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Washington County losing one of its true characters
I understand women and their zealous cleaning escapades, but I would hardly think she would spill something inside of a locked gun cabinet. Regardless, in typical husband fashion, he would straighten her out later. Uh oh!
My friend and I had both purchased one of Remington's new CDL bolt-action rifles. His was a .280, mine a .25-06. I hadn't spent much time shooting this new rifle and went into my room to wipe it off.
As I reached down to pick it up, I found it was stuck to the bottom of the cabinet. My friend's wife must have been cleaning at my house too! The pad on my CDL was also sticky. In fact, I have carpeting on the bottom of the cabinet and half the carpet came up with the rifle.
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Contacting Remington, I found that there was indeed a problem with a chemical breakdown on some early recoil pads and they would replace them. If you have a similar problem, call Remington and they will send you a new replacement pad. Don't blame your wife.
My friend is the only Washington native I know of who has appeared on Ripley's Believe It or Not. It was his prowess with the slingshot that made him famous, as he shot ping pong balls off of wine bottles.
I have known Bobby "Dr. Astro" Kowalski for sometime and feel a bit sad that he is leaving his home town and moving to New York.
I am used to seeing him at sports shows and he was a regular at the lunch tables at Washington Crown Center. Talking a mile a minute, this professional magician could tell hunting and fishing stories all day long. They didn't call him "Carp" Kowalski for nothing. He had a couple of 40-plus pounders swimming in Cabella's tanks. He had caught both on his special bread formula. And he is one of the few locals I know of that caught needlefish from the Ohio River near Wheeling.
While we brag of 500-yard shots on groundhogs using a .22-250, Bobby would brag of 25-yard shots with his trusty sling shot. Yes, he hunted groundhogs and raccoons with a sling shot.
Of course, his hunting trophies also included other creatures like wasps and hornets. Some have said he shot the wasps while they were flying. I haven't confirmed that but it wouldn't surprise me. He did win a national championship with his trusty Whamo.
But there are other tales of a more conventional nature like the moose he shot with a bow or the 275-pound whitetail buck he arrowed in Wisconsin. Remember, this was with a stick bow. The buck dressed out at 210 pounds. And then there is the grizzly he bagged not with a bow, but with his trusty .270 loaded with 160-grain Nosler bullets. He had doubts about it being big enough when he came face to face with the 500-pound bear.
Like me, he had been weaned on Jack O'Connor stories and became a fan of the .270. I hate to see him leave the area, for interesting characters are becoming rare and he is one of Washington's best.
Maybe he will wow them in New York, but he will always be a Pennsylvanian.
• We all love summer and lazy days in the pool or just lounging in the shade. But this is also the time of bee stings and Poison Ivy. For many years, outdoor persons have known of the soothing effect of Jewell Weed when it is applied to Poison Ivy or a bee sting.
This opaque-stemmed common plant is also known a Touch Me Not. The Touch Me Not name comes from the fact that when a bud of the plant is touched, it pops open. When mature the mid-summer flower will be a beautiful orange and yellow and can be seen along many roads. The opaque stem contains a soothing liquid that can be applied to a sting or ivy rash.
Less widely known is my late mother's answer to Poison Ivy. Isn't it amazing how our parents grow in wisdom as we age? My mother had one answer to the problem of working in the yard and encountering this insidious wild plant.
Her answer? Get in the house and wash well with Fels Naptha soap.
Since I wasn't allergic to Poison Ivy in my youth, I paid little attention to her prevention.
But in later years, I find that it works wonders. Today, you will find Fels Naptha in not only my house but also in my daughter Kathy Ward's house.
Not only does it prevent the itch but it seems to ease the problem after the rash appears. Try it works.
• Reading about the environmental disaster in the Gulf I can't help but wonder why there seems to be more worry about the white beaches than the marshland?
Is it an example of misplaced priorities?
Slingshot? : 6/14/2010
Hunting with a slingshot is illegal in PA. I find it shameful that George would brag about some guy that is violating game laws, Wonder how many his friend wounded with that sling shot? The sports editor should be ashamed of letting this in the news. Another step for the anti hunters made possible by George Block and his slingshot friend.
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