10-Ring

Agree. A lot of it depends on the mower. My FIL has a steep ditch in his yard, I don't even flinch when I cut it on my Hustler. My old homeowner grade Ariens would have been all over the place. The Hustler has a wider wheelbase and is a lot heavier. The fact that it has a ROPS probably gives me a little more confidence as well. Point being, if you have a slope, some ZTRs are better than others on slopes.

Unless we're talking about Burmese pythons in the Everglades, we realty don't.

I've had a few zero turns. I'm my opinion they are absolutely the way to go. I had an Ariens Zoom 50, that lasted about 6 years, but I was cutting 5 yards for about a year of that. I decided to move on to something else when small things on that machine (starter, safety switches, etc) started going bad. I am not a fan of Kohler engines at all. The Ariens had one and the John Deere I had before it had a Kohler. Both had leaky valve covers, and I had to replace the starters on both. Also the frame on the Ariens snapped in two where the frame meets the casters. I was able to weld it back together. Last year I bought a new commercial Hustler Fastrak 54" with a Kawasaki. And I have zero complaints. I went with Hustler because a neighbor had one that was absolutely abused and it took the abuse well. I bought it with the intention of not having to buy another lawnmower for 30+ years. Things that are must haves for me when lawnmower shopping: - fabricated deck - suspension seat - Kawasaki (or at least not Kohler engine) - parts availability I was going to go the Bad Boy route, but walked into my local dealership and was repeatedly lied to and I did not receive good customer service by a long stretch. Our Hustler dealership had closed down, but I found that another local shop had picked them up. I won't blast the dealership by name, although I received great customer service on the front end, I had a really hard time getting some accessories that I purchased with the mower. The accessories were not in stock and had to be ordered. It wound up taking a couple of months to get my stuff, and a heated conversation with the service manager when they tried to charge me pickup/delivery fees and shop labor to install said accessories after my salesman assured me that the machine would be picked up, dropped off, and the accessories installed free of charge. I also never received the complimentary set of blades that the service manager promised me. Great machine, horrible customer service experience.

Haven't been there but I do know of a couple of guys who legitimately guide pig hunts for wild pigs. I would rather be hunting free range game than something in a fence but I do understand the challenges associated with hunting pigs in Tennessee as that's what I spend 90% of my hunting time doing. I'd be glad to pass some info along to you if interested.

I know it. I don't comprehend a lot of the content of @xtriggerman's posts, but I sure do admire his ability and work.

I understand being able to find one person that could be convinced that this is a $10k gun because what a single person is capable of never really ceases to amaze me. But to find multiple people who continued to bid after the price of this gun was well above "market value" is what blows my mind. But then again I need not to have to look back further than the 2020 presidential election to find large groups of people making poor choices.

Wilson County this morning. I'd say we got 2-3 inches. Took Lily out to feed the chickens, ducks, and turkeys. No one was interested in coming out of the coop, not even the ducks and they usually love this kind of weather.

I've done the squirrel elimination thing a couple of times. Shoot on sight seems to work pretty well. When I was a kid we had a neighbor who was eliminating the squirrels with a pellet gun. Before he started it wasn't uncommon to look out and see 15-20 squirrels at a time. By the time he was done you couldn't find a squirrel in that neighborhood. Had them get in an attic once, which scares me as a little chewing on the wrong wires and your house could burn down.

I bought this one and have been using it for about 6 months. Sole purpose was to keep a pistol readily accessible in the bedroom and keep it out of little hands. The safe can be opened with a key, a combination, or an RFID fob or card. Probably wouldn't slow down a burglar much, but keeps little hands off as intended. I felt it was well worth $65 fort the peace of mind it provides. RPNB Pistol Safe Quick Access... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JCNBVDC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Yes! We see all of these videos out in the flatlands where people are killing a half dozen at a time. In the mountains if you can get 2-3 shots off and connected before they disappear your are really doing something, not to mention the fact that you will be shooting through/around brush to do it. I'm getting to be a fair mountain pig hunter, but probably wouldn't know what to do in Texas.

I don't even know any more. I've dropped pigs in their tracks with a .223 and had them run 100 yards straight up a mountain with a 12 gauge slug to the body. I've gotten to where I strongly prefer head shots, it's about a sure thing if you do your part. I come across them often while trail riding and almost always have to shoot while they are on the move, making head shots nearly impossible. Doesn't seem to be much out there bigger than 12 ga slugs, but I need to make a bigger hole.

I'm noticing less traffic on the road. No one likes $4 gallon gas, but I'm enjoying the lighter traffic. Might as well make the best of it.

I've been keeping my eye out for a well worn but serviceable Model 29. Basically one that has been well cared for but used to the point that it is no longer desirable as a collector/showpiece/safe queen. My intended purpose was a sidearm for pig hunting and I didn't want something that I was going to have to worry about beating up. It seems that such examples are nearly non existent. I'm starting to think that no one actually used those.

Yes, and just to be clear, there isn't anything at all with the earlier ones, the greatness was just improved upon. I use my first one as much as any of them.

I own 3 GT knives, the first one I bought probably 5 years ago, and the most recent maybe 3 years ago. Each one that I bought was more finally crafted than the previous, but these are absolutely beautiful. I use at least one or more nearly daily. May be time to pick up another soon.

Beware, Parsons Branch Road is currently closed with no reopening date posted on the NPS website. The road is typically closed November-March. I've also seen the park service not open it at all certain years. It seems that when they don't have the resources to maintain all of the park roads Parsons Branch is usually the last to get attention. I've taken it many times. Some of those times I even went the right way (it's one way from Cades Cove). It's a great escape path on those days where the traffic is heavier than you anticipated. Just beware it's going to dump you out almost 50 miles from the Cades Cove entrance.

I'm a week late, but this made my day. I found Bob to be obnoxious. Having a compulsive need to post irregardless of whether or not he actually had anything useful to say, which he usually didn't. Conversations were had with forum members that I talk to outside of TGO about how disruptive and annoying he was. Great riddance!

That's not a bad thing. One of the coolest things that I've ever seen:. December 9, 2014 cool, overcast day. A photographer friend and myself decide to go to CC, get off the beaten path, and take some wildlife pictures. That was the day I learned exactly how the 2nd phase of the rut worked. Apparently the deer were right at the peak of the 2nd phase. This is what made it so amazing. Most of the does are bred during the first phase of the rut. By the second phase hot does are few and far between. Two different times that day we found a hot doe bedded down and got to see 2, 3, even once 4 bucks fighting one another to get the chance to breed her. I still have those pics somewhere. I'd never seen anything like it.

Are you sure that the loop is closed all day on Wednesday? I recall it being closed until 10am, but that information may be dated.

I lived about 15 miles from Townsend for a few years and spent some time there. It gets a little more touristy each year. Townsend is a nice place to base out of while you check out other things in the area. I highly recommend Dock's Motel on the River. It's older, but family owned, the owners Ron and Sharon are super nice people. The rooms are clean and the cabins are nice. I despise most everything in Sevier County, as I suspect you would as well, so I won't discuss the money pits over there. I'll never get to spend enough time in Cades Cove. Go during the week, early in the morning, this time of year is perfect, it won't be crowded. Park, get out, and check out the buildings. There are other neat things to see in CC as well like the Alum Cave, Cable Mill, and the Gum Swamp. River Road between the Wye and the Sugarlands visitor center is a nice drive with lots of nice views of the river. The road was originally a railway for the timber industry. Check out The Sinks. It's about half way down River Road. Loggers attempted to clear a log jam with dynamite and created a large rapid, hard to explain, go see it, it's worth it. Not far from Townsend and a short hike from the parking lot is Lookrock Tower. It's located half way between 321 and 129 on the Foothills Parkway, which is worth a drive as well. Cherokee North Carolina is always fun for people watching if nothing else. Fontana Dam is roughly an hour from Townsend depending on how fast you can get through The Dragon, Highway 129. Fontana is the tallest dam this side of the Mississippi. You can access the top and bottom though they are a few miles apart by road. More to see at the top for sure, but you practically have to pass the bottom side to get there, pull in, take a gander. If your are extremely lucky the overflows will be open. This is extremely rare, I saw it 2 or 3 times while living there. It's a big deal when it happens, of I recall correctly overflow from the lake side goes though 2 tunnels maybe 12 feet in diameter. It travels over 500 feet to the bottom side of the dam, then hits a ramp and shoots up 150 yards in the air and lands 400 yards down stream. I went once in the dead of winter and there was snow and ice on everything arrived the bottom of the dam, but nowhere else. Really cool. Cherohala Skyway can't be beat if you are into scenic drives. Lots to see along the road and by taking detours. Bald River Falls is a great waterfall and Green Cove is a really cool remote off grid fishing community, not much to see there if you aren't fishing though. Indian Boundary Lake is really cool and you can split from the Skyway there and take Citico Road along Citico Creek (more fishing opportunities, but requires a specific permit). If you go all the way to the end of the Skyway Tellico Plains had some neat shops and restaurants and whatnot. Hope I've mentioned a thing or two that may be of interest.

You certainly are not. This is right down my alley as well.

@Handsome Rob, I have been wanting to try this recipe since you posted it 2+ years ago. I have very recently come into some fresh pork and it is now time. I have a couple of questions about your process. When you refer to drying the hams, how exactly are you doing that? I understand the process of vacuum marinating but I'm familiar with it in very small quantities. How do you go about vacuum marinating a whole ham?

I spread about 150 pounds of fresh chicken manure over my 600 sq ft garden about 2 months ago to let it cool off before planting time. Also amended the soil with some wood ash. Looking forward to planting!

Must have been a heck of a time. I've heard stories about $100 SKSs, $70 Mosins with a span can of ammo, and $25 German Mausers. I was slightly too young to take advantage.

I suppose that would be important information. It's a 2012 RZR 800, 495 hours 49xx miles.