IA Born

Me, too! All I know is that we'll drop him off at the studio on Friday Oct. 18, around 2-3pm and I won't see him again until 8 am Saturday morning, when they open the studio to the public. The official promotion for all candidates, including me, starts at 0900 and will run until 2 or 3. The black belt candidates will do a bunch of team-bonding, practice forms, spar, practice their board breaks (up to 5 boards). The three 11-yos will not break a brick because of growth plate, but that's the only slack they get. Their 5-minute breaks consist of cutting boards for the whole promotion the next day. Occasionally, they'll get a chance to use the bathroom, grab a drink, and a quick bite to eat. I guess I'll have more details two years from October when I test for my black belt.

This is very true. The most effective snake fencing usually involves solid brick walls with overhangs to keep them from being able to climb over.

Which reticle? I know someone looking.

I don't have a before/after grouping because of a whole other mess that resulted from having the rifle cerakoted. The company that did the cerakote required the rifle to be pulled apart, which was stupid ("we don't have an FFL"...). That lead to having to redevelop loads since it wasn't put back together to the exact dimensions. By the time I was reworking loads, we had put the new stock on, thus no before/after data. The stock added a significant amount of weight compared to the factory stock, but it fits her better and has lightened the recoil even more.

x1000 for Bull Basin Archery here in Flagstaff. I've been a customer there for all 11 years I've lived here and they are, by far, the best proshop in northern AZ. I even know folks from the Valley who come up here to buy their bows and have other bows worked on.

We put a standard Boyd's thumbhole on my daughter's Savage Axis and it fit to her shorter length of pull. That stock is awesome. Had the AT One been available (or I missed it), I probably would have gone with that one. She loves, loves, loves her standard Boyd's thumbhole, though, so I can't imagine too many cons for the AT One.

SOLD. Thanks, Ken!

Bow is sold!

I think you should revisit your elementary English teacher before you start talking trash to me, buddy. And I'll gladly use my garden hose on you...I mean you're welcome to fill up your fresh tank. I think. Maybe I mean the former...

I got your back, buddy!

I thought I'd head that the Conoco at Butler/I-40 stopped that. There is a KOA on 89A heading north out of town, Kit Karson RV Park, and Black Bart's RV Park that may be able to help you. I've never inquired there because I make the family use a shovel and we fill fresh water here at the house. Tim, if you get in a bind and need fresh water, give me a shout. Can't help you with the black water dump, but I can get you fresh water under the "I consider you a friend" special!

I keep telling myself I'm heading back to 35A to chase coues after spending last turkey season down there. We had a pair of bruisers walk across the road in front of us one evening.

Its that time again. We have our deck of cards for a chance at a Commissioner's Turkey Tag. This tag is good for 365 days in any open unit in Arizona. That includes the Merriams, Goulds, and Rio Grande units. Cards are $20 each and the drawing will be August 3, 2019 at the Sierra Vista Goulds NWTF Chapter Banquet. Second place is a Savage Axis II in 6.5 CM. We're working on getting this raffle up on our chapter website, but if you're interested in getting cards, PM me and we'll make it happen. I only have 25 cards left in our deck.

Great job and congrats, Tommy!

Forgot that one. Good catch! That's why most leading vets recommend Bennedryl to get the swelling down as fast as possible.

Here is the picture of disintegrins working on a muscle fiber. The caption with the photo is: "A portion of a single muscle fiber (cell) with the amorphous and fibrous components of the plasma membrane being stripped away by the disintegrins present in the venom. The muscle cell is being stripped right down to, but with no damage to, the plasma membrane itself". All of that fuzzy stuff at the bottom of the muscle fiber (cellular level) is the plasma membrane/fascia being stripped away, rendering the muscle fiber useless.

I'm not a bee expert, but my first question is what you mean by killer bees. Africanized bees are dangerous because they swarm in large numbers and attacks often result in 100s if not 1000s of stings. A colony of honey bees can do the same thing if provoked. As far as what their venom type is, that's out of my purview. Sorry, can't help. Most rattlesnakes in Arizona (US for that matter) have hemorrhagic toxin. Neurotoxins are not as common, as a whole, but prevalent among many species, including Mohaves, tigers, midget-faded in AZ (very limited distribution in AZ). Mohaves are tricky because they have a strong neurotoxin (Mohave toxin) throughout most of their range but, but also have individuals that have only hemorrahgic toxins. To complicate that, there is an area where individuals with each venom type overlap and possess both neurotoxin and hemorrhagic toxin. That was the subject of my research and I' happy to share my published paper of why some individuals have one, but not the other. Genetics, baby! Even among venomous snakes, in general, they can have many different proteins within the venom type, including different ones among different species and, even, within different individuals. My former immunology professor in grad school demonstrated 22 different variations of the neurotoxin of Mohave rattlesnakes, all based on the presence of various proteins. Some of those hemorrhagic toxins have 2 different proteins that each cause clotting and hemorrhaging in the same venom. Some proteins cleave off the antigen binding site, making antibodies (self-produced or from antivenin) rather useless. Other proteins (disintegrins) peel back cellular tissue layers like an onion. I have a cool scanning electron microscope of disintegrins peeling back the fascia of a group of muscle fibers, rendering those muscles useless. Happy to share that, too. By the way, when I hear "Killer Bees", this is where my mind races: In all of my years of venom research and talking to both venom researchers, ER doctors, and the AZ Poison Control (venom experts there, too), I've never seen any data supporting electroshock. There is no clinical data, to my knowledge, that demonstrates how electroshock counteracts the properties of those venom proteins. Exactly this. Its an expensive treatment that doesn't work effectively at all. I've had this discussion with my vets and several vet techs many times and its always the same. Get to an ER and pray for the best. It doesn't work very well because of the proteins in the venom that cleave off the antigen binding sites, preventing antibodies from attaching and being able to do their job. It won't work on humans for the same reason. Bill Haast, who used to run the Florida Serpentarium and handle all kinds of venomous snakes from around the world, used to give himself micro-injections of venom of several different kinds of snakes to build up immunity. This is the same way antivenim is produced when horses (formerly) and, now, goats are injected, building up the antibodies that are isolated for the antivenin serum. Despite Bill's efforts, he still had to make multiple trips to the ER for treatments after bites. I watched a documentary on him a couple of decades ago and it showed him using his wife's rose pruners to clip off the blackened, necrotic tip of his pinky finger after being bit. We had our two German shepherd avoidance trained when we lived in Tucson and I was still actively handling rattlesnakes while out hiking. It cost us $50 per dog and was the best money ever spent on that. A research buddy of mine showed up with a speck from Nevada on his way through town. He had it in a 5-gallon bucket. My dogs both came up, being the curious pups they were, stuck their noses over the edge of the bucket and immediately took off running. I was washing my truck, so my doors were open. I turned around to see them sitting side-by-side in the back seat looking out the back window with an "Up yours. We're staying here!" expression. When we'd find them on hikes, research adventures, they'd go find shade and hang out while we took care of business.

Updated. Still have Simmons Aetec scope for sale. Price is $80 OBO shipped.

I wish I could tell you it was a joke, but I've lost count how many times I've people tell me that's a legitimate treatment for rattlesnake bites. As soon as they heard I was a venom researcher, it was "I was always told that you just hook up your jumper cables and hit the bite site to neutralize the venom!" The scary part is that they were always dead serious. The ones who argued with me the most are the ones I quit trying to convince. Being a student of Darwin, I figured I'd let them weed out the gene pool themselves. And now you have me laughing again, too!

The best thing you can do is get to a high point and get help via cell or SPOT/InReach, etc. Barring that option, the next best thing you can do is to stay calm (right?) and hike out as quickly as you can, while not getting your blood pumping too hard. I say that, because you don't want an increased blood flow moving the venom around any faster than necessary. There up to 43 different proteins in venom, ranging from hemorrhagic to necrotic to neurotoxic. If you carry a Sawyer extractor, they are in the category of "Might help a little, but won't hurt to try". Keep in mind that the "might" is emphasized for a reason. I have seen the data on them and they really aren't all that they're cracked up to be. When I have more time, I can indulge more about the success (lack thereof) rate when using those in trial studies. I can give you the "don't do" list much easier. Don't use a tourniquet; don't put ice on the bite site (or soak in ice); don't try to neutralize the venom by hooking your jumper cables to the car battery and shocking the bite site; don't have a friend try to suck the venom out either. Tourniquets and ice slow circulation and pool blood and, therefore, the venom proteins at the bite site. I've seen some nasty pictures of people missing fingers and having crazy-horrible necrosis at the bite site from tourniquets and ice. The "jumper cable" thing is a on old wives-tale. It does absolutely nothing to neutralize the venom and it simply shocks the piss out of you; nothing more. Having a friend (or you) try to suck the venom out is just as useless as the Sawyer Extractor (actually more so); if you or your friend is actually successful in getting the venom out (highly unlikely), then you will have active venom inside your mouth, which is porous and an easy inlet to your system, especially if you have bitten your lip or have an open sore/wound. Antihistamines may help with the swelling, but it won't do anything to counteract/neutralize the venom.

Roads are open up there and the turkeys are plentiful. Good luck!

I'll have to go back into my venom research papers and see what they say about specks. Last I knew, they were pretty run-of-the-mill with hemotoxins, like a diamond-backed. Not much compares to Mohaves in North America, but they are out there (midget faded, tiger, southern pacific).

Our 15 year old daughter is going on a 10-day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon this summer through Grand Canyon Youth. Its a great program that exposes kids to the outdoors in various aspects, including conservation of ecosystems and is a science immersion program. One of the requirements for this trip is that she is required to raise the money, herself, to cover half of the cost of the trip. She needs to raise $550 on her own. She has opted to follow in her brother's footsteps; however, she is making jewelry instead of tying flies. She's gotten quite good at making earrings and, at this time, is limited to only earrings. She (and my wife and I) would appreciate you considering helping her. These are great for your wives, daughters, girlfriends, nieces, and self (no judging if you're not a woman who wants some of these). Like when Jacob was tying flies for his blackbelt journey, this is purely donation and she'll make you a pair of earrings for whatever you think is fair. Pics of what she's made so far are below. And, yes, my wife was an ear model in a former life! Thanks, again, for considering helping her.

I've been voluntold to sit in on a call with our bigwigs in 10 minutes. I'll PM you after that.

I know the bottom row well! My mom's family is from Davis County (Bloomfield). Dad's is from Knoxville and Pleasantville.