I'm taking down the coon hunting page.

T

the possum

Joined
Jul 31, 2002
Messages
2,954
Hi there, guys.

I wanted to let you know, that after a lot of thought, I've asked the administrator to dismantle my coon hunting page. I believe I just come across the wrong way in a lot of my stories, and sound too morbid, etc. The site is just a liability.

I have written about using knives there a fair amount, and mentioned the site here, so I thought I'd give you a chance to save anything if you're interested. After Monday, you can email me for stories if you read this too late. I only ask that you don't go and post these stories all over the web; at least not without asking me first.


Thank you to all those who offered words of support.

the possum's coon hunting page
 
I'm sorry to hear that. I can certainly understand why, after all the static you've gotten from the ignorant, but it's a very interesting website.

I wonder if there might be some way you could set it up so you could still allow access to people who request it and don't appear to be dorks, without keeping it public....
 
Cougar Allen said:
I wonder if there might be some way you could set it up so you could still allow access to people who request it and don't appear to be dorks, without keeping it public....
Click to expand...

Easy solution: password-protect your site and only give the password to those you want it to have. If someone posts it in public, you could simply change the password.
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply, fellas. I didn't even expect anyone to notice. But I recall you guys sticking up for me in threads here- thanks.

As of right now, I have no plans for the stories. If I ever did decide to make them public again, I would rewrite and heavily edit them. In many places I tried to spice up the reading a bit, and instead I think I just sound like a bloodthirsty hillbilly. Now that I have a little girl at home, I don't want to risk some animal rights activist seeing this stuff, and causing me all kinds of personal trouble. I also haven't had time to do much any hunting these days, so there would be no new stories to send out to people.

I don't intend to retire my blades or grease up my pistol for storage though. I feel that I learned a lot about knives and their design by actually using them in harsh circumstances, which will help me as a maker.
 
the possum said:
... instead I think I just sound like a bloodthirsty hillbilly.
Click to expand...

Never read that way to me but I understand your decision, sad state that you have to even consider such actions.

-Cliff
 
Sorry to hear that you are closing that site down. I have question unrelated to the site though. When you are running after your 'coons with a drawn blade, aren't you afraid that you might slip and fall on your blade. I probably almost sound like your mom :p, but I mean it sounds like an obstacle course you are running and personally I have trouble walking down the stairs without falling :rolleyes:. Seriously, are you holding the blade in a particular way to minimize the risk of impaling yourself?
 
Hob-
Yes, that's a good point you brought up. It is dangerous, but I try to take some measures to reduce the risks. I no longer try to encourage people to attempt this themselves; I have probably been a bit lucky so far, and hope that anyone who read my page will think things through on their own first.

I attempted to cover this area before, in post #46 on the third page of this thread. I'll copy it here because it bears repeating.

"Running around with a big knife is dangerous. Yeah, you already knew that. Seriously, I've fallen on top of my gun on more than one occasion. It's a very real possibility that dad could find me some morning laying in a pool of my own blood. Give the knife the same respect that any very lethal weapon deserves. A knife this big, or sword, is in an entirely different class than an EDC folder... When chasing coons, I leave the knife sheathed until I'm right on top of them... If I have to move any distance with a bare blade, I hold it out straight to the side at my full arm's length. If there's no room, such as the other night when I was ducking through tall weeds after that coon, I actually hold the knife at full arm's length behind me. This way, if I do fall, it won't be on top of the knife. I've already conditioned my mind so that if I do fall, hopefully I won't instinctively use my blade hand to try to catch myself. I'll gladly take a busted chin or poke in the eye over a bowie in my gut. (edit-) Besides the risk of falling when plowing through brush, never hold the knife in front of you in case you run into something. (sapling, tree limb, whatever) My knife is double edged, so I could really get sliced if it got hung up and I ran into it.

Don't try to resheathe the knife in the middle of a chase. You need to take your time and full attention, with good light, to do this. I almost shoved my knife through my side this way once. If you need to keep chasing a critter, but don't want/need the knife any more, just drop it right there, or stick it in the ground or something. Don't keep going into an area with unsure footing with a bare knife. (such as when crossing a ditch, running through tangled underbrush, uneven ground full of holes, etc.) Either stop and carefully resheathe it, or lay it down. Or, in some cases, just throw it to the other side and pick it up again once you're through.

Never swing the knife in any direction where it could remotely come back and hit your legs or something. Even if the blade is not coming directly in line with your body, it can twist, turn, or jump sideways in the cut. Be fully prepared for the knife to go completely through whatever you're cutting, so do not relax your grip. Even with a firm grip, my knife nearly slipped free of my grasp, and came pretty close to spinning around and hitting my neck only a few weeks ago."
 
Possum,
I hope you reconsider and go with a way of password accessing or archiving the site. It's far and away one of the most interesting and original sites to be found on the web, from what I see.
Despite what the animal rights whackos think, you are performing a public service in your neck of the woods and I applaud your efforts(I've had to thin the population of feral cats here time and again so I can relate with your ongoing problem with coons and possums). Also, I thoroughly enjoy popping in there from time to time to catch up on your quest to rid the farm of those destructive varmints.

Whatever you decide I want to thank you for sharing the site.

God bless you and yours,
Mike U.
 
If you make it a mailing list or protected site, count me in. It was always a blast reading your stories, and I share your appreciation of knives that others call "too darn big."
 
Interesting and entertaining read - glad I checked it out before it disappeared - seems to be gone now.

Things I learned:

"Never bring a handgun to a coon hunt (but a big knife might do the trick)".

Sounds like a lever action rifle in .357 mag might be the answer for big rodents.
 
Thanks again for the kind words, everyone.
I didn't expect even this many positive replies. I'll keep this thread in mind in the future. If I ever decide to start sending out new stories, I'll come back here and find your email addresses.

Julian-
Yeah, a .357 carbine aught to work great with lighter hollowpoints. 'Course, usually if I'm gonna lug around a long gun, a 12 gauge works pretty darn well. Not sure if you were just joking about the handgun, but in many places it's the only practical option, despite my complaints about its performance. Someday if I've got the cash I plan to try a 10mm, using light hollowpoints driven fast.
 
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