I’ll be having a quiet Thanksgiving at home base this year. Last week in Phoenix, I chatted with a lady whose family celebrated the holiday early so they could go elk hunting on the 24th.

How many of y’all will be feasting on turkey from the woods instead of from the market this year?  How many will have some other game meat on the table when giving thanks?

When I was a little kid in the 1950s, the traditional Thanksgiving images at school and everywhere else included a blunderbuss in the Pilgrims’ hands.  After all, that muzzle-loading smoothbore – whether or not it had the belled muzzle we associate with that iconic Thanksgiving image – was where the turkey came from.  The image of the gun seems conspicuously gone from today’s Thanksgiving imagery.

Not politically correct, I guess.

In some parts of our country, many will be out hunting for their Thanksgiving Day sport fix instead of sitting around watching football on TV.  I hope that will include some of those here.  I don’t see hunting on my own Thanksgiving Day schedule, but I’m sure there’ll be some time on the backyard range.

How ‘bout you folks?

1 COMMENT

  1. Due to moving about the country this year there’s no game on my table. I’m hoping that next year I can do a hunter/gatherer Thanksgiving using game meat and whatever I’ve managed to grow in the garden.

  2. I too will be attending to some range time this weekend, of course after having fattened up on the expected feasts. However I can’t do that range time in the yard as the neighbors frown on that kind of activity, as will the local LEO’s.

    But I’ll be there with you in spirit.

    Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.

  3. No hunting, but Messrs Smith & Wesson will be riding along as I travel…

    May everyone have a great Thanksgiving*–wherever the turkey comes from!
    *Especially those serving away from home.

  4. Mas, can I suggest another activity for Thanksgiving? A friend works with his American Legion on honor guard for vets funerals. We have way too many WWII vets leaving us all to soon. We’re losing a ton of experiences and personal knowledge of that pivotal period in American and world history. Sooo….why not sit down for an hour with our loved ones who served this holiday. Break out the iPhone or whatever you have to record it. Record it for your family, but also for the future generations of this nation. The Library of Congress has an oral history project regards these war vets. They have a link with tips for doing the interview and submitting it to the Library of Congress. Once these folks are gone that precious piece of history is lost forever.

    http://www.loc.gov/vets/vets-home.html

  6. Won’t be hunting here but like Pete, I’m carrying as usual.

    @Long Island Mike- That’s a heck of an idea there.

    One thing I’ve seen with older war vets is they usually don’t talk about it. I knew two WWII vets, one was my grandfather and I don’t think he talked about it at all. Another WWII vet I knew was one of the original UDTs for D-Day but you really had to talk to get anything out of him. Ditto to my Uncle who did several tours in Viet Nam and who kept me from being a sheep. Only recently did I learn he was awarded several Bronze Stars…

    Then again it’s hard to fathom what some of them went through…it’s no wonder they might see it the same way.

  7. Thanksgiving dinner on Friday to accomodate a son on duty at a Chicago firehouse. Range time this weekend with a new Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt Next week, a new Rossi model 92 lever action rifle in 45 Colt. Have a great week, and a better weekend Mas.

  8. Being one of those who prefer the taste of raised game as opposed to wild game, I am not a hunter. I won’t take an animal I’m not prepared to eat…so since I don’t like the taste, my targets are exclusively paper or plinking.

    Besides…have you ever been to an Italian Thanksgiving? Heck, the turkey is the smallest part of the meal!

    Note that even though I don’t personally hunt, I am a huge supporter of hunting and hunters. So best of luck to all you guys and gals who are looking to harvest game for your tables.

    LI Mike…well done, sir.

    Mas, to you and yours…have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving! And please, accept my thanks for the work you have done and continue to do.

  9. A quiet day with family around a meal and to be thankfull for all we have is a great day. Thanks for your guidance and thoughts over the past year.

  10. God Bless all the “Sheepdogs” out there for your protection. Keep it on “orange” and the rubber-side down and the shiny-side up.

  11. Yup,
    Range time to find a better grouping load for my new Ruger GSR ahead of an elk hunt this weekend. Our thankful feast can include Alaskan salmon (as I’m not good enough yet to put that wily bird on the table).

    I am truly thankful, even though this has been a tough year.

  12. First hunt was a big success. Got a buck. Clean shot through the heart. Nice to put food on the table like that.
    Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

  13. My range days are Fridays (each and every blessed one) but we will be spending turkey day meeting and breaking bread with my son’s girlfriend’s parents for the first time. This should be interesting.

    Mas, best wishes for a happy and filling Thanksgiving to you and yours.