Thanksgiving dinner is great, but how do you beat fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob? Now for the rest of my thoughts. Toward the end of July, a man drowned while launching his boat in the Pierre area. His truck and trailer were found on the boat ramp, and his empty boat was found in the river. Based on a personal experience, I can tell you exactly what happened.

When backing a boat and trailer down a launching ramp, there is a very fine line between where the boat can easily be pushed off of the trailer, and where the boat floats freely. This is why I’d suggest that boat launching is a two-person operation.

About ten years ago, I was by myself when I launched my boat beneath the dam at Pickstown. I backed the trailer in a wee bit too far, and the boat floated off freely. Unfortunately there was a modest northwesterly wind that carried the boat away. Thinking retrieval would be an easy chore, I dove in, clothes and all, to fetch my boat. I couldn’t catch the boat, and before I realized the error of my way, I was fifty yards from the ramp. It had been years since I had done any swimming, and only through an adrenaline rush and God’s providence, I made it back safely.

Another angler soon returned to the ramp and fetched my boat for me. I have never told anyone about my stupidity, but perhaps this episode needs telling. Now, when I’m by myself, I put on my life vest when I climb out of the pickup. Today Betsy gives me a very hard time when I go out by myself, and she doesn’t even know about this misadventure.

Some years ago I wrote a column very similar in nature to the one above. A man had been waterfowl hunting when he dropped a bird on the ice. In an effort to retrieve the bird, his dog broke through the ice and was unable to climb back onto the surface. In a valiant effort to save his dog, the man drowned. My intended message was to think twice about such action. Though a faithful dog is seemingly priceless, leaving a spouse and children to mourn is the greater tragedy in my opinion. Shortly after that column appeared, I received a scathing letter from the grieving family, and I felt terrible about what I had done. I felt that nothing could justify my blatant insensibility.

About a year later, I received a letter from a lady who lived in the Webster area. Her husband faced the very same situation with his dog and the ice. He was going to go after his dog when he thought about the words of my column. She said that my column had saved his life. Her words tended to sooth my troubled conscience.

Inmy column of 7/29/20,1 pretty much devoted the entire column to the effectiveness of the Barnes X monolithic solid copper bullet. I’m not the only hunter to praise this bullet. In the August 2020 issue of American Hunter, Max Prasac had this to say in his article, "How to Choose a Hunting Bullet.” I’ll quote Max word for "The first commercially available bullet of this type was the Barnes X; it is an expanding/fracturing design, and it revolutionized hunting bullet design. These bullets feature ' petals’ designed to tear open and stay at tached to the bullet shank. This is one tough bullet that in this author’s humble opinion was single-handedly responsible for making lesser cartridges much more effective on larger game across a broad range of speeds. ”

In all fairness, Barnes was first, but they are not the only company producing monolithic bullets. Companies such as Hornady are also in this business. When Prasac talks about "makinglesser cartridges more effective on larger game,” Barnes has made my .223 with a 70 grain XTR bullet a reasonably effective cartridge on deer or antelope. Prior to the Barnes XTR, I never would have even hinted at using a .223 or .22-250 on deer. In spite of the bullet’s effectiveness, I still feel that the .22’s along with the 6 mm’s are too light for deer. You may well disagree.

See you next week.