, it's an interesting concept. And there certainly appears to be plenty of opportunities with so much just over the horizon in terms of next generation tech...but my mind keeps coming back to the dot-com era. Risk and reward are seldom far apart in these kind of moments. Looking for the next era of disruption and innovation is all well and good, but what guarantees they hit pay dirt like they currently are on a rolling basis? Do they have a sustainable mode and process for finding the good ones, or some really stellar individuals who represent a point of risk (their leaving or ill health) with institutional knowledge? I'm also curious about what their cut and run policy is when companies start to falter. Are they in it for the long run with some, or do they have a floating limit order in place. Like you said, they trigger sales to keep the portfolios at a certain cap for total %, but I'm not sure what other controls are in place. You're not wrong about the percentages for YTD, 5y, ect...but as mentioned, I'd like to know the risk mitigation to make sure the super ascent in recent years isn't mirrored on a downward trajectory. I'm very wary of success stories too far out of the norm...they have a bubble feel to them. But I freely admit I could be wrong in this case.

The ARK funds are hot now, but they're still pretty new overall, and the explosion seems to be them having made a lot of good picks during COVID. I'm not saying they aren't worth a share of a portfolio, but with only six years of record, and some specific sector focuses (or a Tesla focus, which accounts for a lot of the boom), I'd be wary if I were looking for true balance. We'll see if they run circles around Vanguard over time...like 25-30 years time.

I booked a 3 day cow elk hunt with Black Mountain Outfitters Inc., https://www.bmohunts.com They have around 500,000 leased acres to hunt on. There were about 25 hunters in camp for the weekend with the majority doing cow hunts. They had a combination of bunk houses and campers to put all the hunters up in. It is a scheduled 3 day hunt. We really lucked out on the weather. Lows were in the mid teens to highs in the low 40's. Great hunting weather. The previous weekend the lows were around zero with several inches of snow. The first couple of pics are of the property, bunk houses and lodge area where we would meet and eat. Saturday morning was the first day of the hunt. We left the lodge about 5:15 and made it to where we were going to hunt just before sunrise, about 6:40. The guide left me at the truck and he hiked up on a knob to glass some flats. As soon as started glassing he waved at me to hurry and get up there. He spotted a bull and about 10 cows about 1.5 miles away. He said they will feed in this direction and lets get a move on and try to cut them off. The guide is young and in shape. I am just the opposite. We took off at a fast pace always trying to keep a line of scrub bushes between us and where the elk were. It about killed me trying to keep up with him. He would stop every so often and let me catch up. We finally get as far as we can with the cover. We had covered a little over a mile. I was sucking air, my lungs were burning, my knees were burning, snot was running my face but it was all that good kind of hurt. The video says the first shot was about 700 yards. We doubled checked it and the last bush we could shoot from was 600 yards. I tried to get my breathing under control but rushed my first shot and it was low. My second shot was also a little low. I hit her right where the legs meet the shoulder. I was a couple of inches low and forward of where I wanted to hit. The shot broke both of her front legs. I was sick. I hate making bad shots. She was not going anywhere so I was able to get closer and put a finishing shot through her neck. We got her gutted and then the real work began. We were supposed to have a third guy with us but he decided to go with another group. So the guide and I had to get this 400lb elk into the back of his truck by ourselves. As you can see from the pic I got a little bloody. I was exhausted after loading the elk. Being exhausted never felt so good though. Since I knew I was probably going to be bringing meat back I drove to the lodge. It is in Pie Town, NM which is a 20 hour drive. I left Thursday about 6 pm and drove straight through. I got there Friday afternoon. Met the other hunters and guides then we all had dinner. Went to bed and got up at 4 am Saturday morning. We had breakfast and then headed out to hunt. I killed the elk by about 7:30. We got back to lodge and got the elk skinned and quartered and put in cooler. I took a shower, packed my things, grabbed some lunch and was back on the road by 1:30. Got home this morning about 10. TL:DR - Drove 42 hours round trip for a 2 hour hunt and loved every minute of it.

Have you guys/gals noticed this ? It's called Uptalking. It mainly seems to be the younger generation doing it. For the last 2 years I have noticed people talking and how their sentences sound like questions. For example "The dog ran fast" . That is a regular sentence. These younger people will say the same sentence and when they get to the end of the sentence their voice will get higher and pronounce the last part in a higher tone of voice like you would a question. So it sounds like " The dog ran fast ? " . It's gotten to where I cant stand to hear people talk like that. It makes them sound unsure of themselves when they talk and also like everything they say is a question. Maybe I'm just getting older but hearing this style of speaking is like fingernails on a chalk board to me.

So tonight I was driving to winchester. There was a traffic holdup a few cars ahead of me & it turned out a lady had hit a deer. It was still very alive & bawling, trying to get off the road. 4 or 5 folk were stood around doing nothing. I had a rifle with me, so after moving everyone back & checking for a safe direction, I put her out of her misery. Obviously, I was also stopped in the road, so I loaded her in my truck, drove a couple of miles & called Winchester police to let them know what had happened & what i'd done. The lady I spoke to seemed unconcerned, but told me she'd log it, just in case. I feel like I did the morally & ethically correct thing, but i'm concerned that there may be a legal repercussion. I didn't really consider the law, at the time, I was more concerned with ending her suffering. Do you think I could end up in trouble for discharging a firearm on a public road? This was way out in the country, by the way, not in any municipality or city limits, if that matters.

Speaking of guns, I think you left one little detail out of your report of what looks to be a great experience!

Thank you @FALCnR also.

No problem. It was actually @FALCnR that first shared this in the CCU thread. I just wanted more members to see it.

How many of you remember the TV series “The Virginian”? The Virginian was played by James Drury. Our first-born daughter likes the reruns of the old western. They had a Cowboy Way Festival in Ardmore Oklahoma in 2017. We took our RV and drove out here and met James among other old western stars of yesteryear. Our grandson Cody went with us. Our daughter even got him a black western hat, red shirt, and outfit like the Virginian wore in the TV series. They have a Virginian Posse fan club. Prior to our getting there She posted Cody’s picture on the posse page and several made comments about Cody. As it turned out many were looking for Cody after we arrived. When we arrived and on Thursday night our daughter took Cody to a restaurant, in Ardmore, to eat. We stayed behind and set up our campsite and decided to attend the Friday thru Sunday festivities. After they arrived at the Restaurant they were seated and someone yelled out, “Is that Cody”? To their surprise it was James Drury. He was 84 at that time. He recognized Cody from the picture our daughter posted on the posse web site. James got up, came to their table, and shook Cody’s hand and welcomed them to the festival. Long story short, they had a Bosman’s dinner at the end of the festival on Sunday night. He told the director he wanted Cody to sit at the Bosman’s table and eat dinner with him. James Drury passed away in May of this year. Last week, a kind Lady wrote, on the Posse Web page, of her memory of that 2017 dinner as she sit beside Cody at the Bosman’s table that night. Here is her memory. Flashback to 2017, sitting across from Mr. Drury at the dinner table in Ardmore, OK I asked Mr D; What keeps you going, other than your beautiful morning and evening star(his Wife)? He looked at the entire table, and said; Each and everyone of you, then he looked at Cowboy Cody, who was sitting next to me with his family, and said, Especially you! I remember the smile on his face when he said that. It was priceless. He really, really enjoyed IMO being with all of us, and “most of all Cowboy Cody” that night. One of my most wonderful memories of Our Ramrod…. This spring after Cody learned of Mr Drury’s passing, he cried for days. Still does some times. He called me and told me “My Friend James Drury died Pop Pop, and every time Cody sees a rainbow in the sky, he says My Friend James Drury is happy. Cody is 28 now and has Downs Syndrome. Takes a Special Man to befriend someone who is challenged. Just like when King David(of the Bible) showed kindness to Mephibosheth (2nd Samuel 9). Read it, and your go and do the same.

Not just with the Music City chapter. All the different chapters have their auction online. The sika deer hunt I went on a few months ago I got from the Anchorage AK chapter of SCI banquet. There are definitely some good deals if you look for them.

Finally wrangled up my wife a Model 70 with probably the finest trigger I have seen to match my model 70. 1953 M70 in 257 Roberts in a standard grade with a Weaver K4 atop it. Goes very well with my 1950 M70 in 30-06 dressed in SuperGrade with a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10 I (I mean my wife) has always wanted a 257 Roberts and was preparing to start rebuilding a 98 Mauser chambered in it when this jewel popped up.

I appreciate the concern. The guy I'm buying from is someone I've dealt with in the past on a forum I am still a member of in New England. His positive feedback score is 68; based on my personal history that's probably 1/3 of the number of deals he's actually made. He will actually have been a member there for 14 years in 3 days. Confidence is high:)

If you called them first, they would have asked you if you had the means to dispatch the deer and if so do so. Been in the same situation.

Talked to my game warden buddy about what to do in this situation. He said someone in that situation would be fine and if they wanted the deer they can call Nashville# 615-781-6581. They will be given a number for the deer. Kind of like tagging it in. If you don't keep it, you're good doing nothing. No names were discussed in the previous conversation. LOL snitches get stitches

You're good. They usually want you to do that, but you need to get permission from the TWRA if you want to keep the deer.

Better than toilet paper. They also don’t rub your ass raw. There’s your legit answer to a humorous question.

My concern would be the TWRA, not regular police.

Congratulations! That will be good eating for some time.

You may be right about the ARK funds being the greatest thing since sliced bread, but in comparing them to Vanguard's S&P ETF you're comparing apples to oranges. By their nature, an index fund seeks to track, as accurately as possible the index they're based on, not to beat it ...

Decades ago Peter Lynch did an all-day interview with a client company of mine in Chicago, for possible inclusion in Fidelity's Magellan Fund. I will never forget my big takeaway from that meeting. Lynch said he was much more excited about diversification as THE way to maximize the probability of having a few super-winners, than his concerns about mitigating risk. My clients were amazed at the quality level of Lynch and the team he brought with him, the questions they asked, and their analytical reasoning. The results speak for themselves of course.

Well my FFL just called me and I got all excited... for naught. He called TICS today and they told him they have 15 days and they are "still working on this one" but it could be longer... you guessed it, because of COVID. My FFL did say however he would give me the gun if he gets a "conditional proceed" so that's a positive I guess.

That is exactly what i did. I love having piles of guns but decided to sell a bunch and buy some hunts. The experience and memories are what I was after.

It says "new Anderson lower". I'd take that deal all day long. ATF paranoia...I say Shall not be infringed!! Buy it!...then sell to me, lol.

They only have 15 days. Have you called the dealer? If its approved, or conditional, I believe you have a limited amount of time to act before having to do it again. He can’t keep the gun, so unless you make some kind of arrangements, it will get sent back to the shipping FFL. Time is not on your side.

Diversify, Diversify, Diversify I would never recommend having all your eggs in one basket. I have investments ranging from extremely aggressive to fairly conservative. I also love land. Last time I checked they quit making more of it. Lol

Unlike the old suits from Vanguard and others Cathie Wood and her team are constantly looking for the next area of disruption and the next innovation. Also everyday they print what they are buying and their research. They are miles ahead of their peers. Tesla is only 10% of the portfolio's its in and they are constantly reducing exposure or increasing to keep it at that number....a good example of huge gains for them is having the foresight to take a large position in Crisper (CRSP) for the ARKG fund (NO TESLA EXPOSURE). Today alone that ETF is up 5%....5% in an ETF in one day!!! for the year? 170%....Since its inception in 2016...how about 378% Now look at Vanguard S&P 500 ETF....1yr-17% 5yr 76% (not bad but...) and tell me how many decades it will take to match that performance. Its your money but I know what i'm doing with mine. For the guy in the back asking about ARK....go Youtube any Cathie Wood interview...she does plenty and explains their rational so that simpletons like me can understand.

5 pieces of paper that say $100 or an AR pistol. Slam Dunk on the AR. JMHO.

It's like buying gold. Most folks don't want to buy until they see it go up and up and up. Not the best place to buy in.

I was there on December 7th 2001. It was amazing, and emotional.

I bought all the .40S&W, so there is none left for you guys….sorry.

Well done my friend.

I was very pleased with the operation. I bought my hunt from a SCI fundraising auction and paid less than list price.

I get why some folks go with their investment pros, it can all be daunting at first, and you think you need a pro to make good things happen. But just take a look at the returns from the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/performance/vtsax/cumulative-returns This fund is basically a mirror of the whole US stock market...from large companies to small in proportion. The overall track record of the US stock market is very healthy, and even with our economic woes, it's still a great bet over time. Now, couple that with an expense ratio of 0.04%, which means you'll only pay $4 per $10,000 invested annually, then compare and contrast that against the returns and fees you get from having someone manage your account. This investment is a $3,000 minimum to start (or you can start with the ETF version for a little under $200 currently), and whatever you want to funnel into it as you go. It's available in both traditional or retirement brokerage accounts through Vanguard, or any 401k plans that offer it. As for the disclosure part...this is my 3rd largest personal investment fund after two US Fund Large Growth funds (one a closed Vanguard fund I'm using to save for a down payment when I buy a home someday, the other in my personal Roth IRA). I recommend it to anyone who wants to invest, but isn't very savvy about picking funds, should go into a 'set it and forget it' mode, and could really use the money paid to an advisor going into the fund and generating returns. If you're not comfortable with the risk of rising and falling in concert with the stock market at large, or are closing in on retirement, you can dilute that risk with some bond funds at a hit to growth. But yeah, this one fund is basically your entry to the entire market, while also being able to serve as the whole ride until retirement.

@CrosbyStills After your safe pics... I now must hate you...

Nobody forced those kids to take out those loans. The problem is that many of them wasted the money on worthless degrees that won't earn them a living. Think liberal arts. They just wanted to be in college to party and have fun not to actually work hard, study and learn. Now they're buried in debt and just want to whine about it. My oldest got a 2 year Associates Degree from State Tech in computer science. He now makes a good living at it. Most of his education costs came from grants. Yep, free money you don't have to pay back. You just gotta be smart enough to know where to apply for them.

As long as you got ammo, you can get the other two.

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.

I'm a bordline hoarder. I admit it. I come from a family that believed in having a reasonable supply on hand of anything you use on a regular basis. Foods, canned goods, laundry supplies, toothpaste and toothbrushes and bar soaps(you should see my bathroom closet...LOL!). I was taught at an early age that you take advantage of specials and keep items on hand. I've tried to apply that to all things in my life. I have a decent supply of most things, not what I'd like to have, but not enough storage space. Hoarder? Prepper? Who cares? I wear either name badge proudly and thank my Mother for raising me to do this.

I'm near Brentwood!

It was overturned on appeal and he was able to purchase.

Trout is delicious. I'd be a lot more interested in fishing for them if the licenses weren't so complicated.

Yeah I don't know Raoul, I mean dozens of purchases over the years and CCW's in four states... Hard to imagine what wasn't cleaned up. I guess if TN had denied my first couple of purchase or denied my CCW I would agree but this sure seems out of the blue. Stay tuned I guess. What really sucks is that is was a GunBroker purchase so I'm out the $1,400 until we get it cleared up. Not the end if the world, but certainly enough to annoy me.