Summer is fast approaching and with it four-legged critters become more of a threat to humans but they aren’t the only thing in the woods that can harm you.

In our last article, we discussed general aspects of those tiny but problematic arachnids: ticks. Perhaps the most well-known disease transmitted by ticks is Lyme Disease.

Spring and Fall are seasons that ticks are commonly known to bite humans. The most well-known disease passed by ticks to humans is known as “Lyme disease.” Lyme disease was unknown until about 1975, where it was first diagnosed in the town of Old Lyme, Connecticut. Since then, Lyme has become the most common tick-borne illness in the Northern Hemisphere, so common that May is officially Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

Lyme Disease is caused by the corkscrew-shaped bacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi. Another species, Borrelia mayonii, has also been shown to also cause the disease. Both are carried by Ixodes scapularis, also known as the blacklegged or deer tick, in the East, upper Midwest, and all the way down south to Texas. The western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) can be found all along the Pacific coast. Ticks are responsible for more than Lyme disease; they’re also responsible for transmitting babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and other infections.

In settings where winters are milder and acorns abundant, the population of animals that ticks like to feed upon increases. These include mice, a favorite of baby ticks, and deer, popular targets for adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are estimating many tens of thousands of Lyme cases in humans per year (three times the number reported 20 years ago).

One time while hiking, I picked up nine ticks. As I approached a shoulder-high grassy field, I thought better of entering it for several reasons, but the whole hike, something about the place was deeply bothering me. There are places in Tennessee where you should only go if you live there. Even the people who grow up here know that if it seems like a place you shouldn’t be, well, you shouldn’t. I only hiked a bit and stayed on a known trail, but somehow, I was covered in the American Dog Tick (Wood Tick). Nasty creatures, and a very disappointing hike as I wanted to establish knowledge of the area. I entered the area previously from the other end of the trail, went so far, and wanted to see the rest of the route on a single-day venture by entering from the other end. The lesson was, that area would not fit within the purposes I needed; maybe it was a success after all.

The article covers prevention, symptoms, treatments, and other tick-borne diseases.

If you own one of these things with a brace you have a decision to make. Doing nothing is still a decision. The article is about more than just the brace and covers AR pistols in .300 AAC Blackout among other things.

Like most people I can shoot more accurately with a rifle. An AR pistol with a brace is not a rifle but it does give at least three points of contact when used as intended. I bought a stripped lower receiver from my local gun shop and ordered a lower build kit from Palmetto State Armory. Online an upper receiver with a ten-inch barrel was ordered. Besides a red dot optic and flashlight, a detachable sling was desired. An SBA3 pistol brace was chosen because of the good reviews and the ambidextrous QD sling socket. After everything was assembled it became one of my favorite firearms. Accurate, low profile, in a caliber that had dozens of projectiles in weight and configuration with many suitable propellants that could be experimented with. But then came January of 2023.

The ATF rule 2021R-08F, almost 300 pages of nebulous wording of what classifies as a short-barreled rifle (SBR) includes overall length, weight, and eye relief of an optic. What it boils down to is if you have a barrel less than sixteen inches and a pistol brace the ATF now considers it an SBR.

Outdoor Life.

America’s hunters and wildlife managers are well into the feral hog war. More than 6 million wild pigs roam the country, gobbling down native flora and outcompeting native fauna. They’re also hell on agricultural crops. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hogs cause $1.5 billion of damage annually.

“Researchers think that number may be closer to $2.5 billion now, but more research needs to be done to determine an accurate figure,” says Ben Westfall, the National Deer Association’s conservation coordinator.

There are massive efforts by government agencies and private landowners to cull feral hogs and stop their spread. Whitetail deer managers are at the tip of the spear, because pigs can also have a negative impact on deer.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a lot of formal, university-led research on how pigs impact whitetails.

There doesn’t need to be university-led research.  Those are the same pointy head idiots who recommend against hunting to cull the hog population (but recommend government sponsored “sharp shooters”).

I can tell you what happens.  They compete for the same sorts of food and bedding areas.  If the feral hogs come in, the deer leave.  It’s that simple.  The deer won’t fight the hogs.  But I think the article does get to that.

When hogs first appear on the scene, whitetails tend to avoid them, meaning they settle for lower quality bedding areas and food sources. This is even truer for mature bucks, which seem to have less tolerance for hogs than younger bucks, does, and fawns do.

However, in areas where hogs have been present for years, deer seem to get used to them.

Well, that last part is only sort of true.  They are still displaced and still compete for the same food and bedding, they do learn to live in the same geographical area, but if you want to deer hunt in an area heavily populated by hogs, you’re best bet is to move on.

“Based on my observations, deer do adapt to hogs if they’ve been present a long time,” says, Dr. Grant Woods, a renowned deer biologist and founder of Growing Deer TV. “I see deer in South Florida ignoring hogs unless they get within 30 yards or so. I’m sure where hogs are new neighbors, deer give hogs more space. There’s certainly more food for deer if hogs are removed, and I suspect they’d be a bit calmer.”

Still, whitetails can be forced to move out of areas if hogs over-browse habitat and dominate resources. The higher the hog densities, the worse this problem gets.

That’s what I just said.

“It’s more about the food sources in the area,” he says. “If the hogs eat all the food, the deer will move to a new food source and return once the food source is available.”

The good news is that when hogs are removed (or severely culled) from the landscape, deer seem to bounce back. Anecdotes from the field are somewhat mixed but they are mostly promising. According to most deer managers I spoke with, whitetails generally return soon after hogs are removed. This can take longer in areas where the habitat is seriously degraded, but under average conditions, whitetails often return rather quickly. This is especially true in areas that offer adequate bedding areas, along with food, water, and security cover.

Once feral pigs become established, landowners can remove most of the hogs from their property. However, management is often very costly, and if neighboring landowners aren’t applying equal or greater management efforts, hog populations will continue to grow.

That’s why feral hogs can’t be eradicated.  Culling the population on a 100 acre plot of land (whether by hunting or trapping, or both) does no good if the neighboring farms don’t do exactly the same thing, and as I’ve pointed out before, that’s very, very, very expensive.

Feral pig managers have a mighty steep hill to climb. Typical hunting tactics have proven to be mostly useless as management tools. Sure, hog hunting is fun. And it might remove a porker or two from the property. But on a landscape population level, it doesn’t accomplish much, and it can make pigs even warier. Even when running dogs, hunting doesn’t remove enough hogs to decrease overall population densities.

Furthermore, fertility control isn’t in heavy use yet. The heavily debated toxicant called Warfarin isn’t permitted in any state, and there’s a chance it won’t ever be.

Good Lord.  There’s that awful, horrible idea floated again of putting a toxicant into the environment.  For heaven’s sake, don’t do that.  We have enough toxicants in the environment already.  Besides, the unintended consequences of such a introduction could be terrible.

Generally speaking, it’s easier to trap pigs when food is scarce in the winter and early spring. This is when bait is most effective. It’s also best to trap when the most sows are pregnant. (This is easier than trying to trap sows and their piglets together.) Capturing the entire sounder is the goal—from the biggest sows down to the smallest members of the group. Of course, hogs like to stay closer to water, so bottomlands, marshes, swamps, and other lowland areas are all good locations to try.

As I’ve said, sounders don’t stick together in proximity the way this tactic makes is seem.

“The best thing the average land manager can do is cooperate with their state wildlife agency and familiarize themselves with the management efforts taking place as well as various programs that may be available to them,” Westfall said. “Many states have hog specific or cost-share programs in which they will work with landowners to help control the problem. It is our responsibility as landowners, managers, and hunters to know what our state wildlife agency is doing, understand that their efforts and methods are based on scientific research, and do our best to assist with their efforts in any way that we can.”

The best thing land managers can do is kill as many hogs as possible as quickly as possible, whenever and wherever they can.  This means trapping, hunting, night vision, game cameras, research, communication, and all the things they already know about.  I would find it hard to believe that land managers in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and other states, don’t already know all about the problems.  I’m sure they’ve been engaged in this war for years now.  If they haven’t, they need other land managers.

Why is he doing this?  I cannot fathom a good reason.

I don’t do personalities.  I don’t follow “people,” I don’t engage in loyalty to “persons,” I don’t hero worship, and as for the previous disagreements between Dakota Meyer and Garand Thumb, I don’t have a dog in that fight.  Each can take care of himself, although I saw no reason for Meyer to have ever said anything to begin with.

As for this most recent kerfuffle, as I said, it makes no sense to me.  The most disturbing thing is how Dakota sees law enforcement.  Quite literally, he is berating men who have no spent time in the U.S. military, and equating law enforcement with the U.S. military.

Perhaps this is just about ensuring he makes his own people happy with him.  Perhaps he knows how his bread gets buttered and is helping the process along.

But let me make it clear to Dakota if he happens to be reading this.  I couldn’t care less about the dollars he gets from training LEOs, or the company he keeps.  A cop is not a warrior.  My son spent time on the streets of Fallujah – street cops in America have not.  Nor should they.  Nor do they have to in order to function in their jobs.

America needs peace officers, not street warriors, and no SWAT teams.  I couldn’t care less about the war on poverty, war on drugs, or war on crime.  These are not my wars.  SWAT teams shouldn’t exist, and a home break-in executed by cops is no different to me than a home invasion perpetrated by criminals.

I hate it when people equate cops with the military, and I especially hate it when military folks do this.  It does nothing but add to the problem of a military policing culture in America.

Reddit/Firearms has a post on someone who’s having issues with their new Benelli M4 jamming after addition of the mag extension tube on the gun.  Who knows – perhaps this is a gun problem, perhaps a modification problems, perhaps a gunsmithing problem.

James at TFBTV recently uploaded a 500 round test of his Benelli M4.  It seemed to work fine except for bird shot loads.  Back to the reddit post, the comments point to a need to “break in” the shotgun.  James points to a need not to run cheap ammo in the gun.

Remove cheap ammo from your own equation with firearms.  I never run cheap ammo.  All I can tell you is that the Beretta 1301, modified by Langdon Tactical, (a) runs everything, from bird shot to buck shot to slugs, (b) and needs no “break in” procedure.

Like everything else, you make up your own mind.

James is headed to Ernest Langdon to discuss the Beretta 1301 next.  I await this video – it’ll likely be good and I have a lot of respect for Ernest.

The recent case in New York about the defense of others on the subway will undoubtedly be politicized, and the laws will be abused for those purposes with no respect of persons but to discriminate wrongfully, trashing God’s ordained laws of justice. It would be quite remarkable if any just application of the law were found in this case.

The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution comes from the ancient biblical legal foundation of not treating persons differently in matters of law as a magistrate or juror. It’s respect of persons, which is not respect for persons. Respect for persons requires discernment and, yes, discrimination in the classical sense of the word.

Though not about firearms, the case concerns the defense of others, something every CCW should consider carefully and pray about. You must know the laws in your state about using deadly force to defend others. It’s biblical to protect those less able from unlawful harm of all forms by the use of arms or other means. If we are commanded to rescue our neighbor’s Ox from the ditch, how much more important, made in the image of God, is the defense of our less capable neighbor?

Here are two articles concerning the matter.

Defending Law And Order Is Social Justice

Rewriting the Parable of the Good Samaritan

The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 is considered.

But first, as background, respect of persons in the Holy Bible applies only to law. It stems from Leviticus 19:15 and has nothing to do with outcomes of equality or equity among men and surely not forced results. See also Proverbs 24:23.

Proverbs 28:21 perfectly makes the application as to why any person representing the law of the land must show non-bias. “To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.” What would a judge do for a bit of bread? Some areas of the world operate on “greasing the wheels.” Christendom was supposed to be different (Acts 24:26), but look no further than Congress receiving bread to bias the law, and here we are. There’s a reason money is sometimes referred to as bread and now you know why. Anyone in a position of authority is bound to this Bible truth and will be judged by the Almighty, including parents with their children, teachers, pastors, supervisors, civil leadership, business owners, etc. It’s the Law of God. And James 2:9 says failing to adhere is a sin.

Next, respect of persons in the law of salvation is considered. God is no respecter of persons; all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God by breaking His law and all will be judged rightly on that terrible day. But neither does salvation in Christ grant license to sin. Salvation in Christ is a judicial matter before the courts of heaven as to how you will make restitution to God for your transgressions against Him.

Romans 2:11 mentions respect of persons, and verses 12-16 explain why in God’s law, all men need Christ Jesus, both the Jew and Gentile: if you sin in the law (of Moses / 10 Commandments), you’re judged by that law and die in hell without Christ. If you sin outside the law of Moses (a Gentile), your conscience bears witness, through God’s law written on your heart, about your sin against Him; without Christ, you also burn in hell. That’s God’s law concerning soul salvation without respect of persons; you must have Christ Jesus, as your mediator before the Judge, by faith to enter into eternal life.

That’s how Jesus completed the law by making the final necessary offering, and that of Himself, to God so you might be found not guilty if you place your faith in His payment to God by believing His sacrificial death on the cross is sufficient to cover your sin debt. Christ rose again the third, proving He has the power to go to God for you as your intermediary, or great High Preist proclaiming you to be His by right of payment; by faith in Him, you make this covenant to become His purchased possession, a bondservant of the King, no more bound to death and hell, but an everlasting heir with Christ in the household of God. I say to you, my friends, it’s a far better gig than being trapped by sin under the law of either Moses or conscience; He says: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Much lighter than a life mired in the horrors of sin and its ever-worsening consequences and so much more, for liberty in Christ eradicates the law where men were bound to a set of rules they could never attain. Praise be to God.

Now, the precursive conversation that leads to Jesus’ parable and some application. Context is king. Understanding the parable correctly requires understanding its purpose. Here’s the beginning of the exchange between a lawyer and Jesus that sets the parable’s intent and meaning.

“25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” – Luke 10:25-28

So far, so good, but then comes the tempting in verse 29.

“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?”

If your church skips discussing justification and goes straight to an explanation about who your neighbor is, I’ll caution that you may be in a liberal church. No man will justify Himself before God.

Remember, the question before us is one of law: be it the law of Moses or that which God wrote on your heart. The lawyer is confronted with a matter of Bible law from which comes our now-ending system of jurisprudence that began to mold and then guided Western Civilization since the Gospel went into Europe.

Next, this bit of commentary from the second link above (Rewriting the Parable of the Good Samaritan), though essentially right in its assertions, has glaring results of the dumbed downed churches in America.

“This was the story of a man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead. A priest and a Levite both saw the beaten man and walked past him, crossing to the other side of the street. But the Samaritan stopped to help the injured man, attending to his wounds, bringing him to an inn, paying the innkeeper to care for the injured man until he was well.”

I realize that article is about current events, but some necessary background would be helpful. Why did the Preist and Levite walk by, even crossing to the other side of the street? They were trying to follow the letter of the law and not become unclean by touching a sinner, getting blood on themselves, or helping a man that might die in their arms. Remember the context, Jesus is talking to a lawyer about Bible law. The Preist and Levite should have violated the immediate letter of the law concerning purification to save the man, then gone through the ceremonial tasks of making themselves “clean” again under the law. It would have burdened them more to take the time to separate themselves from family, fellowship, and work to be purified again than it would to have helped the man. They used the law as an excuse for not doing the right thing; beware the leaven of the Pharisees.

And finally, here’s the parable:

“30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”

And Christ’s necessary final exchange with the lawyer whose question was, who is my neighbor?

“36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

It’s a merciful duty to defend yourself and others.

Concluding statements. Some states have had statutes on the books where a citizen must help somebody whose life is under threat, making it criminal to do what the Preist and the Levite did. That’s taking Jesus at His word and applying it seriously as a people, as it should be again. In post-Christian America, the law of Christ is fading fast. In much of Europe, it’s now illegal to defend yourself from murder, let alone somebody else under threat. That’s not at all Christian.

Atheists, Agnostics, and mushy Christians declare there is no need for God or His law in government or society; keep your religion private they demand. Look around at the darkening landscape: behold, injustice and violence in all quarters in the absence of the Law of God.

That’s some background to help you understand what’s at stake as a result of the recent event in New York on the subway and the case in Austin, Texas with Daniel Perry. The overall trend in Western law as America comes under judgment is an outright abuse of hundreds of years of Western jurisprudence by removing the biblical foundation of the law including that of having no respect of persons and considering rightly the duty of defense as a good neighbor in light of understanding proper application of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

We talked previously about quiet game hunting in less permissive environments. This recent article at Survival Blog touches on several useful applications for Air Guns.

Quiet, hard-hitting, accurate, affordable, and reliable. A good quality air rifle in .177 or .22 caliber meets all these criteria. No, you don’t have to spend thousands. Just one hundred to three hundred FRNs will provide you and your family with a nice rifle and several thousand pellets.

Springer and now gas ram rifles take care of problem pests around the garden and homestead, rabbits, gophers, ground squirrels, starlings, and crows are dealt with humanely and did I say quietly?
My German-made Dianas, both a Model 34 Classic, and a Model 34 EMS, and both in .177 caliber are equipped with inexpensive scopes and will easily maintain quarter-size groups at 30 yards, Both will push a heavier 9.5 -10.5 grain pellet out to rabbit and squirrel killing distances of 40-50 yards, if you do your part with pellet placement. As many old hunters said it’s not so much what you hit them with as where you hit them.

More at the link.

And Outdoor Life reports on The Best Air Rifles of 2023.

Choosing an Air Rifle for Small Game

The rifles I gravitate toward for small game and varmint hunting are primarily .22 and .25 caliber rifles that generate power in the 20 to 40 ft-lb range. This energy output, in conjunction with sub-1-inch accuracy at 50 yards, makes for an ideal flat-shooting, small-game rig. Features that separate the top picks from the rest of the pack are an ergonomic design, fast cycling action, reliable high capacity magazines, large volume air storage with a correspondingly large shot count, shot-to-shot consistency, and a low sound signature.

Choosing an Air Rifle for Predators

For most hunters, it makes sense to choose an air rifle that can take either small-game or predators. The rifles I use for combined small-game and predator hunting are .30 to .35 caliber, and are designed to shoot Diabolo pellets at 50 to 100 ft-lb. These rifles are fine for shooting a coyote or bobcat at closer range (within 50 yards), but not over-the-top to use on smaller-bodied game, such as rabbits or squirrels.

In my opinion, a primary predator gun should be optimized for solid lead slugs, generate 100 to 150 ft-lb, provide at least 10 consistent shots per fill, and print groups under 1 inch at 100 yards. I don’t mind a single shot rifle, but I want a fast-cycling action, easy access to the loading port, and a light, crisp trigger to enhance accuracy.

Other models and applications are discussed at the link to Outdoor Life.

Friendly reminder post. Some folks have a specific date or event that signal seasonal gear swap and home changes. Depending upon your area, it’s time to inspect and swap items in your car kit/go-bag/get-home bag. Dump the bag(s), and inspect all items. For those items you had a mind to upgrade, do just that, relegating lesser items to backup roles. Swap out cold for warm gear as needed for your specific area/elevation. This may include items other than clothing. Sometimes it can be tricky as some zones still have a snowpack, but it reaches almost 60F during the day.

Do what you want with your firearms gear but doing a semiannual inspection and review is always a good idea. Might as well do it in conjunction with the other stuff.

Know your heart, your family or team, your area, and your gear. If you got fat or lazy this winter, fix that right now!

Here are a couple of videos with quick-hit tips for survival. I like this guy. No muss, no politics, no cussing, straight delivery, seemingly without the desire for a cult of personality around his channel. If he ever did a presentation or event in my area, I’d probably go.

What’s the deal with Smith & Wesson?  I would have expected more devotion to a job well done and proper QC, especially in the Performance Center.  And I also wonder if the agreement they made with Hillary on the lock for wheel guns runs to perpetuity?  Why else would they still be putting that crap in guns?

This one is full lug, so I’m not sure which exact model this is – the Model 19 on their web site is not.

Source.

BATON ROUGE—A House committee on crime advanced a bill 8-1 that would allow permitless concealed carry for individuals 18 and older.

Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, brought what he said was a “constitutional carry” bill before the committee Tuesday. McCormick’s bill would amend present law that only allows concealed carry for 21 or older who undergo the proper training to receive a permit.

Rep. McCormick told the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice that his bill, House Bill 131, would mimic current rules that allows individuals 18 and over to openly carry a firearm. His bill would allow individuals to carry a concealed weapon at the same age.

“So basically, what you’re doing with this bill is that you’re trying to get every law-abiding citizen in the state of Louisiana the same ability that every criminal does,” Rep. Raymond E. Garofalo Jr. R-Chalmette, said. “Every criminal right now can carry a concealed weapon with no permit, no training, no nothing.”

[ … ]

“Personally, I’ve never seen anyone open carry that was doing it carelessly,” Rep. McCormick said in response. “I trust the people with the rights, and I think the Second Amendment gives us those rights.”

Despite all the hand wringing in the gun community, neither have I.  I hope Louisiana passes the bill this year and it gets signed into law.  Permitless carry in N.C. probably won’t pass this year, but it’ll be reintroduced again in the next session.  I’m not sure about its status in S.C.